The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-12-28


81 had been polsed from win
GEz21 dow of the forward car Now
he followed It with a wedge Of shoul-
der and muttered a fervent Thank
Godr' His face was blackened by the
breath Of the engine, his hair was
roughed by the tugging wind, so that
he bore not trace Of the past months
careful grooming outside of Chicago
he had shed his eastern garb for blue
flannel shirt, dark breeches and tall
boots. Again he was a frontiersman.
brakeman entered to call out the
final stop. Cramped bulks here and
there slowly unwound their sleepy
lengths and gazed around. A slim re
cruit in a front seat who was outward
bound to fight Indians Weakened with
a protesting oath. Other occupants OF
the car grudgingly put away their card
packs, but cheerfully clapped on their
hats. A long, hot journey was done
But Lounsbury when he drew in his
head and shoulders delayed his prep
aratlons TO alight. He reached down
to a boot leg and fished out a letter,
one paragraph of which be carefully
reread.
.'As l say, if you look for that rascal.
you'll find the right man lie was
here, for Charley saw him Who was
ttT | asked the Indian What do you
think he did? He crossed his fingers
on his noser
Lounsbury took a deep breath ITS
likely" he said aloud 1T don't take
courage TO kill a cripple"
The wheels were yet turning when
Lounsbury swung OF. His looped belt
had been buckled on, and once more
his revolver hung handily upon his
thigh. As he tossed his satchel to the
ticket agent he gave the 40 a swift
look over. Then. with the expression
that the Clark outfit respected showing
through the CRIME of the train, he
started on tour of saloons
IN a square fronted groggery his
hunt ended An assortment of adven-
turers packed the place mule SINNERS.
soldiers. gamblers settlers Among
them was a sprinkling of women He
pushed his way through the crowd IN
til he reached the bar There, officiat-
ing in pink shirt sleeves was the
Babe"
X. moment Lounsbury faced him In
= = see, his cheeks putting and his |
4Svt swelling in an effort at self con /
NV Then, dropping his hand to the
40 he gave a jerk of the head.
''Come out" he ordered
The Babes" squint eyes made sep
arate inspections of the room. He was I
In the act of pouring from bottle to
a glass. Now. as he held them before
him. they tinkled together
Ills customer backed away to the
door where 1t was cooler The women
cluttered at the farther bar end The |
other loungers rotated to a position be
hind Lounsbury and waited, all agrin
He came loaflng out, the sweat stand
ing in huge beads upon his nose. |
Lounsbury advanced to him. playing a |
tattoo along the bar with his left hand |
Babe, he said quietly, the train |
goes back Chicago way in the morn
ing"
The other blinked and gulped wy.
wy" he began
You take it," continued Lounsbury
Your family's getting darned unpopu
lar here"
The Babes" diverging orbs popped /
from his face and again played from
side to side.
'Y-e-e-s," drawled Lounsbury He |
ripped open the others vest Two pis-
tolls were displayed smuggling head to
head. He plucked them out and kick
ed them across the room. The morn
ing train" he repeated 80 long"
Babe" gave a weak nod. Louns-
bury walked out "Howdy. boys; how
dy." he said pleasantly as he went.
The admiring crowd returned his sa
lutte aud rotated back TO the bar.
lie wasted no further time. but hur
ried to his store. saddle rooted build
ing farther along the street. Before
It paced q Fort Lincoln officer. Louns-
bury stopped him for news.
You ought to be chuck full of it.
returned the officer pumping the
storekeeper's arm. Just ia from New
York"
The redskins9"
Daytime sortie on Us yesterday"
Pretty sassy. How about Bran
non?"
Nothing since old Lancaster
Il heard that-Fraser wrote me"
Lounsbury gritted his teeth.
And our poor CUSTER"
All, poor Custer! The casts tax
ing about nothing else"
Awful. Awful" The officer turn.
ad away 10 hide the twitching Of his
face.
Going to Lincoln nowY asked
Lounsbury
Not right away"
Then I'm off =
'For Lincolngs
''No; for Brannon."
"Brannon. Alone? Lounsburv9 WHY.
de Indians
I'm going just the same" He hail