Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1934-04-05

sons probably as hard as a picnic
egg, but he may have an unsupported
soft spot"
Il wish / could agree with you, but
| find that impossible. Our ranch was
mortgaged to a San Francisco bank,
but recently Babson bought 1t from
them"
"He has q hen on" said Nate Tiche
nor, land I'll have TO find out whether
it's a Bantam or a Plymouth Rock A
coward and a potential crook. Money
mad. A schemer. Miss Lorry. he
wants the Circle K ranch When he
ascertaIned from my attorney that the
Bar II was not for sale, he decided to
acquire the Circle X, so Immediately
be purchased your mortgage"
But why has he developed this sud
den interest in Eden Valley7"
Il do not know, but intend to find
out However. he'll never own the
Circle K. Whenever you find your
self unable to hang on to 1t, I'm the
rightful heir to 1t. Understand"
Perfectly. You're sure you will not
permit him to crowd me? Sure this
isn't a generous impulse because you
find me In such a sad case today?
An impulse you may, with reason. re
greet next week."
He drew q checkbook from his inner
breast pocket, went to her desk and
signed a check In blank. you fiji that
In for what your fathers estate owes
Babson and his bank" he ordered
curly, "and secure me with your
promissory note"
She tossed the check In the fire.
whats your interest In me7' she de-
manded. II can understand sympa-
thy and gentlemanly kindness but not
a blank check that could be filled
In for nearly two hundred and ninety
thousand dollars"
I met your brother, Owen. In
France. 1t was before Cantigny, |
was the chief of No. 4 section OF my
battery. and my gun got begged In a
small shell-hole In the road. The
teams were new, half-trained and un-
used to draft-and the drivers were
worse, SO / had q lot of plunging and
tugging-no co-ordinated effort-and
there We stuck. There was an infan-
try regiment resting by the side of the
road. and pretty 500 a private anne
up and told the green lead driver to
dismount and let him try. / saw by
the way this doughboy soothed the eI-
cited horses that he knew horses-so
/ took the place of the driver on the
swing team. Fortunately. | had a good
driver on the wheel team, so present
ly, with the c%annoneers and spare
drivers at the wheels and pushing be-
hind, we gathered our teams and made
on steady, concentrated pull-and the
gun came out. And when the infantry
man dismounted from the lead team,
Owen Kershaw and l recognized each
other. / said: Thanks, Kershaw.
I'm obliged to you Good luck to
you"
What did Owen say7' the girl
asked softly.
Nothing, Miss Lorry. His face
sort of twisted. You see, we were
all exhausted and hungry and thirsty
and we'd been through a lot Of mud
and blood and / suppose we each had
the same thought-that the Hensley-
Kershaw feud vas a pitiful thing. I
know | had a vision of Eden Valley
just then. Perhaps Owen did, too. be-
cause he commenced to cry silently;
and then he came toward me and |
commenced to cry, too. We didn't
say anything, because there was moth
Ing to say; just leaned against each
other and thumped each others backs
and were quiet about 1t Owen walked
beside me up the road a little, his arm
through mine; and finally he said:
Nate, maybe my dog tag will beat me
back to Eden Valley. But Ii you take