Licking Valley courier., 1921-02-10

kin talk q couple o. thousand, Tom.
AS yer say, that'iI be quite 3 feaiure
an there amt no reasdN why we
shouldn't pull the AFFAIR on ternight."
The delicious and delicate humof Of
the situation was what particularly ap-
pealed to Shelby--the affair promised
excitement and good laugh. He was
even convinced that the scheme might
work and thus really prove benefit
to the girl. II she only chose wisely;
but at present his main interest cen
tered on the fun he expected to ex-
tract from the prellminaries.
He had already decided on gen.
.eral course Of action; he would ap.
prOach those whom he considered
worthy. In strictly diplomatic way,
judiciOusiy limiting at the possibility
Of Old Dad Calkins' girl being an heir.
ess and suggesting the advantage Of
her being sought In early marriage. II
was merely an idea he proposed to
advance. to be implanted 10 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 at least 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 as he had to offer
might naturally appeal. A few Of
these treated the suggestion profaneiy;
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 "dot" running up into
the thousands. would find plenty Of
eager suitOrs. 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.
consplrntOrs to immediate action. II
would sure be a fine sight to see these
fellows lined up while that girl looked
them over, deliberately making
choice. Suddenly his gaze rested on
a young man, dejecteJly hanging over
the end Of the bar. arguing with a
bartender, who only shook his head
impassively. Shelby moved along un.
I'll he ranged up beside the fellow.
"What's your namef"
"JOe Macklin."
! "They call yeu Kid don't they.
round here"
Sure; mostly. What arc yer driVin'
at, anyhow"
1Why. this. got q ranch over on
the Cottonwood. an come In here to
pick up cOw-hand. / got q half.
breed, but need another. That's
where | stand"
"What'll Il psyT"
"Forty dollars. You got horseT'
"well. the critter looks like one;
turned out IN PowelI's corral, bat !
amt got no money to pay fer his
feed. Yer'll 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
ri leave you here; that's straight"
He strobe away across the big
crowded room and opened q door at
the further end. Stepping across the
| threshold he closed the door behind
him and faced Mccarthy and the ex.
preacher from Buffalo Gap, both OF
whom glanced up expectantly. Shelby
leaned back against the wall and con-
templated the two, chewing on the
butt OF q cigar.
"Well." be said biuntly. ''the cards
are stacked, gents; now. all you got
to do is to play your hands"
I "What do you meanf The boys are
Tor itT'
Hungry and swapping. talked to
quite a bunch. The one thing I'm
afraid Of 10 that some galoot may take
a notion TO hunt the girl up before
We can get things Into shape. That's
why ! hurried in here. We got TO
pull the affair tonight"
The preacher spread his hands, wav-
log the suggestion aside.
mo. no; that really wouldn't be
decent. 80 soon after the funeral. The
poor girl must be given opportunity
TO mourn In peace"
"Shucks! II will give her something
else to think about. Anyhow. that
whole bunch will be after her by
morning. What do you say, Mac?"
~ don't see no objections. The
sooner it's cleaned up the better and
there won't be no hard feelin's among
the boys II we don't give 'em any time
to mill around"
"You aim to run the bunch 10 on
her with no noticeT
| "No: that's up TO the preacher. He
Invented this game and has got to take
care Of that end OF II. don't know
hothin' bout females and don't aim
to learn. Wen leave the girl to this
| gent from Buffalo Gap. Let him
inosey right ever and talk II out with
her straight. He can put It sorter
religIous-like. Say we give him an
hour an then shoot the bunch over to
the shack; that ought to be long
enough for him to get the girl into
the right frame Of mind, fishes ever
goin' TO be- Maybe she'll take II all
right and maybe she won't. You
ready TO try your luck. Dominlef"
eThere 10 no question In my mind"
he answered solemRly. ''blt that this
ls the proper method Of procedure.
am therefore resigned to do my part.
] shall undertake the mission In the
high spirit of my calling"