Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-07-19
the Dare nIafns the mighty

pIOUdDly exist Tor MIN only as mem
DRY. While he halted on the terrace,
Starbuck came out of the house.
'The judge is at breakfast" the
owner announced. you're to go in
and wait. What do you want me to
do next?"
when I get through with the judge,
shall want to go out to the dam.
Will you wait and take me?"
"Surest thing on earth"-with
prompt acquiescence And then: SIS
it as bad as you thought it was going
to be, John?"
TITS about as bad as it can be-" was
the sober reply, and with that Smith
went in to wait for his interview with
the Timanyoni's best-beloved jurist.
At nine o'clock, or a few minutes
before the hour, David Kinzie at his
desk in the Brewster City National,
telephoned a message that presently
brought Colonel Dexter Baldwin to the
private room in the bank known to
nervous debtors as "the sweatbOX"
''Sit down, Dexter" said the banker
shortly; "sit down a minute while
look at my mail"
It was one of David Kinzie's small
subtleties to make a man sit idly thus,
on one pretext or another; it rarely
failed to put the incomer at a disad-
vantage, and on the present occasion
it worked like a charm. Baldwin had
let his cigar go out and had chewed
the end of it into a pulp before Kinzie
swung around in his chair and
launched out abruptly.
'You and 1 have always been pretty
good friends, Dexter" he began, land
I have called you down here this
morning to prove to you that [ am
still your friend. Where is your man
Smith,"
Baldwin shook his head. 81 don't
know" he answered. Il haven't seen
him since last evening"
"Has he run away, then?"
The Missouri colonel squared him
self doggedIy in the suppliant debtors
chair, which was the one Kinzie had
placed for him. 'What are you driv-
ing at, Dave?" he demanded.
"We'H tackle your end of it first, :"
said the banker CURLY. 'Do you know
that you and your crowd have come to
the bottom Of the bag on that dam
proposition"
"No, don't"
"Wen, you have. You've got just
one more day to live"
The Missourian fell back upon his
native phrase.
81 reckon you'll have to show me,
Dave" asserted Baldwin stoUtly. "But
go on. You've got your gun loaded:
what are you aiming it at?"
"Just this: I told you weeks ago
that the other people were carrying
too many big guns for you. | don't
want to see you killed off, Dexter"
'T'm no gutter: you ought to know
that Dave" was the blunt rejoinder.
81 know; but there are times when
it is simply fOolhardy to hold on. The
compromise proposition that I put up
| to you people q while back still holds
good But today is the last day, Dex-
| ter. You must accept it now, if you
are going to accept it at ALL"
"And if we refuse?"
you'll go to smash, the whole kit
of you. AS I've said this is the last
call"
BY this time Baldwin's cigar was a
| hopeless wreck.
you've got something up your
sleeve, Dave: what is it?' he inquired
The banker pursed his lips and the
bristling mustache assumed its most
aggressive angle.
There are a number of things, but
| the one which concerns you most, just
now, is this: we've got Smiths record,
at last. He is an outlaw, with a price
on his head. We've dug out the whole
story. He is a defaulting bank cash
Ter, and before he ran away, he tried
to kill his president"
Baldwin was frowning heavily.
''Who told you all this? Was it this
Miss Richlander over at the Hophra
| House.
"No; it was her father. I sent one
of my young men out to the Topaz
to look him up"
"And you have teIegraphed to the
chief of police, or the sheriff, or who
ever it is that wants Smith,"
"Not yet. I wanted to give you one
more chance, Dexter. Business comes
| first. The Brewster City National is
a bank not a detective agency. You
go and find Smith and fire him; tell
him he is down and out; get rid Of
him, once for all. Then come back
here and We'll fix up that compromise
with Stanton"
! Baldwin found a match and tried to
relight the dead cigar. But it was
chewed past redemption.
| Lets get it plumb straight, Dave"
he pleaded, in the quiet tone of one
who will leave no peace-keeping stone
unturned. you say you've got John
dead to rights. Smith is a mighty COM
mon name. [ shouldn't wonder if
there were half a million r so John
| Smiths-taking the country over. How
do you know you've got the right
one?"
Ills middle name is Montague
snapped the banker, land the man
who is wanted called himself j. Mon
| tague Smith, But we can identify
| him positively. Mr.. Richlander's
daughter can tell us if he is the right
Smith, and she probably will if the po-
/ 1iao oSI- hnr 70 -