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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1920)
I a NORTH PLATTE SEMT-WEKTaT TItTBUNE. The VALLEY Author of "Cappy Rick." CHAPTER XVI Continued. 18 "Has !otifdstoiio returned your cur?" he queried. "Why, yes, What innkcs you nsk?" "Oh, I IiiiiI u suspicion he mlj,'ht. You see, 1 railed hltn up nnd aiikrchI () It; somehow his honor Ib pociillnr ly misceiitlble to suKcestlons from mc, nnd" "llryce Cardigan," she declared, "you're n sly nisonl Unit's what you are. I shan't toll you nnotjier thing." I hope you hud n stenographer at tho dictograph wlipn the mayor and your uncle cooked up their little deal. That was thoughtful of you, .Shirley. It wns n bully club to have up your sleeve at the dual showdown, for with If you can make Unkledunk behave himself and force that compromise you spoke of. Seriously, however. I don't want you to use It, Shirley. Wo mtj.it avoid a scandal by all means; nnd praise be, I don't need your club tn heat your uncle's brains out. I'm fnklng his club away from him lo use for Hint purKise." "Itenlly, I believe you're happy to dny." "Happy? I should tell a man! If the streets of Sequoia were paved with eggs, r could walk them all day wtthout making an omelette." "II must bo nice to feel so happy, nftor so many months of the blues." "Indeed It Is, Shirley. You see until very recently I was very much wor ried as to your attitude townrd mc. I couldn't believe you'd so far forget yourself as to love mo In spite of everything so I never took the trouble to nsk you. And now I don't have to ask you. I know! And I'll be around to see. you after I get that crossing In 1" "You'ro perfectly horrid," she blnt-ed, nnd hung up without the for mality of saying good-hy. Shortly nftcr Shirley's departure from Ids ofllco, llryco hnd n visit from Ituck Ogllvy. The lutter wore a neatly pressed suit of Shepherd pluld, with n white carnation In bis lapel, and be wits apparently the most light-hearted young man In Humboldt county. He struck en attitude nnd demanded: "Hess, what do you think of my new Hititr "You lunatic! Don't you know red blonds, should never wear light shades? You'ro dressed llko a negro minstrel." "Well, I feel us happy us nn end nmn. And by tho way, you'ro till chirked up yourself. Who's been help ing you to tho elixir of life? When we parted last night, you were forty fathoms deep tn the slough of de spond." "No loss a divinity than Miss Shir- ley Sumner I Shu called this morning tn explain that last night's tlasco wns none of her making, nnd quite Inno cently she Imparted tho Information that old Pennington lighted out for Snn Frtmclaco at one o'clock this morning. Whcroforo I laugh. Te-ho! Ilh-bahr 'Three long, loud milieus cheers for Uncle. Ho'h gone to rush a restrain ing, order through tho United States "Three Long, Loud, Raucous Cheers for Uncle." district court. Wonder why ho didn't wire his attorney to attend to tho matter for him." "IIo Iiub the crossing blocked, and inasmuch as tho mayor feeds out of Pennington's hand, tho Colonel Is qulto confident that said crossing will re main blocked. As for tho restraining unler well, if ono wants u thing well Mone. one should do It oneself." "Ail mat tioesnc explain your cheerful uttltude, though." "Oh, out it uoos. rvo tout you about old Duticun McTavlsh, Molru's father, haven't I?" Ogllvy nodded, and Jlryce continued: "When I tired the old scoundrel for boozing, It almost broke his heart; ho had to leave Hum holdt, where ovorybody knew him, so he wandered down Into Mcndoolno county and got n Job sticking lumber in the dryluc yard of tho Wllllta Lutu By PETER B. KYNE her company. He's been there two mouths now, nnd I nm Informed by his employer thut old Mac hasn't tak en a drink In all that time. And what's more, ho Isn't going to tnkc ono again." "How tlo you know?" "Ilecniise I make It my business to And out. -Mac was the finest woods- boss this county ever knew ; hence you do not nssume that I would lose the old scoundrel without making a fight for him, do you? Why, Ituck, he's been on the Cardlgnn pay roll thirty years, and I only II red him In order to reform him. Well, Inst week I sent one of Mac's old friends down to Wllllts purposely to call on him and Invite him out 'for a time;' but Mac wouldn't drink with him. No. sir, he couldn't lie tempted. On the contrary, ho told the tempter that I had prom ised to give him back his Job If he re mained on the water wagon for one year; ho was resolved to win back his Job and his self-respect." "I know what your plan