r i i i i i 1 1 .
OF THE
THREE
BY KATE AND VIRGIL
COOYOlCMT BY A CMtCLUPO UCO. 907
naturedly. "nut it does "beat" the
band, Jim, now doesn't It, how you
people scare at petticoats. They
ain't pizen honest."
Jim looked on idly. Occasionally
he condescended to head a rebellious
steer shutewards. Out beyond it was
still and sweet and peaceful, and te
late afternoon had put on that thin
veil of coolness which is a God-given
refreshment after the heat of the
day. Hut here in the pen all was con
fusion. The raucous cattle-calls of
the cowboys smote the evening air
startlingly.
"Here, Hill Itrown!" he exclaimed
suddenly, "where did you run across
that critter?" He slapped the shoul
der of a big. raw-boned, long-eared
steer as he spoke. The animal was
on the point of being driven up the
thute.
"What you want to know for? asked
Brown In surprise.
"Reason 'nough. That critter be
longs to us, that's why; and I want to
know where you got him, that's what
1 want to know."
"You're crazy, Jim! Why, I bought
that fellow from Jesse Hlack V other
day. I've got a bill of sale for him.
I'm shippin' a couple of cars to Sioux
City and bought him to send along.
That's on the square."
"I don't doubt it s' far as you're
concerned. Hill Hrown." said Jim, "but
that's our critter jest the same, and
1 11 jest tote im along f you've no ob
jections."
"Well, I guess not!" said Drown, la
conically. "Look here. Hill Brown," Jim was
setting hot headedly angry, "didn't
you know Jesse Black stands trial to
morrow for rustlin' that there very
critter from the Three Bars ranch?"
'"So, I didn't" Brown answered
shortly. "Any case?"
"I guess yes! Williston o the Lazy
S saw this very critter on that island
where Jesse Black holds out." He
proceeded to relate minutely the story
to which Williston was going to swear
on the morrow. "But," he concluded,
"Jesse's goin' to fight like hell against
bein' bound over."
"Well, well," said Brown, perplexed
ly. "But the brand, Jim, it's not
yours or Jesse's either."
"'Quainted with any J R ranch in
these parts?" queried Jim, shrewdly.
"I ain't."
"Well, neither am I," confessed
Brown, "but that's not sayin' there
ain't one somewhere. Maybe we can
trace it back."
"Shucks!" exploded Jim.
"Maybe you're right, Jim, but 1
don't propose to lose the price o' that
animal less'n I have to. You can't
blame me for that. I paid good money
for it. If it's your'n, why, of course,
it's your'n. But I want to be sure first.
Sure you'd know him, Jim? How
could you be so blamed sure? Your
boss must range 5,000 head."
"Know him? Know Mag? I'd knew
Mag ef my eyes were full o' soundin'
cataracts. He's an old and tried friend
o' mine. The meanest critter the
Lord ever let live and that's a fac
But- the boss calls 'im his maggot.
Seems to actually churish a kind o'
'fection for the ornery critter, and
says the luck o' the Three Bars would
sort o peak and pine ef he should
ever git rid o' the pesky brute. Maybe
he's right. Leastwise, the critter's his,
and when a thing's yours, why, it's
yours and that's all there is about it.
By crack, the boss is some mad!
You'd think him and that wall-eyed,
cross-grained son-of-a-gun had been
kind and lovin' mates these many
years. Well, I ain't met up with this
ornery critter for some time. Hullo,
there, Mag! Look kind o' sneakin.
now, don't you, wearin that outland
ish and unbeknownst J R ?"
Bill Brown thoughtfully surveyed
the steer whose ownership was thus
so unexpectedly disputed.
"You hold him," insisted Jim. "Ef
he ain't ours, you can send him along
with your next shipment, can't you?
"What you wobblin about? Ain't afraid
the boss 'II claim what ain't his, are
you. Bill Brown?"
"Well, I can't he'p myself, I guess,"
said Brown, in a tone of voice which
told plainly of his laudable effort to
keep his annoyance in subjection to
his good fellowship. "You send Lang
ford down here first thing in the morn
ing. If he says the critter's his'n that
ends it."
Now that he had convinced his
quondam acquaintance, the present
shipper, to his entire satisfaction,
Jim glanced at his watch with os
tentatious ease. His time had come.
