Washington telegraph., 1921-03-11

i''HtN'lu ike. lntm Olltl
TWO guys went on somewhere else. an
80 had easy sailin'. ] couldn't get
next the girl at all. / reckon she
never left the shack; but / got a look
at her an 1t wasn't no trouble to pIcl,
up an acquaintance with Old Dad. He
was tlShtmOuthed, though, drunk or
sooer, an finally had to throw the
iear Of God into him to make him
Spill
You mean you threatened hlm?"
Yep! ] never supposed It would
snake the CUTS out Of him the way it
dld' though. The old fool went plum
batty when l told him what l,nowed.
lie thought | was after him-a detec-
i've, or somethlng-a he just crum-
bled up, without maxim no fight at all.
| reckon he'd been hidin' her so long,
he Just naturally got It into his nut
he was guilty Of some crime. Enyhow,
The next thing | knowed, he'd gone out
back Of the dance hall an shot him
self"
He stopped shaken by a parOxysm
Of coughing. Shelby held him tightly,
and finally this passed away, the man
resting weakly on his arms, but with
mind evidently wandering.
II used to talk all right" he whis-
pered hoarsely gaspIng for breath,
an l could warble some too. Say.
did you ever hear me singT
Yes, Kid, I've heard you"
Sure, you did. Everybody said l
had a wonderful voice. Trouble with
me is ! never amt had no show. If
l coulder got started in opera, I'd
never been out yere getting plugged
by no Mex woman. It's hell, amt it2
But, say; where was /, enyhOw2"
You just explained why Calklns
killed himself"
"Oh, yes, that's It. Well, O. course
l felt bad about the OIL man, but It
wasn't no fault o. mine. Then II
seemed like his shufiln' Off put the
cards right in my hands. 1t sure
proved she was the girl an now she
was left plum alone. It didn't look no
awful hard job for me to shine up an
marry her, before enybOdy else got
wise. Say, had 1t all figured out when
you an Dan Mccarthy horped in on
that fool stunt Of yours, an knocked
my game galley-west. Then l cottoned
onto that job with you. didn't aim
to stay out there punchln' steers, but
just thought I'd see how things turned
out. | sOrter figured It this way-the
girl she didn't care nOthln' for you
she just married yer ter get out er
there, an hav' some place ter live; an
maybe, out there on the Cottonwood,
could make love to her. an some day
we'd skip out together That's as far
as | went at furst, an gOin' out over
them prairies, l got 1t into my head
that she didn't have no objection to a
little Irritation. l was feelin' quite
foxy about it when we got to the
ranch"
The lashes dropped low over Olga's
eyes, and her cheeks burned.
"Then l reckon the devil must er
took charge O the game, fer the min
ute | was left alone out there l run
into a bunch o. Indian cattle thieves.
l knew two Of 'em for they were out
of the Hole here, an all at Onct, 1t
struck me l might just as well have
the job over with. | took II she didn't
care about you, an that little strong
arm stuff would pan out all right. 1t
works with most women. l didn't
have no notion then of humping you
off, Shelby, but the buck who took that
Job cracked you good an hard. Well,
that makes the whole story, don't it?"
He shut his eyes, his head falling
back in complete exhaustion. Only his
labored breathing proved that Mack
lin still lived. Olga held him motion
less in her lap, bending over and soft
ly smoothing back his hair with one
hand. Shelby left them there, creep
ing out through the entrance onto the
rock platform without.
II huu ItdStu ShONlhSt bul thohbh
had fallen to cover the bluff with a
white mantle, obliterating the trail
and leaving the valley below covered,
The sky arched over all dull and gray
Shelby hung out over the ledge
watchfully studying the view out.
spread beneath. II was a peaceful
scene enough, with scarcely a moving
figure visible. He could hardly real
lie that this was the haunt Of out
laws, where only a few hours before
he had been desperately struggling for
life. The daylight revealed no sign
of disorder or pursuit, the only re-
minder of what had occurred being
the blackened ruins Of the burned
cabin almost directly below. Yet
this was deserted and the snow
about appeared untrampled. The
sight gave him hope, yet he felt
strangely depressed and unnerved.
The remembrance of the scene Just
witnessed could not be cast Off.
lie had no reason to question the
truth Of that occasion and 1t had
impressed him strongly. Macklin was
evidently dying; was already beyond
help. Any breath might prove to be
his last, and IL was even then too late