Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-10-31

when the surveyors arrived, making
short work of their last few miles, she |
| and Marylyn shut themselves in and |
escaped being seen. The engineers |
gone toward Clark's, Dallas again took |
up her watch
Twice before night she was reward |
ed. The mail sergeant passed, bring
ing batch of letters to grateful |
post, and late in the afternoon an In |
dian runner came into sight from up |
| the Missouri. Scorning to use the fer
ry, he dropped into the river where !
| the cOulee emptied and swan across.
The arrival of the scout Dallas asso- |
ciated instinctively with the expected |
return of the troopers and felt re-
| lief that she would not have cared to |
confess to her father. The unusual |
hustle that marked the next three days
at Brannon seemed to justify her be- |
lief. Below the barracks on the level |
bottom land men were busy erecting
a strange structure. Tall cottonwoods
We're hauled from the river and set
on end in the sandy ground AS time !
passed these came to form tight, cir
| cular pen.
| The night of the third day there was
| activity on the other bank of the Mis- |
souri,. Unknown to shack and fort,
the squalid line of shanty saloons that
stretched itself like a waiting serpent
along high bench opposite the new
stockade sprang into sudden life Two
| wagons filled with men and barrels
crossed the bend and emptied them
selves into the dilapidated buildings.
| And far into the early hours loud
laughter the click of chips and the
clink of glasses disturbed the quiet of
the night. At dawn an officer stand
ing, field glass in hand, on the gallery
at headquarters saw two wagons drawn
up in front of Shanty Town and called
down curse upon the heads of the
sleeping revelerS
Just see therew he exclaimed
Some vermin got wind of the pay
masters coming and are here to fleece
the men,
A lieutenant sauntered up, putting
out his hand for the glasses. There
wasn't soul in those huts yesterday"
he said.
mo, of course not" sputtered the
other. The devils stayed at Clark's
till the puncherS got back from Kan
sas City. Now they're on hand to
keep our guardhouse and hospital full.
BY CAD. if | commanded here I'd have
the whole street firedr'
We'll" said the lieutenant 1.-The men
have way Of disciplining that kind
themselves. Some day when Il favor
lite is cut in Il brawl or cheated at
cards they'll shoot up the place. If
there's anything left it II move on"
1T won't do any harm to keep an
eye on Shanty Town, all the same"
declared his companion fiercely. Re
member the man that ran it last year?
Slick, by gad Why, the paymaster
might just as well have stopped over
there-he and his ilk got every cent.
, He wasn't a bad man. mind you
not brave enough for that-but keen
, noSed as moose, cOnceited as an In
dian
| what was his name"
"Oh. Dick or Vie Something-or-other.
{ 1 don't know what He's a Dragging
renegade, anyway"
, Unaware of Il reconnoiter. the occu-
4 | pdliNS VI tIc VI SHdullcS
t serenely on, and not until noon did
\ high plumes of smoke, straight as the
I flag pole on the parade ground, an
= nounce to the secretly delighted troop
Q ers at Brannon their tardy rising.
, Dallas, too, saw the busy chimneys.
: but while watching them intently from
:. an open window, her attention was at
t tracted all at once in the opposite di-
p rection. She heard coming out of the
coulee a chorus of shrill talking, like
( the pow-wow of Il flock of prairie
: chickens. Then a horse snorted and
f there was a low rumble of wheels.
g Thinking that it was her father, she
+ leaned into sight. AS she did so a
t team came scrambling over the scarlet
y brink, dragging wagonful of men and
a women.
e AS the horses gained the level prairie
q their driver laid aside a huge black
snake whip with which he had been
|. soundly whacking them and looked
n about The next moment Dallas saw
n him rein in his team and spring to his
|. feet. He was looking toward the
d shack, and he raised his whip hand
II menacingly.
l. Look at thatI Look at thatv he
It cried wildly, his voice carrying through
/, the clear air
h All looked where he pointed, and
some one in the back of the wagon
/ cursed
4 what d. you call that for luckT
n yelled the man, shaking his mittenei
It fist. eff Nick knew thatr'
1t Dallas could not hear the mingled
lie answers of his companion.
n "Well, 1 call it ID
'e A woman reached up and pulled him
n into his seat. There was another shril
l. chorus, the man whacked the horses
till they reared, and the wagon Went
lie rumbling on.
w Dallas watched it until 1t disappear
1T ed into the cut at the landing. Ther