Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 64, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 November 1920 — COMRADES PERIL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COMRADES PERIL

By RANDALL PARRISH

CVPY&J&M'F &

CHAPTER 11. ' V ' “ ' J 4 ' Outlining a Plot. The Occidental hotel, Hicks proprietor, was merely a place In which one could sleep and eat, If one was thoroughly acclimated to border Ideas of •comfort. McCarthy, having ho home of his own, roomed over his saloon, but was compelled to eat the Hicks brand of cooking, and, with many apologies therefor', had, on this particular occasion, the ex-reverend from Buffalo Gap as his honored guest. •Shelby saw the two when he first entered, over in the farther corner and, as there chanced to be a vacant seat beside McCarthy, he made his slightly uncertain way in that direction and succeeded In safely establishing himself on the empty bench. The room was well filled with men. most of them still discussing the important event of the afternoon, and he soon became aware that the conversation of the two next to him bore upon the same subject. Shelby stared at the smoking, greasy mess outspread before him, prying open a soggy biscuit, and asked a ■question of McCarthy. “How’d the collection come out, Mac?” “What collection? Oh, for the gurl; ’bout five hundred, 'wa’n’t it, reverend?” “Four ninety-seven,” , said the preacher In his deep voice. “Quite an assistance for the young woman In this time of bereavement, as I am ■informed her father left little or no property.” “Property! Old Calkins! Well, I should say not. And what’s more,” the saloon-keeper becoming Interested, «I don’t see how that money’s goln’ ter do her much good. I was just talkin’ ter the dominie yere about her. Tom, what Is she agoin’ ter do? An’ what hed this town ought ter do fer her?”

“What do you mean? They done enough, ain’t they, with that swell funeral an’ five hundred bucks on top of it? What more would she expect?” “She don’t expect nuthln'. That ain’t her style. I got an idee she won’t even accept this bunch o’ coin. She’s the ornariest heifer I ever saw. But that’s got no bearin’ on us. She’s an orphan, left yere in Ponca with no visible means of support. She’s a decent girl; nobody ever said nuthin’ against her, and the way it looks ter me we got a moral duty ter perform. Ain’t-that it, Reverend?” “That is the thought I endeavored to convey,” returned the visitor from Buffalo Gap seriously. “You heard me, I presume, young man?” “Only the last few sentences,” admitted Shelby. “I don’t belong here, but just happened to drift in today.” “Tom’s ranchin’ over on the Cottonwood,” interrupted McCarthy, “but he’s a mighty straight guy, an’ I’d like ter have him express his feelin’s on this yere idee o’ yours, Reverend. It’s rather a new one on me.” The preacher straightened up and cleared his throat.

“Well, here’s the case of a young girl, seventeen or eighteen years old, who has had no experience whatever in life, suddenly left an orphan In this town, without any money or friends, so-to speak. Where can she go? What can she. do? There isn’t a place she could earn a living here, excepting the dance hall; there isn’t a place in this towfi she could call home. That is what I tried to make clear to Mr. McCarthy—that the men of this town ought to give her a chance. Mac here’s a married man; got a wife and two daughters of his own back East and he cottoned to my idea right away.” “But what is your idea?” “Marriage, sir—marriage; honorable matrimony. I even offer my services freely. The girl should be given a husband and a home; this would assure her future and relieve Ponca of every obligation. Do you see the point?” “Yes,” admitted Shelby, yet rather dazed at the project, “but there would seem to be certain obstacles in the way of such a scheme. No doubt you have considered these. Who, for instance, would marry her?” “There isn’t likely to be any trouble about that," confidently. “If she’d fix up she’d, be a right good-looking girl, besides, she’s got five hundred dollars to start with and that’s more money than a lot of these gazabos ever,saw in all their lives. Hl bet there’s fifty meh in Ponca that would jump at the chance.” ' . ' “Bounders and tln-horns.” “Some of them—sure. But there would be some decent fellows among them. That’s about how we figured It, McCarthy?” The saloonkeeper nodded. “There’s quite a few of the right kind ’round Ponca, Tom,' who’d be mighty glad to get a decent woman

