The St. Johns herald., 1921-05-05

next to him bore upon the .auc ject.
 Shelby stared at the smoking. greaSy mess Outspread before him, prying open a soggy biscuit. and asked question of Mccarthy.
 "HOw'dt the collection come out, Mac?"
 What collection2 Oh, for the gurl; bout five hundred. want 1t, reve- rend?"
 -Four ninety-seven," said the preacher in his deep voice. Quite an assistance for the young woman in this time of bereavement. as I am informed her father left little or no property"
 "PropertyI Old CaIkins! We'll, I should say not And what's more." the saloon-keeper becoming interested, 'I don't see how that moneys goin' ter do her much good. I was just talkin' ter the dominic yere about her. Tom, what is she agoin' ter do? An what he'd this town ought ter do fer | herY
 What do you mean? They done enough, ain't they, with that swell funeral an five hundred bucks on top of it? What more would she expectF"
 "She don't expect nuthin'. That ain't her style. I got an idee she won't even accept this bunch O coin. She's the ornariest heifer I ever saw. But that's got no bearin' on us She's an orphan, left yere in Ponca with no visible means of support. She's a decent girl; nobody ever said nuth- in against her, and the way it looks ter me we got moral duty ter per form. Ain't that it, Reverend?"
 "That is the thought endeavored to convey" returned the visitor from Buffalo Gap seriously. "You heard me, presume, young manY
 "Only the last few sentences" ad- mitted Shelby. 'T don't belong here, but just happened to drift in today"
 Toms ranchin' over on the Cotton wood" interrupted Mccarthy, but he's a mighty straight guy, an I'd like ter have him express his feelin's on this yere idee O yours, Reverend. It's rather a new one on me"
 The preacher strengthened up and cleared his throat.
 "Well, here's the case of a young girl, seventeen or eighteen years old, who has had no experience whatever in life, suddenly left an orphan in this town, without any money or friends, so to speak. Where can she go? What can she do? There isn't a place she could earn a living here, excepting the dance hall; there isn't a place in this town she could call home. That is what I tried to make clear to Mir. McCarthy-that the men of this town ought to give her chance. Mac here's a married man; got a wife and two daughters of his own back East and he cottoned to my idea right away"
 "But what is your ideaT'
 Marriage, sir-marriage honorable matrimony. I even offer my services freely. The girl should be given a husband and a home; this would as- sure her future and relieve Ponca of every obligation. Do you see the point?"
 'Yes." admitted Shelby, yet rather dazed at the project, 'but there would seem to be certain obstacles in the way of such a scheme. No doubt you have considered these. Who. for in- stance, would marry her?"
 ''There isn't likely to be any trouble about that" confidently. 'If she'd fix up she'd be a right good-lOOking girl. besides, she's got five hundred dollars to start with and that's more money than a lot of these gazabos ever saw | in all their lives. I'll bet there's fifty men in Ponca that would jump at the chance"
 Founders and tin-horns"
 "Some of them-sure. But there would be some decent fellows among them. That's about how we figured 1t, McCarthyY
 The saloOnkeeper nodded.
 "There's quite a few of the right kind round Ponca, Tom, who'd be mighty glad to get a decent woman and settle down. I could name a half dozen right now. What ain't so sure bout is the gurl."
 "She might object? Of course she will, and why shouldn't she. You want to know what I think of the scheme, Mac? Well, it's a fool idea and it won't work-rhat's what think of it; it's idi0tic"
 The Buffalo Gap man leaned for ward, drawing in his paunch so as to view the speaker around Mccarthy. The words of condemnation evidently cut, for his face was flushed, although