Is," Ogllvy Interrupted. "Listen, now, to father's words of wisdom. Didn't you hear me tell that girl and her villainous avun cular relative last night that I had an other ace up my kimono?" llryco nodded. "That was not brag, old dear. I had the ace. and this morning I played It wherefore In my henrt there Is that peace that passeth understanding particularly since I have Just had a telegram Informing me that my nee took the odd trick. "You will recall that from tho very Instant we deckled to cut In that Jump crossing, we commenced to plan against Interference by Pennington; In consequence wo kept, or tried to keep, our decision a secret. However, there existed at nil times the possibility that Pennington might discover our benevo lent Intentions and block us with his only weapon a restraining order Is sued by the Judge of the United States district court. "Now, one of the most delightful things I know nhout a court Is thnt It Is open to all men seeking Justice or Injustlco disguised as Justice. Also there Is a wise old saw to tho effect that battles are won by the fellow who gets there first with the most men. The situation from the start was absurdly simple. If Pennington got to the dis trict court first, wo wore lost!" "You mean you got there first?" ex claimed llryco. "I did by the very simple method of preparing to get there first In case anything slipped. Something did slip last night! However, I wns ready; so all I had to do was press the but ton, for as Omar Khayyam renmrked: 'What shall It avail a man If be buy eth a padlock for his stable after his favorite stallion hutli been lifted?' Sev eral days ago, my boy, I wrote n long letter to our nttornoy In San Francisco explaining every detail of our predica ment; tho Instant I received that tem porary franchlso from the city council, I mailed n certified copy of It to our attorney also. Then, In anticipation of our discovery by Pennington, I In structed the nttornoy to prepare the complaint and petition for a restrain ing order ngalnst Sctb Pennington et al, and stand by to rush to tho Judge with It the Instant be heard from met "Well, nhout the time old Penning ton started for San Francisco this morning, I had our attorney out of bed and on the long-dlstnnco telephone ; nt nine o'clock this morning he appeared In the United States district court; at nlne-llfteen the Judge signed n restrain lug order forbidding our enemies to interfere with us In the exercise of n right legally granted us by the city of Sequoln, and at nine-thirty a deputy United States marshal started In nn automobile for Sequoia, via tho over land route. He will arrlvo Into tomor row night, nnd on Sunday wo will get that locomotive out of our way und In stall our crossing." "And Pennington" "Ah. the poor Pennington! Mon pauvro Sethi" Iluck sighed comical ly. "He will ho Just twenty-four hours late." ' "You old he-fox!" llryco murmured "You wicked, wicked manl" lluck Ogllvy lifted his lnpel nnd sniffed luxuriously ut his whlto enrna- tlnn, tho whllo n thin 'llttlo smllo played around tho corners of his hu morous mouth. "Ah," he murmured presently, "life's protty sweet, Isn't lt?H CHAPTER XVII. Kvcnts followed each other with re freshing rapidity. While tho crow of tho big locomotlvo on the crossing busied themsolves getting un steam. Soxton nnd Jules Itondenu tolled at tho loading of tho discarded boiler and heavy castings aboard two tint cars. By utilizing the steel derrick on tho company's wrecking car, this task wns completed by noon, and after luncheon tho mogul backed up the main lino past tho switch Into tho I.ngunn Qrando yards; whereupon tho switch cnglno kicked tho two flat cars and the wrecking car out of tho yard and down to tho crossing, whero tho obstructions wero promptly unloaded. Tho pollco wutched tho operation wltli aJert inter- GIANTS Copyright by Peter D. Kyne S3 est but forebore to Interfere In this hlgh-hnnded closing of a public thor- opghfare. To Sexton's nnnoynnco and secret apprehension, llryco Cardigan and Iluck Ogllvy promptly appeared on the scene, both very cheerful nnd lavish with export advice us to the best method of expediting the Job In bund. To Ilryce's surprise Jules Itondenu up- peared to take secret enjoyment of this good-natured chaffing of the La- guna Grande tnnnnger. Occasionally he eyed llryco curiously but without animus, and presently bo Unshed the latter n lightning wink, as If to say: What n fool Sexton Is to oppose you 1" "Well, Itondenu," llryce hulled the woods-boss cheerfully, "I sec you have quite recovered from that working over I