Galveston Tribune. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 134, Ed. 1 Tuesday, May 1, 1917 Page: 4 of 10
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GALVESTON TRIBUNE.
I
$
guns;
1
NATIONALIZING RESOURCES.
Is
I
fever and Scott, as De Spain and his
—Answers, London.
I
for Calabasas,” shouted Le-
BillyDunnyandiskriends
a^. ____jDwief Cow/________.
SANCTUM SIFTINGS
J
ungraciously.
2
Walking di-
comed his opportunity.
As the cat-
Satt Morgan’s shoulder.
tieman turned, Lefever, genially grasp-
»
arated, let the pair pass, and spurred
in behind to cover the flight and con-
In grim expectancy the long lines lie,
’ Awaiting orders to attack the Huns.*
had any
so hard
idea you folks would take it
I mean, as an affront intend-
ed to
gone
The nation is waiting with bated and
unbated breath as to whether or not
Bulgaria is going to break off diplo-
matic relations with the United States.
A man by the name of William Jen-
nings Bryan is touring the west and
urging increased food production. The
name sounds a bit familiar.
everything
mantled in the night of War’s
eclipse.
“We are robbers most polite,
And hate to wake up up at night,
But if we do we simply say
We’11 call again another day.”
Alfonso of Spain is telling the kaiser
where to get off.
between
home.”
“Make
fever.
“No,”
just assumed—making a mistake as I
now realize—that my scrap would be
with Sassoon, not with the Morgans."
Satt’s face wrinkled into a humorous
New Tork Office, 171 Madison Ave.
D. J. Randall.
THE NIGHT ATTACK.
A crescent moon hangs shyly in the
sky.
The air re-echoes with the boom of
Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit Offices,,
The S. C. Beckwith Agency.-
Which they did, before the White
Elephant Lady could even ask them in
for breakfast.
Then after a while the Circus Ele-
phant said he must be on his way back
to the Circus, so Billy Bunny and the
Parrot climbed on his back, and they
all started off, after saying good-by to
rectly forward, he laid his .hand on
TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1917.
_____________i_______________
will be out of sight.” Now wasn’t that
good advice. So the little rabbit did
this, and fastened the straps so nobcy
could get in, and pretty soon he was
fast asleep. But I’m not going to tell
you what he dreamed, for I haven’t got
room in tonight’s story, so you must
wait until tomorrow.
Well, the White Elephant Lady didn’t
unlock the front door, for she had lost
the key, as I told you in the last story.
Instead, she put her head out of the
window and said to the robbers: “Don’t
you dare'come around here again and
sing that song. You woke me up out
of a sound sleep!”
. “I’m very sorry we did that,” said
the head robber, and he winked at the
others. But the White Elephant Lady
didn’t see him. “We tried to get in the
front door, but we found it locked, so
we had to wake you to get in.”
Then the robbers began another song:
We hear very little these days about
freedom for the Poles for the reason
that most of them are in th United
States with American flags streaming
from the tops.
trained men, abundantly equipped with
every devise known to modern war,
backed by a country with boundless re-
sources in men, money, raw materials,
and the second most powerful navy in
the world, the United States will be
prepared to strike the decisive blow in
the European war—if that war is still
in progress; or ready to uphold the
rights of its citizens from whatever
quarter they may be challenged. Woe
unto-the nation, great or small, which
rouses the ire of the American eagle!
GALVESTON TRIBUNE
_______________■----------- 1 ESTABLISHED 1880 ===========
Published Evenings Except Sunday at the Tribune Building.
Member Associated Press and American, Newspaper Publishers’ Association.
Entered at the Postoffice in Galveston as Second-Class Mail Matter.
TFf 17 PHANG q Business Office and Adv. Dept. 83, Circulation Dept. 1396.
