Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-07-27
AIMS and the
Woman
By REX BEACH.
By REX BEACH.
Copyright by otds L Wood.


..Er-ah-s1n't you heard shout Black
Bart, the outlaw You must live
plumb out Of the world. New York
/ thought 30. Folks down your way
is clean OF the map, amt they1 Well
this Bart Is road agent with leanin's
toward politeness an . - OF an
aim. I beg your pardon no STAN
mered, while his face grow red and
hot. Them little euSses hide around
the back Of my mouth among the hol
Ter teeth Jest hyin' to hop out like
that"
"Go on, please
"Nobody's ever seen Black Bart's
face, though more than one claims
hankerin's for sight Of it. such bein
mostly sheriffs an Wells Fargo direc
tors. He works alone an shotgun
messengers sort Of nles him. They
must be associated with something sac
in his past, for he's acquired such al
aversion to EN- that he's hid cut I've
in eight months"
what a horrblo creature" said the
lady with heat
"Oh, he might be- considerable worse
s'posin' he couldn't shoot straight TO,
instance. He'd pumcturs me some day
AS Il II, bold my nttts uR chsw to
bacoer ar throw him Tho box when
he's through divertin' himself With my
escort. sort Of IKE his naEva too
tackltn' Job singie handel"
HE ought to be shokE Ss3d tho Pes
sengar with emphasiss
"Mebbe SO but couldn't DO It. n
wouldn't be regular. I'm the driver
and drivers amt supposed to draw
cards in the game. Besides, amt 9
fghtin' man. If took shot at Black
Bart an missed he'd just insert his.
self into the landscape an lay for me-
on my next trip"
The young lady studied for some mo
ments.
IT hate to think about robber1es. An
the money I have In the world Is In
that box"
.sWhatT' Shorty squared around.
"Yesl Two thousand dollars"
Suspicion lurked In the driver
voice as with true mountain adroitnssa
he questioned her.
How'd you get an the money!"
cts the first payment for my broth
er's claim. Perhaps you know him
Lincoln Cushing7 He was a trihe Wild
I'm afraid"
Shorty OuDOed maybe her b1othez
was wild and recalled only too well
how the young rascal had Jumped
camp owing him a hundred dollars
He bad been likable scamp for al
that, but had fallen in with the wronl
lot and lacked moral courage to break
away. There had been q shooting
scrape. No one knew just how I,
started nor what became Of young
Gushing thereafter.
The lady leaned over confldentially.
THAT'S not the worst though. I've
heard he drank She said it breath
lessly with open shame.
Her listener didn't seem particularly
Mortified.
..Wen, he ct, too, - recall it now"
YES yes! don't mean that way.
He drank whisky, Think Of it,"
Il often do" said Shorty, licking his
lips. "Why|
1--WE heard he was Dead" she con-
tinued sadly. 1T nearly killed mother,
and as soon as my school closed I
came out to sell the mine. Just think
$1,000 right in that box. Won't that
come in handy for us7'
Shorty lowed It would.
eve can't be too kind to our moth
ers, can we" she smiled ut him
brightly.
II s'pose not What're they like?
4 was drug up on goats milk an cut
my teeth on chewin' tobaccer."
The young lady told him, greatly 10
his interest.
They reached Number Two in q rat
Ting burst Of speed, and az the fresh
animals were bent in the driver In
quired: where's them messengers
Hey! You there"
The stableman started from his star
Ing admiration Of the passenger.
Guess they're late. reckon youn
meet 'em In few miles,"
AS they left the relay station Shorty
admitted that he was uneasy, and
when after few miles the Wells
Fargo men failed to appear his IN
easiness grew. They were threading
deep into the heart Of Bart's stamp
ing ground by now, and at every hill
and every curve the driver strained
ahead for Z glimpse Of the tardy e.
cort-
He concealed his forebodings from
the girl, for he had acquired a strange
feeling for her, a feeling that had
grown rankly with the demise of his
shyness, fostered, no doubt by the
warmth Of her Yentleness and which
was too unusual as yet to permit of
analysis.
Swinging past an elbow in the trail,
the stage rushed rafting down across
gully, thence up gentle rise, where
the horses slowed. AS it topped this
the girl shrieked nuftedly, and the
driver leaned back on the reins, ours
Ing.
~ fhSIlHSIiSCIy ue uppiONeu VI Tue idCt
Nat his passenger did not crouch
gainst him, as any other woman
!vonld under sudden fright, but in.
siltead sat tight and still. leaving him
;free and unllampered
Two figures had risen from the top
Of the bank. armed. masked and SIN
lister. One, the familiar form of Black
Bart, tall. debonair,, hooking; the 9TH
or, stranger whom Shorty had never
seen before. Each carried Winches.
ter the taller man holding his loosely
In his followed arm. the other half