The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-12-23
BY MAITLAND LIE ROY OSBORNE,
the MuzzIe of !

out, 'Mother-Mother, l want you. Why
did You leave your little girl?' and
sneaks out the door ON tiptoe with a
lump in my throat that 1 has to poke
down with my finger to keep from
choking, and my eyes smarting like
they was full of pepper.
Then l hunts up Scotty and takes
that infant out back of the corral and
talks 10 him mighty serious and conf
Dental. It's your play / says, to
go tell Nita you love her, and ask her
to marry you. I don't know whether
she Will or not. If she won't, it's up to
you to take your grief-stricken coun-
tenaGee back to New Mexico sudden
and simultaneous. If she will yeu want
to thank the Lord every night and
morning for giving you one of the best
women He ever made. and if you don't
treat her a little better than any
woman's got tight to expect I'll shoot
you so full of holes that you'll look
like a milk strainer.'
Then Scotty takes off his hat, look
ing mighty solemn. and grips my hand
and says, SO help me God, I always
will.
after that Scotty lopes over 10 see
his lady love and learns his fate. IN
about an hour he comes back, walking
on air and efferveseinS joyfully IKE a
Seyser, and shakes my hand till Il
aches. She's promised TO marry me,
he says, swallowing hard and trying tc
keep both feet on the ground. Then we
| begins to study how to cut Mia out of
the herd without stampsding the whole
| outfit. for we knows when the Old man
should find out what was in the wind
it was going 10 be real tempestuous
round there Cor quite a spell.
1o,- IL e.
pull out on horseback some nornin G
as soon as the old man had started for
| the range, and get TO town and have
the knot tied before he found OUT
what's uD. We'd have four or five
hours start, and with hard riding. bar
ring accident, I reckoned we'd strike
town by midnight. But right there was
where's Scotty's moral seruples cropped
out strong. and he bucked good ana
strong. I don't play no horsethlef
game like that he says. I'm going 10
marry Nita in her own home. decent
and respectable, with her daddy for
chief mourner.'
| Keno l says It's your deal-but
! it's q good gamble that Nina's widow
| before she's a bride if the old nan gets
his gun out first.
I'm not worrying none" says Scot
tty,
| well, we figured it out after while,
and I ties my face W in a handker-
chief and asks the Did man for three
days off to get tooth pulled. Then ]
lopes over to town, cuts minister out
of the herd and heads him for the
Three Y outfit on thu RUIZ. Coming
back / sort of prepares his mind for
trouble, and I must say for a parson
he had sand. so long as the girl is free
and willing he says, I'll do my duty
I'VE strikes the ranch along about
dark. and when I've located the min
lister in the bunk house Seotty sends
JACKIE over to tell the old man he's
wanted at the corral. Then Scotty AMI
/ goes to meet him and break the news
to him gentle.
when the old man comes round the
corner cf the corral / pokes the nuzzie
of my six-shcoter under his hose and
requests him quiet ami polite to e.e-
vate his hanGs-whieh he does sudden.
Then ScOtty relieves him of MS gun 20
prevent accidents. and begins to SPEAK
his little piece.
when the old man comes to a real
izing sense of what Scotty's trying 20
tell him his language is something aw-
ful. I've heard mule drivers before
now that had wonderful grasp of pro-
family. but the old mans remarks on
thing I've heard before OF Stree. l was
mighty glad the parsen couldn't hear
him.
AT last, seeing we are likely to stay
there all night if the old man don't lose
! his breath, 1 winks to Scotty in the
dark and says, sorter casual. and care
less: You take the minister over TO the
house and me and Mr.. Kennedy'll saun-
ter along presently and join in the fes-
tivities
when I reckoned Scotty'd had time
enough TO get pretty near there I puts
up my gun and proposes to the old man
| that we start along, too. First off, he
allows he isn't going, but after I've rea-
soned with him for quite spell, gentle
and earnest, ne begins to see the error
of his ways, and after while he goes
along quiet and peaceful splitting out
broken teeth and talking--stiIl talking
when we got to the house there was
Nita and Scotty waiting for US. and the