The Red Cloud chief., 1919-08-28
t'Out
West
Copyright. 1919. BY western Nswsp.p.r Usio..
By RALPH HAMILTON

AL
"Yes, and looks and acts like beg
gar. Thought from his talk when he
went out West year ago, he was
going to come back with q fortune
Looks to me as II he has about blown
In all he has on that wild flower fad
Of his" /
"Yes, and he wants to find soma
place to store his rubbishy stun. He
won't turn this place into warehouse,
I can tell you!" &c.
Thus Abel Dallas, Dan Porter and
Nat Wells. They were discussing their
old bachelor relative, John, BristOw,
an odd, generous old fellow who had
sold out quite extensive property hold
ings in Evenden and had gone to the
built high hopes upon his return. for
Bristow was natural born trader and
had quite some capital. Naturally
some one of them would inherit his
fortune. Blasted anticipations changed
to sullen disappointment after Bristow
had made the rounds Of their various
homes, at the first a welcome guest.
Following him came lot Of cases
which he had temporarily stored in q
local warehouse. Their contents were
soon revealed.
II suppose" announced BristOw,
"that have brought back with me tho
finest and most complete collection Of
the fora OF the Rockies ever gathered.
l bought 1t from man who had de-
voted twenty years toward assem-
bling them. Thinks I, there isn't much
I have done for my native town, and
here's the opportunity to make a ten
strike. What I'm going to do is to get
at the collection, classify It, put it in
permanent exhibition cases and present
1t to the public library for the enter
tainment and enlightenment of the
community"
At which Abel secretly snickered.
Dan anathemized the donation under
his breath and Nat covertly sneered.
The idea! The public library was q
struggling proposition, poorly support
ed and housed In small. gloomy quar-
ters In the half attic of rlckety old
store building. r.
The inevitable resulted. The Dallas.
the Porter and the Wells families. flnd-
Ing that there was no opportunity Of
getting anything out Of "the old fell
low" began to turn the cold shoulder
upon him. One by one the three
families ceased their coddling tactics.
He was no longer the hOnOred. Wel-
como guest and. one day when BrlstoW
stated that he must hnd permanent
living quarters and place to keep hiA
Moral treasures, not voice gainsal0
his decision. It was while seeking his
new refuge that one day Bristow met
Nellie Tracy. Her sincere greeting
warmed his lonely heart. She was his
half niece. had recently married. and
invited BristOw to her home. There he
met her husband, about as fine young
man as he had ever known. Both Ar
mold Tracy and his wife were nature
lovers. The second visit resulted in
Bristow taking up his quarters at their
home. They appOrtiOned to him two
rooms. so he could have his collection
ready ut hand to arrange and cata-
lOgue. making 4 minimum charge for
the accommodation because they were
really interested In his specimens and
liked him. and nearly every evening
took an honest delight In helping him
In his work Of classifying the floral
collections.
John BristOw was certainly an ar,
dent devotee Of his engrossing fad. He
talked flowers to everybody, announc-
Ing that when Judge Pearsons return-
ed from q visit to some relatives in
the East. they would begin To- plan aa /,
to getting the collection in charge OF
the public library. This Mr.. Pesrsons
was an ex-judge, q great friend Of
Bristow, and had been the main NOV
or in establishing the Eyenden IL
brary. ... IA, ..,.., ,-..,J ;,
Meantime the Dallas and the Porter
ter and the Wells families barely rec-
Ognized the old man when they passed
him on the street. BristOw went about
In shabby attire and they attributed
this to lack Of money. They sneercd
at the kindly cooperation Of the
Tracys. They deridsd the phllanthropic
impulses OF BrlstOw. There being no
evidences that he had not exhausted his
former means, they regarded him as
unworthy Of any consideration.
And one evening Judge Pearsons
walked into the Tracy home and there
was great cOnfab. He commended
the worthy motives of the old man, and
dilated upon the pleasure and the ed
ucation the floral collection would give
to students and nature lovers.
ut seems shame to place such
treasures In the poor, common quarters
we now occupy" he remarked. 4
"Oh! l wanted to see you about
that" exclaimed the enthusiast In q
lively tone. "You see. I've been wait.
ing to- have you help me plans out q
new building for the library"
"a new bullding!" repeated the Judge
vaguely.
'That's what l am going to do" !
But the cOst-the money!"
"Oh Two pot nlpntv for that crlko