A ELEI h2V.-3 Editorial Rooms 43 and 1395, Society Editor 2524
‘They were now almost abreast. The
very instinctive knowledge that her
eyes were bent on his made him steal
a glance at her in spite of himself. The
next instant he was shamefacedly
touching his hat. Though nothing;
was lost on her, Nan professed "not to;
see the. greeting. When she spoke her
tone was dry and suspicious;
“Wait a moment, Sassoon. Where
are you going?" she demanded. Sas-
soon hitched with one hand At his
trousers band. He inclined his head
•sulkily toward’ his companiom. “Start-
ing a man on the trail fc Sleepy Cat.”
Men crouch like tigers waiting for the
spring,
Dr eagef greyhounds straining in
the slips;
Then comes the welcome word, and
It begins to look as if President
Wilson had gotten between the kaiser
and the sun.
ome men run to extremes; there’s
Lieutenant Shackleton, who has just
come put of the frozen south who now
asks for a hot place on the battlefront.
Poetry and Persiflage
____________________ ; ___________
“I wish I were a little birdie,” said
Billy Bunny out loud, not thinking
what he was doing.
“Put your knapsack under that bush
and crawl inside of it, said the Mother
Bird, “you’ll have a nice nest and it
The Great Divide.
It has been suggested that immed-
iately after the offer of the United
States to lend billions to the entente
allies, those countries sent their .most
distinguished citizens to this country
to see the great divide.
the kind White Elephant Lady. And,
oh dear me! didn’t she cry when her
elephant nephew kissed her—not be-
cause he kissed her, you know, but be-
cause he said good-by.
Well, they hadn’t gone very, far when
they met the circus wagons, and of
course the elephant had to say good-by.
BACK YARD ECONOMY,
Ofange Leader.
Practical economy of the ground sug-
gests as the easiest expedient that the
back yard urban garden be started. The
pinch of prices will be felt and back
yard economy can help avert a little of
the nip. The wise housekeeper who
starts a truck garden where he has
available space will contribute some-
thing to the upkeep of his table, a
great deal to his health, and consider-
able to his pleasure.
As an added inducement it might be
said that there are no real vegetables
except such as come direct from the
garden to the pot. .There is an almost
aesthetic vlue in fresh gathered gar-
den truck. Flowers benefit just "as
much from lying in a grocery stone as
vegetables benefit.
The back yard garden serves econ-
omy, health, and pleasure, and the time
to turn the ground is here.
which the unspeakable Turk finds
himself at the present writing.—Macon
Telegraph. ’
Cruel Suspicion.
Somehow we always suspect a frame-
up when we see a pretty Red Cross
nurse all togged out for action, but
still wearing spool-heeled shoes,—■
Rochester Herald.
The king of Sweden and king of
Denmark recently met and exchanged
pledges of friendship; it is getting
rather lonesome for kings across the
water.
It was a textile journal that ad-
vised its readers that carpets were go-
ing down.
Two years from now the United
States is going to he a formidable na-
tion from any viewpoint—military,
naval, industrial, or financial. The
United States always has been a for-
midable nation, potentially. Two years
from now it will be a formidable na-
tion actually. .With over 2,000,000
continued to draw away and left De
Spain standing somewhat apart from
the rest of the group. “Then it may
be I am making another mistake,
Druel, in blaming you. It may not be
your fault.”
(To Be Continued.}
CHAPTER VI.
Maintaining a Reputation.
The abduction of Sassoon, which sig-
nalized De Spain’s entry into the stage-
line management, created a sensation
akin to the exploding of a bomb under
the range. The whole mountain coun-
try, which concentrates, sensibly, on
but one topic at a time, talked for a
week of nothing else.
Experienced men in the high country
—inen of that class who, wherever
found, are old in the ways of the world,
and not promptly moved by new or
youthful adventure—dismissed the in-
cident after hearing the details, with
the comment or the conclusion that
there would hardly be for De Spain
more than one additional chapter to
the story, and that this would be a
short one. The most active Morgans—
Gale, Duke and the easy-going Satter-
lee—were indeed wrought to the keen-
est pitch of revengeful anger. It was
an overwhelming .insolent invasion—
and worst of all, a successful .invasion,
by one who had nothing but cool impu-
dence, not even a budding reputation
to justify his assault on the lifelong
prestige of the gap clan.
