Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-06-21

House, and had told him just a little,
enough to merely hint at his condition.
You see how it stacks up. I'm in a
fair way to come out of this the big
geSt ScOundrel alive-the piker who
takes advantage of the innocence of a
good girl. I'm not the man she thinks
[ am. [ am standing over a volcano pit
every minute of the day. If it blows
up, I'm gone, obiterated, wiped out"
''Is it aiming to blow up?' asked
Starbuck sagely.
81 don't know any more about that
than you do. It is the kind that usual
ly does blow up sooner or later. I've
prepared for it as we'll as I can. What
Colonel Baldwin and the rest of you
needed was a financial manager, and
TimanyOni High Line has its fighting
chance-which was more than Timan-
yOni Ditch had when [ took hold If
should drop out now, you and Maxwell
and the colonel and Kinzie could go on
and make the fight; but that doesn't
help out in this other matter"
Starbuck smoked in silence for a
long minute or two before he said: ''Is
there another woman in it, John?"
eyes; but not in the way you
mean"
"Corry's a mighty fine little girl,
john" said Starbuck slowly. "Any
one of a dozen fellows 1 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 it was the kind you were
wanting, when you tolled me off up
here" laughed the ex-coWpuncher. 81
know the symptoms. Had 'em myself
for about two years SO bad that could
wake up in the middle of the night and
taste 'em. Go in and win. Maybe the
great big stumbling-blO you're wOr-
rying about wouldn't mean anything
at all to an open-minded young woman
like Corona; most likely it wouldn't"
eff she could know the whole truth
and believe it," said Smith musingly.
you tell her the truth, and she'll
take care Of the believing part of it, |
all right. You needn't lose any sleep
about that
Smith drew "a long breath and re-
moved his pipe to say: 81 haven't the |
nerve, Billy, and that's the plain fact. |
l have already told her a little of it. |
She knows that IL
Starbuck broke In with a laugh. |
"Yes; it's a 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. If I had your job in that, |
I'd be going around here toting two |
guns and wondering if couldn't make |
room in the holster for another"
Smith shook his head.
Il was safe enough so long as Stan |
ton thought I 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 IN
til now L guess he is pretty well con-
WINGED that actually had the audacity
TO play lone hand; and a bIufing
hand, at that. That makes a differ
ence, of course. Two days after I had
climbed into the saddle here. he sent a
couple Of his strikers after me. [ don't
know just what their orders were, but
they seemed to want to fght-and they
got it. 1t was in Blue Petes doggery,
up at the camp"
Guns" queried Starbuck.
Theirs; not mine, because I didn't
have any. I managed to get the shoot
away from them before we
had mixed very far
You're just about the biggest, long
cared, stif-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 I'D. Smith.
you sense enough to see that
these rustlers will rub you out in two
witches Of dead lambs tail if 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.