Macon beacon., 1920-10-29

talllin' ter the dominic yere about her.
Tom, what is she agoin' ter do? An
what he'd this town ought ter do fer
her"
"What do you mean? They done
enough, amt they, with that swell
funeral an five hundred bucks on top
of it? What more would she eXpectT
"She don't expect nuthin' That
amt her style. l got an idee she
won't even accept this bunch O. coin.
She's the ornariest heifer 1 ever saw.
But that's got no bearin' on us. She's
an orphan, left yere in Ponca with
no visible means of support She's
a decent girl; nobody ever said nuth-
in against her, and the way it looks
ter me we got moral duty ter per-
form. Amt that 1t, Reverend"
"That is the thought / endeavored
to convey" returned the visitor from
Buffalo Gap seriously. "You heard
me, l presume, young man?"
"Only the last few sentences" adj
mitted Shelby. 81 don't belong here,
but just happened to drift in today"
"TOms ranchin' over on the Cotton
wood" interrupted Mccarthy, "but
he's a mighty straight guy, an I'd
like ter have him express his feelin's
on this yere idee O yours, Reverend.
It's rather a new one on me-"
Fhe preacher Strengthened up and
cleared his throat
"Wcll, here's the case of a young
girl, seventeen or eighteen years old,
who has had no experience whatever
in life, suddenly left an orphan in this
town, without any money or friends,
so to speak Where can she go? What
can she do? There isn't q place she
could earn a living here, excepting
the dance hail. there isn't a place in
this town she could call home. That
is what / tried to make clear to Mr..
McCarthy-that the men of this town
ought to give her a chance. Mac here's
married man; got wife and two
daughters Of his own back East and
he cottoned to my idea right away"
"But what is your ideaY
Marriage, sir-marriage; honorable
matrimony / even offer my services
freely. The girl should be given
husband and home; this would as
sure her future and relieve Ponca Of
every obligation. Do you see the
pointT
"Yes," admitted Shelby, yet rather
dazed at the project 'but there would
seem to be certain obstacles in the
way of such a scheme. No doubt you
have considered these Who, for in
stance, would marry herr"
"There isn't likely to be any trouble
about that" confidently, "If she'd fix
up she'd be right goOd-looking girl,
besides, she's got five hundred dollars
to start with and that's more money
than a lot of these gazabos ever saw
in all their lives. I'll bet there's fifty
men in Ponca that would jump at the
chance"
"Rounders and tin-horns."
"Some Of them-sure. But there
would be some decent fellows among
them. That's about how we figured it,
McCarthyY"
The saloonkeeper nodded.
There's quite a few Of the right
kind round Ponca, Tom, who'd be
mighty glad to get a decent woman
and settle down. l could name half
dozen right now, What l amt so sure
bout is the gurl."
"She might object7 OF course she
will, and why shouldn't she. You
want to know what | think Of the
scheme, Mac7 Well, it's a fool idea
and it won't work-thats what think
of it; it's idlotic."
The Buffalo Gap man leaned for
ward, drawing in his paunch so as to
view the speaker around Mccarthy.
The words of condemnation evidently
cut for his face was flushed, although
he held his temper
"Thats what Mac here said at first,
but now he believes it will work, and
so do l." he explained gravely. at
isn't at all likely the girl will object
to getting married, provided she hooks
up with a man she sort of likes. The
only problem is to discover the right
fellow"
"And you think you can go out
in this town, rope an hog-tie any
stray maverick you find on the range
an give him the brandin' iron, do
yer?"