Evening star., 1908-01-19

| He. waited expectantly for her to tell
him. but she was examining the wagon
| tire and seemed to have no such fnten-
| ton.
Say" looking at him from the top of
| the load of hay to which she had climbed
with an agility which had made his jaw
drop, "if you are going to live In that
shack over yonder. and use this road. let's
get together and put up bridge. This
| is a mean crossing when it rains
| Sure" replied Stout. amiably. He had
very clearly defined desire to stand we'll
| In the estimation of this capable person
.I'n furnish the team and you get
out the timber" She added. "1'll help
you lay the poles.''
Sure replied Stout again, little be-
wildered by the vision which came to
him of himself and this buxom lady
building a bridge.
AS he drove into town next day his
curiosity as to the identity of his extra
ordinary neighbor increased until he de-
termined to make few adroit in
quiries.
In town the first person who nailed him
was the editor of the Paint River Record.
He shook hands with Stout as vigor-
ously as though Stout had just returned
from a perilous trip to the Klondike and
asked him If he couldn't give the paper
an item from Paint rver.
Were going to build bridge over
the crick,'' said Stout.
who is 'we?'' inquired the editor
briskly his pad making a prompt appear
ance.
'Well-me and a neighbor lady" re-
piled Stout, hesitatingly.
"Oh-Bates,'' said the editor. writing
rapidly.
IS b." asked Stout. with sudden
| inspiration.
| The editor nodded Tell her thanks
| for that cabbage she left on our desk;
we'll mention it in our next issue. Bet
| ter let me put your name down. Stout.
for the Record. You get the House
maids Own for fifty cents extra if you
subscribe now
| But Stout was walking rapidly away,
| pondering over the remarkable coinci-
dence which made S.. B. Bates. whom he
| detested. and the self-sufficient lady whom
| he admired one and the same person.
| And SO it came about that S. B. Bates
| and w. Stout, 1.-The hustling young
rancher from Paint River owned jointly
the bridge over that conspicuous cash In
the earths surface which gave the local
ity its name.
| During the construction of the bridge
| the newcomer and the pioneer became
good friends She called him Stout
and he called her IS. B." as they sawed
and hammered He would have called
her MISS but as she swung her trusty
ak and moved logs which would have
taxed his own strength the words seemed
to die on his tongue. The only feminine
trick Stout observed in his fellow worker
was her propensity for holding nails In
her mouth.
Why don't YOU go in for sheep?" In
quired S. B. Bates. when the bridge was
completed. Get permit and range them
in the forest reserve. There's nothing
in cattle, and wool is going up. You
can't raise anything without water and
when the Smyth ditch is far enough along
irrigate your land you and I will be
dead of old age. Have a whirl at sheep
Stout
So sincere had become his belief in the
Judgment of S. B. Bates that Stout ac-
rdingly had "a whirl at sheep" He
bought five hundred head and thereafter
his appearance in town invariably evoked
the following paragraph in the Paint Riv-
er Record:
walter Stout. the sheep king from
Paint River made a flying trip to our
burg on Saturday last. Come again Wal
ter; we are always glad to see YOU"
hen the thermometer crept below zero
and the west wind blew a gale of sixty
miles an hour he passed many pleasant
yenings with his feet in the oven of s.
B. Bates's kitchen stove discussing the
ruinous effect of sugar beets upon the
soil and kindred other topics of mutual
interest