Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-01-14
CHAPTER III.
l~1 EDDY was on the station plat
form, walking no and down
I'M looking about him anSiously
We paupht sight of each Other

III We caught sight of each Other
at the same time
Hi, there said he and jumped fol
me. 'Gad-dog your little hider' he
cried as he put my right hand in line
for a pension. Il thought l was book
ed to go without saying goodby to
you. You got tho note pinned on
your shackY'
"Sure."
''Well, there's time for chin be-
fore the choo-choo starts. Thought I'd
be early, not savvying this kind of
travelling great deal. Darned if you
amt growed since saw you, Getting
fat too! Well, hOw's everything? l
didn't say nothing to the other boys
about pulling my freight, as I wanted
to go sober for once. You explain to
'em that old Reds head amt swelled,
will you? Seems kind of dirty to &c
off that way, but I'm bound for God 5
country and the old time folks, and
somehow l feel that | must cut the
bulge out of it. Mother thing is I'm
superstitious, as you may or may not
have noticed, and l believe If you try
the same game twicet you'll get just
as different results as can be the sec
ond time. You heard how | hit it in
the mines. didn't YOU? No? Well.
that's so. You amt seen many people
out on the fiat. have you? Hum.
don't know principally where to- he.
gin. You remember Wind River
Smiths pardner that the boys called
Shadder. because he was so thin? Nice
Teller. always willing to DO you ia
vOr or say something comical when
you least expected it. Had kind of a
style with him too. Yes, sir, that:; the
man. Well. him and me was out in
the Bend one day. holding mess of
Oregon half breeds that was to be
shipped by train shortly. when old
Smithy comes with the mail. Letter
for you, Shadder,' says Smith and
passes over IL big envelope with wads
of sealing wax all over it. Shadder
reads his letter and folds 1t up. Then
he takes a look over the countrywide
kind Of look man gives when he's
thinking hard. Then says he. Red,
take off your hat 1 done it. .Smithy,
take off your hat All right says
Smith, but you tell me why or I'll
snake the shirt off you to square
things
Boys says shadder, I'm Lord
Walford.'
lord Hclford" hOlers Smithy.
You'd better call somebody in to look
at your plumbing. What you been
drinkin', Shadder?
"'Read for YOURSELF says Shadder,
and he handel him the letter
VISIT YOU could have seen old
Smithy's face as he read it. He
thought his pardner had been cut out
of his herd forever.
Its the Gods truth, Red says he
slowly. and he had a sideways smile
on his face as he turned to Shadder
We'll. sir says he. I suppose congrat
ulations are in order?'
"Shadder's hand stopped short on
its way to the cigarette. and he looked
at Smithy as If he couldn't believe
what he saw.
"'To hell with 'em" says he as saw
age as a wildcat, and he jabbed the
irons In and whirled his cayuse about
on one toe, heading for the ranch.
Now You go after him, you Jealous
old sorehead,' says I. Go on l says
as he started to argue the point, or II
spread your nose all the way down
your spinal column" The only time
to say No to me Is when I'm moi
meaning what l say, so away goes
Wind River, and they made It ur
all right in no time. Well, Shaddel
had to pull for England to take q
squint at the ancestral estates. and al
of us was right here at this station t.
see him off. Lord. it seems as If tha
happened last world Well. It tool
a little bit the edge off any and al
DRINKS n ranch as an institution haC
ever seen before. There was old Smithy
crying around. wiping his eyes on hi.
sleeve and explaining to lot of east
ern folks that it wasn't Shadder'.
fault-gad hook 1t all. He was tn,
best, hootin', tootin' son-of-a-se cool
that ever hit a prairie breeze in spit,
Of this dun foOlishness.
"'They can't make no "lord" o
Shadder" hollers Smlthy. That Is
not for long. He's man, Shadder 1
amt cher. yer id old gangl
legged hide rack?'
and Shadder never lost his patienc
atNall. though it must have been kin,
of trying TO be made into such hol.
show before the kind of people b.
used to be used to. All he'd say was
BET your life old boy" Well. it wa
right enough, too, as Smithy ha,
nursed him through smallpox one win
ter up in the Shoshonee country an,
mighty near starved himself TO dealt
feeding Shadder out of the slim CRU
stock when the boy was on the mend
Still, some people would have forgo
that
But did your uncle RED get unde
the influence of strong drink? Did he
oh, my. oh. my. l wish could max
1t clear to you. The vigilantes PIT
after horse thief once in Montan:
and they landed on him in a butt en-
canyon. and there was all the stoc
with the brands on 'em as big as
patent medicine sign. as the lad hadn
had time TO stop for alterations.