The sun., 1916-09-24
|IR, BUCK MURDOCH
LACKS CONGRUITY
% He Quits Arkansas City,
Leaving the Bulk Of
His Fortune.
Bx DAVID A. CURTIS.

By DAVID A. CURTIS.
I, was evident from the first. though
first not even old man Greenlaw
n.elf could see the evidence, that
2,ek Murdoch was Q misht in the
,mpany Of huskies. into which ne
a obtruded himself when he came to
arkansas City.
A, first. as implied. he got along
with the old man excellently well. and
ma four outlaws who made the old
nan's little saloon on the levee their
instant resort accepted his compan.
onship without protest. His jovial
uays, and. above all. the melodramatic
act he performed at the time OF his
aiming their company commended
INN TO their hearty liking. So. for a
limo. there was harmonious hilarity.
uirh links ensued Of o wholly unre.
aned character.
Az time went on. however, Mr.. Muir.
,ck's popularity waned. He had been
rom the beginning incomprehensible
20 al Of them excepting Pearsall. Old
man Greeniaw especially regarded II
A, entirely beyond the limits Of reason
nat q man In the prime Of life. as Mr..
Nurdock certainly was. should hand
oyer almost all his earthly possessions
70 the husband Of his niece, as Mr..
Murdoch had done.
Hatred OF the nephew that would
Otherwise inherit was perhaps
palliatlon Of the deed, but tho old man
could not see that ven a perfectly
-atural hatred was any excus for
such mad behavior. Neither could Jake
w,n,erbottom. nor Jim Blaisdell. nor
100 Bassett, when they came to think
Il over.
10 Sam Pearsall. however. such n
thought never presented itself. His
rewly found uncle's bounty was cer.
,ainly unexpected. He had not for a
long time believed that anybody from
Grenvile. and more especially any
body related to the Murdoch family.
was capable Of anything 70 gracious.
But at the bottom OF his heart he
considered his newly acquired fortune
20 Re q tardy. recognition by an YER
ruling Providence OF the Justice that
demanded some compensation to him
FOR the suTerings he had endured by
reason Of his having married into the
family mentioned.
He would undoubtedly have admit
led, II the point had been raised. that
Mr.. Murdoch was eccentric. Almost
everybody was more or less eccentric
according 10 his way Of thinking. but
he would have resented hotly any sug.
sestion that his benefactor was lack
ing In judgment.
His opinion as to Mr.. Murdock's
,idcnent vas strongly confirmed
vhon the latter refused to mako his
home in the Pearsall household.
Il reckon I'll stay In Arkansas City
% a SPELL" no said. but I'd rather
I've peaceable. Two got enough to
ockipy my mind hatin' Sally's brother.
an II I was to meet up with her again.
row she's done got to be a mailed
woman. mon likely I'd have mon I
Cd tend 10.
Me an her is all that's left O. the
.ambiy now, an I'd a heap drather
keep friendly. Yo' all en- do me n good
turn. Sam. II 20 was to say nothin'
70 her bout me bein' in town."
Mrs. Pearsall was therefore kept in
!. ignorance Of the prosperity that had
come to her husband as a partial In
Identification for what he had n
iured. and without her privity Mr..
Murdoch stayed on In Arkansas City.
but presently. as was said. his popu-
.uity waned.
There was nothing against him.
Not even Bassett, gifted as he was In
The instinct OF strife. could find a peg
N which TO hang n quaryel with n
:, !mpulsive. open handed man who
vas scattering the small remnant OF
lis fortune which he had retained for
IS own use as freely as II 1t were OF
", more consequence to him than It
.-merly had been.
Il reckon l en- al'ays pick up .
win al the poker table," he said care
ess.y when old man Greenlaw re-
mrstrated with him. He had grieved
md shocked the old man by throwing
a half dollar TO a darby.
~ co'se I amt liable 70 do II In
Arkansas City," he continued with .
grin. ~ reckon nigh bout all the cot
'on's done been picked round hyar
sready. But they's other towns. whar
hey amt so much native talent, an I
n go to them afo' I'm stone broke"
And the old man was forced to adj
nit that, although he was not qualified
10 sit In against the Arkansas City
vowd, he might do fairly we'll as a
crosToads piker. Since Mr.. Murdoch
was not worrying there was no occa-
sion for him to do It. but It grleved
nm 10 the heart 20 see money wasted.
That thar To- bits" he said.
thought come in mighty handy II yo'
all was to meet up with three friends
have to set 'em up" he said.
But Murdoch only laughed.
"Time enough to bellyache over
that" he retorted, when 1t ome my
turn TO set 'em up. Just about now I
reckon It's up to the house. They's
been sev'ral rounds took recent"
But the old mar ignored this, though
the others grinned appreciatively.
They knew the old man pretty we'll.
and they liked Murdoch. though for
some reason which they did not UNDER
stand they liked him less than they
lad at first.
4 reckon II must be long o. him
oe!n' kyind O. incongr'ous." said the
old man one day In Murdock's absence.
Pearsall being also away. He don't
pear to c~'ngrue with We uns some-
bow.
That amt to say what It's nothin'
ssin him. reckon ne IA a to!'able
good citizen In Greenville. but Green
'N!e amt nothin' but a country town,
Anr AL. a man what's brung up in
'hH country amt to he expected to
q heruo into no such place as Arkansas