De Spain himself, somewhat sur-
prised at the storm he had kicked up,
heeded the counsel of Scott, and while
the acute stage of the resentment
raged,along the trail he ran down for
a few. days to Medicine Bend to buy
horses. Both Gale and Duke Morgan
proclaimed, in certain public places in
Sleepy Cat, their intention of shooting
De Spain on sight; and as a climax to
all the excitement of the week follow-
ing his capture, the slippery Sassoon
broke jail and, after a brief interval,
appeared at large in Calabasas.
This feat of the Morgan satellite
made a, loud laugh at De Spain’s ex-
pense. It mitigated somewhat the hu-
The Man with the Hoe has been
superseded by the woman with the
hose.
The passing of the five-cent loaf of
bread seems to be foreshadowed. With
wheat selling at $2.50 a bushel and up-
wards, the five-cent loaf cannot be
much larger than a good sized bun.
The prospects are not encouraging, so
far as cheaper flour is concerned. The
impending wheat crop is in a bad way,
and unless radical'improvement occurs
it will be very short. Even with better
prospects, it has been so retarded as to
make anything like a bumper crop out
of the question. In the circumstances,
the utilization of every available bushel
of grain in the country for food and
seed purposes would seem to be a mat-
ter of wisdom.
—
The premier of Bavaria is reported to
have sone,to Vienna to confer with the
Austrian premief in regard to peace
prospects. If this report is correct, and
there is every reason to believe that it
is, the leadership of Prussia in the
Germanic federation is almost certain-
ly doomed. Prussia gained its ascend-
ancy over the Teutonic peoples through
successful conquest. Against Austria,
Denmark, and France it gained re-
markable victories. Tody Prussia and
Prussianism stand before the world a
failure. Bavaria is the most powerful
state in Germany aside from Prussia.
Bavaria and Austria, jointly, can ex-
ercise a decisive voice in determining
the attitude of the central powers on
peace terms.
As a beautiful example of the work-
ing of the law of retribution, take one .
tickled glance at the situation in
“Stop!”. she exclaimed sharply, for f.,.. ald J.I,
De Spain, pushing his own horse ahead, I prisoner dashed
had managed without being observed,
to kick Sassoon’s-horse in the flank,
yelled Scott. “They would
' FOUR.
toward them, Sep-
THE VORACIOUS MIDDLEMAN.
Beaumont Enterprise.
President Wilson has given ample
warning to the middleman and to the
retaildr. He has said that they should
be content with a reasonable profit on
the rehandling of the necessities of life.
And, we may add, if" they are not thus
content, they will be made to be con-
tent with that sort of profit.. The re-
tailer who now puts up the price of his
goods to eke out an added profit is a
traitor to America. He should be, and
/will be, punished for his oyerweening
greed. There, is plenty of food in
America. That food must and will be
gotten to the consumer at a reasonable
price. If our machinery of distribution
as at present organized, can not effect
this, the government can.
NO “EUROPEAN" WAR NOW.
Austin Statesman.
We have been prone to call the great
world struggle “The European War,”
but this has become a misnomer. The
fact is, there is more neutral territory
in Europe than in any other continent
except South America and if Brazil and
Argentina enter the war that continent
will have little more neutral territory
than the which has given its name to
the war. .
One-seventh of Europe is at peace,
while, since China’s declaration, fif-
teen-sixteenth of Asia is at war, all of
Australia, and all of Africa except
Abyssinia. The United States, Canada,
Gautemala, Costa Rica and Cuba have
taken sides with the allies, leaving
only Mexico and several smaller coun-
tries of North America out of the con-
flict. . X ‘
Such is the spirit Wellington would
1 , love,
That bids men onward strive with
heart and soul;
A strong and steadfast courage that
shall prove
A thursting spur toward the final
goal!
grin. “You sure kicked up some
alkali.”
