Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1908-11-25

didn't care a whole continental wheth-
er they ever got a1ywheres or not.
One of 'em, the smallest one-he
want more'n six foot one and hat
looked sort of sick to me. He had
white face. and that kind of tired,
don't-care look in his eye: and the
bigger one sort of tended to things for
him.
Good morning says the big che
the Van Brunt one. judged-cheer-
fal enough. T'otker chap said, Good
morning" too
Morning" says l.
Can you take us out sailiug?"
'Why-er-I guess Sc" I says II
don't know why / cant, if you feel
like going. Course"
1 hadn't finished what l was going
to say afore they were in the boat
Now, generally speaking, there's some
bargaining to be done afore you take
| folks cut for three-dollar sail. You
naturally expect it, you know-not SO
much from boarders as from towners,
but still, some. But not for these two
no, sir. 1t was this powerful sud-
wind and water, same as it had Nate.
| Made me feel sort CT like I'd missed
the train. Stirred up my suspicious
| again, too.
| Twas a nice day; one of them clear
blue and green days that you set early
! in June. The water want rugged, but
| just choppy enough to be pretty, and
| the breeze was about northeast, giria'
us fair run down the bay
This is grand" says the big fell
low, as the Dora Bassett began to feel
her oats and lay down TO her work.
Caesar! Van" said the other one;
| why do you bring me down to earth
like that? Grand. Blocker next"
He hollered out this last part in a
kind Of screechy sing-sons. Then they
both laughed
| 1 looked at EN-. There want moth
| ing to laugh at, so far as | could see.
and the "Bleecker" business didn't ap-
pear to have no sense in it, either.
They made two or three other
! speeches that sounded just as foolish.
! Thinks /: Il wonder if Scudder's
right?" They didn't look like luna
tics, but you can't always tell Old
man Ebenezer Doane went to church
! OF Sunday morning just as sensible
acting as a Second Adventer could be:
but when he got home he fired the
bean-pot at his wife, chased his chill
| dren out door with a clam hoe, and
| they found him settin' a-straddle OF
| the henhouse singing "Beulah Land"
to the chickens. These fellers might
be harmless looms that had been
farned out, as you might say, by the
asylum folks. There was that man"
| that Nate said was coming. He might
be their keeper.
Il understand you've got a friend
coming says I, by way of ground
bait.
"Friend?" says the big one.
FRIEND? l don't understand"
"Scudder said you had another man
coming to his house." says I.
He smiled. "Oh, l see" Then he
smiled again, a queer lazy kind of a
smile, like as if he was amused at him
sci: or his thoughts
Il don't know that l should call him
| d ITlenQ, MI. -or-
4 Pratt" says 1. Solomon Pratt"
Thanks. No, l wouldn't go so far
as to call him friend; and yet he's
not an enemy-not openly" He
smiled again, and the other chap
whose name | found cut was Hartley
Martin Hartley-smiled too
Hes the man Van here belongs to-"
| 1,4 nh
smiled again
l kind OF jumped, l guess, when he
said that 1t began to look as if the
I asylum idea was the right one, and
| this Teller that was coming was the
keeper.
Hum says l, and nodded my head
just as if the whole business was as
plain as A B C. DO you belong to
anybody" / says to Hartley
Il did, says he, but he's doing
time"
Doing time?" says l.
eYes," says he, explaining, kind Of
impatient like. up the river, you
know"
/ chewed over this for a minute. and
all could think of was that the Teller
must be in clock factory or a watch.
makers or something.
'Watches?" asks.
Hartley seemed to be too tired Of
life to want to answer, but his chum
did 1t for him.
NO" says he. Il believe it was
pearl studs on the showdown"
Well, this was crazy talk enough for
anybody. l didn't want to stir EN-
up none-I've always heard that you
had to be gentle with lunatics-so
went on, encouraging 'em like.
4 Studs, hey?" says !.
Yes" says he. HE was a British
beast, and Martin was all balled up in
the street at the time-away from his
apartments good deal-and the B. B.
annexed everything in sight"
Go long," saws I for the sake mr.