Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1917-05-17

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catch his eyes with your eyes. He
seemed now to regard De Spain keen
ly. as the latter. still attending 10 Nor
gan's statement. replied: "ElpasO tells
a pretty straight story"
"Elpaso couldn't tell a straight
story if he tried" interjected Sassoon.
Il have the statement Of three other
passengers; they confirm ElpasO. Ac.
cording to them. Sassoon-" De Spain
looked straight at the accused. twas
drunk and abusive, and kept trying to
put some Of the other passengers of.
Finally he put his feet In the lap Of
Pumperwasser, our tank and windmill
man, and Pumperwasser hit him."
Morgan. stepping back from the bar,
waved his hand with an air Of finality
toward his inofensive companion :
Here is Sassoon. right here-he can
tell the whole story"
Those fellows were miners" NUT
tered Sassoon. His utterance was
broken, but ne spoke fast. They'll
side with the guards every time
against n cattleman."
"Sassoon," interposed Morgan bel
l~iseren.ly, sis a man whose word can
always be depended on"
ITO convey his meaning" interviewed
Lefever graphically. "Of course, l
know he asserted. earnest to the
point Of vehemence. Everyone in
Calabasas has the highest respect for
Sassoon. That Is understood. And"
he added with as much impressiveness
as if he were talking sense, Everybody
in Calabasas would be sorry to see Sas-
soon put off a stage. But Sassoon is
off: that is the situation. We are sorry.
If it occurs again"
What do you mean?' Numbered
Morgan, r~esenting the interference.
De Spain is the manager, isn't he?
What we want to know is, what you
are going to do about it?' he demand
ed. addressing De Spain again.
There is nothing more 10 be done"
returned De Spain composcdly. i've
already told Elpaso if Sassoon starts
another fight on q stage to put him off
again"
Morgan's fist came down on the bar.
Look here, De Spain. You come from
Medicine Bend, don't you? Well, you
can't bully Music Mountain men-un-
derstala that"
ANY time you have a real grievance,
Morgan, Ill be glad to consider IT,"
said De Spain. when one of your
men Is drunk and quarrelsome he will
be put off like any other disturber.
That We can't avoid. Public stages
can't be run any other way"
"All right" retortcd Morgan. "If
you take that tack for your new mars-
agement, we'll see how you get along
running stages down in this country"
1--WE will run them peaceably, just MS
long as we can" smiled De Spain. "We
will get on with everybody that gives
Us ii chance"
Morgan pointed a finger at him. Il
give you a chance, De Spain, right now.
VIII you discharge Elpaso!"
mo"
Morgan almost caught his breath at
the refusal. But De Spain could be
extremely blunt, and in the parting
shots between the two he gave no
ground. ..
"Jeffries put me here to stop this
kind of rowdyism on the stages" he
said to Lefever on their way back to
the barn. This is a good time to be-
| gin. And Sassoon and Gale Morgan
are good men to begin with" he added.
AS the horses of the two men
emerged from the canyon they saw n
slender horsewoman riding in toward
the barn from the Music Mountain
trail. She stopped in front Of Neal
pin, the barn boss, who stood outside
the office door. McAlpin, the old Medi.
cine Bend barnman, had been pro.
noted from Sleepy Cat by the new
manager. De Spain recognized the
roam pony, but, aside from that, n
glance ut the figure Of the rider, as
she sat with her back to him. was
enough to assure him of Nan Morgan.
He spurred ahead fast enough to over.
henr a request she was making of Nc
Alpin to mail a letter for her. She
also asked McAlpin, just rs DE Spain
drew up, whether the down stage had
passed. McAlpin told her 1t had. De
Spain, touching his hat, spoke: II am
going right up to Sleepy Cat. I'll mail
your letter II you WISH"
She looked at him In some surprise.
and then glanced toward Lefever, who
now rode up. De Spain was holding
out his hand for the letter. His eyes
met Mans. and each felt the moment
was n sort Of challenge. De Spain, a
little s~elf-consclous under her inspec-
ton. was aware only Of her rather
fearless eyes and the dark hair under
her fawn cowboy hat.
"Thank you," she responded evenly.
III the stage Is gone I will hold It to
add something" So saying, she tucked
the letter inside her blouse and spoke
to her pony, which turned leisurely
down the road.
I'm trying to get acquainted with
your country today" returned De
Spain, managing with his knee to keep
his own horse moving alongside Nan
as she edged away.
Nan, without speaking. ~ruthlessly
widcned tho distance between the two.
De Spain un%obtrusively spurred his
steed to greater activity. "You must
have a great deal Of game around you.
DO you hunt?" he asked.