The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1921-02-04
ayou went to ponca for that par-

so l had easy sailfn'. coufdnL get
next the girl at all. reckon she
never left the shack but got look
ut her, an 1t wasn't no trouble to pick
up an acquaintance with Old Dad. de
was tight-monthed. though. drunk or
sober. an finally had to throw the
fear Of God into him to make him
spill"
You mean you threatened him7'
"Yep never supposed Il would
shake the CUTS out of him the way II
did, though The old fool went plum
batty when told him what | kn0wed.
He thought i was after him--a detec-
tive, or something an he just crum-
BLEED up, without maxim no fight az all.
| reckon he'd been hidInF 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 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,
ian could MARBLE some, too. Say,
did yon ever hear me sing?e
YES, Kid, I've heard you
Sure. you did. Everybody said !
had wonderful voice. Trouble with
me Is never amt had no show. If
could'er got started in opera, I'd
never been out we're getting plugged
BY no Mex woman. Its hell. amt ii?
But, say; where was !, enyhow?
You just explained why Calkins
Killed himself"
+ "Oh, yes, that's II. Well, o. course
felt bad about the oil man, but 1t
WASN'T no fault o. mine. Then 1t
seemed like his shuffiin' off put the
cards right In my hands. II sure
proved she was the girl an now she
was left plum alone, 1t didn't look no
awful hard Job for me TO shine up an
marry her, before anybody else got
wise. Say, had II all figured out when
You an Dan Mccarthy horned In on
that fool stunt of yours, an knocked
my game galley-west. Then cottoned
onto that job with you. didn't aim
to stay out there punchin' steers, but
just thought I'd see how things turned
out. / sorter figured 1t this way-the
girl she didn't care nothin' for you;
she just married yer ter get out er
there, an hay' 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, got 1t into my head
that she didn't have no objection to
little Irritation. | was feelin' quite
foxy about 1t when we got to the
ranch"
: The lashes dropped low over Olga's
eyes, and her cheeks burned.
Then reckon the devil must er
took charge O. the game, fer the min
ute / was left alone out there | run
into a bunch o. Indian cattle thieves.
/ knew two of 'em for they were out
of the Hole here, an all at onct, 1t
struck me | might just as we'll have
the job over with. / took it she didn't
care about you, an that little strong
arm stuff would pan out all right 1t
works with most women. 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.
1t had ceased showing. but enough
had fallen to cover the bluff with
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,
watchfulIy 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 few hours before
he had been desperately struggling for
life. The daylight revealed no sign
of disorder or pursuits the only re-
miuder of what had occurred hpinu
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 inst
witnessed could not be cast off
He had no reason to question the
truth of that occasion and It had
impressed him strongly. Macklin was
evidently dying; was already bevond