The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-03-06


"lction, Il don't know about that"
: The others asked If lie had ever heard
or bonn fde case of reform where
therc had not been O backsllde. "Of
course" they argued, fellows have
peeh known to go on the water wagon
ana to turn over q new leaf anu all
that when there was n girl In view.
But the devil never despairs when
woman marries q man to reform him,
ana they always go back to the red
WINE sooner or later. Any man. near
~, Will swear off when he's In love.
out when he's in love and can't swear
OH, he is In very bad way" And
they went on to point out ut some
length how the subject Of discussion
might end up all at once in general
collapse, to which finish the air Of the
country was favorable, or. on the other
hand, might last to q green old age,
rank and the retired list. "You can't
| most always tell" declared one, "but,
80 far as I'm concerned. should Ike
10 see him die off early enough for
Miss Cunningham to get over it ana
forget all about IT,
81" said Macintosh, chad rather see
him cured"
"You." observed the captain with cd
r,iration. "must have been drawing
on the post Sunday sc.oo, ;ibrury.
Come off,"
Whereat nil the contrariness of Mac
Intosh's nature was reused. II would"
he Insisted. Then an idea seemed to
strike him. sand I'll bet" he added,
"that IL! reform him too"
"Angels have trod there" they assur-
ed him, "5ut 1t would be picturesque
to see yo,, rush in. And, by way OF III
centfve. we'll bet you hundred to ten
that you WON'T
Macintosh took 1t, and two months
was set as the limit of time In which
he might show the finished article.
"prov;dad. Always he stipulated.
"that the G. o. Will give ME another
hunting leave inside Of q week"
This the commandant, the matter
being presented to him. agreed to do.
So Macintosh told Barclay OF certain
magnificent hunting grounds he had
| discovered Oh the last trip and worked
on, his Imagination and his sportsman
ship. and they started off together on
horseback, with .theiE bedding wrap
| ped In rubber ponchos and provisions
| on led horse. Macintosh did not
want private or any one else along
Barclay, being in state Of new and
keen repentance, abstained from taking
flash along. but Macintosh did not
believe in foolhardy hcroism Of that
sort, and his Saddlebags held two.
Their way led across an all but inter-
minablc waste Of chaparral. The first
day out Barclay drank water The
second day he grew drawn and gray,
his hand shook. and his mouth culver
ed; his eyes were very bad. But lie
| stood 1t in silence until they halted at
noon under mesquite bush. Then
Barclay gave great gronn; it was so
nearly n sob that Macintosh shuddcr-
ed. He asked what the trouble was,
but he knew very well.
! I'D give my eternal soul-if have
not already-for q drink" he said. II
don't believe can stand 1t. old fellow:
let's so back"
But Macintosh refused. He had
come out to be gone eight days, and he
was going to stay out. you're two
days from the post, anyway" he
reasoned, ''and you'd either be dead or
over 1t before you got back"
SO Barclay had no choice but to keep
ON. Macintosh said nothing about the
| TASKS in the saddlebags. He was keep
Ing those for possibly q more urgent
| use.
At nightfall they came to settle
ment In a gulch between two bare foot
hills. 1t was deserted settlement. of
mining origin. to judge from forsak-
en- shaft or two, and If 1t had ever had
q name 1t was rs forgotten now rs had
probably been the pony whose skeleton
the legs still hobbled-lay across the
entrance of the one street, which ran
along the bottom Of the gully and was
lined OIL either side by dozen Or more
shacks.
Eve can put up in one Of those houses
tonight" Macintosh said eheerfully. II
did when was here n few days ago."
Barclay, who was In a very bad state
by now and whose nerves were agonlz-
ing, looked dubious and said that he
would prefer to sleep outside under a
poncho, as they had done the night be.
fore. ''The places are probably alive
with centipeds or skunks or some
thing" he complained.
Macintosh had q career of falsehood
opening before him for the night in any
case. so he entered courageously upon
ttnow. He said that the house he had
gone into had been slngularly free from
anything Of the sort, that it had been
very comfortable and that roof where
you could get it was indubitably bet
ter than the stars. So they cooked
their supper and hobbled their stock,
and when the moon rose they took
their bedding rolls and went into the
shack. which appeared to be In the
, best state Of repair and which had in
the towns lifetime been it's most -four
fishing saloon.
Macintosh lit candle and set 1t on
what remained Of the bar. If Barclay
had, been in n condition to notice any
thing besides his own woes, he would