The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1917-03-08
CHAPTER {.


Lcfever sat sidewise on the edge
of the tnbe. His subdued whistle.
which seemed meditatiye. irritated DE
Spain more or less, despite his en-
deavor not to be irritated. II was like
the low singing Of teakettle. which,
however unobtrusive, indicates steam
within. In fact, John Lefever, who
was built not unlike n kettle, never
whistled except when there was some
pressure on his sensiblIties.
The warm sun came streaming
through the windows Of the private Of
fee OF the division superintendent at
Sleepy Cat. a railrond town lying al.
most within gunshot OF the great con-
tinentnl divide. DE Spain. tilted back
In the superibtendents chair. sat near
Lefever-Jeffries had the mountain d.
vision then-hIs feet crossed on the
walnut rim Of the shabby, cloth
topped table. His chin lay on his soft.
open collar and tic. his sunburnt lips
were shut tight aud his nervous brown
eyes were staring mt the dull finish
barrel Of new rife. that lay across
Lefever's lap. At intervals Lefever
took the rifle up and. whlsflIng softly,
examined with care fracture OF the
lever, the broken thumhp,ose Of which
lny on til aDie between the two men.
From the Main street side OF the
large room came the hooting and clat-
tering of q Frontier day celebration.
and these noises seemed not to allay
the discomfort apparent on the faces
Of the two men.
"fIang II. John" blurted out De
Spnln peevishly. "whnt possessed you
to send for me to do the shooting, any
wayf'
His companion answered gently
Lefever's patience was noted even
among contained men-"IIenry." he re-
monstrated, IL sent for you because l
thought you could shoot"
De Spnin's expression did not change
under the reprouch. His features we're
80 regular ms to contribute to this un-
disturbed expression, and his face
would not ordinarily attract attention
but for his extremely bright and alive
eyes--the frequent mark OF an out-of.
door mountain llfe-nnd especially for
red blrtbmark. low on his left cheek,
disappearing under the turn of the Jaw.
IL was merely strawberry. 40 called.
and after knowing him, one forgot
about the brthmark Ia the man that
carried II. Lefever's reproach was
naturally provocative. II hope now"
retorted DO Spain. but without any
show Of resentment, 'you understand
can't"
NO. persisted Lcfever, good ma
turedly, IL only realize, Henry. that
this wasn't your day for the job"
The door OF the outer office opened,
and Jeffries, the superintendent,
walked into the room; he had just come
from Medicine Bend In his car. The
two men rose to greet him. He asked
about the noise In the street.
'That noise. William. comes from all
Cnlnbasas and all Morgan's gap" ex-
planned Lefever. stlll fondling the
rifle. "The Morgnns are celebrating
our defeat. They put II all over us.
We were challenged yesterday" he
continued In response to the abrupt
questions of Jeffries. "rhe Morgans
offered TO shoot us offhand, two hun.
dred yards, bull's-eye count. thought
we could trim them by running In a
real gunman. No l wired TO Medicine
Bend for Henry. Henry comes up last
night with n brnnd-new rife. This Is
the gun. The lever" he added with n
patient expletive, 'broke. Henry got
10 shooting too fast"
"rhat wasn't what beat me-" ex-
claimed De Spain curtly. And taking
up the offending rifle, he walked out
of the room.
what do you think, Willlam?" Le-
fever grumbled on. "The Morgans ran
in n girl to shoot against us-Nan
Morgan, old Duke Morgan's little niece.
And l never before in my ltfa saw
-