Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1939-09-15
CHAPTER vH-Continued

81 can't have that sort of man
around here" Ruth Hamilton looked
up at Barney who had come from
the house and had caught the end Of
the conversation. my son." she ex-
planned, not without pride.
Barney said, Its about time,
Mother. I'll 60 down and pay JEFF
off,"
The idle white boatmen were re-
clining against the wall of their cab
in, awaiting calls. They were a
lackadaisical lot, notable for their
inertia.
Two or three of them nodded to
Barney, but without waste of effort
though their eyes narrowed
Slightly when he inquired for JEFF
Butler. They indicated direction
with lazy jerks of their heads.
Mr.. Butler looked up sullenly from
the foot of live oak. His watery
eyes were clouded with liquor, his
attitude sullen and resentful. Bar
ney's voice was pitched low. He
said, you've been drinking again,
jeff"
wen, "Idt IL ! nave.
"You know that doesn't 60 around
here"
The mans voice was Whitney.
"You-all amt got no right tellin'
Teller what he can an CANT do"
81 suppose not. But we can tell
him whether he's got job here.
And you haven't"
"What?" Mr.. jefferson Butler I'M
coiled himself. His bony figure tow
cred over Barney's adequate height,
and his voice took on an unpleasant
edge. "You amt firm me?"
"I'm doing precisely that. You
scare your passengers half to
death. You've done it before. But
you're not going to do it again."
"Ain't no man goin' to tell me
what l can do"
II believe you made that remark
before. Here's the money owe you.
Now-get out"
Mr.. Buffers dignity had been ruff
fled. He suspected that his compan-
ions on the other side of the log-cabin
could hear the conversation. He
said, "Pn git out when I'm good
an ready"
"So?" Barney's laugh was hard.
"You'l get out damned quick"
"And if I don't?"
The young mans gray eyes were
cold. "Im advising you to get out,
jeff. That's ALL"
So far as being deprived of the
privilege of daily labor, jeff did not
really mind. He had for some time
resented the necessity of reporting
for work every day, of being SUBJ
| jected to the task of padding awe
stricken tourists through glades
which were to them incredibly beau
| tiful, but which-to him-were a lot
of dawg-gone foolishment. For one
thing, his role placed him Cor so
he thought) on definitely lower So
cial plane, and jeff was fond of de-
claring Though not actually believ-
ing) that he was as good as anybody
that walked.
Now he was fired. Cast out Dis
charged. He had been spoken to
sternly by that no-'count kid i.
that uppity Barney Hamilton. He
had been insulted, degraded and 9TH
erwise rendered more than Slightly
ridiculous. His resentment mounted
as he traversed the miles into Bev-
erly. 1t became deep and bitter
after he had borrowed a ride from
a colored man who was driving a
battered old flivver and who was
afraid to refuse Jeff's request.
Arriving in Beverly, jeff Butler
let himself down without thank
you at the depot. There he encoun-
tered a friend of his, a gentleman
of similar ilk, to whom he related
his troubles. It appeared, accord
ing to jeff, that he had personally
built Cathedral Gardens, and that he
had been pitched out without rhyme
or reason.
Two other denizens of Big Mecca
sin Swamp joined the group, osten-
sibly to sympathize with Jeff's woes,
but actually to share his corn liq-
uor. Throughout the balance of the
morning and well into the afternoon
they discussed the affair. Occasion
ally JEFF went off into portentous
silence. On each such occasion he
made gestures and announced that
II he wanted to tell everything he
knew, the whole dawg-bit county
would be tore up by the roots. He
said this so frequently and SO ear
nestly that he was eventually
Though not Immediately believed.
His cronies urged him to divulge
this devastating information. and
Jeff-being instinctively . lover Of