Charlevoix county herald., 1920-05-07

If he expected this shot to take ef-
feet he was disappointed, for the grin
never left Beaton's face.
"Ah, a good joke; a very good joke,
indeed. But you misunderstood; this
\ Is altogether a business matter. This
young woman whom / expect is COM
ing here on a mining dealt is not
love affair at all, assure you"
81 thought possibly you might care
to question me regarding my acquaint-
ance with the ycang woman" West
colt went on, his voice hardening
slightly. "If so, have not the slight
est objection to telling you that 1t con-
sists entirely Of acting as her escort
from the station to the hotel. l do not
know why she Is here how long she
intends staying. or what her purpose
may be. Indeed there is only one fact
I do know which may be of interest to
you"
Beaton, surprised by the language
Of the other, remained silent. his face
turning purple, as a suspicion came to
him that he was being made fool of.
1T is this, my friend-who she is,
what she is, and why she happens to
be here, is none of your d@n busi
ness and If you so much as mention
her name again in my presence you
are going to regret it to your dying
day. That's ALL"
Beaten, glancing about at the uplift-
ed faces of the card players, chose to
assume an air of indifference. which
scarcely accorded with the anger in
his eyes.
"Ah, come now" he blurted forth. II
didn't mean anything; there's no harm
done-let's have drink, and be
friends"
Westcott shook his head
mo, l think not" he said slowly.
'Tm. not much Of a drinking man my
self. and when / do I choose my own
company. But let me tell you some
thing Beaton, for your own good.
know your style, and you are mighty
apt to get into trouble out here If you
use any Bowery tactics"
"Bowery tactics!"
Eyes; you claim to live in New York,
and you possess all the earmarks of
the East side bad man. There is moth
ing keeping you now from roughing it
with me but the sight Of this gun in
my belt, and suspicion in your mind
that l may know how to use 1t. That
suspicion is correct. Now you go back
to your barroOm, where you will find
| tal1. nf bind 70 "a 70
with. It's going to be dangerous for
you to hang around here any longer"
Beaton felt the steady eyes upon
him, but was carrying enough liquor
to make him reckless. He stepped
backward, feigning a laugh, watchful
to catch Westcott off his guard.
"All right, then" he said, "I'll go get
the drink; you can't bluff me-"
Westcott's knowledge of the class
alone brought to him the mans pur-
pose. Beatons hand was In the pocket
of his coat, and, as he turned, appar-
emily to leave the room, the cloth
bulged. With one leap forward the
miner was at his throat. There was a
report, flash of flame, the speeding
bullet striking the stove, and the next
instant Beaton, his hand still helpless
| ly imprisoned within the coat pocket
was hurled back across a card table
the players scattering to get out Of the
way. All the pent-up dislike in West
colts heart found expression in &C
ton; the despicable trick wrought him
to a sudden fury, yet even then there
came to him no thought of killing the
fellow, no memory even of the loaded
gun at his hip. He wanted to choke
him, strike him with his hands.
"You dirty coward" he muttered
fiercely. $50 you thought the pocket
trick was a new one out here, did you
Come, give the gun up! Oh so there
is some fight left in you? Then let's
L