Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1935-10-26

. Why Aehu& daxiingi What utter non
sensei" protested his wife.
she was. By the way. explaining "a
process Of canning rhubaEh sc 9sis
moment and except for jumping up &
straighten her husbands tie ane
bring him q fresh glass Of water. shi
kept right On explaining.
Vaguely. above her patter about th'
best kind Of Jar rubbers 20 use We
i heard DUNGEONS voice stretching vainly
I TO proffer the further details Of his
appeasement. Allluringly to cur tam
tailed and rhubarb tortured ears
floated broken sentences about staun-
/ peding jungle beasts, the glitter 81
gpaugled tights under battered rain
coats, the problematical value Of q my
ster1Ous bracelet which he limited had
been forced upon him IN return for MS
humble assistance. Snuffed out thus
by intricate suggestions concerning salt
or sugar, smothered by devious direc-
tons for cooking or cooling, we saw his
sprightly narrative. true or false, pass
regretfuny INTO oblivion.
yet maybe" we reasoned, maybe
he Is braggart and q boasterl Maybe
his wife knows bestl"
But later IN the evening It seemed
that both our credulities and our in
credulities were to be tossed together
somewhat unceremoniously Ia the same
basket, IS 1t were. when, calling my
husband aside, Duncon showed him q
strange bracelet, not necessarily pree-
tous, but Of q unique and pagan beauty,
like TO make sureI It Is real, isn't itg" /
Once again before the evening was
over, on the doorstep this time at the 1
FNcFsffFlc KrTffr1OCcsafI the /
second demonstration Of his wife's at
titude.
Duncon spoke Of Detroit.
20, why yes" said my husband. You
were there a fortnight ago, weren't
you? See, q good ball gamer"
Ball game nothingi" said Duncon
quietly. II spent the weekend in jail
Got run In by mistake for a counter
feiter that the police were trailing"
Speeches. with horror we glanced
from him to his wife.
II did have some Of the bad money"
he grinned.
But his wife merely threw back her
head and roared with delight.
Just another one Of Athol's yarns,
she said.
The funniest look came over Dun
cons face. He started to speak and
hen changed his mind. apparently, and
,urned back into the house, Just
imallish, pale eyed, drab haired man,
turning back into the house to put the
at out
Rather soberly my husband and I
rallied down the long path to our walt
ng car.
well, I wonder" said my husband.
We were still wondering more or less
s the weeks slipped along into the :
months and the months even into the
ears.
internationally In a dozen different
roups, on the edge Of dozen differ 1,
Mt situations. at the country club, 9n )
he street, across some friendly dinner )
able, we saw the incident repeat itself
Duncon slipping, strolling. easily in r
D the conversation with some perfectly =
exploit that sputtered out :,
ke a burnt fuse before his wife's in !,
redulous laughter. A rescue at sea, or
fight in balloon, madman run n
ing amuck in the office, OF strange =
oman in the subway offering him :,
louSand dollars for book he was i.
sading which, all unknown to him, :,
roved TO be an extremely rare edition, <,
ne and all were dismissed by his wife
it'll the same airy gesture as being a.
ere filaments of the imagination.
Just one of DUNGEONS yarnsl" she
Ould say. "One Of Duncon's yarns" -.
1t was inevitable, Of course, as time
emit on that some faint tinge of this
credulity should pass from his wifes @
ind into the minds OF his other hear 3
S. On the golf green's, In the smok-
8 room, riding down TO the office in M
e morning, gossiping over the crack 8
, and cheese at bedtime, the thing
came sort OF good-natured byword.
as there 3 war, or rumor OF war. @
/ the radio predict a fresh crash In
e stock market, had one neighbor's
fe eloped with another neighbor's
sband? 20, maybe it isn't really So
ne one was almost sure to say. May @
it's just one OF DUNGEONS yarnsl"
Just why does everybody think I'm
Iiar?" questioned Duncon one night
tie seriously Of my husband.
They dontl" said my husband
Who doesn't?" demanded Duncon.
I don'ti" said my husband.
)uncon put out his hand.
Ny husband took it.
After that they were friendsl But @
!, alas, for long
t was early in March, In about the
h year, think, Of our acquaintance
b Athol that he was thrown from a
'se IN a race and broke his back
o quote the grim jest that he made
lseh about the unhappy incident he
seen no other way apparently Of
vincing his wife that he had ridden
the race
he horses name was Lucy Pepper
/. She was a bad actor Already IN
brief week preceding the much adj
tised opening Of the new country
track she had injured her trainer
nobody wanted to ride her. Her
Ter was distracted.
Really suffering" DImcon said.
borrower. as Duncon further confid-
ater to those who subsequently were
most interested, he had always
rished desire 10 go btllowing forth ~
1re a great throng Of people in &
" striped silk shirt with q visored
sianting down like a spoonbill's
Tile across his own meager features.
ely incidentally, and as q mere
rthought apparently, he added the
Fmation that he was supposed to
2 q rather good seat and hand with
0rse. and that once in a previous