Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-09

l1ater. his jaw set an that req nAI
his standin' on end.
Ibid she say yes? / asks anu "e
looks at me, grtm-like.
"'She did not! he says. shes so.-
ten 80 fond O. Mis- Bascomb tnat sme
won't leave. Says she reckons sne !,
stay and help run tn boardin' mousse.
For a time we sets there, starin out
fetches a groan. AN t. think l got
her into itr he says. An her SO
young an innocent that l couion I
even make her understand why sne
hadn't ought t. stay there. ai9
cheeks get kind O. pink. Not that !.
made a very good job o explainin..
he says, embarrassed. But she says
she's goin' t stay $50,
"'An' how about bein' Mis- Sepul-
vida? asks real careless. He snakes
his head.
"T didn't get a chance t ask her,
he admits. There bein' some twenty
others there all amin ask ner IN
same thing Sayin' which he tramps
out tn door and grabs his horse LOT
a hurry-up trip to his ranch wnlch
dalous. .u..
IAN sure enough. as he says, Ahce
STAYS on at Mis- Bascomb's. an about
two days later q sign goes UP ove,
| the door sayin': Elite Restaurant
| that same bein' an imported word lor
! eatin' house. And when the boys pc
: gan crowdin' in to investigate tney
| found the part Of the house that used
to be given over to drinkin' an caro-
games had been fixed up real nice
| with gray paint and blue curtains, ana
the tables had been put together ana
! the girls all in sassy blue aprons was
waitin' to serve 'em. And right mere
| they found out somethin' ina. SAM
bein' that Mis- Bascomb could COOK.
None O. your fancy fixin's, but steak
an biscuits an ham an eggs an PIE
like mother used to make. With Alice
at th' door T. take tn money it wasn't
long before tn Gulch City Eating
House went plumb out o business. an
Mis- Bascomb had q line waitin' OUT.
s;de ~ her house most any night O
the week t. get a chance at her
| cookin.
..A1Ow. I amt sayin' that Gulch City
~ was any earthly paradise, be-
i cause there's a certain amount o
natural sin in everybody an It's
! bound t break out some time But
I'm here to state that two OF them
| saloons never found occasion to open
up again, an Bud Peters only kept
| his on by caterin' I tn Mexican trade.
! That was partly Alice. O. course, but
i partly because Mis- Bascomb seen MT
! to put q sort o. board shack up next
door T. tn Elite an buy one O these
here motion picture machines. winch
/, ran films every evenin'. an in those
F; DAYS the films was worth lookin at,
let. me tell you. bein' as full o muir
! ders an sudden death as barrel is
beer Out in front o the show sne
! had a place to sell candy and SODA.
i pop that took in most as much as IN
I toll yha
sits behind the glass case. and sells
Jolly pops an tickets to tn show.
/ "Twaan't because any one'd re-
! formed.s understand, but just be-
Z. cause somehow there seemed be
lots more interestin' things dom than
just gsttin' jazzed up on whisky; o
course. nobody cd see into Mis- Bas-
| combs mind, but I reckon she was
| MAXIM more at tn eatin' house
! theatersproposition than she had In
! the oldsdays, an she looked right con-
! tent. End the girls kind O. took to 1t.
| especially after two of EN- got mar
ried tozcowpunchers from up DOG
I "ButssEam never gets reconciled.
Every afme he comes to town. which
| il rfgfiE often, and sees Alice asst
tim AaEs1he cashiers stand with ner
baby biae eyes and her innocent Kind
o. look, The Just stands and glares an
! then comes over to my house to kick
the furniture and swear somethin'
awful. He'd asked her to become
| Mis- Sepulvida by then, explainin'
when he done SO that he wanted to
protect and cherish her for life, an
she'd turned him down, kind o. gen.
tie and regretful, but very firm
Never give any reason. just stated
that such was not her plans. SO that
he hadn't any manner O. hold on her
any more than any o. the other moon