The Holbrook news., 1921-07-22
oYou want to explaia somethIng?"

You want to explain something?"
 Sure; didn't I tell you. I ain't goin' ter leave this game wide open fer Indian Joe to cash in on. You been decent to me, an I'll play white as can."
 He spoke slow, hesitatingly, as though his mind wandered, stopping every moment or two for breath. Once he coughed sharply, an expression of pain on his face, but he went grimly on.
 "I'd been on considerable of bat down there, an was soberin' up. You know the Custer house?"
 "Yes; the old hotel"
 "Well, it ain't no palace; you could throw a cat through them partitions in places; an woke up to hear a couple O guys talkin' in the next room. Furst didn't care what they was say in, an then I begun to take an inter est. Seems one of 'em was a lawyer from Kansas City, or Omaha; an the other gazabo was a rich guy from down East, who was huntin' a niece who had disappeared out in this coun- try-the name was Churchill"
 "Is your name ChurchilI?"
 "Minei Not in a thousand years. That was all lie. Well, as near as I could get hold of the story, this we're girls mother was nursin' in Richmond durin' the war, an fell in love with Tank an married him. She never know'd she was no heiress, an didn't dare go home cause she'd married Tank. Her people didn't get on to 1t for long while, an then, I reckon, they didn't get the story straight. Maybe they didn't try very hard anyhow she'd dropped plum outer sight. Later they found out somehow that she'd married regular army ofti- cer, named Carlyn, an gone West with him. I dunno just what delayed 'em after that, but afore they got these folks located the woman died, leavin' a little girl, an her husband-he was a colonel by that time-put her into Catholic school. Meanwhile, the colo nel got on to some extent, an began to make inquiries down East; but, be- fore he accomplished much, he got mixed up one night in a street fight down in Sheridan, an would bave been killed if 1t hadn't been for ser geant he had with him named Cal kins. He got him home alive, but he croaked later. That left the kid alone at school, but these folks didn't know where"
 'It was in St. Louis."
 "Sure, they found out later, but by that time she'd gone. This we're old sergeant, Calkins, had come with a power of attorney, or something, an got her out. That's where I furst be- gun to get real interested-after this fellow Calkins got into the game. I'll tell yer why I got it into my nut that maybe I'd hit a hot trail, where, if 1t banned out all right, there might be some poodle in 1t for me. I run steers and we used to drive into POnca to blow ourselves. l knowed there was an oP fellow hangin' round there, in McCarthy's place mostly, sorter tin horn sport, they called or Dad Calk- ins; an I'd heard somewhere he had girl Twin with him bout seventeen, or so. Somehow I got to mullin' over this, an finally decided to see what kind of a lead I'd struck. It looked like easy money, If she was the girl, an didn't know yet what was up."
 You went to Ponca for that pur- poser"
 "Just prospectin' like. Them other two guys went off somewhere else, an so I had easy sailin'. couldn't get next the girl at all. I reckon she never left the shack; but I got look at her, an 1t wasn't no trouble to pick up an acquaintance with Old Dad. He was tight-mouthed, though, drunk or sober, an finally had to throw the fear of God into him to make him spill"
 You mean you threatened him?"
 "Yepl I never supposed 1t would shake the guts out of him the way it did, though. The old fool went plum batty when told him what knowed.