The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1921-05-26

II reckon ye're right, Hank" he ad-
mitted slowly. his speech heavy and
coarse. mo tenderfoot amt goin' ter
make that trail at night Morn like
ly he's amin ter com through the
other way"
"What'll we do, then-ride onf"
After bit; It's early yet an may
be It'll do no harm to lie quiet awhile.
But we kin light up, an be COM
Portable"
He struck match, following the
flame In his hands, revealing the
bearded face Of a man Of fifty, shad-
owed beneath a soft hat brim. Be
yond him appeared the obscure out
line OF the other. mere smudge. A
moment the two pulled away content
eddy, Shelby not venturing to move a
muscle.
"Say, Hanley, I've alters played my
hand the best knew how, but do
like ter know what the game Is I'm
playin' at. What do yer know, any
howY
The other chuckled In his beard,
rustling his feet In the leaves.
| Easier ter ask about than explain.
| Hank" he answered slowly, Especially
as there Is things I don't just cotton
to myself. Mostly I pulled the facts
out Of that Kid Macklin when he was
| drunk, cause he wanted me to help
him. But II seems he's only hired fer
the job; It's that guy we're waitn' for
who has got the real dope, and like
wise the long-green."
"Churchill's his name, amt it?"
THAT'S the duffer; some big Teller
down East; Virginia, as l understand
Judge Cornelius Churchill; the
whole story goes a HI Of a long
ways back"
He leaned his head against the tree
trunk behind him, putting away at
the cigarette between his bearded
lips, the dull glow barely touching his
face. The younger man leaned for
ward waiting.
WELL" he said impatiently, shat
amt all Of It: what started the rump-
us? What's the idea of stealin' the
girl? An just whar do you an me
come in?"
swell, as I figure It, we've got to
make our own medicine. You saw that
outfit go along afore dark-Macklin
an the four reds?"
"Sure; they had woman with
emp
THAT'S the ticket, an they was
bound for Wolves hole. ! thought
maybe they'd camp down here, but
they didn't-just kept movin'. Well,
that's one thing you an laid out here
for, to get a line on Macklin. The
other thing is that this we're Cornelius
Churchill is about due also, an is
most likely to blow In along this same
trail. It is my notion to have a word
privatelike with that gent before Joe
gets to him-see?"
"Can't say that I do, Hanley, exact
ly. What's 1t all about-the girl?"
MOSTLY, reckon, an a HI Of a
slice Of money down East. This Is
how the Kid blew 1t to me. 1t seems
an army officer named Carlyn bout
the time the Civil war closed, ran
away with Rose Churchill down In
Virginia. and married her. All he
cared for was the girl, an he never
even knew she was rich, only that her
family objected to him, an that they'd
have to skip out. / reckon, maybe,
she didn't know IL herself at the time.
nor the rest O. the Churchill family,
for they didn't make no great effort
a. ArI hnr III
when they opened will, they discov-
cred that most all the Churchill for
tune had been left to this Rose. and
they naturally becom' mighty inter-
ested. Cornelius, as I understand
was the brother of Roses father, an
the property was put In his hands as
trustee on behalf Of the girl. Maybe
he was a straight enough guy general
~ speaking, but he had expected to
get most Of this dough after the girl
skipped out, an was consequently al
mighty hot. Naturally he wanted to
keep the stuff, an he didn't make no
great effort to locate the heiress. BY
the time he did learn who she had
married, Rose died, leaving a daugh-
ter. BY the terms Of the will If she
died childless the entire estate revert
ed to Cornelius, and he wasn't the
sort o. guy to lose that kind o. bet"
"An' this soldier never suspected
nothing"
mot thing. He was colonel by
this time, out at some frontier post,
and left his baby to the care of some
relatives In the East. There wasn't
no fuss made. an so Churchill sorter
let affairs slide along. He had the use
OF the money. an begun to think
there never would be no trouble. OF
course he kept line on the husband,
but lost trace of the kid entirely"
Eyer mean the colonel never even
know'd he'd married a rich girl2"
$50 II seems. 1 reckon she didn't |
even know It. his wife. But after
awhile some inkllng Of the truth must
have reached him, for he went East,
and began to make inquiries through |
Iox