The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1935-05-03

stay here and get free. We divorce W
full easy in this state"
But the thought of wedding anybody
In cold sobriety was SO close a second to
getting shot that he could not choose.
Hattie took the silence for consent,
against the muzzle of hinges pistol
she wa a oma of her word. Then
she ran around the counter n
} promptly turned up a ring that was an
exact fit-she had been saving it for
years. She offered it to Oglesby, who
recoiled from it as he said in a strange
tone:
"Mr. Minge should carry it. He's the
best man."
you bet I am" said Minge.
Oglesby was rather sparring for time
malities when he said: "In the more
swagger circles the bride goes up the
aisle on her fathers arm. The groom
and best man await them at the altar"
Grand" cried Hattie. "You and
Minge go on ahead, dearie, and I and
Pop will foller. Then Gorrell and
Perfect" said oglesby. "They can
be pages and strew flowers"
Cactus would suit me-" said Cor
With a rough hand Minge spun
Oglesby around and jabbed the muzzle
CT the pistol against his quivering liver.
Hattie protested:
That won't look so good to the crowd
outside. A lot of weddings have been
pulled off that way round here, but
Leave it on the counter, Walt"
mot MUCH" said Minge. I'll hide
it. but I'll keep it handy"
He showed it in his right coat pocket.
Oglesby eyed it with hopeful eagerness,
but Minge shifted him to the opposite
side and gripped his arm so hard that
he squeezed an inspiration from Ogles-
by;S frantic brain:
There is still one thing lacking, Hat
tie, to make this wedding perfect. Ac-
! cording to the strictest New York
standards, there really ought to be a
] farewell bachelor supper"
"A what?"
I'm the smart set, before a gentle
man marries a lady, he always enter
tains his male friends as a farewell to
bachelorhood. I hereby invite these
four gentlemen to the best the town af-
fords."
Gorrell ran the refreshment parlor.
He called for more light: would the
supper be or you or on us! Who would
pay for the vittleS and such?"
II would. Naturally! And handsome
ly! A bachelor supper consumes no end
of the most expensive"
What say we all 60 over to my place
and have a snifter or two on Harold
and talk it over like?"
In the great open spaces where men
are men and admit it, the thought of a
snifter at the expense of an alien is al
ways irresistible. Hattie was afraid
the boys might get Harold alone and
murder him, but she was also afraid
they were not jealous enough even for
that.
Gorrell led the way to the Rancher's
Retreat and into a back room dominat-
ed by an authentic bar that would have
delighted a dealer in genuine American
antiques. He set out the glasses and
expertly skirled them to the waiting
hands. Then he produced a tall bottle
which he described as imported b.
burbon.".
The Hot Eye quartet waited for the
effete easterner to curl up and strangle
at the first taste, but their contempt
wa challenged by the size Of the drink
he poured and his failing to ask for
water. They did not know their Ogles-
by. J.. G. of that ik lifted his glass
and pitched the entire contents straight
at his uvula. Tears shot instantly
from his eyes. He was only human and
that was hooch at its hoochiest. But,
blinded and partially paralyzed as he
was, the hero reached for the bottle
again. Contempt became respect and
then homage when he goaled the drink
with unerring aim. The others follow
ed suit with varying reactions, watch
ing for Harold to collapse into the COM
modious cuspidor. He merely called
for a second bottle and a third.
Their own knees we're buckling and
they were hanging on hard to the
lurching bar when Oglesby's rabbity
timidity suddenly turned to a tigerish
ferocity. He was once more the great
lover, the dauntless fanatic for women.
Without warning he leaped at Minge
and roared with a bewildered con-
fusion of history:
"Give me at gun, you cur! You can't
p'vent me from marrying my bloved
Miss Swinney, my sweetheart Hattie.
I'll kill you like dogs! Like two dogs!
Like a whole pack of dogs!"
Harold might have spattered Minge
all owe the saloon if Joe Garcia, being
Justice Of peace, had not secretly un-
loaded the weapon before he lent it to
Minge. But Gorrell did not know this
Wrested the weapon from Oglesby while
Cochran seized his arms and dragged
them behind his back.
Hattie had spoken of Minge's ten
dency to tears when intoxicated, and
now, instead of r~esenting the horrible
indignity of having his pistol taken
away from him, and by an easterner of
all men, Minge bent his once proud
head to the bar and wept.
Nobody loves mt. And I don't wan
to live in no worl' without nobody to
lumme."
In vain Gorrell, Ruffin, and Coch-
ran assured him that they adored him.
Gorrell tried to kiss him, but the bar
was too wide. Even Oglesby embraced
him, but Minge broke from the eight
embracing arms and tottered out into
the sun.
Oglesby cried: 1.-THE gutter! Forget
him! Let's drink to my blush'n bride.
The GhnSco