The evening world., 1911-12-29
Two-Gun Man
The Best Couboy Story IN Ten Years
By Charles Alden Seltzer

~ frowned upon truth and APPLAUSE
the sycophant.
She was not even certain that II B
succeeded In making Ferguson Q reat
living character the world would % "
terested In him. Blu. she had rsaohe0 Z
that state Of mind In which she easOd
very little about the worlds opinion
She. a. least. was interested In him
Upon tho same aftcrnoon-for there 10
no rule for the mere Incidents OF ne
Hoped his pony through the
shade Of the cottonwood. He was 90.
ing to visit the cabin IN the Bear FIAT
Would she be at home? would abe ~
glad TO SEQ him' He could not bring M
to give him ar Affirmative a.
swer to either OF these questions.
Put ~ one thing n" was certatM~nc
had treated him differently from ,
other Two Diamond men who haa =.
tempted 10 win her friendship. Wee ne
to mink then that she cared very ueSIe
whether he came to the cabin o. nctf
He smiled over his pony's mane ~ tae
thought. lie could not help but -
hat she enjoyed his visits.
when he rode up to the cabin he found
IL deserted, but with q smile ho Re-
mounted Mustard and set out over the
river trail. through the cottonwood.
lie was sure that he would md her on
the hill In the Nat. and when he reached
tne e1Ge OF tne tDttOu NoOus oVp0Utt0 ~
hill. he saw her.
when she heard the ciat.er Of biz
pony's hoofs she turned and saw hin.
waving.a. hand at him.
Il reckoncd on hndin' you here" Ae
said. when no came close enough - ~
heard
She .hyly made room for him bsG11s
nor on the rock. but there was mischief
in her eye. 1T seems impossible TO hios
from YOU she said with . prstsnse OF
annoyance. ,
He laughed as he came around the
edge ~ the rock and sat near her. ""Vas
you really tryin' TO hide," he Qussdsasd.
''Pecause ~ you was" he conunust.
..you hadn't ought to nave rot up on
this %hiil-where I could see you Win
out even lookin' for YOU"
But OF course you were not lo09ioS
FOR me-. she observed quietly.
lie caught her case and held NJ
steadily. 81 reckon I wal ioosin' fse
you he said.
'why-why." she returned. sud1saiy
fearful that something had happsnss
to Ben-"is anything wrongF"
returned. but I wanted 10 talk TO
You, an I expected to nnd ysu hsss." q,
There was . gentisness In bis veies
that she had not heard before. . o
auIst sign,ncance to his words that mads
her eyes droop away from hn
'Bu I came here to writs." she sAii.
Hs xraveiy considered her. Arawing
one foot up OF the rock ana elaspans
his hands about the knee. ~ thouehs
q lot about that book" he declared with
Q trace Of embarrassment. "dncc yeu
men an women In Il ! expeee yeu've
made them do the things that you'vs
wanted them 10 DO an made then ~
what you wanted them % NJ.
THAT part 10 right an propse-ehefe
wouldn't b any sense OF aAy . Wvati9'
a book unless they could put Into u
what they though. was right uut
whats been bothenn' me II this: how
can you toll whether the things you've
nave said II they'd had any chance
10 taik7 An how can you tell what
their fesiin's would b when you eet
them dom somethin'f"
She laughed.
'That Il q prerogative which me
writer assumes without question:" she
returned. The author Of . novel mahss.
author himself imagines no would a.;
in the same circumstances" 4.
lie looked at her with amused eyes.
That's Just what I wa trytn' to SET
At" he said. you've put me into your
book. an you've made me do n say
things out of you mind. But you don't
know for sure whether I would have
wrote them. Mebbs u I would have
had someth'i : TO say I Wouldn't have
done things your way at all"
~ at sure you would" Z
We'll, now" hs returned smiling.
you're speakin' as though you was
pretty certain about H. You must
have wrote a whole lot Of the story" y
1T Is two-thirds finished" she ~
turn~i. with a trace OF s~atisfactioa In
her voice which did not escape him.
AN you've got all your characters
doin' an thinkln' things that you thin
they ought to do7" Hts eyes gieamsi
craftily. You got a man n . girl In
ity' 4
"os course"
AN they're goln' to love one an
other?"
mo other outcome 10 popular VITA
novel readers" she returned.
Il expect that outcome Is popular IN
real life too" he observed. "Noboi =
ever hears about u when II turns cut
some other way"
81 cxpect love 10 always . popular
subject" she returned smiling.
Ills eyes were stili %lsnguid. his gaze
eth on the rim or distant nils
"you got any love talk In thsrs-bs.
tween the man an the girlf' he CUES.
/ TONED.
"Of course" -
That's mighty i~ntsrsstin'," he ~
turned. y expect they do . good 1T
OF mushin'7" ~
They do not talk cxtrsvaganuy,'
che defended. .
Then expect Il must be pretty
good" ne returned. Il don't IKE
mushy love stories" And nov he
turned and looked fairly at her. "Of
| course" he said slyfy. IT don't know
whether rs necessary or not. but I've
been thinkin' that to write . good love
story the writer ought to DO In love.
whoever was writin' would know more
about how Il feels TO b In love"
(To BE Continued =