The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1914-02-12

though there lurked about him the
hint of unwonted ventures. etiquette
forbade its mention. You see, in our
country that which man gives vol
unfairly is ofttimes later dissected
In smoky bunk houses or roughly
handled round Pickering campfres,
but the privacies he guards are in
violate. Curiosity isn't exactly lost
art, but its practice isn't popular nor
hygienic.
Later l found him meditatively
whiting out on the porch, and as
the moment seemed propitious l in
uuired adroitly, did you have good
time In Chicago. Bitter Root?"
Bully" said he, relapsing into
weighty absorption.
"What'd you do?" ] inquired, with
almost the certainty Of appearing in
sistent.
Don't you never read the papers?'
he inquired. with such evident COM
passion that "Kink" Martin and the
other boys snickered. This from
Bitter Root" who scorns literature
outside of the ARKANSAS Printing"
as he terms the Illustrations!
= "Guess IN have to show you my
press notices." and from a hip pocket
he produced a fat bundle OF clippings
In q rubber band. These he displayed
jealousy, and I stared agape, for
they were front pages Of great metro
politan dailies, marred with red and
black scare heads, in which l glimpsed
the words. Billings. of Montana"
"'Bitter Root on Arbitration" "A
7Lochinvar Out Of the West" and
other things as puzzling.
"Press noticesv echoed "Kink"
scornfully. wouldn't that ROPE you?
BE talks like Big Ike that went with
the Wild West show. When punch
e gets so lazy he can't earn living
by the sweat Of his pony be grows bis
hair. goes on the stage busting glass
balls with shot cartridges and talks
about press notices. Let's see 'em,
Billings. You pinch 'em as close to
your stummick as though you held
cards In strange poker game"
swell. ! have set in a strange game,
amongst Aliens" said Billings, disre-
garding the request. land I've held the
high cards; also I've drawed out with
honors. I've sailed the medium high
seas with mutiny in the stokehole.
I've changed the laws Of labor, politics
and municipal economies. went out
Of Gods country right into the heart
Of the decaying east, and by the ap-
plication of a running moose In q
hemp rope l strangled oppression and
put 5000 men to work." He paused
ponderously. I'm an arbitrator"
1.-THE deuce you are" Indignantly
cried "Reddy," the cook. "Who says
SOP 4.... ..
Freddy" isnY up in syntax, and his
unreasoning loyalty to Billings is an
established fact of such standing that
his remarks afford no conjecture.
Eyes; I've cut into the nations peril
and the crying evil good and strong.
walking out from the stinks of the
Union stockyards Of Chicago into the
limelight of publicity via the drunk
and disorderly' route.
you See got those ten carloads
Of steers intt the city all right, but
l was so blame busy splattering
through the tracked up wastes of the
cow pens and inhaling the sewer gas
Of the west side that never got to
sew a newspaper. II I'd "a read one.
-helS's what Id a found-nameiy.
the greatest, stubbornest, riotingest
strike ever known, which means a
heap for Chicago. she being the wet
nurse of labor trouble.
The whole river front was tied up.
Nary a steamer had whistled inside
the six mile crib for two weeks. and
5000 men was out. There was hold.
ups and blood shedding and pieketing.
which last Is an alias for assault with
intents, and altogether it was prime
place for cowman on quiet vaca
tion-just homelike and natural.
1T was at this point that / enters.
busting out of the smoke of the stock
yards. all sweet and beautiful. like
the gentle heroine in the play as she
walks through the curtains at the
back Of the stage.
Nov. you know there's heap of
difference between the stockyards
and Chicago-it's just like coming
from Arkansas over into the United
States. .y.,e
"W"ll. soon as l sold the stock
hit for the lake front and began to
ground sluice the coal dust of of my
palate.
II was busy working my booze by
draulic when l see an arid appearing
pilgrim 'longside looking thirsty as an
alkalt fiat.
Get in says l. and the way he
obey.d orders looked like he'd had
military training. felt sort of
drawrd to him from the way he
handled his ticker; took it straight and
running over. then sopped his hands
on the bar and smelled of his fingers.
He seemed to just soak it up both
ways regular human blotter.
''Y"n zap it up like man. says l.
like Il bowman full growed. Ever been
vest .... ~.
-.