Mountain advocate., 1922-11-24
"A
Touch of Realism
By John PALMER
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70. iSii. western Newspaper JniOD.l

Anything to oblige." said Bill Jas
per, the foreman. "If that burned lit
tie snoop, Mr.. oddington. wants to see
real movie life In Shewanee Camp, |
guess we can furnish It."
That's what tn boss was sayin'
yesterday" said Hans Luke. the
sawyer.
"Sure, an that's what Mabel Jones
was a-laughing over" said Pete
Blanc. the top-loader. f
The foreman frowned Mr.. 0dding-
ton, the young novelist, had come to
Shewanea Camp In search Of mate
rial, and had been looking for battles
with wolves, desperate villains, kid
napings, and so forth, and had open
ly expressed the opinion that lum-
ber camp was about as quiet as a
country town
The foreman and Mabel Jones, the
boss daughter, had not been quite 30
friendly Of late, and the foreman had
wished that Oddington fellow out Of
the way. Once or twice Bill Jasper
had seen the pair together.
"It's up to you, BILL" said Mr..
Jones. There isn't man I'd rather
see Mabel marry than you. But
you've got to settle your own account
with Mr.. Oddington."
It was framed up In the bunk
house. All the men were sore on Mr..
Oddlngton. They didn't mind the lit
tie man coming to camp to study their
life; but they did resent his sleeping
out under a patent tent because he
was suspicious of the bunk-house, a
new structure as clean as any hotel
In the country.
SO the stunt was to be pulled off
the following Sunday. French Charley
and Bill Jasper, muffled in furs and
masked, were to be the villains. They
were to dash into camp, hold up the
place, and kidnap Mabel Jones. The
! stableman, Herman. had kindly con-
sented to the loan of two of the
| horses.
OF course there was to be gun-play.
There were several guns and rifles
in the camp, and the boss had a re-
volver, which he used for target prac-
tice. Two more were dug up from
the bottoms of trunks.
If Mr. Oddington didn't rise to the
occasion, Mabel Jones, it was antict-
pated, would swiftly lose whatever
interest she had In him. If he did
well, there was Bill Jasper's hope of
settling an old score.
Mabel, Of course, was not to be told
what was transplrlng She couldn't
be trusted not to tell that Oddlngton
J fellow. Her father swore that he
would keep the plans secret.
"I bet va dat OddingtOn fellah
showse de yellah streak, all right, all
right" oplned Hans Luke.
There was little sleep that Satur-
day night Into the small hours the
lumberjacks waited for the appear
ance Of Bill Jasper and French Char
ley In the sleigh.
| It was four o'clock in the morning
when Mr.. Oddlngton was awakened
from his patent tent by howls, oaths
| and blood-curdllng screams.
Dashing out. he perceived sleigh
drawn up In front Of the boss house.
In it ferOcious furred and masked
figure, with revolver In either hand,
was holding at bay a score Of lumber
Jacks, who, with hands high above
their heads. were edged against the
bunk-house wall.
"Keep 'em upw yelled Bill Jasper.
Then from the boss house ap-
peared Frenchy Charley, carrying the
apparently unconscious form of Mabel
Jones in his arms.
"I got the galr French Charley
yelled. kiss her good-by, boys; I'm
taxin' her to Gods country, where
he-man's got red blood"
Somehow, In the momentary pause
that followed, all eyes were turned on
Mr.. Oddington.
Run? No. The little man leaped
forward-and as to what happened
next all the various accounts only
agreed that 1t happened quicker than
any one had expected.
Bill Jasper awakened few min
utes later with lump the size of a
| pigeons egg on his jaw. French
Charley oplned that one of the horses
must have kicked him. But anyway,
the two were on the ground, and little
Mr.. Oddington was in the sleigh with
Mabel, driving like fury along the
road. and pauslng every now and then
to fire shot toward the camp.
Half an hour passed. Hes gone
plumb daft with fear" opined Hans
Luke. II seen 1t take man that-a-
way sometimes. Makes 'em act kinder
reckless"
An hour passed. Morning came. II
was middle afternoon before the
sleigh came back and drew up in
front Of Mr.. Jones' house.
"Dld you get rid of the banditsT
asked Mr.. Oddington.
"Why--yes, guess they're all gone
- n. tiNUhara