The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1917-01-18
AMICAgLY SETTLEl
By +. A sLATTENeREN.

Went back into the house and came
out with a field glass. Levellng this
at the thing that had interested him,
he saw something that made him
swear, as he lowered the glass.
"Audry," he shouted.
Hello" came voice from the shade
Of the shack
"McLaughlins cattle have broken in
to the oats again. Fin going over to
give him piece of my mind"
In few minutes Ruffy was astride
his pony raising clouds Of white al
kali dust galoping in the direction of
MeLaughlin's ranch,
Mclaughlin was busy mending a
saddle when Ruffy rode up to him and
shouted a somewhat angry Hello,
there"
How are you, Hank? Glad to see
YOU"
"Say, your cattle have broken into
my cat field again"
by heck Is that so?" said Nc
LaughIin in surprise as he arose.
Eyes, that's so, and you'd better get
them out Of there"
Soon several of McLaughlin's men
were driving out the cattle and repair
ing the fence
On the following afternoon Nc
Laughlin noticed that some cattle we're
in his wheatteld Hastily procuring
his fieldglass, he saw that the cattle
belonged to Ruffy.
"Aha, tit for tat" he thought as he
saddled his pony mounted and rode
away toward Ruffy's ranch.
When he reached Ruffy's place he
found the latter lounging in his chair,
smoking and reading d paper.
Hello, Mclaughlin. What's the
troubleT"
Hello, Hank. Nothing much, ex-
cept that your cattle are sampling my
wheat
1.-THE deuce they are. Darned crit
ters anyway. Say, Audry! Audry II
Coming up. What you want?"
Hurry up and get my mavericks out
of McLaughlin's grain. Be sure to fix
the fence for good"
Il got you"
"How about some Sunnybrook p
asked Ruffy.
"No. don't care for any. Thanks,
nevertheless. We must keep the cat
tie out of the grain IL we want to do
any threshing this fall"
"You are right" agreed Rufry. THE
next time your cattle break into my
patch of choice Silver King oats I'll
ride over and shoot you up"
1.-THE same lherel" Mclaughlin
shouted as his horse galloped away.
Audry was desperately In love with
Alga Mclaughlin, so much so, indeed,
that he had saved all his money dur
ing the last two years and bought an
automobile because she was very fond
of motoring Almost every evening
they took a spin together over the
plains.
A few days after Mclaughlin had
visited Ruffyiin regard to the cattle, he
noticed with chagrin and anger that
Ruffy's cattle had again broken into
his wheat field. Very angry, he got his
rife, jumped onto his already saddled
pony and rode away
At about the same time Hank Ruffy
became aware of the fact that Nc
Laughlins cattle had again strayed in
to his patch Of choice Silver King oats.
He swore lengthily. After this psychic
relief he remembered his threat, and
at once decided to put it into effect.
About half way between the ranch
houses Mclaughlin and Ruffy met.
Ruffy shouted: do you remember
what said I'd do If your cattle got IN
to my oats again?"
"Yep, and do you recall what also
said?"
"Get off your horse. can't shoot
you in cold blood"
"That's what / say. I'm quite handy
with my fists"
: Consequently the two slid from their
steeds. slung their rifles over the sad
die horns and pulled off their outer
clothing. Then after few minutes
of sparring and invective they closed
in on each other and engaged in reg
ular rough-and-tumble fight. This last
ed for about five minutes.
Too tired to fight longer, they re-
treated to their horses and grasped
their rifles. AT this juncture an auto
mobile emerged from a turn in the
road and sped toward them, so before
the enraged ranchers could shoot at
each other Alga and Audry had driven
their machine between them.
Audry spoke: "You big men are act
ing like a couple of kids. It's the
worst I've ever heard of. Don't you
think it is, a ridiculous, comical
he asked Alga, who had be-
gun to litter. She nodded and laughed
outright, and he Joined in until they
were both convulsed with laughter.
Ruffy and Mclaughlin glowered at
each other sheepishly until their chill
dren quieted down.
Then Audry took Alga by the hand
and said, "She has promised TO make
me the happiest man In the world. You
know what that means" Forthwith
he crushed her In his embrace and
kissed her blushing cheeks.