The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-11-11

The morning that he went away she
kissed him good-by for the first time
in many, many months.
Back into the hills of that section
of Kentucky made famous by John
Fox, Jr., and Curt Jet, Allen sought
surcease from his domestic infelicity.
There, walled in by mountains and
feudists' suspicion, he began the her.
mitage that was to give the woman of
his choice the legal grounds for q
new lease of life. As a cloak for his
presence in the hills he conducted q
writing school" in the rude, log
schoolhouse where the young idea
of Kentucy learned to shoot.
Much of the time when he was not
instructing the mountaineers in the
gentle art of signing their names, he
loafed around the store Of Newt Nc
Kissick, who survived and prospered
through his ability to remain neutral
during the feuds Of a quarter century.
When Newt went into the noun
tains he took with him a checker
board. Perhaps this had been par.
TALLY responsible for his success and
continued health. Champions Of the
hills had practiced on that checker
board for the twenty-five years that
Newt had sold ammunition to the
men in the hills.
In the long winter evenings the
peaceful spirits of the hills met be-
hind the stove in Nevis store and
played checkers. History was made
in those Titanic struggles, and any
man in the mountains, who is so reck.
less as to talk about those things,
could take you out in the Pisgah
church-yard and show you two rows
of graves, due to a little dispute be-
tween Sidney Luman and Amos Kin.
neson, over a checker jump in Nevis
store.
That greasy board was an institu.
ton in the mountains and Allen learn
ed the game. His work, at first anna.
flourish to such an extent that his Of.
forts provided hilarious amusement
for the ~mountaineers, grew more sub
tie, until the champions of the circle
were defeated by the "writin' teacher
from the settlements"
When Bert Proctor, champion OF
Laurel county, asked the checker con.
tingent of Nevis customers If they
could provide a checker player who
would meet him for the championship
of the only republican district in Ken.
lucky, Allen was chosen for the con.
test, partly because of his genius in
the double corners" and partially ow.
ing to the innate dread of a native
K%entuckian of being perforated by
the missiles of a friendly enemy.
The day for the game arrived-it
was spring in Kentucky and the rhod-
odendruns-(see 1.-The Little Shepherd
of Kingdom Come for a further de-
scription).
Anyway the checker champions of
the hills met. The game began in
the open air of Newt McKissick's
store porch. Around the players were
grouped the experts of the hills and
each man had his coterie of admirers
who watched the silent, straining con-
test. Caution characterized each move
of the players. Few words were spo-
ken and the feeling of tenseness pre-
vailed even among the spectators.
Honors were closely even between
the players. It was a struggle Of gi-
ants and one had no advantage of the
other.
When the game had reached a stage
where each man was laying secret
traps for the other, Bert Proctor
avoided a dangerous pitfall with the
remark: "That's the 10Y I always
fool my wife with"
Allen arose, spilling the men" in
every direction. He made no explana.
ton of his conduct in leaving a con.
test in which he was faring so bril-.
liantly.
That night he left the hills and four
days later walked into his wife's pres.
nee in the little bungalow that his
father had given them.
He opened his suitcase and drew
forth an old, greasy checkerboard and
a full set of men," black and white
and they lived happily ever after.
wards.