De Spain nodded candidly. “More
• than I intended to. And I say—with-
out any intention of impertinence to
anybody else—Sassoon is a cur. I sup-
posed when I brought him in here
after so much riding, that we had
sheriff enough to keep him.” He
looked at Druel with such composure
that the latter for a moment was non-
plussed. Then he discharged a vollex
of oaths, and demanded what De Spain
meant. De Spain did not move. He
refused to see the angry sheriff. “That
is where I made my second mistake,”
he continued, speaking to Morgan and
forcing his tone just enough to be
heard. Druel, with more hard words,
began to abuse the railroad for not
paying taxes enough to build a decent
jail. De Spain took another tack He
eyed the sheriff calmly as the latter
strides. “It’s a good ways
Yet awful carnage mars the winter
night!
- The, moon gleams pale upon the
ghastly scene; ‘
Yet some are cheerful still, in war’s
despite,-
And face their fate' with confidence
serene.
0
I
III
25
28-2 ■“ i*2 9
No doubt the government ofthe
United States will have learned many
facts in connection with the existing
war by the time the representatives of
I the foreign nations now in this coun-
try shall have completed the tasks that
sent them across the ocean, and while
i battlefront operations may come fre-
quently to the front for discussion, it
• is more than probable that the prob-
lem of feeding the fighting force and
j the noncombatants back of the fight-
ing line, occupies the larger place in
• the conversations of the big men of
the nations gathered at the national
capital.
England’s prompt blockade of Ger-
many at the very beginning of the
war would indicate that the problem
of food was to be a big one in con-
; nectioh with the effort to subjugate
Prussian militarism, and the assertion
has been made that had it not been for
the German success in overrunning
Belgium, part of France and Servia
and Rumania, the starvation blockade
• would have become acute months ago.
But just now, the problem is not for
Germany, desperate as that nation may
be; unless the entente allies can be
, furnished a full supply of foodstuffs
* they may be compelled to call off the
war and make terms which would
merely bring about a breathing spell
for a few years when the carnage
would again be resumed and the world
subjected to another saturnalia of
‘ bloodshed.
In rder that this country may con-
tribute its share tward the uccesful
ending of the war, it appears that our
first* contribution must be food rather
than men and munitions. Our system
of production and distribution has
hitherto been based upon and governed
very largely by the belief that our re-
sources were sufficient to meet any
demands that might be made upon
them, but in order to render adequate
aid to those nations with whom we
have cast our 'lot, there must be ih-
augurated a better system, one that
will increase the production and lessen
the quantity required for home con-
sumption.
This problem is a national rather
than a local one and can be best han-
dled by the nation. Just as we have
turned over to the general government
; the selection of the men who are to
compose our armed force, so must we
ask the national government to under-
take the handling of the foodstuff of
’ the country, even to the fixing of
• prices. This procedure may deserve the.
title of innovation, but if it will ac-
complish the purpose desired, it will
matter little by what name it becomes
known. Having committed ourselves to
the war and having been informed that
the first task before us is to supply
food, the people of the United States
are not going to spend much time in
discussing how it is to be brought
about.
In fact, the work of taking an in-
ventory of our pantry has already be-
gtin, and the enthusiasm with which
state, county and town have entered
into the program of increasing the
supply and lessening the home con-
sumption is to be taken as an earnest
of how the individual views the'mat-
ter, and this means further that the na-
tion is expected to assume control in
this connection because of the facilities
and powers vested in the government.
The people have patiently borne with
the marked increase of the cost of liv-
ing because it has been recognized
that inroads had been made upon the
supply in order to keep starvation from
the nations at war; they have met the
wishes of those in authority by de-
creased use of many articles and an
effort to become producers themselves,
hence it is not to be expected that they
will balk when told that yet additional
powers are to be exercised by the gov-
ernment. They have been attending the
war school, and in gratitude for having
been spared thus far from furnishing
men with which to feed the insatiate
maw of the war god, they will willing-
ly submit to any inconvenience that
promises to more speedily end the ter-
rible struggle.
