Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-06-29
CHAPTER VII.-continued.


g.
II Smith hesitated, it was only partly
on his own account. He was thinking
again Of the young woman with the
honest eyes when he said: do you
know why l turned Williams down
when he spoke to me the other dayT
Colonel Dexter Baldwin had his
faults, like other men, but they were
not those of indirection.
"I reckon / do know, son." he said'
with large tolerance. you're lame
duck of some sort. But that's our
lookout. BARLEY is ready to swear
that you are not a crooked crook, what
ever else 1t is that you're lodging for.
Besides, there's yesterday"
I'VE agreed to forget the yesterday
incidents" the lame duck reminded
him quickly. And then: II ought to
say NO. Colonel Baldwin; say 1t
straight out, and stick to it. If / don't
say tiff ask for little time-it is
because I want to weigh up few
things-the things / can't talk about to
you or to Williams. If. In the end,
should be fool enough to say Yes 1t
is only fair to you to say that, right in
the middle of the scrap, l may fall
10 pieces on you"
Baldwin was too shrewd to try to
push his advantage when there was,
or seemed to be, a chance that the
desired end was as good as half at
tained. And It was a purely manful
VnA 40 y i'm roN nd
thrust out his hand to the young fel-
low who was trying to be as frank
as he dared to be.
"Put It there, John," he said heartily.
Nobody in the Timanyoni is going to
pry into you an inch farther than you
care to let 'em; and II you get into.
trouble by helping us, you can count
on at least one hacker who Will stand
by you until the cows come home.
Now, then, hunt up your coat, and
well drive over to Hillcrest for a bite
TO eat. had my orders from the
mlssus before left town, and l know
better than to go home without you.
Never mind the commlssary khaki. 1t
won't be the first time that the work
ing clothes have figured at the Hill
crest table-not by long shot"
And because he did not know how
to frame a refusal that would refuse,
Smith got his coat and went.
Given his choice between the two,
smith would cheerfully have faced
another hand-to-hand battle with the
claim jumpers In preference to even
so mild a dip into the former things
as the dinner at Hlllcrest foreshnd-
owed. The reluctance was not forced |;
Il was real. The primitive man In him
did not wish to be entertained. On
the fast auto drive down to Brewster,
across the bridge, and out to the Bald
win ranch, Smiths humor was frankly
sardonic. He cherished a small hope
that Mrs. Baldwin might be shocked
at the soft shirt and the khaki. 1t
would serve her right for taking man
from his Job.
At the stone-plllared portal he got
out to open the gates. Down the
road horse was coming at a smart
gallop. the rider, Corona Baldwin,
booted and spurred and riding a mans
saddle.
Smith let the gray car go on 1t.
way up the drive without him.
80 you weakened, did you? I'm
disappointed in you" was Miss Bald
wins greeting. you've made me lose
my bet with colonel-daddy. 1 said you
wouldn't come"
"I had no business to come" he an.
swered morosely. "But your father
wouldn't let me Off"
"Of course he wouldn't; daddy never
lets anybody of, unless they owe hin
money. Where are your evening
clOthesT
Smith let the lever of morosenes.
slip back to the grinning notch. "The,
are about two thousand miles away
and probably In some secondhand
shop by this time. What makes yoI
think 1 ever wore q dress suitT HI
had closed the gates and was walking
beside her horse up the driveway.
"Oh, / just guessed It," she returned
lightly, "and IL you'll hold your breath
I'll guess again."
'Don't," he laughed.
At the steps a negro stableboy wal
waiting to take Miss Baldwin's horse
Smith knew how to help a woman
down from q sIde-saddle; but the two
stirruped rig stumped him. The younj
woman laughed as she swung out o
her saddle to stand beside him.
"The women don't ride that way ii
your part of the country" she queried
"Not yet"
"Tm sorry for them" she scoffed
And then: "Come on in and meet man
ma you look as II you were dreadin
IL, and, colonel-daddy says, it's alway
best 10 have the dreaded things owe
with"
Smith did not find his meeting wit
the daughters mother much of q tria
She was neither shocked at his clothe
nor disposed to be Historically CRATE
ful over the railroad-crossing inciden
A large, calm-eyed, sensible matror
some ten or dozen years younge
than the colonel, Smith put her, an
with an air of refinement which wa
reflected in every interior detail Q
her house.
The dinner was strictly n famil
meal, with the great mahogany tabl
shortened to make II convenient fo
four. There were cut glass and silve
and snowy hhpery. Out of the past
thousand tentacles were renching u
10 drag Smith back into the net Of tn
conventional. When the table-talk b,
came general. he found himself joinin
In, and always upon the lighter sid