If all the minutes of all the time to
come should be as short as those 40
had been, how soon he, Jim Munson,
cow puncher, would have riiden them
all into the past. But his "get away"
must be clean and dignified.
"Likely bunch you have there," he
said, casually, turning away with un
assumed reluctance.
"Fair to middlln'' said Brown with
pride.
"Shippin to Sioux City, you said?"
"Yep." ,
"Well, so long."
. - . -. ; . - ' - -
WV
"So long. Shippin' any these
toys, Jim?"
"Nope. Boss never dribbles 'em
m. When he ships he ships. Ain't
ene gone over the rails since last
fall."
He stepped off briskly and vaulted
the fence with as lightsome an air as
though he were bent on the one er
rand his heart would choose, and
swung up the track carelessly hum
ming a tune. But he had a vise-like
grip on his cob pipe. His teeth bit
through the frail stem. It split. He
tossed the remains away with a ges
ture of nervous contempt. A whistle
sounded. He quickened his pace. If
he missed her well, the boss was a
good fellow, took a lot of nonsense
from the boys, but there were things
he would not stand for. Jim did not
need to be told that this would be one
cf them.
The platform was crowded. The
yellow sunlight fell slantingly on the
gay groups.
"Aw, Munson. you're bluffln. jested
the mail carrier. "You ain't lookin'
fer nobody: you know you ain't. You
ain't got no folks Don't believe you
never had none. Never heard of 'em."
I've Get a Bill-of-Sale for Him.
"Lookin for my uncle," explained
Jim, serenely. "Rich old codger from
the state o' Pennsylvaney some'ers.
Ain't got nobody but me left."
"Aw, come off! What you givin' us?"
But Jim only winked and slouched
off, prime for more adventures. He
was enjoying himself hugely when
he was not thinking of petticoats.
CHAPTER V.
At the Bon Ami.
Unlike most of those who ride much
her escort was a fast walker. Louise
had trouble in keeping up with him,
though she had always considered her
self a good pedestrian. But Jim Mun
son was laboring under strange em
barrassment. He was red-facedly
conscious of the attention he was at
tracting striding up the inclined
street from the station in the van of
the prettiest and most thoroughbred
girl who had struck Velpen this long
time.
Not that he objected to attention
under normal conditions. Not he! He
courted it. His chief aim in life
seemed to be to throw the limelight
of publicity, first, on the Three Bars
ranch as the one and only in the cate
gory of ranches, and to be connected
with it in some way, however slight,
the unquestioned aim and object of
existence of every man, woman and
child in the cattle country; secondly,
on Paul Langford, the very boss of
bosses, whose master mind was the
prop and stay of the northwest, if not
of all Chirstendom; and lastly, upon
himself, the modest, tut loyal servi
tor in this Paradise on earth. But girls
were far from normal conditions.
There were no women at the Three
Bars. There never had been any
woman at the Three Bars within the
memory of man. To be sure, Willis
ton's little girl had sometimes ridden
over on an errand, but she didn't
count. This this was the real thing,
and he didn't know just how to deal
with it. He needed time to enlarge
his sight to this broadened horizon.
He glanced with nonchalance over
his shoulder. After all, she was only
a girl, and not such a big one, either.
She wore longer skirts than Willis
ton's girl, but he didn't believe she
was a day older. ' He squared about
immediately, and what he had meant
to say he never said, on account of
an unaccountable thickening of his
tongue.
Presently he bolted into a building,
which proved to be the Bon Ami, a
restaurant under the direct supervis
ion of the fat, voluble and tragic Mrs.
Higgins, where the men from the
other side of the river had right of
wav and unlimited credit.
"What'll you have?" he asked, hos
pitably, - the - familiar air of the Bon
Am( bringing him back to his accus
tomed .self-confident swagger.
"Might I have some tea and toast,
please?" said Louise, sinking into a
chair at the nearest table, with two
startling yet amusing; thoughts ram
pant In her brain. One was. that she
wished Aunt Helen could have seen
her swinging along In the wake of this
typical "bold and licentious" man,
and calmly and comfortably sitting
down to a cozy little supper for two
at a public eating house; the other
startling thought was to the effect
that the invitation was redolent with
suggest! veness. and she wondered if
she was not expected to say, "A whis
kev f' ' tie. please."
