Cleveland County herald., 1920-09-23

1 per company. Hes been there two
 months now, and I am informed by
 his employer that old Mac hasn't talk
 en drink in all that time. And
 what's more. he isn't going to take
 one again."
 How do you know?"
 Because I make it my business to
 find out Mac was the finest woods
 boss this county ever knew; hence you do not assume that 1 would lose the
 old scoundrel without making a fight
 for him, do you? Why, Buck, he's
 been on the Cardigan pay roll thirty
 years and I only fired him in order
 to reform him. We'll, last week sent
 one of Macs old friends down to | Willits purposely to call on him and
 invite him out for time;' but Mac
 wouldn't drink with him. No, sir, he 1 couldn't be tempted. On the contrary, he told the tempter that I had prom l iSed to give him back his job if he re-
 mained on the water wagon for one l year; he was resolved to win back his 1 job and his self-respeet." q know what your plan is" Ogilvy l interrupted. "Listen, now, to fathers
 words of wisdom. Didn't you hear me l tell that girl and her vilIainous avun- cular relative last night that I had an-
 other ace up my kimono?" Bryce nodded.
 That was not brag. old dear. I had the ace, and this morning I played it wherefore in my heart there is that peace that passeth understanding particularly since I have just had a
 telegram informing me that my ace 1 took the odd trick
 You will recall that from the very instant we decided to cut in that jump crossing. we commenced to plan against interference by Pennington; in consequence we kept, or tried to keep, our decision a secret However, there existed at all times the possibility that Pennington might discover our benevo- lent intentions and block us with his
 only weapon-a restraining order is sued by the judge of the United States district court
 Now. one of the most delightful l things l know about court is that it i is open to all men seeking iustiee-or 1 injustice disguised as justice Also 1 there is a wise old saw to the effect | that battles are won by the fellow who gets there first with the most men The situation from the start was absurdly l simple. If Pennington got to the dis 1 trict court first, we were lost :"
 You mean you got there first?" ex-
 claimed Bryce
 q did-by the very simple method
 of preparing to get there first in case
 anything slipped. Something did slip
 last night However, I was ready :;
 so all had to do was press the but 1 con, for as Omar Khayyam remarked l What shall it avail q man if he buy | eth a paddock for his stable after his
 favorite stallion hath been lifted?' Sev- | eral days ago, my boy, I wrote a long letter to our attorney in San Francisco
 explaining every detail of our predica- ment; the instant 1 received that tenn pOrary franchise from the city council. 1 I mailed certified copy of it to our attorney also. Then, in anticipation
 of our discovery by Pennington, I in- l Structed the attorney to prepare the
 complaint and petition for restrain 1 ing order against Seth Pennington ct
 al, and stand by to rush to the judge
 with it the instant he heard from me
 Well, about the time old Penning-
 ton started for San Francisco this
 morning, I had our attorney out of bed
 and on the long-distance telephone: at
 nine o'clock this morning he appeared
 in the United States district court; at l nincshfteen the judge signed a restrain 1 ing order foI'hiddipg our enemies to l interfere with us in the exercise of right legally granted us by the city of Sequoia, and at nine-thirty a deputy United States marshal started in an
 automobile for Sequoia. via the over
 land route. He will arrive late tomor-
 row night, and on Sunday we will get that locomotive out of our way and in
 stall our crossing"
 And Pennington"
 "Ah. the poor Pennington Mon
 pauvre Seth" Buck sighed comical-
 ly "He will be just twenty-four hours late"
 You old he-fox!" Bryce murmured.
 You wicked. wicked man!' Buck Ogilvy lifted his lapel and
 sniffed luxuriously at his white carna- ton. tue while a thin little smile played around the corners of his hu- morous mouth. "Ah" he murnured presently. "fife's pretty sweet, isn't it?"
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