With food matters under control of
the national government it need not be
expected that any citizen will ye made
to suffer beyond what may be neces-
sary, and in all probability, turning the
entire matter over to the greatest
power in the land will result in more
equitable prices and less fluctuation,
very largely caused by the uncertainty
now prevailing and engendered by the
inability of one section of the country
to learn the true conditions in other
sections. With the'control of transpor-
tation facilities, of foodstuffs and of
men, the country will be in good shape
to take whatever additional steps may
be deemed advisable in the prosecution
of the task now confronting us.
any of you—I never would have J
into the gap after Sassoon. I
Fifty University of Pennsylvania
student have volunteered to work on
Lebanon county farms; evidently that
university teaches the young men
something besides baseball, football
and golf.
“Guaranteed One Year.”
“How the war does change things,”
ruminates a volunteer ruminator, who
writes his initials A. L. M. “Diamonds
were once, considered a gilt edge in-
vestment, but all the ‘gilt* seems now
to be the kind we associate .with the
kaiser. What I’m trying to say is this:
In the window of a pawnbroker’s shop
near my home in South Fourth street
I saw this: ‘Genuine diamond, guar-
anteed one year, $35.’”—Philadelphia
Evening Ledger.
Some Witness.
The prosecuting attorney had en-
countered a somewhat difficult wit-
ness. Finally he asked the man if he
was acquainted with any of the men on
the jury.
“Yes, sir,” announced the witness,
“more than half• of them.”
“Are. you willing to swear that you
know more thar half of them?” de-
manded the lawyer.
“Why, if it comes to that, I’m will-
ing to swear that I know more than
all of them put together."—-St. Louis
Republic.
“Russia Needs Money,” runs the
headline. There are others.
ing his hand, introduced De Spain to
each of the party in turn.
Morgan threw the brim of his weath-
er-beaten hat back from his tanned
face. He wore a mustache and a chin
whisker of that variety designated in
the mountains . by the appropriate
name “Spinach.” But his smile, which
drew his cheeks into wrinkles all about
his long, round nose, was not unfriend-
ly. He looked with open interest from
his frank but not overtrustwOrthy eyes
at De Spain. “I heard,” he said in a
good-natured, slightly nasal tone, “you
made-a sunrise call on us one day last
week.” • %
“And I want to say,” returned De
Spain, equally amiable, “that if I had
SUBSCRIPTION RATES wEXk,aoierporMaihtR,ostageprerld-,P
© NAN o ®
MUSIC MOUNTAIN
yFrankH.Spearman. >
,2 Author of Whispering Smith. I
cop&i&ht an CHARLES SCRrBNER3 JCH9
• Turkey is now paying the penalty for
misrule, anthe object lesson which is
afforded by the spectacle of all of
Turkey’s subject races, whether bound
by ties of race and religion or not,
turning Ogainst the parent government
in their hour of peril, should teach all
nations the folly and danger of de-
liberately antagonizing a helpless peo-
ple. Every dog has his day. Injustice,
oppressive taxes, cruelty, and the sup-
pression -of native enterprise and am-
bition have marked the Turkish re-
gime in Arabia and in North Africa.
England, Italy and France have de-
livered the Moslems of North Africa
from the hands of the Turk, and the
Arabs of Hejaz have set up their own
government. Had the Turk possessed
Sense enough during the days of yore
to conciliate and foster the friendship
of the Arabs, he would probably have
had their assistance instead of their
enmity in the present conflict.
“That will crack the debut ice. We
will call at Harry Tenison’s hotel, and
then go to his new rooms—go right to
society headquarters first—that’s my
theory of doing it. If anybody has
any shooting in mind, Tenison’s is a
quiet and orderly place. And if a
man declines to eat anybody up at
Tenison’s, we put him down, Henry, as
not ravenously hungry.”
“One man I would like to see is that
sheriff, Druel, who let Sassoon get
out.”
“Ready to interview him now?”
“I’ve got some telegrams to answer.”
“Those will keep. The Morgans are
in town. We’ll start out and find some-
body.”
It was wet and sloppy outside, but
Lefever was indifferent to the rain,
and De. Spain thought it would be un-
dignified to complain of it.
