The Raymer enterprise., 1917-12-13


there another woman in It. John?'
"Yes; but not In the way you
mean"
"Corry's a mighty fine little girl,
John" said Starbuck slowly. "Any
one Of dozen fellows l could name
would give all their old shoes to swap
chances with you"
THAT isn't exactly the kind Of adj
vice I'm needing" was the sober re-
joinder.
"No; but 1t was the kind you were
wanting. when you tolled me of up
here" laughed the ex-cowpuncher. Il
know the symptoms. Had 'em myself
for about two years SO bad that I could
wake up In the middle Of the night and
taste 'em. Go In and win. Maybe the
great big stumbling block you're wor-
rying about wouldn't mean anything
at all to an open-mlnded young woman
like Corona most likely 1t wouldn't"
III she could know the whole truth
and believe It," said Smith muslngly.
"You tell her the truth. and she'll
take care Of the believing part Of 1t,
nil right. You needn't lose any sleep
about that"
Smith drew a long breath and re-
moved his pipe to say: II haven't the
nerve, Billy, and that's the plain fact.
have already told her a little Of it.
She knows that +"
Starbuck broke In with a laugh.
"Yes; It's shouting pity about your
nerve! You've been putting up such a
blooming scary fight In this irrigation
business that we all know you haven't
any nerve. II I had your job In that.
I'd be going around here totlng two
guns and wondering II I couldn't make
room In the holster for another"
Smith shook his head.
II was safe enough SO long as Stan
ton thought was the resident mana.
ger and promoter for a new bunch of
big money In the background. But he
has had me Swallowed and tracked un-
til now I guess he IL pretty well con-
WINGED that actually had the audacity
to play a lone hand; and q blufiing
hand, at that. That makes differ
ence, Of course. Two days after had
climbed into the saddle here, he sent a
couple Of his strikers after me. don't
know Just what their orders were, -hpt
they seemed to want to fight-ahd they
got 1t. 1t was In Blue Pete's doggery,
up at the camp"
"Guns?" queried Starbuck.
Theirs; not mine, because / didn't
have any. / managed to get the shoot
ing-irons away from them before we
had mixed very far"
you're Just about the biggest. long
cared, stiff-backed. stubborn wild ass
Of the wallows that was ever let loose
In a half-reformed gun country."
grumbled the ex-cowman. you're fix
Ing to get yourself all killed up, Smith.
Haven't YOU sense enough to see that
these rustlers will rub you out In two
witches Of dead lambs tall II they've
made up their minds that you are the
High Line main guy and the only one?'
"Of course" said the wild ass easily.
III they could lay me up for a month
or two"
"Lay up. nothing!" retorted Star
buck. LAY you down, about six feet
underground, Is what meant"
"Pshaw!r exclaimed the one whose
fears ran In far different channel
from any that could be dug by mere
corporation violence. "Thls Is Amer
lea. in the twentieth century. We don't
kill our business competitors nova
days"
Don't WEI" snorted Starbuck. "That
will be all right, too. Wen suppose,
just for the sake Of argument, that my
respected and respectable daddy-in-
law, or whatever other silk-hatted old
money-bags happens to be paying
Crawford Stanton's salary and commits
sion, wouldn't send out an order to
have you killed Off. Maybe Stanton,
himself, wouldn't stand for 1t II you'd
put 1t that barefaced. But daddy-in-
law, and Stanton, and all the others,
hire blacklegs and sharpers and gun
men and thugs. And every once In a
while somebody takes wink for nod
and bang goes gum"
swell, what's the answer?" said
Pete Simms.'
"Tote an arsenal. yourself, and be
ready to shoot first and ask questions
afterward. That's the only way you
can live peaceably with such men as
Jake Boogerfeld and Lanterby and
Simms."
Smith got out Of his chair and took
turn up and down the length Of the
room. When he came back to stand
before Starbuck, he said: II did that.
Billy. I've been carrying a gun for
week and more; not for these ditch
pirates, but for somebody else. The
other night. when I was out at Hill.
crest, Corona happened to see 1t. I'm
not going to tell you what she said,
but when ! came back to town the next
morning, l chucked the gun into a desk
drawer. And hope I'm going to be
man enough not to wear 1t again."
Starbuck dropped the subject alb
ruptly and looked at his watch.
"You liked to have done 1t, pulling
me of up here" he remarked. "Tm due