"Guess you kin," answered Jim,
wonui-r iii his voice at the exceeding
barrenness of the order. "Mrs. Hig
gins, hello there, Mrs. Higgins! I say,
there, bring on some tea and toast
for the lady!"
"Where is the Three Bars?" asked
Louise, her thoughts straying to the
terrors of a 15-mile drive through a
strange and uncanny country with a
stranger and yet more uncanny man.
She had accepted him without ques
tion. He was part and parcel with the
strangeness of her new position. But
the suddenness of the transition from
idle conjecture to startling reality had
raised her proud head and she looked
this new development squarely in the
face without outward hint of Inward
pertubation.
"Say, where was you raised?" asked
Jim, with tolerant scorn, between
huge mouthfuls of boiled pork and
cabbage, interspersed with baked po
tatoes, hot rolls and soggy dumplings,
shoveled in with knife, fork or spoon.
He occasionally anticipated dessert
by making a sudden sortie into the
quarter of an immense custard pie,
hastening the end by means of noisy
draughts of steaming coffee. Truly,
the Three Bars connection had the fat
of the land at the Bon Ami.
"Why, it's the Three Bars that's
bringin' you here. Didn't you know
that? There's nary a man In the
hull country with backbone enough to
keep off all-fours 'ceptin' Paul Lang
ford. Um. You just try once to walk
over the boss, will you? Lord! What
a grease spot you'd make!"
"Mr. Gordon Isn't being walked
over, is he?" asked Louise, finished
with her tea and toast and impatient
to be off.
"Oh, Gordon? Pretty decent sort o
chap. Right idees. Don't know
much about handlin' hoss thieves and
sich. Ain't smooth enough. Acted
kind o' like a chicken with its head
cut off till the boss got into the round
up." "Oh!" said Louise, whose concep
tion of the young counsel for the state
did not tally with this delineation.
"Yep. Miss, this here's the boss's
doin's. Y'ep. Lord! What'!! that
gang look like when we are through
with 'em. Spendin' the rest o' their
days down there in Soux Falls, medi
tatin on the advisability o' walkin
clear o' the toes o the Three Bars in
the future and cussin' their stupendi
fied stupidity in foolin' even once with
the Three Bars. Y'ep. sir yep. ma'am
I mean Jesse Black and his gang
have acted just like pesky, little plnm'
fool moskeeters, and we're goin to
slap 'em. The cheek of 'em, lightin'
on the Three Bars! Lord!"
"Mr. Williston informed, did he
not?"
"Williston? Oh, yes, he informed,
but he'd never 'a' done it if it hadn't
'a' been for the boss. The ol' jellyfish
wouldn't 'a' had the nerve to inform
without bacftin', as sure as a stone
wall. The boss is a doin' this, I tell
you, Miss. But Williston 's a goin' on
the stand to-morrer all right, and so
am I."
The two cowboys at the corner table
had long since finished their supper.
They now lighted bad-smelling cigars
and left the room. To Louise's great
relief Munson rose, too. He was back
very soon with a neat little runabout
and a high-spirited team of bays.
"Boss's private," explained Jim with
pride. "Nothin' too good for a lady,
so the boss sent this and me to take
keer o' it. And o' you, too, Miss," he
added, as an afterthought.
He held the lines in his brown, mus
cular hands, lovingly, while he stowed
away Louise's belongings and himself
"Where Is the Three Bars?"
snugly in the seat, and then the blood
burned hot and stinging through his
bronzed, tough skin, for suddenly in
his big, honest, untrained sensibilities
was born the consciousness that the
boss would have stowed away the lady
first It was an embarrassing mo
ment. Louise saved the day by climb
ing in unconcernedly after him and
tucking the linen robe over her kirt.
"It will be a dusty drive, won't it?"
she asked, simply.
"Miss, you're a dandy," said Jim
as simply.
As they dove : upon the pontoon
bridge, Louise looked back at the little
llikfr ft
town on the bluffs and felt a momen
tary choking In her throat. .It was a
strange place, yet It had tendrils
reaching homeward. The trail be
yond was abscurely marked and not
easy to discern. She turned to her
companiion and asked quickly: "Why
didn't Mary come?"