When, followed by Lefever, he
Walked into the lobby of Tenison’s
hotel a few moments later the office
was empty. Nevertheless, the news of
the appearance of Sassoon’s captor
spread. The two sauntered into the
billiard hall, which occupied a deep
room adjoining the office and opened
with large plate-glass windows on
Main street. Every, table Was in use.
A fringe of spectators in the chairs, os-
tensibly watching the pool games,
turned their eyes toward De Spain—
those that recognized him distinguish-
ing him by nods and whispers to oth-
ers. • >
Among several groups of men stand-
ing before the long bar, one party of
four near the front end likewise en-
gaged the interest of those keener loaf-
ers who were capable of foreseeing
situations. hese men, Satterlee Mor-
gan, the cattleman; Bull Page, one of
his cowboys; Sheriff Druel, and Judge
Druel, his brother, had been drinking
together. They did not see Lefever
and his companion, as the two came in
through the rear lobby door. But Le-
feyer, on catching sight of them, wel-
and pointed. “There they are,” he
exclaimed hurriedly. “There is the
whole posse. They are coming!” A
shot, followed closely by a second, rang
out from below. “Go,” he cried to
Nan. “There’ll be shooting here that
I can’t stop!” He slapped Sassoon's
pony viciously with his hand, spurred
past her himself, and was away. While
with consternation and anger, she
steadied herself and looked after the
fleeing pair; Then whirling in her sad-
dle, she ran her pony back to the
ranchhouse to give) the alarm.
Yelling like half a dozen men, Le-
% (• '
Chiefly Temper.
Very likely you have overlooked it;
but geography has nevertheless had its
little joke, its quiet little satire, by lo-
cating the'war in what has hitherto.
■ • t
been called the Temperate Zone.—
Puck.
front any pursuers. None at the mo-
ment threatened, but no words were
exchanged until the whole party, riding
fast, were well past El €apitan and
out of the gap. For some unex-
pressed reason—so strong is the influ-
ence of tradition and reputation—no
one of the three coveted a close en-
counter with the Morgans within its
walls. (
“It’s the long heels for it now, boys,”
cried De Spain. His companions closed
up again.
“Save your horses,” cautioned Scott,
stand us a siege at Calabasas. While
the trail is open make for the rail-
road.”
A great globe of dazzling gold burst
into the east above the distant hills.
But the glory of the sunrise called
forth no admiration from the three
men hurrying a fourth urgently along
the Sleepy Cat trail. Between breaths
De Spain explained his awkward meet-
ing with Nan, and of the strait he was
in when Lefever’s strong lungs enabled
him to get away unscratched. But for
a guhman a narrow squeak is as good
as a wide one, and no one found fault
with the situation. They had the ad-
vantage—the only question, was wheth-
er they could hold it. And while they
continued to cast anxious glances be-
hind, Scott’s Indian eyes first per-
ceived signs on the horizon that
marked their pursuit.
“No matter,” declared Lefever.
“This is a little fast for a fat man,
anyway.” He was not averse, either,
to the prospect of a long-range ex-
change with the mountaineers. All
drew rein a little. ‘‘Suppose I cover
the rear till we see what this is,”. sug-
gested Lefever, limbering up as the
other two looked back. "Push ahead
with Sassoon. These fellows won’t fol-
low far.”
“Don’t be sure about that,” muttered
Scott. “Duke and Gale have got the
best' horses in, the mountains, and
they’d rather- fight than eat. There
they come now.”
Dashing across a plain they them-
selves had just crossed, they could see
three horsemen in hot chase. The pur-
sued men rode carefully, and, scanning
the ground everywhere ahead, felt as-
sured of their escape. Though their
pursuers rode in at times with a show
of rushing, the chase was a stem one,
and could be checked whenever neces-
sary. Halting at times to breathe their
horses, De Spain with his two com-
panions arid their prisoners rode into
Sleepy Cat, locked Sassoon up, and
went to the Mountain house for break-
fast. ,
“Carry their trenches!” comes the
ringing cry.
“Through to the end, no matter what
the -cost!”
Fierce flames of fire illuminate the
sky,.
