The Forrest City times., 1912-03-08
Lon 5 Catch
tCopyrisht. I9iI. t7 Associ.ted L.terary Prsssl

 trapping that week Therefore 1t chanced that out of the whole com munity at Three Cheers he was the 1 sole male absent when Mrs Buss ar- ! rived. She came without warning, even as stray cat, ard had settled l herself in the inglenook of Three Cheers heartsome hearth by the time 1 Lon came back.
 "She's a fine specimen of a woman. Lonnie,' said Noonan tentatively. yet with a sort of submerged enthusiasm. About thIrty-eight maybe"
 What did x6e come after?" asked Lonnie. who was sober and eau tious individual
 ITO make a living. same as the rest Of us. shes opened up a sort of home bakery
 Its the first hook they put into us" said Bonnie. "Is she fat?'
 shes what an onlcoker might call nicely distributed said Noonan. 1 blithely
 It happened that Lonnie was away most of the hunting season, and only came into camp at intervals. In 1 the spring, when the water burst the ice on the rivers, he came home, and the long wait had only made Mrs. Buss more indifferent to his ex- istence
 IS that him 2e she asked, when Noonan pointed him out stalking ! leisurely up the main street of Three 1 Cheers. his cid eeenskIa cap. with ie5 dangling tail. hiding his face from sight, his three hounds at his heels. The poor fellow
 And why do you call him that. Mrs Buss?' queried DaH. tenderly. Hes a fine figure ot 2 man.
 I'm thinking what lonely life l. is he leads. said Hrs BUss. And dangerous. too. no doubt"
 The lumber trade is more so. I've been shaking hands with death all winter long and no body tc syIapa. thize with ne
 Go long, you artfal creature laughed back Mrs Fuss merrilv. You haven't missed dav coming down here. Go tell Lon Herrick want to see him.
 He won't come
 Try him
 Dan carried the message and brought back the answer dutifullv It vas simple and githal uncompromls- ing
 He says he does his own cooking
 Mrs H1ss' lips sat firmly and then parted in 2 laugh. And her answer was eulgmaEieaI
 He doesn't know me.a she said.
 Where ao he tfaFFerz aad hunters around these parts sell thair belts a'
 There's fellow comes through about thts sine and buys tham ID from Laramie. I can get his name f f you want
 Get it., said Mrs Buss.
 About week later Three Cheers was startled 70 fad an announcement in Mrs. Buss window It stated thas therein vas the agency for Barclay < Burden, furriers. Of Laramie, followed by tempting list of prices for po}ts. Lon considered the situation from all points. It looked strategic 10 him, and yet he vas a modest man. and knew not the limit of d woman,s patience. Several times he spread out his seasons catch and looked | them oyer-deer. bear. fox, wolf. ot- ter and coon skins. He resented Mrs Russ assumption Of authority It had been part Of the yearly excitement. the visit of the buyer to his cabin. and the swapping of stories over the sale ct the second week after the sign ap- peared in the bakery window he went down to the camp bearing his catch with him and look Of resignation.
 lie had purposely chosen mldaIter- noon for his visit The other men would be ID in the timber then. He wanted as few witnesses as poss ble.
 Come right in" called Mrs. Buss cheerily, as his long shadow fell across her threshold She lifted smiling, contented face from her knit ting. Why, hello. Lonnie." she said. Got a pretty good catch there, have nt you?"
 Lon said nothing, but he dropped the pelts
 N4-J AOOAt 0EdIs duQGQ nIE. Buss. And don't get nervous. I'm not going to hector you a bit. Sit down and talk"
 Hadn't we better look the belts over frst?' asked Lon bewiIderedly.
 Plenty of time, I only took the agency so as to make sure you'd have to come here 10 see me. The day got here. and found out you were away, I just switched round and changed my name and went to work. Lonnie, don't you get Ionesome?"
 T do my cooking" Lonnie started to explain, then out of the corner of his eye he caught glimpse of the table with it's freshly baked pies and cakes, and huge loaves of white bread
 Not this kind Mostly corn cakes and bacon