The Benson signal., 1917-11-10

his arm Off ]!
The surgeon met her rebellion tact
fully. But he told Nan, at last, that
De Spain must lose either his arm or
his life. "No," she repeated without
hesitation and without blanching, you
shan't take off his arm. He shan;r lose
his life"
The blood surged into her cheeks
better blood and redder than the doc
tors had been able 70 bring there-such
blood as De Spain alone could call into
them. Nan, with her nurses help,
dressed, joined De Spain, and talked
long and earnestly. The doctors, too,
laid the situation before him. When
they asked him for his decision, he
nodded toward Nan. "She will tell
you, gentlemen, what We'll do"
| And Nan did tell them what the two
who had most at stake in the decision
| would do. Any man could have done
as much as that. But Nan did more.
She set herself out to save the arm
and patient both, and, lest the doctors
should change their tactics and move
| together ON the arm surreptitiously,
| Nan stayed night and day with De
Spain, until he was able to make such
active use of either arm as to convince
her that he and not the surgeons woulc
soon need the most watching.
Afterward when Nan, in some doubt,
asked the chaplain whether she was
married or single, he Obligingly offered
to ratify and confirm the desert cere-
mony.
This affair was the occasion for I'm
extraordinary roundup at Sleepy Cat.
Two long-hostile elements-the stage
and railroad men and the Calabasas-
Morgan gap contingent of mountain
men, for once at least, fraterniZed.
Warrants were pigeonholed, suspicion
suspended, sidearms neglected in their
scabbards. The fighting men of both
camps, in the presence of ceremony
that united De Spain and Nan Morgan,
could not but feel generous elatiOn.
Each party considered that it was con-
tributing to the festivity in the bride
and groom and the very best each
could boast, and no false note dis
turbed the harmony of the notable
day.
Gale Morgan, having given up the
fight, had left the country. Satterlee
Morgan danced till all the platforms in
town gave way. John Lefever attend
ed the groom, and Duke Morgan stern
ly but without cOmpunctiOn, gave the
II,sI AEoI IN11.1
Kennedy brought a notable company
of De Spain's early associates for the
event. It included Whispering Smith,
whose visit to Sleepy Cat on this oc-
casion was the first in years; George
McCloud, who had come all the way
from Omaha to join his early comrades
in arms; Wickwire, who had lost none
of his taciturn bluntness-and so many
train dispatchers that the service on
the division was crippled for the entire
day.
A great company of self-appointed
retainers gathered together from over
all the country, rode behind the gayly
decorated bridal coach in procession
from the church to Jeffries' house,
where the feasts had been prepared.
During the reception a modest man,
dragged from an obscure corner among
the guests, was made to take his place
next Lefever on the receiving line. It
was Bob Scott, and he looked most un-
comfortable until he found a chance
to slip unobserved back to the side
of the room where the distinguished
Medicine Bend contingent together
with McAlpin, PardalOe. Elpaso and
Bull Page, slightly unsteady but ex-
tremely serious for the grave occasion,
appeared vastly uncomfortable to-
gether.
The railroad has not yet been built
across the sinks to Thief River. But
only those who lived in Sleepy Cat in
it's really wild stage days are entitled
to call themselves early settlers, or to
tell stories more or less authentic
about what then happened. The great
er number of the Old Guard of that
day, as cankering peace gradually re-
asserted itself along the sinks, turned
coach; some of them may yet be met
on the trains in the mountain country.
Wherever you happen to find such a
one, he will tell you Of the days when
Superintendent de Spain of the West
ern division wore a gun in the noun
tains and used it, when necessary, on
his wife's relations.
Whether it was this stern sense Of
discipline or not that endeared him to
the men, these old-timers are, to a
man, very loyal to the young couple
who united in their marriage the two
hostile mountain elements. One in
especial, white-haired old man, de-
scribed by the fanciful as a retired
outlaw, living yet on Mans ranch in
the gap, always spends his time in
town at the De Spain home, where
he takes great interest in an active