The sullen foe well knows that all is
lost. ■'
And then the Parrot found a lovely
shady tree where crackers grew on
bushes all around. ” So she hung up her
cage on a limb arid wouldn’t travel any
farther, and the little rabbit had to go
on alone. But he didn’t care, for he
was a brave little bunny and wanted to
see new things all the time.
By and by it grew dark, and the little
rabbit looked around for a place to
sleep; But there weren’t any hollow
stumps or haystack or feather beds in
sight, so he sat down and scratched his
right ear with his left hind foot and
wrinkled his forehead and tried to
think what was the best thing to do.
And while he was thinking he heat’d a
little voice singing:
“Rock-a-by birdie
Up in your nest,
Mother is folding you
Under her breast.”
miliation of Sassoon’s friends, but it
in no wise diminished their expressed
resolve to punish De Spain’s invasion.
Lefever, who as’ the mixer among the
stage men, kept close to the drift of
public sentiment, decided after De
Spain’s return to Sleepy Cat that the
stage-line authorities had gained noth-
ing by Sassoon’s capture.
“We ought to have "thought of it be-
fore, Henry,” he said frankly one night
in Jeffries’ office, “but we didn’t
think.”
“Meaning just what, John?” de-
manded De Spain without real inter-
est.
“Meaning, that in this country you
can’t begin on a play like pulling Sas-
soon out from under his friends’ noses
without keeping up the pace—without
a second and third act. You dragged
Sassoon by his hair out of the gap;
good. You surprised everybody; good.
But you can’t very well stop at that,
Henry. Such a feat by itself doesn’t
insure a permanent reputation, t Henry.
It is, so to say, merely a ‘demand’
reputation—one that men reserve the
right to recall at any moment. And
the worst of it is, if they ever do re-
call it, you are worse off than when
before they extended the brittle bauble
to you.”
"Jingo, John! For a stage black-
smith you are some spieler.” De Spain
added an impatient, not to say con-
tumelious, exclamation concerning the
substance of Lefever’s talk. "I didn’t
ask them for a reputation. This man
interfered with my guard—in fact,
tried to cut his throat, didn’t he?”
“Would have done it if Frank had
been an honest man.”
“That is all there is to it, isn’t it?”
Lefever tapped the second finger of
one fat hand gently on the table.
“Practically; * practically all, Henry,
yes. You don’t quite understand, but
you have the right idea.”
“What do you want me to do—back
a horse and shoot two guns at once
up and down Main street, cowboy
style?”.
Lefever kept his patience without
difficulty. “No, no. You’ll under-
stand.”
“Scott , advised me to run down to
Medicine Bend for a few days to let
the Morgans cool off.”
"Right. That was the first step. The
few days are a thing of the past. .1
suppose you know’” continued Lefever,
fn as well-modulated a tone as he
could assume to convey information
that could not be regarded as wholly
cheerful, “that they expect to get you
for this Sassoon job.”
De Spain flushed. But the red anger
lasted only a moment. “Who are
‘they’?” he asked after a pause.
“Deaf Sandusky, Logan,, of course,
the Calabasas bunch, and the Mor-
gans.”
De Spain regarded his ' companion
unamiably. “What do they expect I’ll
be doing while they are gettmng me?”
Lefever raised a hand deprecatingly.
SDon't be overconfident, Henry; that’s
your danger. I know you can take
care of yourself. All I want to do is
to get the folks here acquainted with
your ability, without taking unneces-
sary chances. You see, people are not
now asking questions of one another;
they are asking them of themselves.
Who and what is this newcomer—an
accident or a genuine arrival?” A com-
mon squib or a real explosion? Don’t
get excited,” he added, in an effort to
sooth De Spain’s obvious irritation.
“You have the idea, Henry. It’s time
to show yourself.”
"I can’t very well do business here
without showing myself,” retorted De
Spain.
“But it is a thing to be managed,”
persisted Lefever. “Now, suppose—■
since the topic is up—we ‘show’ in
Main street for a while.”
“Suppose we do,” echoed De Spain
and the two were passing. Sassoon at
the resolute summons stopped. De
Spain could do no less; both men,
halting, faced their suspicious inquisi+
tor. She scrutinzed De Spain keenly.