"Great guns! Did 1 forgit to tell
you? Wllliston's got the stomach
ache to beat the band and Mary s got
to physic him up 'gin to-njorrer. We've
got to git him on that stand if it takes
the hull Three Bars to hoi' him up and
the gal a pourin' physic down him be
tween times. Yep, Ma'am. He was
pizened. You see, everybody that ate
any meat last night was took sick
with gripin' cramps, yep; but Willis
ton he was worse'n all, he bein' a
hearty eater. He was a stayin" In
town over night on this preliminary
business, and Dick Gordon he was
took, too, but not so bad, bein what
you might call a light eater. The boss
and me we drove home after all,
though we'd expected to stay for sup
per. The pesky coyotes got fooled
that time. Yep, ma'am, no doubt about
it in the world. Friends o" Jesse's
that we ain't able to lay hands on y it
pizened that there meat. Yep, no
doubt about it. Dick was in an awful
sweat about you. Was bound he was
a comin' after you hisself, sick as he
was, when we found Mary was ofT the
count. So then the boss was a comin'
and they fit and squabbled for an hour
who could be 'best spared, when I:
comin' in, settled It in a jiffy by
offerin' my services, which was gladly
accepted. When there's pizenin' goin'
on, why, the boss's place is hum. And
nothin' would do but the boss's own
particular outfit. He never does things
by halves, the boss don't. So I hikes
home after it and then hikes here."
"I am very grateful to him, I am
sure," murmured Louise, smiling.
And Jim, daring to look upon her
smiling face, clear eyes and soft hair
under the jaunty French sailor hat,
found himself wondering why there
was no woman at the Three Bars.
With the swift, half-intuitive thought,
the serpent entered Eden.
CHAPTER VI.
"Nothing but a Hos Thief, Anyway."
The island teemed with early sun
flowers and hints of goldenrod yet to
come. The fine, white, sandy soil
deadened the sound of the. horses'
hoofs. They seemed to be spinning
through, space. Under the cotton
woods it grew dusky and still.
At the toll house a dingy buckboard
in a state of weird dilapidation, with a
team of shaggy buckskin ponies, stood
waiting Jim drew up. Two men
were lounging In front of the shanty,
chatting to the toll-man.
"Hello, Jim!" called one of them, a
tall, slouching fellow with sandy col -
oring
Now. r.ow tne devil did you git
so familiar with my name?" growled
Jim.
"The Three Bars is gettin' busy
these days." spoke up the second man,
with an Insolent grin.
"You bet ft is." bragged .Tim. "Vv'her
the offVois o' tl-e !:r.v r- r :
with hoss thi-?vt .- .sr. I !
take two weeks to a;-rc .i ;. . t
'em, when 11 cy know preza.:t:y .vl:.!-
they keep thirselves. an'! '".a e '--have
special deputies &pp'intcd eve-r
'em five or six times and .hen let
most o' the bunch slip through their
fingers, it's time for some one to git
busy. And when Jesse Black and hi3
gang are so desp'rit they pizeu the
cheif witnesses "
A gentle pressure on his arm
stopped him. He turned inquiringly.
"I wouldn't say any more," whisper
ed Louise. "Let's get on."
The hint was sufficient, and with the
words, "Right you are. Miss Reporter,
we'll be gittin' on," Jim paid his toll
and spoke to his team.
"Just wait
up the sandy
a bit",
man.
will you'
spoke
"What for?"
"We're not just ready."
"Well, we are," shortly.
"We arn't, and we don't care to be
passed, you know."
He spoke indifferently. In defer
ence to Louise, Jim waited. The men
smoked on carelessly. The toll-man
fidgeted.
"You go to hell! The Three Bars
ain't waitin' on no damned hoss
thieves," said Jim, suddenly.
His nervous team sprang forward.
Quick as a flash the sandy man was in
the buckboard. He struck the bays
a stinging blow with his rawhide, and
as they swerved aside he swung into
the straight course to the narrow
bridge of boats. In another moment
the way would be blocked. "With a
burning oath Jim, keeping to the side
of the steep incline till the river mire
cut him off, deliberately turned his
stanch little team squarely and
crowded them forward against the
shaggy buckskins. It was team
against team. Louise, clinging tightly
to the seat, lips pressed together to
keep back any sound, felt a wild, in
explicable thrill of confidence in the
strength of the man beside her.
