Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-04-03

vi, W III, 'iltil Miss hidNNiN,
can't think of you like that rolling in
the gutter" Her voice shook and
broke of Her knowledge of the eff
feet of stiniulan.., was limited to Fair
fields ui." drunEa.I-o Tommy Nc
Kee, disreputable old Irishman-but
drunkenness was the worst vice In her
world.
Rolling In the gutter~ cried Red In
establishment. Why girl, what for
would roll in the gutter? What's the
fun in that? Jimmy Christmas.
wanted to walk on the telegraph wires.
There wasn't anything in that town
high enough for me. What put gut
tiers into your head?"
II supposed people did that when
they were-like that"
Il wouldn't waste my money on
whisky If that's all the inspiration l
got out of It," replied Red.
We'll of course / don't know about
those things, but l wish you'd promise
ne one thing"
Done cried Red what is it?'
Il wish you'd promise Inc not to
touch whisky again"
"Phew. That's pretty big order!'
He stopped and thought a minute. IF
you'll make that never touch It when
1t amt needed leaving when It's
needed to what's my Idea of the square
thing on n promise, Ill go you, Matte.
There's my hand"
"Oh, l shouldn't have said anything
at all, Will. 1 have no right, but 1t
seemed such a pity such splendid
mani meant think You mustn't
! promise ME anything, WILL" stammer-
ed Miss Matte, shocked at her own
daring.
"Herev' he cried, I'm 10 little kid!
When 1 promise l mean It! AS for
your not having any right. amt We all
there Is? You've got to be mother and
sister and aunt and everything to me.
I amt as young as have been. Matte,
and l miss Sideways terrible at times.
Now, put out your fin like good pard-
ner. and here goes for no more rhine
! cabOOs for Chanta Seechee BEDTIME
I quit drinking. anyhow" he slipped
a ring off his little finger. Here. hold
out your hand" said he. "I'll put this
on for luck and the sake Of the prom
ise-by the same token, I've got a
moose on You now, and you're my prop
erty."
This OF course was only Cousin
Wills joking. but Miss Matte noticed
NTH n Cv,6Aorv hnt I,nt hn hod
chosen the engagement inger-in all
ignorance, she felt sure The last
thing she could do would be to call
his attention to the fact or run the
risk Of hurting his feelings by trans
ferring the ring; besides. 1t was pref
ty ring. a rough ruby in a plain gold
band-and looked very well where 1t
was.
Then they settled down for what
Red called good medicine talk. Miss
Matte found herself boldly speaking
| Of little fancieS and notions that had
remained in the inner shrine Of her
soul for years. shrinking from the mat
ter-of-fact eye Of Fairfield; yet this
big. ferOcious looking Cousin VIII
seemed to find them both sane and in
teresting and as her self respect went
| up In the arithmetical her admiration
for Cousin VIII went up In the geo.
metrical ratio. He frankly admitted
weaknesses and fears that the males
Of Fairfield would have rejected
scornfully.
Miss Matte spoke Of sleeping up
stairs. because she could not rid
herself Of the fear of somebody COM
ing In.
| Il know just how you feel about
that" said Red. MY hair used to be
on its feet most Of the time when We
were in the hay camp at the lake beds.
Gee whiz! The rattlers! We put hair
ropes around-but them rattlers liked
to squirm over hair ropes for exercise
One morning I woke up and there was
q crawler on my chest. For Gods
sake. Peter says l to Antelope Pete,
who was rolled up next me. come take
my friend awayr and l didn't holler
very loud neither. Pete was chain
lightning in pants. and he grabs Mr..
Rather by the tail and snaps his neck.
but I felt lonesome in my inside till
dinner time You bet! know Just
how you feel exactly. I didn't have q
mans sized nights rest while we was
In that part Of the country"
1t struck Miss Matte that the cases
were hardly parallel. "A rattlesnake
on your chest, WIFI" she cried. with
her hands clasped in terror.
"Oh, 1t wasn't as bad as 1t sounds.
He was asleep. coiled up there to get
warm-sharpish nights on the prairie
In August-but darn 1t, Matte" wrin-
king up his nose in dirgust, II hate
the sight of the brutesr
"But you wouldn't he afraid OF 4
man, Willw
well. no." admitted he. 1--WE new
er been troubled much that way. You
see, everybody has a different fear t.
throw a crimp in them. Mines rattle
snakes and these little bugs with forty
million pairs Of legs. l pass right Out
when l see one Of them things. They
give me feeling as IL my stummich
had melted"
| Weren't the Indians terrible Ou
there, too" asked Miss Matte. I'm
sure they must have been"
'Oh. they amt bad people If 70,
use 'em right" said Red. Not that
like 'em any better on the ground
than in it." he added hastily. fearful
Of betraying the sentiment Of his
country, but never had but one rea
argument man to man. Black Vol
and / come together over n matter OF
who owned my cayuse. and from
words We backed Off and got to shoot
Ing. He raked me from knee to hip, as
was kneeling down, doing the best
could by him and wasting ammuni
ton because l was In hurry. Still, !
did bust his ankle. In the middle OF
the fuss stray shot hit the cayuse In
the head, and he croaked without q
remark, SO there we were, a pair OF
fools miles from home with nothing
left to quarrel about. You could have
fried an egg on q rock that day, and II