arid settle down. I could name a half dozen right now. What I ain’t so sure ’bout is the gurl.” “She might object? Of course she will, and why shouldn’t she. You want to know what I think of the scheme, Mac? Well, It’s a fool idea and it won’t work —that’s what I think of it; it’s idiotic.” The Buffalo Gap man leaned forward, drawing in his paunch so as to view the speaker around McCarthy. The words of condemnation evidently cut. for his face was flushed, although he held his “That’s what Mac here said at first, but now he believes it will work, and so do I,” he explained gravely. “It isn’t at all likely the girl will object to getting married, provided she hooks up with a man she sort of likes. The only problem is to discover the right fellow.”

“And you think you can go out fn this town, rope an’ hog-tle any stray maverick you find on the range an’ give him the brandin’ iron, do yer?" “If you go at it right—yes. Thlk is a sporting proposition. That's where It will make a hit. Say we limit the chances to a dozen, or maybe fifteen; those fellows will bite at it like hungry fish. Everyone of them duffers will think he’s a lady’s man. I know them, and there never was a young fellow in pants who didn’t secretly believe he was a regular lady-Mller. That’s what’s going to round them up in a bunch; we'll give the girl a chanee to take her pick. That’s fair enough, isn’t it?" Shelby laughed, the situation as thus swiftly outlined appealing suddenly to his sense of humor. “That’s sure some scheme," he admitted cheerily, “and I’d rather like seein’ it pulled off. But it’s my notion that the girl is Hable to create some disturbance. She didn’t noways look to me like the sort who could

be driven. It’s my idea that girl ain’t even halter broke yet, let alope willin’ to trot in double harness. Ain’t that the truth, Mac?” Shelby lit a cigar, waiting for the saloonkeeper to deliver his decision. “She’s a bit odd, an’ sorter bullheaded, yer might say,” the latter said finally. “That’s true enough, Tom. I had a time gettin’ her to go through them ceremonies this afternoon. She just wanted Old Dad planted quietllke. She’s mighty liable to be offish when the preacher first puts this proposition up to her. Lively as not she’ll throw a fit, but We’ll fetch her up to the trough just the same. You ain’t got any better scheme, have yer? The only way ter save a girl out in this country is ter marry her —ain’t that so?” “I reckon it Is. Got yer gang lined up yet?” “Not yet; there’s a plenty to choose from an’ I aim ter write out the list over at the saloon. How about you?” “Me? Not on your life, Mac; this is not my funeral.” “You’ll help us out, though?” “Sure; Pll talk it over with the boys and get ’em Interested. Pll even throw fifty dollars into the jack pot to give the happy couple a start. There’s nothin’ that will put more *pep’ intoi a prospective bridegroom than a bunch o’ money in sight. You two fellows figure it out ah’ Pll go overto the saloon and, sorter qulte-llke, feel the boys out a bit Where’ll you be In an hour?” ... .