gnvo you some time ago. No hard feelings, I trust. I shouldn't enre to have that Job to do over again. You're a tough one." "By gar, she don' pay for have hard feelings wis you, m'sleur," Itondenu nnswered bluntly. "We have one fine tight, but" bo shrugged "I don want some more," He approached llryce and lowered his voice. "For ono month "Wen I Cut Your Beeg Trees, M'sleur, I Feel Like Hell." I urn no good all ze tnm. We don' fight some more, m'sleur. And I have feel asliame' for dose Black Minorca feller. Always wlz him eet Is ze knife or ze club-r-and now eet Is ze rifle. Cochon ! W'en I fight. I fight wiz what le bon Dlcu give me." "You appear to have a certain code, uftcr all," llryco laughed. "I am In clined to llko you for it. You're sporty In your wny, you tremendous scoun drel I" "Mebbeso," Itondenu suggested hope fully, "M'sleur likes ine for woods- boss?" "Why, whnt's the matter with Pen nington? Is ho tired of you?" Tho color mounted slowly to the woods bully's swarthy cheek. "Made moiselle Summnlr, he's tell me protty soon bo's goln' be boss of Lagunu (Irnndo nn' stop nil thees fight. An w'en Mademoiselle, he Is In the saddle, good-bye Jules Itondenu. Thees coun try I llko him. I feel sad, M'sleur, to lenve dose beeg trees." Ho paused, looking rather wistfully at llryce. "I am fine woods-boss for somebody," ho suggested hopefully. "You think Miss Sumner dislikes you then, lionuonur "I don' theenk. I know." He sigh ed; his huge body seemed to droop. "I am out of zee good luck now," he murmured bitterly. "Hvcrybody, she bate Jules Rondeau." Agnln he sighed. "Doso beeg trees 1 In Quebec we have none. In zeo woods, M'sleur, I feel hero I" And ho lnld his great calloused, hairy hand over his heart "W'en I cut your beeg trees, M'sleur, I feel llko hell." "That lnfcrnnl gorilla of a man Is a poet," Buck Ogllvy declared. "I'd think twice boforo I let him get out of the country, Bryce." " 'Whose salt he cnts, his song ho sings,'" quoth Bryce. "I forgive you, Itondenu, and when I need u woods- boss llko you, I'll send for you." At cloven o'clock Snturdny night the deputy United Stntes marshal arrived In Sequoia. Upon the advice of Buck Ogllvy, however, he made no attempt at service that night, notwithstanding the fact that Jules Itondenu and his bullies still guarded the crossing. At eight o'clock Sundny morning, how ever, Bryce Cardigan drove him down to the crossing, lluck Ogllvy was al ready there with his men, superintend ing erection of n hugo derrick close to tho heap of obstructions plnced on tho crossing. Sexton wns watching him uneasily, and Hushed as Ogllvy pointed him out to the murshal. "There's your ment, mnrshnl," he announced. Tho marshal approached nnu exienueu lowaru Mexton a copy of the restraining order, Tho latter struck It aside nnd refused to nccopt It whereupon the deputy marshal tap ped him on the shoulder with It. "Tag! You're out of the game, my friend," he said pleasantly. As the document fluttered to Sox ton's feet, the latter turned to Jules Rondeau. "1 can no longer take charge here. Rondeau," he explained. "I am forbidden to Interfere." "Jules Rondeau can do ze Job," the woods-boss replied easily. "Ze law, she have not restrain' me. I guess, mebbeso, you don' take doso theengs away. eh. M'sleur Cardigan. Myself, I Ink see." The deputy mnrshal hnnded Ron deau n paper, at the same time show ing his badge. "You're out, too. my friend," he laughed. "Don't be fool' Ish to try to buck the Inw. If you do, I shall have to place a nice llttlo pair of handcuff's on you and throw you In Jail and if you resist arrest, I shall have to shoot you. I have ono of these little restraining orders for every able-bodied mnn In the I.aguna flrande Lumber company's employ thanks to Sir. Ogllvy's foresight;' so It Is useless to try to bent this game on n technicality." Sexton, who still lingered, made n gesture of surrender. "Dismiss your crew, Rondeau," he ordered. "We're whipped to a frazzle." A gleam of pleasure, not unmixed with triumph, lighted the dark eye of the French-Canadian. "I tol' M'sleur Sexton she cannot fight M'sleur Cardi gan nnd win," he said simply. "Now mebbo he believe that Jules Rondeau know something." ''Shut up," Sexton roared petulant ly. Rondeau shrugged contemptuous ly, turned, and with n sweep of bis great nrni Indicated to his men that they were to go ; then, without n back ward glance to see thnt they followed, the woods boss strode uwny in the direction of the Lngunu Grande mill. Arrived nt the mill office, he entered, took down the telephone, and called up Shirley Sumner. "Mademoiselle," be said, "Jules Rondeau speaks to you. I have for you zee good news. Bryce Cardigan, she puts In the crossing today. One man of the law she comes from San Francisco with papers, and M'sleur Sexton say to me:. 