The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1923-12-06

1 " 0C. LII lOPih DAi IL QOuUTln
Il amt, nary a doubt" Uncle Mel
! chuckled. "Your Black Bogus"-tb,
J puzzled expression touched his fac,
again-''got a bellyful las night. H,
amt honein' FIR no more, I'm bettin
M bottom dollar e amt
81 Dunno" Counterman pursued
Hes a bad lot. Their amt a worse
man the length O. the Wabash. An
then there's Loge Belden they say
moved in the OF cabin up Eagle hollel
last week with is sister.
"Cordwood-huh-he amt no more =
wood chopper than be. He's a river
man. Come f'om the K'ntucky noun
tains in the first place, an use'n t. be
a pearl fisher till they run i'm off'n
the river. l never knowed Loge, that
is, what y'u might say pers'n1y.
never seed i'm till 'e tangled with Big
Jack in the post Office t. other eyenin'.
but l knowed is sister, not the one
that's with i'm now but the-other
One-the one that's-dead-"
The fisherman bent his head and his
voice fell low, finally stopped.
oldCk DOSuo 10 an Olu pal u
Loge's," he went on after a time.
wouldn't wonder he's harborin' up
thar, an if e is, why is e? An what
are they both-'r either one of 'em-
doin' up hyur in the Flatwoods? Hit
looks t. me'-he bent toward his COM
panion-"they'ye got Their eye on OIL
Slime Colin"
TT,1Io Mil --f fHArro ri fell, g..
bling his chin.
"That'd leave Ken OUT he unused.
"He wouldn't "a fell that low. Any
how, theirs lots o. folks that looks like
other folks" Counterman thought a
moment before he spoke again.
"Black Bogus game is counter
f'itin', but he's got the CUTS FIR any
thing; an Loge's or'n'ry enough FIR
any dirt. Their amt nothin' I'd put
a-past i'm. He's done time twice't
already, an would be dom 1t right
now if it werdn't FIR is sister. Thar's
one good gal-as different f'om Loge
as the devil f'om Sund'y. Hits Loge's
one good p'int-he thinks a heap of is
sister,"
"Well," commented Uncle Nick with
his slow drawl, as the other paused,
hit might be the maxim of OF Slime
if somebody could manage t. pry a
dollar r two off'n him, an as FIR Big
Jack, l low Their amt none of 'em
honein' FIR more truck with him."
He chuckled complaisantly, pos
sibly fancying that he had put a
particularly neat and unanswerable
finish to the argument.
That amt it," Counterman pur-
sued, "Black Bogus an Loge are both
the kind that strikes in the dark"
Thunder"
Uncle Nick's shoulder jerked away
from the porch post, and the fisher
man caught the glitter of his deep-set
eyes in the twilight.
"They cayn't come nothin' like that
the boy r I'll strike the warpath
m'self. Dunno but what I'll peel an
eye on that cabin up the crick."
The old ranger sat erect and rest
less, drumming with his fingers on
the porch foor and looking away
across the narrow mouth of Eagle
hollow to where Black rock poked his
ramparts up against the
eastern sky.
The clatter in the kitchen ceased,
Aunt Liza's still sprightly, vastly posi-
tive step came across the cabin floor,
and a moment later the creak of her
chair Joined the droning cho-
of the beetles.
Wonder what Big Jack thinks o. !,
way the parsons a-cuttin' around :
is gal?' Counterman unused. AN her
the best prize in the Flatwoods, even
If she didn't have a cent" f
Uncle Nick fumbled out his pipe, c
knocked it on the edge of the porch
floor, and filled and lit it. q
81 knowed rs father. Col. David n
Warhope, when e first come t. the Il
Flatwoods up'rds of eighteen years v
back, an I knowed is grandfather, f;
Old Col. David Warhope. 1 fit Te- n
an the Prophet under the v
gran'father. The homestead wus a
present t. him f'om Gen. Andrew Jack @
son. or Colonel David an young
Colonel David, they wus both fine, up L
standin' men, soldiers every inch, an |
Big Jacks like 'em. Hits too bad the 7
homestead had t. be lost t. OF Slime, :
an the boy bound out to i'm. But even
so, he'd make a heap sight more fttin' |
man FIR a Flatwoods gal than that )
hump-backed, squinty-eyed parson. d
Beats the devil the Roadway he's a
with 'er. l wouldn't "a U
thought" d
mo good'Il come of it," broke in 5
acid tones of Aunt Liza. Didn't u
y'u see is carryin's on with 'er at the o
las night? Big Jack amt $
so'n' t be a bound boy f'rever. She'll G
rue the day she draps a fine lad like q
Tim IN takes up with a furriner."
Jaw. Liza drawled Uncle Nick, D.
the parson amt no furriner he's a s.
professor" Il
Don talk to me-" snapped the tart p