Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-09-11


manded: why did you?"
Mutual objections between me n
the gov'ment. Two days war all they
give to take my last farewell" he
said, slowly rosining his bow
What did you come up here for?"
ITO git out of civilization" responded
the stranger. I'm Disguised. People
lie so thar's trouble everywhere, n the
only man you're sure is anywhar near
square with the law is the Teller Jest
out'n Jail"
There didn't seem to be any use of
asking further questions of the new
conner, but 1 think the opinion was
general that to him truth was stranger
than fiction. He laid his fiddle on the
| log and looked attentively at his mule.
eff it wasn't for bein' so Uneasy about
| Jeremiah, who needs drink, / might
! play little tune on the fiddle,' he said.
| Edgerton took the hint and a bucket
| went down to the creek.
a trifie of a glow in the western sky
was all that was left of the day when
| Home. Sweet Home rounded up the
| performance. l looked at Edgerton,
who was lying with his hands clasped
behind his head, and thought L saw a
tear in his eye; seeing but dimly myself,
1 wasn't certain. But, then and there.
Lone Star adopted Ezekiel and Jere-
| miah-
| We told him of deserted corral a
| mile up the road, and he became one of
| us. Some days, when he felt unusually
energetic, he would run a rocker down
| by the creek for a time, but he pre-
ferred to play or sing, and the camp APP
proved of his judgment.
| 1 think that Scroggins was the most
| unpleasant man who ever saw the sun
he would quarrel with himself when no
! one else was around, and strangers
passing by the cabin used to pause and
| wonder at the one-voiced row within.
| He married Castilian, who was very
| fortunate and died a few years after the
| wedding, leaving their daughter Nita
alone with the old scoundrel. The black
est pirate always has the create treas
ure, and Nita was pretty as her ia
Their was ugly, as good as he was bad.
On a claim adjoining Scroggins' lived
Atkinson, who was a Woodworking
young fellow with title to plenty of
pay dirt OF course there was new
edition of the old yarn of the fervent
youth and the lovely maid. AS soon as
Scroggins suspected the attachment he
began to concentrate his enmity, which
he had hitherto directed impartially
| against all men, in Atkinson's direc-
| ton After he found other plans in
effective he began seeking a way to re-
duce Atkinson's earthly necessities to
pine board coffin.
Adjoining claims furnished a pretext
for a quarrel. One morning Scroggins
eased his revolver in its holster, Shout
dered his shovel and went out. Instead
of stopping on his own property, he de-
| liberately. walked some 20 feet over the
line and went to work in Atkinson's ter
ritory. Atkinson looked at him in
amazement, and Scroggins stopped
shoveling to return the gaze.
EFF yer think, Bob Atkinson, that a
shadder of a skeleton like yerself hez
a patent ter all the pay-dirt in these
diggin's, ye're way off yer level. Jest
take up this trail, eff yer lool1in' fer
trouble. All we want of you aroun'
hyar yer tracks. Sabe?'
Scroggins made mistake. His tenn
per was quicker than his hand, and he
opened the battle before he brought up
his artillery; for as the sight of his re-
vclver left the holster, he heard a lit
tie click and raised his eyes to look into
the mouth of Atkinson's weapon.
Edgerton, coming down the trail, heard
Bob speak sharply: ''Gitl ndifyou ever
set foot on my place again, you'll have
to be carried Off" Scroggins looked
into his eyes, and then backed slowly
and sullenly away.
That afternoon Jerry and Johnson.
on their way up from the valley,
stopped to rest at Cayuse Bend. As
they stood, the silence was broken by
the clatter of hoofs, and around the
bend, side by side, came two horses
The riders were Bob and Mia.
''Good-by. boys" said the former, as
he refined up. ''Nita and 1 are on our
wedding journey to happier times, we
hope May we ask that you say moth
ing of having met us? Luck go with
YOU"
The mist crawled upward through
the manzanita and mesquite and how
cred over the trail. Bob and Mia
slackened their pace and went forward
cautiously. 1t was when the fog was
at its thickest that they heard the beat
ing of reckless hoofs behind them. BOZ
turned his horses head and grasped his
revolver. A dozen gigantic forms
doomed indistinctly into view through