The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1902-12-12
| A DETECTED
Diff T. BY William
UOII J. Hampton
Copyright, 1901. by w. j. Hampton

| from the hostler. "S'pose you ask Milt
Burgess over there why he didn't marry
herr
The little crowd loafing in front of
the livery stable I'm the country town
pricked up It's ears and concentrated
| its interest on the .hostler and Mr. Hos
letter, Mr.. Burgess in the meantime
becoming more intent upon the corn
cob pipe he was laboriously construct
| Ing.
Flows that, Milt?" inquired the
hostler In the same haunting tone. Ev-
identity he knew more of the inner his
tory Of Hostetter and Burgess than the
others did, for they were all curiosity
and had no comments whatever to
make. Both men were considerably
past middle age and had come to the
;own several years before from the
hill country, bringing no credentials
| other than a desire to better their con-
dition and fair ability to do so. They
were sober, honest and industrious,
and beyond that their acquaintance
took no concern. The hostler in his
more prosperous days had made a
number of trips into the hill country,
buying horses, and had heard some Of
the legends Of that section.
"Oh, you git it out Of Hi If you kim"
responded Mr.. Burgess, without look
ing up from his work.
81 never did hear the straight Of it."
said the hostler, the haunting tone CIV
ing place to one Of soft persuasion,
"and I'm sure these gents ought to
know 1t just for the sake of your rep
utations. Don't you think so?'
"Well. l amt objectin'," admitted
Mr.. Burgess, eff Hi wants to tell about
It,"
"You tell it. Mllt," pleaded Mr.. Hos
letter.
"No. you do 1t, H." insisted Mr..
Burgess. 81 kin make better cob
pipe than you kin, but you kin outtalk
ne. You know that's what Mirandy
al'ays said"
Mr.. Hostetter's face flushed. partly
with PRIDE partly with embarrassment.
"If you rely want to know the per-
tickelars," he said, land Mills willin',
reckon l might as well tell it SOS
you'll git 1t kerrect. You see, me and
Milt was both courtin' Mirandy fit to
kill and murder, and it was nip and
luck atween us fer two year er more.
AS Milt says, was talkin'er man
than him, but he owned a farm, and
there Is women that sees more in a
farm than perlite conversation, other
hnf y, Ia nd
Milt, retrospective Of substantials, Mi
randy liked me-
Hi was n heap sight better lookin'
In them days than he is now," ex-
planned Mr.. Burgess, whose personal
beauty was not, to put it mildly, exact
ly phenomenal.
"Much obleeged, Milt." said Mr.. Hos
letter modestly. "But, as was sayin',
Mirandy kinder liked me a shade bet
ter, and with that and my talkin' was
neck and neck with Mills farm. 1t
KEEP gittln' from bad to wuss 'twixt me
and Milt. though we'd been PARTNERS
fer years, SOS lords the last we got
riled every time we met up with each
other, and folks begun sayin' there was
as likely to be funeral on the creek
as a weddin'. Mirandy seemed to in
Joy 1t. though, and KEEP us on the tenter
hooks, smiln' fust one way and then
t'other, and aggin' us on all the time"
"Mirandy could be the aggravatin' est
critter." commented Mr.. Burgess half
to himself and dreamily. as out of the
dead past. 81
"Much obleeged, Milt," acknowledged
Mr. Hostetter "As l was sayin', things
KEEP gittin' more skeow-wowed, and
me and Milt KEEP gittin' closeter and
closeter, and like as not we'd clinched
some day right where we met, but Mi
randy packed up her buds and went
over into the admin county to teach
winter school, and when she was gone
me and Milt SHED off for awhile and
didn't have no grievance ag'in each
other, leastways not in sight. Mirandy,
so we heard, had sight of beaus
where she was teachin', but she never
told nobody at home about her bust
ness In that line when she come back
three err four times visitin'. The school
lasted three months, and when it was
out Mirandy showed up ag'in, and was
fist as smilin' at me and Milt as ever
-smilin'er, reckon, fer before we
knowed where we was at we had fit,
tooth and toe nail, fer her, right in the
road. Neither one of us got the wust,
but both of us got it purity bad, and sc
we agreed to shoot it off with our shot
guns and settle it fer once and ALL"
Mr.. Burgess stopped work on his cob
pipe long enough to chuckle audibly at
something or other which Mr.. Hostel.
ter's remarks had suggested.
"Much oblecged, Milt," said Mr.. Hos.
letter, smiling himself. "As was say.
in, we agreed to shoot off the prize
and the live man left over was to git
the gal. You see, each one Of us was
bettin' odds that he was the choosing
people"
Again Mr.. Burgess chucI;lcd audibly
"Much obleeged, Milt," said Mr. Hos
letter. 'As | was sayin', when we
agreed to the shootln' proposition we
got a second apiece and kind of gen.
eral superintendent to manage the
match, and we picked out nice, quiet
place over in Brands boiler, where
there was moonshinc still once, and
nobody had ever been there since the
rcVpuOOS Ind scattered II 70 thq fout