The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-11-06
THE EVENING STOR Y
The snaIzeskin Belt.

around the curio corner or Dane
hunting lodge
curios in this bunch
suddenly bounced upon queer
object of beautifully notified graylsh
| leather, evidently intended for lady
girdle.
whats this reptilian treasure ?" /
| asked curiously, holding it up glngefiy
/ by its handsome gold buckle wrought
Unto the semblance OF tiny reVOAESI,
perfect as to butt, muzzle and ruiz
complement of blue-diamond bullets.
Dangling from the trigger by
single link Of spun goid was
| burglar alarm of a mountain fattle-
/ snake. The number of rattles ana the
/ button tackled to the end showed that
! its one-tine Wearer was IN the IllI 4 =.
year of his age when he came TO his
end.
Another trophy of the chaser
| glanced interrogatively at Dane.
Yes, a trophy of the chase-tne
| of gold at the end of it. Come along
| for a walk up the canyon q little way,
| where there's a fine moonrlse now III
| course of preparation for our espeSldt
| benefit and I'll tell you about that
belt. You see, it belonged to my nrst
sweetheart had it made for her-
so it's just as we'll my wife doesn
hear me talk of it.
and followed him as he led the way
up the great gorge at the back OF the
1T was when I first came to Mon.
| tana,'' began Dane, taking no notice OF
my comment. 'She lived on the next
ranch. She was as wilfui a piece OF
skirts as ever climbed crags Where
nothing but goats and sQuaWS ever pc
fore had rolled pebbles downh1ll.
We'd quarreled about that Carolina
chap I wrote you about once-name
of Bailey.
''The fellow was a cad and I'd told
III n h.
ed for force than for frills. She called
me Jealous, turned up her little nose
at me, and f1irted her qutrt in my oil
reetion-she'd just ridden out @ the
corral on her cayuse when 1 galloped
up and our little tiff began. But II
ended in a big one. She gave me the
lgo-by for good and all; and when d
see her after that riding the cattle
range, she'd be so absorbed in that
Ilong-legged, Carolina sandhill crane OF
la Bailey that she didn't know 1 was
on earth at all, apparently He dld
tag her for fair though he looked like
iIchabod Crane astride of his Pinto
he couldn't ride any more than a jack
rabbit.
but I felt pretty blue. tell you.
those DAYS Big aches from little
iquarrels grow, as the poet says, and
when a fellows UP against that kind
of gnawing feeling at the pit of his
stomach. night and day, like that
Spartan kid with the foxes in his
Eapron-why, he gets as sore-headed as
a grizzly in the springtime. 7 used to
haul out my gun from my belt when
7 tramped over these hills looking for
the yellow Chat was before Ia found
Ito. and think I'd let the old spitfire in
my face just once and end the whole
business"
No wonder his wife doesn't like to
hear the story if he had 1T that bad.
And again my bach elor cynicism
smiled that he had so easily found
consolation. But aloud only grunted,
l'sWell?" and smoked on.
zone morning when was desperate
from incoming over that mink of girl,
was going round this very ledge
you see how narrow it is even now
though I've had the road blasted out
of the rock above US since then. You
take notice there's a bit of precipice
just below %
drawing back from the brim with a
/ tenderfoot shudder. Your bit of a
precipice' must go down a sheer five
hundred feet if it's an inch, to that
: hustling western torrent down there.
Dane nodded. mot a very good
place for a girl to step aside to avoid a
snake, for Instance"
shuddered again.
ffWel. this is just where I met Nan
that day. can see her now. bless her
heart, dancing along in the little short
skirts and baby cowboy boots she
= loved to wear, and dangling her big
+ som brero by its cord She hadn't seen
me- anu AuL4lGA ~ tlltAC BdIh lllE
way come. for Lee Bailey was on her
z trail and I'd seen them together as
often as 1 could possibly stand it.
Gust as she came to that turn where
2 the boulder juts out she gave a little
scream and turned so suddenly that
her foot slipped and down she went
: right on the edge. She held on to
that rock for dear life and shrieked:
a THAT Lee settled me, and I stood
: still like a stubborn mule and let her
lyelI. I knew he could pick her UP
: easily enough and wouldn't butt in
: But when reconnoitered around the
S boulder I was behind, I saw the cause
of the disturbance; this Mr.. Rather,
2 run1ing himself up like the coil of an
f electrocutioner and disputing the right
of way with my girl.
"And there was Miss Nan. white
= with fear, staggering right on the edge
] of the precipice, too paralyzed to
move back UP the trail.'
fsWhere was Bailey, the noble res
cuer? ." I asked as Dane paused and
gazed refiectively into the lighted end
of his cigar.
: know He'd made for camp on a lope
that's where he was, the coward-to
get a fishing rod to kill the snake
] with, he explained afterward-but II
! didn't go down with Nan. When
e saw her natural protector deserving
t her, I stepped out in the road, bowed
r low, pulled my gun and blew the gem
: tleman's head off-the rattler's, moi
) Bailey Though that would have
= been a job to my liking, too. He
2 wasn't as much of gentleman as Mr.
e Snake. for he was polite enough to
j tell right out what sort of poison crit
e ter he was. while the human serpent
/ WASH t."
: And Nan?" even forgot to puff
\ smoke in my interest.
r acted Just right. like the heroine in
+ a melodrama-fainted promptly onto the
shoulder of her faithful knight; and
: when he'd walked her up again by means
[ of kisses and other shocks she prom
S ised to love and obey him ever after
. And nothing would do but that snake
= skin must be fixed up with the trim
d mings you saw, as one of our Lares and