The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-06-05

"dE UPPER E Bar E, the dude
END of the Bar e ranches, cat
l. kline, owner; to Charles C.. Lee,
Chinese cook, was deeply, If un-
Spokenly, sorry for Uncle Henry WHISKY,
Unspokenly, because If the Upper e
Bar had expressed its sympathy Uncle
Henry would have been insulted. Uncle
Henry was "a native born, selr-re-
spectin' American citizen, by thunder"
self.
Uncle Henry was one of the Upper
E Bar Els favorite neighbors and visit
orS: He lived 10 miles down Cabin creek
valley on homestead no one but re-
tired prospector-if there is such q
thing as a retired prospector- would
almost entirely Of willows and bog
land, their sole advantages being that
Uncle Henry was difficult to find, un-
less you knew your way in, and could
disappear without anyone knowing
where he had gone. But he hadn't been
quick enough for his nephew, George,
George had caught him unaware, ar
irving unannounced from Chicago,
which they claimed as their home, in
a battered touring car which, after
sideling up to the poles of Uncle Henry's
small and dusty corral, had coIghed
once and shaken its head, and from
then on had never been seen to work
again.
This, however, did not bother George
and Violet. They used quite contented-
~ Uncle Henry's equally battered car.
In fact, George and Violet's leading
characteristic seemed to be their con-
tentment with other peoples possess
sions, only they took this contentment
out differently.
George was silent, disdainful, and
secretive; contented so long as nobody
asked him to do anything.
George resembled a lima bean plant
drouth and moles. He was wilted. He
was short and thin and straw colored,
and his blue eyes were opaque and
pale, with a slight cast in one of them.
Nor did it end there. There were times
when George was sinister. That was
when, out of the corner of his mouth, a
cigaret dangling from it, he was ad-
miring the corrupt and murderous.
Violet what mad prank on the
part of parents had given her the
name? . ;. conveyed no impression of
being anything but merely silly. Had
she been born 20 years earlier and a
country girl, she would have pulled her
thin, neutral colored hair into a tight
knot on top of her head and let 1t go
dI I!IdI, UeAIlS uIUdiI, Sic WetiC III 1oI
beach pajamas, and bobbed her hair
and parted it in vague imitation of
Greta Carlo. This emphasized her high
forehead, also her teeth. Furthermore,
Violet's ideas of makeup were impress
siOniStic SO long as she had rouge
somewhere on her face she was happy.
Kinda like red sunset" Gar Brit
ten, foreman Of the Upper E Bar E,
unused wonderingly to Shall Erskine;;;
f0ys
Gar Britten, a fatalist, like most
mature men who have lived in large
countries where flood, forest fire, snow.
and livestock were prevalent, remarked
to Erskine that life was a disorderly
affair. He said this the second time he
saw Violet and George.
1T amt no good" he said, mind
good Christian character like Uncle
Henry. No, sir, it amt no good at all.
It amt even no good being bachelor.
You says to yourself, won't have no
children, and sister or something
wishes George and Violet on you"
Even Uncle Henry was puzzled. At
the end of two weeks of George and
his part, he arrived at the Upper E
Bar E and sat in the shade Of a saddle
shed in the company of Shall and Gar
Britten, and surveyed with the mtldeSt
of blue eyes the bright, cool morning.
They made an interesting contrast,
Shall and Gar. Shall was six feet tall,
and dark haired, and gray eyed, and
slim, and smiling. Gar was short and
thick set. his lined face the color Of
leather, his eyes black, his straight
black hair streaked with gray.
Gar had brought Shall up. Shall had
inherited him from his father, who
had founded the E Bar E.
>. Uncle Henry stroked his short,
white beard, and surveyed the bright,
blue morning. He spoke with difficulty
and deprecatingly. Uncle Henry hated
to say anything disparaging about any
a horse, or even the weather.
IT never did understand her right
ly," he said in his high, remote voice,
due partly to deafness and partly to
years of lonely prospecting. He was
speaking about his sister, Georges
----s....,,.....