The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-08-28

an unpaid bill could scarcely account
for.
HE changed his face on the in.
slant. and. assuming Il semblance of
his former pOliteness. he said: Certain.
~. emo | myself will conduct you
to the Geographic office. though 1t IL
vather late"
He led the way up a dingy street.
casting furtive and what seemed to
ME uneasy chances at Il little shack
beside what l took to I've a freight de-
pot. My guide here left he for a mo-
ment, saying. I'll see what can he
done, senior
He disappeared into the shack and
returned Il minute later. Extremely
sorry. ~ but the telegraph Office
is closed
II didn't believe him. so l pushed my
W way into the house and confront
ed a sleepy operator. The line Is
closed snapped that worthy before l
could say a word.
For some reason these two were in
collision against me. The why of it
! couldn't fathom. The %apothecary had
apparently tipped this fellow off-to
what l couldn't imagine.
Accordingly, in distinct chagrin. l
left the two and strobe off into the
night to think my situation over.
But had never been a man to look
too long On the wrong side of a cloud.
so 1t didn't take a great while for me
to catch a CLINT Of the silver lining.
".And this CLINT could almost be said
to be a CLINT in very fact, for as l
ramblcd around those tangled streets
Of that little old town l became aware
of a CLEAN of light upon a hill just
without the village limits.
T add to the cheer. from time to
time I caught the sound of music.
Now, l have never been character
lied by %bashfulness. so, carried away
perhaps by the entire incongruity of
my whole evening thus far. l decided
to add to it. and l headed for the
scene of merriment, the grand house
on the hill.
II entered from a balcony unobserv-
ed, for the dance vas in full swing,
and I'm here to state that when a
Spaniard dances he puts all that's in
him in it. AS for the senoritas I'm 81
lent, for words fail OH occasion.
$50 l will attempt no description of
that little woman. who sat somewhat
apart from the dancers. eagerness
written all over her. OF course she
must dance! l stated emphatically to
myself. What in the world can these
fellows mean by leaving her for q
w~allfower?
without further thought l trotted
up to her and asked for the dance. Al
first she looked up in alarm: then. the
spirit of coquetry c~onquering. she
merely glanced down the hall before
she rose and took my arm.
"When the dance ended l led thu
pretty senorita out on the balcony
where l had observed tables for re.
freshments.
SEATED vis-a-vis we continued the
side. AS W. chatted l. looked up at
her. Her gaze had left me and was
fastened with frozen fear on some
thing behind my back.
81 glanced up quickly, for something
glinted above me. 1t was a pretty bit
Of n s~tiletto. and l could even note
the arm that welded it. There. tat
tooed o the tender skin Of the unde"
forearm. was the device Of a brother
hood. belonged to that order my
self.
But no time was there for IN inter
change OF signals. I reached a quick
hand and caught the wrist above me.
Then l showed forward. bringing my
assailant with n 1unge on to my
back. and, with the impetus Of my
vigorous resistance. over the balcony
rail we both went. landing in the
shrubbery. l fell on top.
The fellow was not seriously hurt.
but without much trouble wrested
the jeweled weapon from his grasp.
and a. he recovered from the shock Of
the fall / leaned toward him and whis-
pered something in his ear.
- ~ htAAC "tt1JuOC Cudukcu. AUU Ill
spite Of his bruises he jumped to his
feet and called to the anxious faces
that peered from the balcony down
into our darkness in the shrubbery:
It's all right, friends. 1 have made
a mistake. Nobody hurt
And then he explained matters to
Inc. He was the son of Don Roderigo,
chief man Of that region. and had had
the misfortune to be ignorant Of the
views Of the United States in such
matters as the too free use OF knife
or revolver. 1t seems he had been
forced to track an enemy to New
York, and there. ignorant Of our view
point and caring little, he had found
him and knitted him after the most ap-
proved Castilian style.
1T had all been about that very girl
had just danced with too. Now. the
friends of the murdered man had even
gone so far rs to get out extradition
papers. and 1t had been rumored that
detectives had set out for the border.
"'Then you took me for a detective