The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1917-03-01
AMICABLY SETTLED
BY n. A. S~lATTENGREN.

49,
lived alone with his son Audry.
CHANGING over the %sun-baked plains, he
noticed something In the distance
which caused him to hesitate and look
more carefully. After a moment, he
went back into the house and came
out with q field glass. Leveling this
at the thing that had interested him,
he saw something that made him
swear, rs he lowered the glass.
"Audry," he shouted.
Hello" came q voice from the shade
Of the shack.
"McLaughlln's cattle have broken In
to the oats again. I'm going over to
give him q piece of my mind"
In a few minutes Ruffy was astride
his pony, raising clouds Of white al.
kali dust, galloping in the direction of
McLaughlin's ranch.
Mclaughlin was busy mending q
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 ont field again"
by heck Is that sOT" said Nc
Laughlln in surprise as he arose.
Yes, that's so, and you'd better get
them out OF there"
Soon several Of McLaughlin's me
were driving out the cattle and repair
Ing the fence.
On the following afternoon Nc
Laughlin noticed that some cattle We're
in his wheatfield. Hastily procuring
his feldglass. 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 a paper.
Hello, Mclaughlin. What's the
trouble?"
Hello, Hank. Nothing much, ex-
cept that your cattle are sampling my
wheat"
"The deuce they are. Darned crit
CPS anyway. Say, Audryl Audry :"
Coming W. What YOU want?'
Hurry up and get my mavericks out
Of McIaughlin's grain. Be sure to fix
the fence for good"
Il got you"
"How about some Sunnybrook2'
asked Ruffy.
mo. ! don't care for any. Thanks,
nevertheless. We must keep the cat.
tie out of the grain If we want to do
any threshing this fall"
you are right" agreed Ruffy. 1.-The
next time your cattle break into my
patch Of choice Silver King oats III
ride owe and shoot you up"
"The same here!" Mclaughlin
shouted us 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 Ruffy in 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
rifle, jumped onto his already saddled
pony and rode away.
At about the same time Hank Ruffy
became aware Of the fact that Nc
Laughlin's 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 nee decided to put it into effect.
About half way between the ranch
houses Mclaughlin and Ruffy met.
Ruffy shouted: "Do you remember
to my oats again?"
Yep, and do you recall what I 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 oyer the sad
die horns and pulled off their outer
clothing. Then after a few minutes
Of spnrring and invective they closed
In on each other and engaged in a 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 1t Is a ridiculous, comical
Scream?" he asked Alga, who had be-
gun to litter. She nodded and laughed
outright, and he Joined In until they
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