The Adair County news., 1922-03-07

whats the Idea Of SteaIin' the GirI7"
us2 What's the idea Of stealin' the
girl? An just whar do you an me
come In"
swell, as l 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 a woman with
emf"
That's the ticket, an they was
bound for Wolves hole. l 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 Macklln. The
other thing is that this yere 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-seeT
Cant say that do. Hanley, exact
ly. What's II all about-the girl?"
Mostly, reckon, an 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 a 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 it herself at the time,
nor the rest o. the Churchill family,
for they didn't make no great effort
to find her for some while. Then.
when they opened a 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 1 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?"
'Not a thing. He was a 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"
"Yer mean the colonel never even
know'd he'd married a rich girl?"
$50 it seems. 1 reckon she didn't
even know it, his wife. But after
awhile some inkling Of the truth must
have reached him, for he went East,
and began to make Inquiries through
a lawyer. When Churchill heard about
this he got scared. reckon he'd
played hi with the trust funds by
that time, an with the husband on his
trail got mighty desperate. Meanwhile
the daughter was in some convent
school, and not to be found. Carlyn
struck a hot trail all right, but, be-
fore he could take any action, was
shot and killed in street fight with
some rOughs in Sheridan. Nobody
knows for sure just how It happened,
but it's my opinion Churchill got up
the row just to get him out O. the
way. 1t all happened sudden, an un-
expected, the only fellow with the
colonel at the time being an old ser
geant, named Calkins. Calkins was
shot himself, but got away, and took
care of Carlyn till he died, maybe an
hour later. Enyhow he kept the fel-