“In my office. Who was you aiming to talk with?" "Oh, Cady, Jim Mack, ’Rowdy’ Egan an’ that bunch, They are the boys yer aimin’ to Interest. I reckon. How much of a jack pot do you alm tp raise?” McCarthy pondered a moment, his chin cupped In his hand. “Well, I’ll blow In two-fifty an’ I reckon there are those who, would raise it to a right smart figure. You kin talk a couple o’ thousand, Tom. As yer say, that’ll be quite a feature, an’ there ain’t no reason why we shouldfi’t pull the affair off ternight." The delicious and delicate humor of the situation was what particularly appealed to Shelby—the affair promised excitement and a good laugh. He was even convinced that the scheme might work and thus really prove, a benefit to the girt, if she only chose wisely; but at present his main Interest centered on the fun he expected to extract from tiie preliminaries. He had already decided on a general course of action; he would approach those whom he considered worthy, In a strictly diplomatic way, judiciously hinting at the possibility of Old Dad Calkins’ girl being an heiress and suggesting the advantage of her being sought In early marriage. It was merely an idea he proposed to advance, to be implanted In their minds, that she should not be allowed to escape from the community with all that money, nor snapped up by some mercenary stranger. During the next half hour Shelby managed to Interview at least a half dozen whom he considered eligible bachelors or lonely widowers, artfully selecting those known to be of a somewhat sportive disposition, td whom such h proposition as he had to offer might naturally appeal. A few of these treated the suggestion profanely; others were rather evasive, but the majority thus diplomatically approached evinced sufficient interest to yield much encouragement. His wares had been brought to a good market and Old Dad’s girl, rendered particularly attractive by a “dot” running up into the thousands, would find plenty of eager suitors. Now that the rumor of her eligibility was being privately circulated from mouth to mouth, any unnecessary delay would only render the affair more complicated. He would report at once the Success of his mission and urge his coconsplrators to immediate action. It would sure be a fine sight to see these fellows lined up while thtt girl looked them over, deliberately making a choice. Suddenly his gaze rested on a young man, dejectedly hanging over the end qf the bar, arguing with a bartender, who only shook his head impassively. Shelby moved along until he ranged up beside the fellow. "What’s your name?” "Joe Macklin.” “They call you ’Kid,’ don’t they, 'round here?”

“Sure; mostly. What are yer drivln’ at, anyhow?” “Why, this. I got a ranch over on the Cottonwood, an’ come in here to pick up a cow-hand. I got a halfbreed, but I need another. That’s where I stand.” “What’ll it pay?” “Forty dollars. You got a horse?” “Well, the critter looks like one; turned out in Powell’s corral, but I ain’t got no money to pay fer his feed. Yer’ll have ter blow me some coin.” “All right; here’s ten and Til pay Powell for the horse keep. You show up here sober at ten tomorrow, or else PH leave you here; that’s straight.” He strode away across the big crowded room and opened a door at the further end. Stepping across the threshold he closed the door behind him and faced McCarthy and the expreacher from Buffalo Gap, both of whom glanced up expectantly. Shelby leaned back against the wall and contemplated the two, chewing on the butt of a cigar. “Well,” he said bluntly, “the cards are stacked, gents; now, all you got to do Is to play your hands.” “What do you mean? The boys are for It?” “ilungry and snapping. I talked to quite a bunch. The one thing I’m afraid of is that some galoot may take a notion to hunt the girl up before we can get things into shape. That’s why I hurried in here. We got to pull the affair tonight." • The preacher spread his hands, waving the suggestion aside. “No, no; that really wouldn’t be decent, so soon after the funeral. The poor girl must be given opportunity to mourn in peace.”

“Shucks! It win give her something else to think about. Anyhow, that whole bunch will be’ after her by morning. What do you say, Mac?” “I don’t see no objections. TH# sooner it’s cleaned up the better and there won’t be no hard feelln’S among the boys, if we don’t give ’em any time to mill hround.” * “You aim to run the bunch in on her with no notice?” “No;. that’s up to the preacher. He invented this game and has got to take care of that end of It. I don’t know nothin’ ’bout females and don’t aim to learn. We’ll leave the girl to this gent from Buffalo Gap. Let him mosey right over and talk It out with her straight. He can put It sorter rellglous-llke. Say we give him an hour an’ then shoot the bunch over to the shack; that ought to be long enough for him to get the girl Into the right frame of mind, If She’s ever goln’ to be. Maybe she’ll take It all right and maybe she won’t. You ready to try your luck. Dominie?” ' “There Is no question In my mind,” he answered solemnly, “but that this is the proper method of procedure.

I am therefore resigned to do my part I shall undertake the mission in the high spirit of my calling.” “Well,” said McCarthy who had been writing industriously, “here's the list of gazabos I’ve made out. There ain’t no angels amopg ’em. but she sure ought to pull a prize out o’ that bunch, if she looks ’em Over” The preacher got to his feet “Tls as the Lord wills,” he said gravely. “I go humbly forth to do my part” \ (TO BE CpNTINUBD.)

“That Girl Ain’t Even Halter Broke Yet”