The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-08-23
Bv EVE LII 70 RID
Copyrighted by the Sunday Magazines Incorporated

through the glasses that / gets a chance
for a few remarks with Hank.
rs she like that all the time now?'
1 whispers.
You bet," says he. Don't she do it
good?"
Say, there want any mistaken how
the act hit Hank. You ought TO see
her with her opra rig on. thought
ara, and all that" says he
go reg'lar?" says I.
Tuesdays and Fridays" says he.
I'VE leases the box for them nights"
That gets me curious to know how
they puts in their time, so I has him
give me an outline. II was something
! like this: Coffee and rolls at 1880 a.
m; hair dressers. manicures. and mas
sage artists till 1890 drivin' in the
brougham till .; an hour off for lunch;
more drivin' and shoppin' till 3: nap till
6: then the maids and Wallets and so on
to fix 'em for dinner; theatre or op'ra
| till II; supper at some swell cafe; and
the pillows about a. IN.
Then the curtain goes up for the Sec
ond act, and / see Hank had got his
eyes glued on the stage. As we'd come
| in late, / hadn't got the hang Of the
piece before but now | notices it's one
of them gunless Wild West plays that's
hit Broadway so hard. 1t was breezy
kind of a scene they showed up. To
one side was an almost truly log cab
in, with tin wash basin hung on a nail
| just outside the front door and some
real firewood stacked up under the win
| dow. Off up the middle was mountains
| piled up, one on top of the other, clear
| up into the flies.
The thing didn't strike me at first.
until 1 hears Hank dig up a sigh that
| sounds as if il started from his shoes.
hi rst,r
almost a dead ringer for his old ranch
| out north of Bedelia. In a minute i'm
comes bunch of stage cowboys. They
was a lot cleaner lOOkin' than any !
ever saw around Merritys and some of
| em was wearn' misfit whiskers; but
barrin' few little points like that
! they fitted into the picture well enough.
Next We hears a whoOp. and in bounces
the leadin' lady. rugged out in beaded
| leggins. knee length skirt, leather coat
and Shy Ann hat. with her red hair
| flynn loose.
Say, I'm a good deal of a come-on
when il comes to the ranch business.
| but I've seen enough To know that IL
any woman had showed up at Merritys
place in that costume the cow punchers
would have blushed into their hats and
| took for the timber line. / looks at
| Hank. eXpectin' to see him wearin'
| STlls out ne wa n 7. lie = most StaTlN
| his eyes out. lOOllin' at them painted
mountains and that four-piece log cab
in. And would you believe il. Mrs.
| Merrity was dOin' the same, ] couldn't
see that either of 'em moved durin'
the whole act, or took their eyes off
that scenery. and when the curtain
goes down they just naturally reaches
out and grips each other by the hand.
For quite some time they didn't say a
word. Then Reney breaks the spell
You noticed it, didn't you, Hank"
says she
Couldn't help it, Reney"' says he.
huskily.
Il expect the old place Is looking aw-
full nice, just about now" she goes on.
Hank was swallowin' hard just then.
so all he could do was nod, and big
drop of brine leaks out of one of them
buttermilk blue eyes. Reney saw it.
Hank" says she. still grippin' his
hand and talkin' throaty-'let's quit
and go back
Say, maybe you never heard one of
them flannel shirts call the cows home
from the next county. A lot of folks
| who'd paid good money to listen to a
, weak imitation was treated to the gen
uine article.
"We-e-e-ough, Glory be-" yells Hank,
. jumpin' up and knockin' over a chair.
1t was an ear splitter, thSt was: IN
side of a minute there was a special
cop and four ushers maxim a rush for
} the back of our box.
Here. here nOwr' says one. You'll
have to leave"
Leave says Hank. why, gOl durn
| you white faced tenderfeet, you could
| MT hold us here another minute with
| rawhide rOpesi Come on. Reney; may
be there's a night train"
| They didn't go quite so sudden as all
J that. Reney got him TO wait until
noon next day. so she could fire few
maids. and send a bale or so of Paris
!; gowns to the second hand shop: but
they made me sit up till most mornin'
with 'em. while they planned out the
: kind of a ranch de luxe they was goin'
= to build when they got back TO Be
della. As near as l could come to it,
> there was gOin' to be four Chinese
= cooks always standin' ready to fry
griddle cakes for any neighbors that
might drop in, a dance hall with a
floor of polished mahogany, and not a
, bath tub on the place. What they
= wanted was TO get back among their
old friends. put on their old clothes.
, and enjoy themselves in their own way
for the rest of their lives.