The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-01-12
Copyrights IN Charles seribner,s sons

the magic horse, and dog should disap.
pear, 4 tranlped OFF tn search of Il place
where I could leave my two grips. The
place that offered, and the only one,
was the \ CeIestia,, Hclel and i wen,
dered what sly walg had suggested the
name, which WINS d double pun sunon
the name ut the town and the fact that
the tavern, half restaurant and hall
lodglng-hhouse, was kept by d China
man. as S5
But secured accommodation, and
as i was turning ~ leave che restau-
rant-tasei'n trouble loemed up III the
shape Of the heavy-shouIdered des-
Notwithstanding personssWhom Ii had
seen ut the station talking with the
train conducror.
""I'm onto you with both feet, lie III
marked. boring me with M eye that |
could easily fancy might strike terror
into the heart OF the most reckless
criminal. sItm giyin' you warnins right
now that no funny business don't go III
this mans town; see?"i
I'm quite harmless" ]! assured him.
'Giye me u little information, and I'll
forthwith remove myself from the con
fines of your charming city. How fur
is 1t by wagon-road to Placelville-
Atropta. and how d ! get there9'
My gosh r he said gloolnilyv two
Of you In the same dog-goned week r.
"Even SO. When did the other one
arriveT i
"Day before yistidday. He didn't
look so much bughouse as you do, but.
l reckon he must "a, been off his ka-
whoop, too, r he wouldn't al gone to
"Tropia." S%s1 { {
"Let him rest in peace. Do | get my
information 7" =. e N& n
"Shore: we speeds the partin' guest.
You've come apast your place. Twenty
n mile back and the, way-freight II
git you there to-morruh mornin'." ?
I'm going to Atropia-this after
noon," I Dragged. !
He let me pass, and / tramped up
the street until / found the one livery
stable. Here, again, my fool reputa-
ton had quite evidently outrun me.
The man had idle horses, plenty of
them, as | couldn't help seeing, but /
couldn't hire mi forsleve or money.
When it AIM right down to, the piach,
he wouldn't ever sell me one
BY this time / was In a hot sweat
of impatience to be on my way: to
bridge that tWenty-ones miles before
the elusive clue-if it were the clue
could once more dodge me and vanish,
into thin air. In that frame of mind 4
told the cautious liverynarl, In gentle
phrase, what I thought of him and his
kind, and hurried down to the rail-
road, hoping to be able to catch an
east-bound train of some kind, any
kind, whose crew could be bribed or
cajoled into carrying me to Atropia.
1t was just as l vas about to inquire
Of the telegraph operator what the
ton O up and slapped me in the
face. Up the grade from the westward
q tiny, three-wheeled car, carrying two
men, came spinning along. l recog-
nized 1t at once as a track-insTpection
car, driven by a small gasoline eogine;
ar evolution of the old velocipeue car,
foot and hand-driven and used by road
masters and other railroad men for
making quick trips over short dis
tanees. ~ "a >s%:3yt ill., H.
In half a minute the little c,.r rat
tied up to the station and made a
quick stop. the two men setting the
brakes and hopping off to dodge into
the telegraph office. They left the lit
tie pop-popping engine running at
idling speed, and In a flash l saw nay
chance. or course, IL ! should steal
the car. I'd be caught and arrested ana
hauled off somewhere to lie tried and
fined; but before any of Lsesa unto
ward things could happen, ! should
have settled that biting question of
the ownership of the piebald pony and
the harlequin-faced dog. =
With a quick glance over my shout
der to make sure that the coast was
still clear, | slipped into the driving
seat, jerked the throttle open and re-
leased the clutch. praying feryently
that the switches might be set right
for me at the upper end Of the Angels
yard.