The bays were pitifully, cruelly
lashed by the enraged owner of the
buckskins, but true as steel to the fa
miliar voice that had guided them
so often and so kindly, they gave not
nor faltered. There was a snapping
of brok'en wood, a wrench, a giving
way, and the runabout sprang over
debris of broken wheel and wagon-box
to the narrow confines of the rontoon
bridge.
"The Three Bars is gettin busy!"
gibed Jim over his shoulder.
"It's a sorry day for you and yours,"
cried the other, in black and ugly
wrath.
"We ain't afraid. You're nothin' but
a hoss thief, anyway!" responded Jim,
gleefully, as a parting shot.
"Now what do you suppose waa
their game?" he asked vof the girl at
bis side. .
Nehawka
(From the IteirNter. )
John G. Wunderlich was a visitor to
the old-town-on-the-river last Saturday,
going from there to Missouri on a busi
ness trip.
F. A. Hansen sold a team to the
horsebuyers that were here the first of
the week for $400. Are horses coming
down? Well we guets nit not good
ones at any rate.
Samuel Humphrey and Mrs. Carl
Stone left on Wednesday for Cherokee,
Oklahoma, on a visit to friends down
there. This will be Sam's vacation that
came as a prize for the best section.
Thomas Kivett who works for Era
nest Young received a visit from his
brother and a friends named Emmett
O'Brien on Tuesday. Both the young
men hail from Liberty, North Carolina.
J. M. Stone returned Wednesday
morning from Oskaloosa, Iowa, where
he has been to see Mrs. West. He re
ports Gladys as doing nicely, but Mrs.
West's condition is not as favorable as
was hoped for.
J. Wesley Pittman from near Union
was in town Tuesday and made this of
nee a piesant call. Mr. 1'ittman is an
old settler and in the course of our con
versation we learned many things incid
ent to the early days in Nebraska.
Adjutant-General Schwartz of the
Nebraska National Guard was in Ne
hawka on Wednesday. He had been
at Weeping Water in the evening in
specting the company there and then
came down for a short visit with Vilas
P. Sheldon. He reports much enthusi
asm in the Weeping Water company,
but in many places companies have
been mustered out for the lack of en
thusiasm. Noticing a stream of blood in front
of Dr. Walker's office, we stepped in
and asked where the victim was and he
referred us to Tommy Fulton. While
he and George Hansen were loading a
disc that he had just finished shapening,
the disc turned in the wagon and caught
Tom's left wrist between it and the
wagon box, severing a vein, splitting a
tendon and scraping the bone. Other
than having to lay off from work for a
couple of weeks he will come out all OK.
Vilas Pettigrew Sheldon, who has
been a wanderer on the face of the
earth and California, returned home
Friday evening. He said that Nehawka
was the best looking town he had seen
in all his travels. He said that he did
; not like the atmosphere of that country
j especially the current of
hot air" i
j that was continually moving this
art
lde being furnished by the native. He
reports Mrs. Sheldon as being in about
the same health that she was when
they left.
Union
From the Ledger.
j G. S. Upton is the proud owner of
four fine Goloway cows which he pur-
viicAkiwu a w 1 1 , ii v. ii b . ' i uui jaoi vv . rv .
Mrs. Woolson and Mrs. Berry arrived
from Missouri last Saturday and have
been visiting the Frans and Downs
families southwest of this village.
Mrs. Irena F. Davis and Mrs. II. R.
Conrad arrived home last Saturday
evening from Dallas, Texas, where they
went three weeks ago to visit Mrs.
Davis' daughter, Mrs. Edward Ruh
mann. L. R. Upton was in Omaha last Fri
day to have a specialist treat his left
eye, which had been causing him much
trouble. He has only two eyes, and
thinks he don't want to lose the use of
half of them.
Wes Burnett, Lewis Fitch, Mark
White, Joe Campbell and Louie Korrell,
residents of the Kenosha neighborhood,
hauled a fine lot of fat porkers to this
market Tuesday and all of those gentle
men Called to see us and "swap yarns. "
Geo. H . True returned yesterday
from Omaha, where he has been assist
ing in taking care of his son Ezra, upon
whom an opetation for appendicitis was
performed last week. Mr. True re
ports that the boy is getting along very
nicely.
