Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-10-21
The ARGUS Daily Short Story
The Only Killing-By F. 4. Mitchell.
Copyrighted. 1910. by Associated Literary Press.

Jake Rodman was a sheriff in the
then territory of Dakota. He had land
ed more desperadOes alive and dead
than any other sheriff, but it must be
admitted that by far the larger num-
Der were dead when captured, for very
few of them could be taken alive. Be
sides Rodman didn't take any chances,
for an officer of the law was no more
immune from these people than any
one else. l once asked him II he had
any shrinking at killing one of them
or any QuaIms afIerward. He replied
that if he had been built that way
they would have landed him instead
of his landing them.
But there was one KILN" he said
that has troubled me ever since. ]
wake up nights some time and get
to thinkin' about 1t and always feel
the same sinlzin' about the heart. 1t
was this way:
Before / was made sheriff I was
workin' on a ranch owned by a gen.
tleman as had come out from the east.
he had been a banker or somep'n like
that, but had given up the business
to bring his daughter. q lit gal
about nineteen, who was threatened
with consumption, out here. hopin' the
dry air would do her good. Havin'
plenty of money the natural thing fer
him to do was to buy ranch and
stock it. But he didn't care nOthin'
about that. except TO give him soIhep'n
TO do. He was bound up in his dauCh-
fnr iT1e srflN- al
Talk about heart winners, Susie could
slaughter more people that way than
any one I ever seen. There wasn't
any one on the ranch or off'n it that
wouldn't swaller a dose O lead fer
her.
II never could tell jist what it was
about her that had this effec', but
allowed the principal part Of it was
that her heart went out to every
body. When they was, hankerin' to
do sOmep'n fer her she was worryin'
because they was putin themselves
out'n their way on her account. Be
sides, delicate people allus attract
strong ones. Susie was so frat she
looked as if the fust good wind that
blew would carry her away. But be-
sides all this thur was somep'n win
min about her that no one could reck-
on on.
Il got ahead of every one else with
her this way: 1 owned a blooded mare
that was as easy managed as a kitten
and could git along like the wind.
Nothln' Susie liked better'n to ride ON
horseback. but she wouldn't ride any
other horse than my Kate. L used TO
go with her lots o. times, fer her IA
ther wouldn't let her go alone and
didn't like to have her go under the
care o. any one else. l was only
about ten years older than Susie and
unmarried; but. laws, I'd as soon cal
culated on maxim love to some gal as
come down from heavenl But this
didn't matter no how, fer there was
young gent as had left college to go
to ranchin' that Susie had met and
tumbled to. In our rides together she
got confidential with me and tole me
all about 1t; tole me when the Teller
hisself didn't know nothin at all
about 1t. In fac, 1 was the only
pusson as knowed it except the little
galherself. -..--
This young mans Oick WalcotD
ranch was a matter O. fifty miles from
ourn. which was known as the
Courtney ranch from Susie's father,
who owned it. But Walcott used to
come over quite frequent, maxim ex-
cuses all the time, to see Susie.
Gosh, how the young Teller was
wrapt up in her! He would any time
have crawled on the ground before
her. She tole me she didn't let on
she cared any more fer him than any
one else, because she wasn't strong
and healthy and wasn't willin' to pull
any man down by marryin' him. Jist
think o. this angel cofdin' this to n
rough Teller like me when nobody else
knowed it..
There was one o. the herders in Mr.
Courtney's employ that was a bad egg.
He TUX some sort O. malice agin young
WalcOtt. I didn't know the reason at