The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1911-08-07
THE tanning Of
RED BUTTE WESTERN
fContinued from Second Page)

house, and two Of us were padding
around on a raft made OF sawmill
slabs. One of the two-who always
had more daredeviltry than sense IN
der his skull thatch-was silly enough
to rock the boat and it went to
pieces. You couldn't swim. Howard,
but If you hadn't forgotten that trif1ing
handicap and wallowed In to pull poor
Billy Mimms ashore l should have
been a murderer"
Lidgerwood shook his head
You think you have made your case,
but you haven't. What you say is true
enough l wasn't afraid OF drowning
| didn't think much about it either way,
l guess. But what 1 say is true also.
| There are many kinds of courage and
quite as many kinds Of cowardice. l
| am a coward Of men"
| "Oh, no, you're not; you only think
| you are" protested the one who
thought he knew. But Lidgerwood
would not let that stand.
| 81 know 1 am. Hear me through
and then Judge for yourself. What I
am going to tell you l have never told
to any living man, but it is your right
to hear it. God, Stuart, you don't know
what fear means-the degradation. the
hot and cold chills Of self loathing, the
sickening misery of having your own
soul turn upon you to rend and tear
| you like rabid dog"'
| "No, l don't know what it means"
| said the other man, moved more than
he cared to admit by the AFFECT con-
| fession.
| "Of course you don't. Nobody else
| can know. 1 am paying the price here
| and now. This is the fourth time
have had to refuse a good offer that
carried with 1t the fighting chance"
The vice presidents heavy eyebrows
slanted in questioning surprise.
"You knew in advance that you were
going to turn me down. Yet you came
thousand miles to meet me here, and
you admit that you have gone the
length Of looking the ground over"
Ldgerwood's smile was mirthless.
"a regular recurring phase Of the
disease. 1t manifests itself in a de-
termination to break away and do or
/
respect"
The vice president was still young
man, and he was confronting a prob
lem that annoyed him. He had been
calling himself, and not without rea-
son, a fair Judge Of men. Yet here
was a man whom he had known in
timately from boyhood, who was but
just now revealing a totally unsuspect
ed quality.
How do you know you wouldn't
buck up when the real pinch comes p
he demanded
because the pinch came once, and
l didn't buck up. It was over a year
ago. and to this good day can't think
calmly about It, You will understand
when say that 1t cost me the love OF
the one woman in the world"
The vice president did understand
Being q married lover himself, be
could measure the depth II the abyss
into which Lidgerwood was looking
His voice was as sympathetic as
woman's when he said: go ahead and
ease your mind: tell me about, If you
can, Howard It's barely possible tina,
you are not the best Judge Of your
own act"
TT was in the Montana mountains
said Lidgerwood. II was going In te
do a bit Of expert engineering for bel
father Incidentally l was escortine
her and her mother from the railroad
terminus to the summer camp in the
hills, where they were to join a coach
ing party of their friends for the Vel
lowstone tour We had to drive forty
miles in a stage. and there were six OF
US. the two women and four men. Or
the way the talk turned to stage rob
berries and hoIdups. With the chanc,
or the real thing as remote as a visit
from Mars, 1 could be an ass and a
braggart. One of the men, a salesman
Tor powder company, gave me the
! rope wherewith to hang myself. He
J argued for nonresistance. and l re-
member that 1 grew sarcastic over the
spectacle afforded by a grown man
armed aid in possession of his five
senses, permitting himself to be robbed
without attempting to resist. You car
guess what followed"
"I'd rather hear you tell it," said the
) listener at Superintendent Leckhard's
desk. go on
Three miles beyond the supper sta
ton we had our holdup. couple OF
Winchesters poking through the scrub
pines to represent the gang in hiding
and one lone. crippled desperate to
| come down to the footlights in the
speaking part. You get the picture?"
Yes: I've seen the original
Before anybody realized what was
\ happening the cripple had us lined UP
In a row beside the stage. and / was
reaching for the stars quite as anx
fously as the little salesman, who wal
\ swearing that the twenty dollar bill in
his right hand pocket was his entire
fortune"
Naturally" Ford commented. You
needn't rawhide yourself for that
You've been west often enough and
long enough at time to know the
rules of the game-not to be frivolous
when the other fellow has the drop
on you
Wait" said Lidgerwood. "One min
ute later the cripple had sized us NJ
for what we were. The other three
men were not armed. 1 was. and Miss
El-the young woman knew it. Also
the cripple knew it. He tapped the