The Benson signal., 1917-07-14
CHAPTER !.
Frontier Day.

Frontier Day.
Lefever sat sidewise on the edge
of the table. His subdued whistle.
which seemed meditative, irritated De
Spain more or less, despite his en-
deavor not to be irritated. It was like
the low singing of teakettle, which,
however unobtrusive, indicates steam
within. In fact, John Lefever, who
was built not unlike kettle, never
whistled except when there was some
pressure on his sensibilities.
The warm sun came streaming
through the windows of the private Of
flee of the division superintendent at
Sleepy Cat, railroad town lying al
most within gunshot of the great con-
tinental divide. De Spain, tilted back
in the superintendent's chair, sat near
Lefever-Jeffries had the mountain di-
vision then-his feet crossed on the
walnut rim of the shabby, cloth
topped table. His chin lay on his soft,
open collar and tie, his sunburnt lips
were shut tight, and his nervous brown
eyes were staring at the dull finish
barrel of a new rifle, that lay across
Lefevers lap. At intervals Lefever
took the rife up and, whistling softly,
examined with care fracture Of the
lever, the broken thumbpiece Of which
lay on the table between the two men.
From the Main street side Of the
large room came the hooting and clat-
tering of a Frontier day celebration,
and these noises seemed not to allay
the discomfort apparent on the faces
Of the two men.
"Hang it, John," blurted out De
Spain peevishly, what possessed you
to send for me to do the shooting, any
way?"
His companion answered gently
Lefever's patience was noted even
among contained men-"Henry," he re-
monstrated, Il sent for you because
thought you could shoot"
De Spain's expression did not change
under the reprOach. His features were
so regular as to contribute to this un-
disturbed expression, and his face
would not ordinarily attract attention
but for his extremely bright and alive
eyes-the frequent mark of an out-of-
door mountain life-and especially for
red birthmark, low on his left cheek,
disappearing under the turn of the jaw.
1t was merely strawberry, so called,
and after knowing him, one forgot
about the birthmark in the man that
carried it. Lefever's reproach was
naturally provocative. 81 hope now,'
retorted De Spain, but without any
show of resentment, ''you understand
can't"
"No," persisted Lefever, good-na-
turedly, 81 only realize, Henry, that
this wasn't your day for the job"
The door Of the outer Office opened
and Jeffries, the superintendent,
walked into the room he had just come
from Medicine Bend in his car. The
two men rose to greet him. He asked
about the noise in the street.
'"That noise, William, comes from all
Calabasas and all Morgan's gap" ex.
planned Lefever, still fondling the
rifle. "The Morgans are celebrating
our defeat. They put it all over us.
We weres challenged yesterday" he
continued in response to the abrupt
questions of Jeffries. "The Morgans
offered to shoot us Offhand, two hun
dred yards, bull'S-eye count. thought
we could trim them by running in a
real gunman so I wired to Medicine
Bend for Henry. Henry comes up last
night with a brand-new rifle. This is
the gun. The lever" he added with a
patient expletive, "broke. Henry got
TO shooting too fast"
"That wasn't what beat me-" ex-
claimed De Spain curtly. And taking
up the offending rifle, he walked out
Of the room.
"What do you think, William?" Le-
fever grumbled on. ''The Morgans ran
In a girl to shoot against us-Nan
Morgan, old Duke Morgan's little niece,
And 1 never before in my life saw
Henry so fused. The little Music
Mountain skirt simply put it all over
him. She had five bull's-eyes to Hen
fy's three when the lever snapped. He
forfeited"
"Some shooting" commented JEFF
fries, rapidly signing letters.
''We expected some when Henry un-
slung his gum" Lefever went on with
out respecting Jeffries' preoccupation.
"As 1t is, those fellows have cleaned up
every dollar loose in Sleepy Cat, and
then some. Money? They could start
q bank this minute