The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1921-04-28

| tract from the preliminaries.
He had already decided on a gen.
eral course of action; ne would APP
proach those whom he considered
worthy, In strictly diplomatic way,
| judiciOusly limiting at the possibility
of Old Dad Calkins' girl being an heir
ess and suggesting the advantage OF
her being sought In early marriage. 1t
was merely an idea he proposed to
advance, to be implanted In 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 profanely;
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.
conspirators to immediate action. 1t
would sure be fine sight to see these
fellows lined up while that girl looked
them over deliberately making a
choice. Suddenly his gaze rested on
young man, dejectedly hanging over
the end Of the bar, arguing with a
bartender, who only shook his head
impassively. Shelby moved along I'M
til he ranged up beside the fellow.
"What's your nameT
"Joe Macklin."
"They call you Kid don't they,
round here?'
"Sure; mostly. What are yer drivin'
at, anyhow
"Why this. got ranch over on
the Cottonwood, an come In here to
pick up a cow-hand. I got a half
breed. but I need another. That's
where I stand"
"what'l 1t payT'
"Forty dollars. You got horseT
"Well, the critter looks like one;
| turned out In Powell's corral, but 1
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
I'll leave you here; that's straight"
He strobe away across the big
crowded room and opened a 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 a cigar.
"Well," he said bluntly. "the cards
are stacked, gents; now, all you got
to do is to play your hands"
"What do you mean? The boys are
for it?"
"Hungry and swapping. I talked to
quite a bunch. The one thing I'm
afraid Of Is 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-
ing the suggestion aside.
mo, no; that really wouldn't be
decent, so soon after the funeral. The
poor girl must be given opportunity
to mourn In peace"
"Shucks! It will give her something
else TO think about. Anyhow, that
| whole bunch will be after her by
morning. What do you say, MacT
| "I 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 In 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 It. I don't know
nothin' bout females and don't aim
TO learn. Wen leave the girl to this
gent from Buffalo Gap. Let him
mosey right over 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, IL she's ever
goin' to be. Maybe she'll take 1t all
right and maybe she won't. You
ready to try your luck, Dominlef"
"There is no question In my mind"
he answered solemnly, "but that this