The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1920-12-18

him. But it seems he's only hired fer
the job; IT'S that guy we're waitin' for
who has got the real dope, and like
wise the lOng-green."
"Churchill's his name, amt it?''
That's the duffer; some big Teller
down East; Virginia, as l understand
Judge Cornelius Churchill; the
whole story goes a HI Of a long
ways back"
He leaned his head against the tree
trunk behind him, putting away at
the cigarette between his bearded
lips. the dull glow barely touching his
face. The younger man leaned for
ward waiting.
well" he said impatIently. ''that
amt all of 1t; what started the rump-
us? What's the idea of stealth the
girl? An just whar do you an ME
come in?"
"Well, as 1 figure 1t. we've got to
make our own medicine. You saw that
outfit go along afore dark-Macklln
an the four redSY'
Sure; they had a woman with
emp
That's the ticket, an they was
bound for Wolves hole. / thought
mavbe they'd camp down here, but
they didnt-just kept mOvin'. Well
that's one thing you an laid out here
for, to get a line on Macklin. The
other thing is that this yere Cornelius
t.. Oh II
most likely to blow in along this same
| trail. 1t is my notion to have a word
privatelike with that gent before Joe
gets to him-see?"
Cant say that l do. Hanley. exact
IL. What's 1t all about-the girl?"
MOSTLY. l reckon, an a HI Of n
slice of money down East. This is
how. the Kid blew it to me. It seems
an army officer named Carlyn bout
the time the Civil war closed, ran
away with a Rose Churchill down in
Virginia, and married her. All he
cared for was the girl, an he never
even knew she was rich. only that her
family objected to him, an that they'd
have to skip out. 1 reckon. maybe,
she didn't know 1t herself at the time
nor the rest o. the Churchill family.
for they didn't make no great effcrs
TO find her for some while. Then.
when they opened a will. they dlscov-
cred that most all the Churchill for
tune had been left to this Rose. and
they naturally becom' mighty inter
ested. Cornelius, as understand,
was the brother of Roses father, an
the property was put in his hands as
trustee on behalf of the girl. Maybe
he was straight enough guy general
ly speaking. but he had expected to
get most of this dough after the girl
skipped out. an was consequently al
mighty hot Naturally he wanted to
keep the stuff. an he didn't make no
great effort to locate the heiress. By
the time he did learn who she had
married. Rose died, leaving a daugh-
ter. BY the terms of the will If she
died childless the entire estate revert
ed to Cornelius. and he wasn't the
sort o. guy to lose that kind o. bet"
"An' this soldier never suspected
nOthingT
mot a thing. He was a colonel by
this time, out at some frontier post,
and left his baby to the care of some
relatives In the East. There wasn't
no fuss made. an so Churchill sorter
let affairs slide along. He had the use
of the money. an begun to think
there never would be no trouble. OF
course he kept line on the husband.
but lost trace of the kid entirely"
"Yer mean the colonel never even
know'd he'd married a rich girl?
$50 it seems. I reckon she didn't
even know 1t, his wife. But after
awhile some lnkling of the truth must
have reached him. for he went East,
and began to make inquiries through
a lawyer. When Churchill heard about
this he got scared. / reckon he'd
played HI with the trust funds by
that time. an with the husband on his
trail got mighty desperate. Meanwhile
the daughter was in some convent
school. and not to be found. CarIyn
struck hot trail all right. but. be-
fore he, could take any action, was
shot and killed I'm q street fight with
some rOughs In Sheridan. Nobody
knows for sure just how 1t happened.
but It's my opinion Churchill gor up
the row just to get him out O. the
way. 1t all happened sudden, an I'M
expected, the only fellow with the
colonel at the time being an old SER
geant. named Calkins. CaIkins was
shot himself, hut got awav, and took
care of Carlyn till he died. maybe an
hour later. EnyhOw he kept the fell
lows from getting hold o. any papers.
an I reckon the colonel give him an
idea of what was up"
What makes you think SOP"
'The way he acted afterward.
Churchill had got Carlyn out of the
way. hut he couldn't locate the girl.
He didn't suspect the sergeant at first.
nor for a long times He was a foxy
guy. and stuck to the army for several
years. never maxim move. Just
payin' for the girls schoolin', but
never goin' near her. Then, when
everybody had quit watchin' him. Cal
kins took his discharge papers, and
skipped out, takin' the girl with
him."
How could he do that?"
THAT'S what asked MackIIn. an
he said thev,d finally found ont tho4