Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1920-12-16

lazily, as evidenced by the rustic Of
leaves.
Il reckon ye're right, Hank" he ad
mitted slowly, his speech heavy ant
coarse. mo tenderfoOt amt gOin' tel
make that trail at night. Morn like
ly he's Amin ter COM through the
other way"
'What'll we do, then-ride On?'
After bit; it's early yet, an may
be it'll do no harm to lie quiet awhile
@ut we kin light up, an be com
Portable"
He struck a match, following the
flame in his hands, revealing the
| bearded face of a man of fifty, shad-
owed beneath a soft hat brim. Be
yond him appeared the obscure out
line of the other, mere smudge. A
moment the two pulled away content
edly, Shelby not venturlng to move a
muscle.
Say, Hanley, I've alters played my
hand the best l knew how. but / do
like ter know what the game is I'm
playin' at. What do yer know, any
how?"
The other chuckled in his beard,
rustlfng his feet in the leaves.
easier ter ask about than explain,
Hank" he answered slowly, specially
as there is things 1 don't just cotton
to myself. Mostly pulled the facts
out of that Kid Macklin when he was
drunk, cause he wanted me to help
him. But 1t seems he's only hired fer
the job; it's that guy we're waitln' for
who has got the real dope, and like
wise the long-green."
"Churchill's his name, amt itF
THAT'S the duffer; some big Teller
down East; Virginia, as / 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 it; what started the r. mp
us? What's the idea of stealth the
girl? An just whar do you an me
come in?"
swell, as / figure it, we've got to
make our own medicine. You saw that
outfit go along afore dark-Macklin
an the four reds?"
"Sure; they had w man with
'emT'
bound for WE hole. 81 thought
maybe they'd camp down here, but
they didn't-just kept movin'. Well,
that's one thing you an laid out here
for, to get line on Macklin. The
other thing is that this yere Cornelius |
Churchill is about due also, an is |
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-seew
"Can't say that do Hanley, exact
Iy. What's it all about-the girl?"
mostly, l reckon, an a HI Of a
slice of money down East This is
|
IN army officer named CarIyn bout
the time the Civil war closed, ran
away with a Rose Churchill down in
Virginia, and married her. All he
jared for was the girl, an he never
wen knew she was rich, only that her
amily objected to him, an that they'd
AVE to skip out. l reckon, maybe,
he didn't know it herself at the time,
Tor the rest O. the Churchill family,
or they didn't make no great effort
O find her for some while. Then,
vhen they opened will, they discov-
red that most all the Churchill for
une had been left to this Rose, and
hey naturally becom' mighty inter-
sted. Cornelius, as 1 understand.
yas the brother of Roses father an
he property was put in his hands as
rustee on behalf of the girl. Maybe
e was straight enough guy general
7 speaking, but he had expected to
ct most of this dough after the girl
Ripped out, an was consequently al
lightly hot. Naturally he wanted to
eep the stuff, an he didn't make no
reat effort to locate the heiress. BY
lie time he did learn who she had
arried, Rose died, leaving a daugh-
r. By the terms of the will If she
ed childless the entire estate revert
to Cornelius, and he wasn't the
'rt o. guy to lose that kind o. bet" !
"An' this soldier never suspectSAh
"Not a thing. He was a colol
is time, out at some frontie
Id left his baby to the care oil
latives in the East. There
, fuss made, an so Churchill sou
t affairs slide along. He had the use e
the money, an begun to think n
ere never would be no trouble. OF q
urse he kept line on the husband, 4
It lost trace of the kid entirely"
"Yer mean the colonel never even
ow'd he'd married a rich girl?" h
$50 1t seems. / reckon she didn't
en- know 1t, his wife. But after q
,hile some inkling Of the truth must j.
We reached him, for he went East, (,
d began to make inquiries through d
lawyer. When Churchill heard about p