The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-04-15
CHAPTER x
pardaloe Turns Diplomat.

fdrodloe turns Otptomat.
General Roper waited only till he
was able to travel to go west with
his location engineers. He said very
little to Wentworth before he started;
only that when he came back he
would have a talk with Selwood.
Wentworth himself spent the week
between Sleepy Cat and Thief River,
disturbed only and surprised by Sell
woods resignation as superintendent
OF the freighting line. 1t required all
OF Wentworth's and Carpy's powers of
persuasion to induce him to hold on
till an acceptable successor could be
found. Neither Doctor Carpy, despite
his blunt common sense, nor Went
worth. the long-headed master of from
tier transportation, was capable of
analyzing the mystery of the change
that had come over Selwood. They
wrongly surmised that his settled
moodiness was due to the fresh out
break of his grievance against his
grandfather; had they been as close
TO Selwood as Bill Pardaloe was, and
as good an observer, they would have
known that less than a hundred
pounds of Sleepy Cat femlninity had
wrecked his good nature, his opti-
mism, and his peace Of mind.
When they saw him finish, with IL
bations of wine, the recital OF his
family wrongs, they did not realize
that he would likewise have been glad
to drown all recollection of the last
scene he ever expected to have with
: Christie Fyler Bill Pardaloe, watch
ing Selwood unobserved, knew better
than to ask questions, but he himself
had a soft spot in his heart for
Christie, and though his duties no
longer took him TO the store, where
FLYERS business was dwindling, Bill
made it point to drop around at
times and see what he could see and
hear what he could hear.
He always lounged into the store
in the same manner-with the fingers
of one long, ungainly hand resting on
the heft of his bowie knife, stuck at
his hip, and with his arms free for
action. Invariably, too, with his head
poked inquiringly forward-which set
his long nose well ahead Of his centre
of gravity, with the corners Of his
mouth pulled down to suit his pessi
mistic mood and with his small, pierre
ing eyes wide open with suspicious
gloom
Such a man would hardly be expect
ed to make much of a hit with
Christie Fyler. Yet Bill Pardaloe
came to stand higher in her favor
than any frontiersman in Sleepy Cat.
Honesty underlay his crudeness, his
great strength inspired respect, and
Christie, with a woman's instinct
budded on a girls heart, liked him.
A fortnight had gone by since
Christie dismissed Selwood, when Par
daloe, puzzled by the gamblers beha-
vior and looking for some explanation,
dropped in on Christie.
She was in the middle Of the store
with a feather buster In her hand
when he arrested her attention. He
did not know why her greeting was
so very cordial that morning; but
next to seeing the man she wanted
TO see and did not want to see, she
was delighted to welcome Bill-to see
him was closest TO seeing Selwood,
anyway.
She laughed heartily at the condi-
ton of his boots. "Bill," she eX-
claimed, 'if you don't take some time
off and black those boots 1 won't
speak to you again. Honestly, Bill"
she asked in pleading tones, "did you
ever black those boots?"
Pardaloe grinned; every time
Christie said "Bill' he melted like a
roll of butter. Christie, when l was
In the army 1 had t black my boots
every day. 1 swore if l ever got out
I'd never black a pair Of boots again
in my life-'n', by cracky, L KEEP my
word, too"
But, Bill, wouldn't you break your
word-just once-for me?
Pardaloe looked at his dust-covered
footings, shifted his cud, and coun-