Wm. Wegand and his mother, accom
panied by their housekeeper, Mrs. Rosa
Payne, a colored lady, arrived here
Tuesday morning from Hiawatha, bring
ing a car load of household goods and
will make this their permanent home,
occupyingthe Lloyd residence in the
north part of the village.
L. R. Black, who has been Missouri
Pacific agent here for some time, was
"checked out" Wednesday and will go
to Malvern, Iowa, to visit his mother
and enjoy a few weeks vacaition before
taking up another station. Mr. Black
has been a very accommodating and
efficient agent and has many friends
here who regret that he will locate else
where. Found a Petrified Tree
While making the excavation, for the
drainage ditch on the Coates-Falter
farm north of the city, the workman
discovered a tree standing erect, and it
had stood in the native forest, entirely
petrified, and turned to stone. It had
been buried by the changing of the
current of the creek and the continual
washings, had buried the ' tree. Mr.
Coates says the tree must hav2 been
buried for a great number of years.
nETunn to for
mer HETIIODS
The Burlington Resume the Book
keeping in Vogue Some Time
Since Being the Better Than
Later System Used
With the beginning of the first of the
coming month, the Burlington will re
sume the use of the old style method
of station accounts, for the past year
there has been in vogue a system of
what is known as monthly abstracts
accounts system, and which necessi
tated an enormous amount of work for
for the agent, and for the cashier at
stations where they were maintained,
as at this point. The monthly abstract
system had to show the business with
each station on the road, which did
business with this station in divisions,
as well as the amount done with points
on foreign roads. This required some
three days work of the station agent or
cashier at the end of the month, and
was a big task in addition to the other
duties required of the agent or chshier.
With the resumption of the former
method which is known as the daily re
port system, an abstract of the bill re
ceived and sent out will be made daily,
which goes to the general offices, and
this is a settlement complete every
day, without the monthly abstract and
allows the books to be kept in the local
offices closed and ballanced with each
days business transacted. The return
to the former method is hailed with de
light with the agents and cashiers upon
whom the work falls. From the ex
perience the management found that
the "Something better" was not as
good as what they had had before.
Lets Us Have Action
Cass county has as good newspapers
as any county in the state. Still, im
provements may yet be made. How to
make additional improvements is the
question. The Courier suggests that
the Cass county publishers get together
and organize a county newspaper club
and hold monthly meetings, first in one
town and then in another. By making
these rounds of the county the publish
ers will get'better acquainted with the
people of the county, and know more
of the county in which they reside. Ex
change of thoughts is always of value
to newspaper men, as well as to men of
other callings. This is a day of evolu
tion. None of us can stand still. We
either go forward or backward. Let us
go forward. Let us get together.
Brothers of newspaperdom,what do you
say to the project? Louisville Couries.
The Journal sanctions every word
contained in the above. They are right
to the point. The writer's experience,
which prehaps is double that in years
of any other editor in the county, has
taught him that were it not for the
annual gathering of newspaper people,
the elevation of the profusion would not
be where it is today. An exchange of
views occasionally on matters pertain
ing business in our line will help us
all. Besides, the social features attend
ant will make us more congenial with
one another and give us an opportunity
of an outing at least one day in a month
Therefore count us in, Bro. May
fieR Returned From South Dakota.
Robert Troop returned last Saturday
evening from Gregory, South Dakota,
where he has been for the past ten days,
going to complete the arrangement of
selling his farm at that place, which he
did, the place bringing $7,100. Mr.
Troop says the town is full of people
and great difficulty is experienced in
obtaining any accomodations as to
lodging, but the matter of meals is not
so much of a problem. At present there
are six buildings under construction and
much snow still on the ground.
WHEN THE KETTLE SINGS
it's a siirn of coal satisfaction. WaDt
to hear the music In your kitchen?
Easy order coal from this oflice and
yard. The output of the Trenton
mine the fuel we handle has no su
perior anywhere, its equal in few
places
J. V. EGENBEItGER.
'PHONE
PUttfimouth No. 22.
ilea JNo. 301.
PLATTSUOUTH, -
NEBRASKA