The Red Cloud chief., 1920-12-09

tered on the fun he expected to ex-
tract from the preliminaries.
He had already decided on a gen.
eral course Of action; he would ap-
proach those whom he considered
worthy, IN a strictly diplomatic way,
judiciously limiting at the possibility
OF Old Dad Calkins' girl being an heir
ess and suggesting the advantage Of
her being sought In early marriage. 1t
was merely an idea he proposed to
advance, to he implanted In their minds,
that she should not be allowed to es-
cape from the community with all that
money, nor snapped up by some mer-
cenary stranger.
| During the next half hour Shelby
managed to interview Mt least a half
dozen whom he considered eligible
bachelors or lonely widOwers, artfully
selecting those known to be Of some
what sportive disposition, to whom
such a proposition AZ he had to offer
might naturally appeal. A few OF
these treated the suggestion profanely;
others were rather evasive. but the
majority thus automatically approach
ed evinced sufficient interest to yield
much encouragement. His wares had
been brought to good market and Old
Dads girl. rendered particularly at
tractive by a dot" running up into
the thousands, would find plenty OF
eager sultors. Now that the rumor
Of her eligibility was being privately
circulated from mouth to mouth. any
unnecessary delay would only render
the affair more complicated.
He would report at once the sue
cess Of his mission and urge his CO.
conspirators to immediate action. 1t
would sure be a fine sight to see these
fellows lined up while that girl looked
them over deliberately making a
choice. Suddenly his gaze rested on
young man. dejectedly hanging over
the end Of the bar. arguing with
bartender. who only shook his head
impassively. Shelby moved along un-
til he ranged up beside the fellow.
"What's your nameT
"Joe Macklin."
"They call you KID don't they.
round here?'
"Sure; mostly. What are yer drivin'
at, anyhow"
"Why, this. got q ranch over on
the Cottonwood. an come In here to
pick up cow-hand. ! got a half
! breed, but need another. That's
where I stand"
| "What'll 1t payr'
"Forty dollars. You got horse?"
swell, the crltter looks like one
turned out In Powel's corral, but
amt got no money to pay fer his
feed. Yerll have ter blow me some
coin"
"All right; here's ten and I'll pay
Powell for the horse keep. You show
. up here sober at ten tomorrow, or else
I'll leave you here; that's straight"
He strobe away across the biz
crowded room and opened door al
the further end. Stepping across the
! threshold he closed the door behint
t him and faced Mccarthy and the ex
preacher from Buffalo Gap, both O.
9 whom glanced up expectantiy. Shelb!
leaned back against the wall and con
i templated the two. chewing on TIL
d butt of cigar.
! "Well," he said bluntly. "the card
h are stacked. gents; now, all you go
e to do Is to play your hands"
+ "What do you meanf The boys ar
h for III"
J, "Hungry and swapping. talked t
u quite a bunch. The one thing In
p afraid OF Is that some galoot may TAX
I n notion to hunt the girl up befor
e we can get things into shape. That
Is why I hurried In here. We got {
II pull the affair tonight"
The preacher spread his hands, wa,
ing the suggestion aside.
mo, no; that really wouldn't b
" decent, so soon after the funeral. Tn
;, poor girl must be given opportunit
to mourn In peace"
ID "Shucksl 1t will give her somethln
else to think about. Anyhow. tbs
whole bunch will be after her b
" morning. What do you say, MacT
m ~ don't see no objections. tn
OF sooner it's cleaned up the better an
t. there won't be no hard feelin's anon
p the boys II we don't give 'em any tin
to mill around"
70 "You aim to run the bunch In Q
er her with no noticef"
'e, "No; that's up to the preacher. L
'u invented this game and has got to tai
care Of that end Of II. don't kno
ne nothin' bout females and don't al
to learn. Well leave the girl to tn
an gent from Buffalo Gap. Let hi
Us mosey right over and talk II out Wi
wv her straight. He can put 1t sort
to religious-like. Say we give him {
hour an then shoot the bunch over
his the shack; that ought to be loI
enough for him to get the girl In
the right frame Of mind, II she's ev
lid goin' to be. Maybe she'll take II 4
on right and maybe she won't. Y,
m. ready to try your luck. Dominief"
re. ''There Is no question In my mind