The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-01-02
The Look That
Haunts Him
By HELEN cTANLEY

udTkcE VI new McAICOs " Xiii u uuIO.
Der Of men in my day. and they was
all Of EN- the all firedest villains you
ever see Consequently I don't lay
awake nights seem 'em Iookin' at me
reproachful-Iike. There wasn't u con-
sarned one of 'em that wouldn't a.
killed me If he'd got the drop on me
fust. But there was n KILN that /
won't never git over"
"A manT'
"No." ....
mot q oma or a childr'
mot any o that nuther."
"Well. then. what was itf'
II eve was a good hand to begin
at the wrong end Of a yarn. II you're
a mind to listen III tell you about Il.
but l don't want nc Interruptions"
"Go ahead"
when I was sheriff Of - county.
Artzony. there was a good deal goin'
on in the shape Of crime. with all sorts
Of pussons a-doin' Of 1t. Some Of 'em
would stay and fight 1t out after 4
KILN or a robbery. and some Of 'em
would light out. Them al lit out must
be follered. and. seem they allus stole
the best bosses there was to he had. 1t
wasn't no easy job to catch 'em. l.
was a young Teller then and as fond Of
q good boss as any one. Besides. l had
to have the best In runnin' down,
thieves and cu%tthroats. Another ami
NAL I needed was b~loodhounds. l had
three Of the likeliest dogs you yer
saw. but only one favortte. called
her after Queen Victoria. II ever a
dog loved a man Vic loved me. Onct
when I got shot by q road agent and
was laid up for awhile she stayed
around the door Of my room lookin'
wistful at every one that came out. as
much as to say. is he goin' to hand In
his chips or not? And when she'd
catch sight of me lyin' on the bed
she'd o dreadful.
Zone mornin' early l was Weakened
and told that a desperate named Jim
Rynders had broke into the house Of a
citizen and carried away his daughter.
a gal about eighteen years old. No
body could tell which way he had gone,
and the only way he could be tracked
was by a hound. mounted my horse
Maple was named for Napoleon
Bonyparte-and. lettin' Vic loose. took
her to the house where the outrage
had been committed. She picked up
the scent right away and struck of
westward. I followed on Nap.
"Vic ran along with her o to the
ground till she came to a creek. where
she lost the scent. but picked It up on
the other side some distance below.
shown that the rascal had been tryin'
to throw us OF by walkin' In water.
We followed till night. when. comm to
a wooded place. l saw Rynders ahead.
He had just come to a halt and vas
pickin' up wood to make a fire with.
The gal was sittin' on the ground.
leanin' up agin the trunk Of a tree
lookin' like a corpse. Vic saw 'em just
rs soon as I did and stopped stock still
ike a pointer on SEEM game. I put
my hand on her to quiet her. for
thought ] might get a shot ut the man
before he knowed I was near. Vic
didn't give me away. but Nap did by
splutterin'. Rynders turned like a
fash. but not before I'd sent a bullet
at him. The gal jumped to her feet.
and Rynders darted behind her. the
cowardly rascal thinkin' to prevent my
KILN him without KILN her.
"The way for me tn do was to send
Vic at him. and that's what l did. She
made a bee line for him. and as she
neared him I saw him draw a revolver
to protect himself. He fired at the dog.
and l saw her go ahead on three legs.
She got her teeth into his side and held
him so that the gal could get away
from him. He fired ag'in at vic. and I
saw that he had disabled her. but !
nov had a free shot at him and
dropped him.
II ran down and tried to quiet the
gal. who was hysterical. and partially
succeeded. Vic was lynn still. but l
kn0wed she was alive. for she wa
foll0win' me around with melancholy
eyes.
""The dog saved YOU l said to the
gal. If It hadn't been for her I couldn't
have tracked you
This set the young woman to
thinkin' about the dog instead Of her
self. and she went up to Vic and patted
her. Fright was turned into gratitude.
II called to Vic. but she could not
come to me. A shot had struck her
back and paralyzed her.
"'I'm sorry. miss I said. but the
dog must be killed
"'Killed: Why sof'
ITO put her ont Of misery. She'll
never o again
'"The gal bust out cryin'. l waited
for her to compose herself. then got
her to 60 behind q tree while l did
the business. Vic saw me aim at her
and knowed what I was goin' to do.
The look she gave me stays by me to
this day. NY wife couldn't help lookin'.
and she can't forget It nuther."
Your wife!'
Yes. married the gal"