Evening star., 1923-04-01
; '5S, that was what put the skit

oming ranch.
On this particular August morning
I'd ridden over to do some errand for
the old man at the Three Star ranch,
which was one of them dude outfits
where they take people from the east
and make 'em think they're seeing
the real wild and woolly. all at so
much a week. In the ranch kitchen,
somehow or other, / got mixed up
with half-breed cook who was suf-
fering from too much moonshine, and,
hrst thing l knew. he grabbed up
chair and come at me with it, SOS
had to hit him over the head with
poker to put him out, when, all at
once, l see somebody standing in the
kitchen doorway. Boyi Sort Of
small, with lively dark eyes that give
you the idea, somehow. they could
scorch you to cinder If you didn't
watch your step. Cheeks a plnkish
tan, and little mouth that was just
plain aggravating.
"Oh, was so frightened" she says
81 wouldn't have let him hurt you,"
I says.
''No. nor She looked from the
cook up at me. What worried me
was that he might spoil your Greek
profile if he hit you with that chair"
Greek what?"
Greek profile" she says, sort Of
smiling. Just like the statue of
Apollo I saw last summer in Rome
But there wasn't anything Roman
about his nose, and neither is there
about yours"
Thanks" I says, a bit fused. 'T
aim to please"
Your aim is good, I'll say. What's
your real name-Apollo?"
"Benbennick."
TOO long. I'll call you Ben.
whats your name?"
Marianne Mayo-Mary for short.
IL you'd rather"
Marianne suits me o. X"
She give me smile that made me
dizzy.
That being settled, Big Ben.
s'pose we go find aunty and ask her
blessing"
Well, this aunty turned out TO be
regular frozen face. She wasn't
Marianne's real aunt. either. her hus-
band being Marianne's uncle. But
they had all kinds of jack. and Mari
anne. being an orphan, they'd more
or less adopted her.
Greek profiles meant nothing in
aunty's life. Woof-woof for me. But,
say. it would have taken a whole lot
more'n cross looks TO keep me away
from Marianne. Every day we man
aged to sneak away for few hours
x + x
THEY was due to leave for New
l. York Saturday morning, and when
Friday afternoon come and the two
Of us started out for the last ride. we
was both quieter than usual. Mari
anne sighed when 1t come time to
start back to the Three Star ranch
81 'spose this is goodbye. Big Ben"
Honest. I couldn't say thing. Just
set there like the big cub 1 was
Didn't YOU ever think Of coming
east to college?" she says after a
while
why, no." The idea hit me hard.
where d you mean?"
"Oh. everybody in New York has
his pet college," says Marianne. Per
sonally I've always rooted for Prince
ton"
How far's Princeton from New
York;
only an hours ride" And with
that she looked at me kind of solemn,
Ike she didn't hardly know what to
say. But you mustn't do it just on
my account, Ben. Maybe it'd be bet
ter for you to stay out here"
OF course I was all set for Prince
ton then and there. Didn't worry
much about persuading my father to
let me do it. He'd never refuse me
anything.
"Of course I'll miss you" he says
you're all I got left in the world.
Besides, things amt goin' any too
we'll here All want t say to you
is, keep your head. Remember, out
side OF the story books and the
movies, New York and Wyoming
don't mix. Understand"
81 only got one friend in New
York" he told me the day I left for
Princeton. But he's a mighty good
one. Names Asa Zabriskie. If you
ever get into any trouble, look him
up"
Well, l managed to squeeze into
Princeton. The only trouble was,
expected to use 1t just as a jumping
OF place for my girls house on 5th
avenue, which hardly seemed to be
the faculty's idea
The main trouble, though, was that
the New York Marianne wasn't the
same as the Wyoming Marianne. She
wouldn't let me see her as often as
] wanted to.
Tho fpaIrfh TINA TriaH wa
into the Mayo house. some time in
December. there's another bird there,
name of Folger. Made me sore.
But when February came along,
Marianne broke the news to me one
night that she was actually going to
marry Polo Folger.
'T got the DOPE" I says. You're
like all the resta these New York
girls You go after the coin every
time"
grabbed her in my arms. Look
here. IL you think I'm goin' T. let
you Co.
mo, no, Ben-this isn't Wyoming"
And something about the way she
said 1t made me let go Of her like
was paralyzed. rGood-bye." she
says
When I got back to Princeton that
night, found two letters waiting for
ma One from Jack Hibben's Office,
telling me very politely they was
afraid Princeton was cramping my
style and I better try some other
place. The other. from my old man.
read something like this:
gno