The Red Cloud chief. [volume] (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923, 1920-12-16
CHAPTER ~.
The Proposal.

The Proposal.
He stared back at the closed door,
still dazed but capable of swearing mt
himself for being such a blame fool.
He felt vague suspicion that he had
acted foOlishly and that the girl was
amused at his awkward embarrass-
ment. The interview had proven al
togther different from what he had
anticipated; the tears he had come TO
wipe away were conspicuous by their
absence. and instead Of bringing COM
fort and courage to an extremely NOR
tilted young lady, he had found her
filled with merrlment over the affair
and quite Indifferent as to its outcome.
She was different from anything he
had previously conceived. He had
confidently expected to encounter ra-
Their ordinary young woman of the COM
monplace frontier type-the kind he
had known for years.
She had proven herself nothing like
what he had conceived. She had been
smiling and self-possessed, hooking
him with her good hum0r and treating
the whole affair as a joke. He was
the victim, rather than she. evidently.
In her estimation; and he had actually
felt like raw boy In her presence,
unable to think Of word to say or
what to do with either hands or feet.
How Immediately clean she was and
ready Of speech. He saw again the
picture Of her. sitting there facing him,
her eyes meeting him frankly. Yes,
she had made fool Of him, all right,
and he turned and strobe up the path,
obliviOus to all else but his gloomy
thoughts.
There were numerous people on the
main street, although the principal
groups were before the dance hall and
McCarthy's saloon. Shelby stopped In
the glare OF the former to consider
what he had better do, his mind vibrat-
ing between Joining the others at the
bar or seeking his bed at the hotel.
He was still undecided when two men
suddenly bumped into him and he rec
ognized COwan and "Red" Kelly, both
drunk enough to be ugly and insult
ing. The first stared into his face
with sneer.
HI. Red II here amt the bride
groom" he exclaimed insolently. "Say,
where you been all this timer
Shelby drew back slightly, but held
his temper. his brain instantly clearing.
81 don't hold that to be any Of your
business" he replied coldly.
swell, by thunder. II IL. Just the
same. You butted into this game with
out no warrant. an yer playin' Us
fer parcel of fools. Fer one. ]
don't stand fer II. 1t was put-up
Job. You an her are in cahOots for
that money. She didn't never look at
one O. MS. Your pretendln' to be sur
prised was too darn thin. Hill bet
yer Just come over from bein' with her
an laughln' at us-yer d-n skunk r.
Shelby's face hardened and his teeth
set grimly.
Don't 60 too far. COwan." he warn
ed sternly. n got some reputation as
a fightin' man myself an don't take
everything peaceably. Now. listen to
me, you drunken brute. and keep q
civil tongue In your head. have seen
the girl, but we didn't talk none about
marriage and. what's more. j wouldn't
touch that money. not q cent OF II,
even II ! was to marry her-she amt
that kind. ner ] amt
Gosh, you must think I'm a sucker,
Tom Shelby. What the HI you got
to git married on? I'll bet yer never
seed two thousand before In all your
life. Tell that to the marines--there
amt nobody goin' to marry her ex-
cept for the cash."
"What do you meanT
"Why, she's hOmely as hedge fence.
Red was just sayin' that II she'd a
picked him. he'd have jumped the re-
servation, money or no money. Yer
can't string mel"
"You say she's homelyr
81 sure do. an as damn mean as 81
looks, ! reckon"
Shelby's face was like flint and his
right fist crashed square into COwan's
sneering lips. The fellow went top
plIng over and before he even knew
what had happened the ranchman was
upon him, holding him fiat to the
earth and pommeling with both hands.
II was soon over with. Shelby giving
his opponent no chance to break away.
| interspersing his blows with o trunk