"What is this man doing in the gap?”
“He came up from Thief river last
night,” answered. Sassoon monoton-
ously.
“What is he doing here with you?”
persisted Nan.
“He’s a cousin of John Rebstock’s
from1* Williams Cache,” continued Sas-
soon. The yarn would have sounded
decently well in the circumstances for
which it was intended, but in the
searching gaze of the eyes now con-
fronting and clearly recognizing him,
it sounded so grotesque that De Spain
would fully as lief have been sitting
between his horse’s legs as astride his
back.
“That’s not true, Sassoon,” said his
relentless questioner. Her tone and
the expression of her face boded no
friendliness for either of the two she
had intercepted.
De Spain had reccveed his wits.
‘‘You’re’ right,” he interposed without
an instant’s hesitation. “It isn’t true.
But that’s not his fault; he is under
arrest, and is telling you what I told
’him to tell you. I came in here this
morning to take Sassoon to Sleepy Cat.
He is a prisoner, wanted for cutting
up one of our stage-guards.”
Nan, coldly skeptical, eyed De Spain.
“And do you, try to tell me”—she
pointed to Sassoon’s unbound hands—■
“that he is riding out of here, a free
man, to go to jail?”
“I do tell you exactly that. He is
my prisoner—”
“I don’t believe either of you,” de-
clared Nan scornfully. “You are plan-
ning something underhand together.”
De Spain laughed coolly. “We’ve
planned that much together, but not, I
assure you, with his consent.”
“I don’t believe your stories at all,”
she declared 'firmly.
De Spain flushed. Tie irritation and
the serious danger bore in on him. "If
you don’t believe me it’s not my fault,”
he retorted. “I’ve told you the truth.
Ride on, Sassoon.”
He spoke angrily, but this in no
wise daunted Nan. She wheeled her
horse directly in front of them. “Don’t
you stir, Sassoon,” she commanded,
“uhtil I call Uncle Duke.”
De Spain spurred straight at her;
their horses collided, and his knee
touched hers in the saddle. “I’m go-
ing to take Kis man out of here,” he
announced in a tone she never had
heard before from a man. “I’ve no
time to talk. Go call your uncle if you
like. We must pass.”
“You shan’t pass a step!”
With the quick words of defiance the
two glared, at each other. De Spain
was taken aback. He had expected no
more than a war of words—a few
screams at the most. Nan’s face
turned white, but there was no symp-
tom even of a whimper. He noticed
her quick breathing, and felt, instinc-
tively, the restrained gesture of her
right hand as it started back to her
side. The move steadied him. “One
question,” he said bluntly, “are you
armed?” '
She hated even to answer, and met
his searching gaze resentfully, but
something in his tone and manner
wrung a reply. “I can defend myself,”
she exclaimed angrily:
De Spain raised his right hand from
his thigh to the pommel of his saddle.
The slight gesture was eloquent of his
surrender of the issue of force. “I
can’t go into a shooting-match with
you about this cur. If you call your
uncle there will be bloodshed—unless
you drop me off my horse right here
and now before he appears. All I ask
you is this: Is this kind of a cut-
throat worth that? If you shoot me,
my whole posse from Sleepy Cat is
right below us in the aspens. Some
of your own people will be killed in a
general fight. If you want to shoot me,
shoot—you can have the match all to
yourself. If you don’t, let" us go by.
And if I’ve told you one word that isn’t
true, call me back to this spot any time,
you like, and I’ll come at your call,
and answer for it.”
His words and his manner confound-
ed her for a moment. She could not at
once make an answer, for she could not
decide what to say. Then, of a sud-
den, she was robbed of her chance to
answer. From down the trail came a
yell like a shot. The clatter of hoofs
rang out, and men on horses dashed
from the entrance of the gap toward
them. De Spain could not make out
distinctly, but he knew Lefever’s yell,
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Galveston Tribune. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 134, Ed. 1 Tuesday, May 1, 1917, newspaper, May 1, 1917; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1481686/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rosenberg Library.