'Rondeau, we are whip. Deesmess your men.' So I have leesmess doze men, nnd now I dees- mess myself. Mebbeso blmeby I go to work for M'sleur Cardigan. For Mademoiselle I have no weesh to make trouble to tiro me. I queet. I will not fight doso dirty fight some more. u revolt, mademoiselle. I go." And without further ado he hung up. "What's this, what's this?" Sexton demanded. "You're going to quit? Nonsense, Rondeau, nonsense 1" "I will have my time, M'sleur," snld Jules Rondeau. "I go to work for a man. Mebbeso I am not woods boss for heem, but I work." "You'll have to wait until the Col onel returns. Rondeau." "I will have my time," said Jules Rondeau patiently. "Then you'll wnlt till pay day for It, Rondeau. You know our rules Any man who quits without notice waits until the regular pay day for his money." Jules ndvanced until he towered di rectly over tho manager. "I tor M'sleur I would have my time." he repented once more. "Is M'sleur deaf In ze enrs?" Ho raised his right hand, much us a bear'rulses Its paw; his blunt fingers worked a little and there was a smoldering fire In his dark eyes. Without further protest Sexton opened tho safe, counted out the wages due, nnd took Rondenu's re celpt. "Thnnlc you. M'sleur." the woods boss growled as he swept the coin Into his pocket. "Now I work for M'sleur Cardlgnn; so, M'sleur, I will have zee switch engine wecth two flat cars and zeo wrecking car. Doze dam trash on zee crossing M'sleur Cardigan does not like, and by gar. I take heem away. You onderstand, M'sleur? I am Jules Rondeau, and I work for M'sleur Cardigan. I.a la, M'sleur!" The great hand closed over Sexton's collar. "Not zeo pistol no, not for Jules Rondeau." Quite as easily as a woman dresses a baby, ho gagged Sexton with Sex ton's own handkerchief, laid him gent ly on the floor und departed, locking the door behind hlui und talcing the key. At the corner of the building, where the telephone lino entered the olllce, ho paused. Jerked once nt tho wire, and passed on, leaving tho brok en ends on tho ground. In the roundhouse ho found tho switch engine crew on duty, waiting for steam In the holler. Tho with drawal of both locomotives, brief ns hud been their absence, had caused n glut of logs at the Laguna Grnndo landings, nnd Sexton wns catching up with tho trutlle by sending the switch engine crew out for ono tralnload, oven though It wns Sundny. The crew hnd been used to receiving orders from Rondeau, ' nnd moreover they wero not nwaro of his recent action; honco nt his commnnd they ran the switch englno out of the roundhouse, coupled up the two fiat cars nnd tho wrecking car, and backed down to tho crossing. Upon -urrlvnl, Jules Ron deau leaned out of tho cab window and balled Bryce. "M'sleur," ho said, "do not bozzer to make zeo derrick. I hnvo here zeo wrecking car all you need; pretty soon wo lift him off zeo crossing, I tell you, eh, M'sleur Cardl gnn?" llryco stepped over to the switch cnglno and looked up at his Into en emy. "By whoso orders Is this train hero?" he queried. "Mine," Rondeau quickly answered, ".M'sleur Sexton I havo tie like ono lectio pig nnd lock her In her ofllco. 1 work now for M'sleur." And ho did. He waited not for a confirmation from his new master but proceeded to direct oporntlons llko tho born driver nnd lender of men that he was. With his lato employ er's gear he fastened to the old cast ings nnd the boiler, lifted them with the derrick on the wrecking enr, nnd swung them up nnd nround onto tho flnt cars. By the middle of the after noon the crossing was onco more clear. Then the Cardigan crew fell upon It while Jules Itondenu ran the train buck to the Lagunn Grande ynrds, dis missed his crew, returned to the mill office, nnd released the manager. "You'll pay through the nose for this, you scoundrel," Sexton whim pered. "I'll fix you, you traitor." "You feex nothing. M'sleur Sexton." Itondenu replied Imperturbnbly. "Who Is witness Jules Itondenu tie you up? Somebody see you, no? I guess you don' feex me. Sucre I I guess you don' try." CHAPTER XVIII. Colonel Pennington's discovery nt Snn Francisco that Bryce Cardigan had stolen his thunder nnd turned the bolt upon him, wns the hardest blow Seth Pennington could remember hnv- Ing received throughout his thirty-odd years of give and tnke. He was too old and experienced u campaigner, however, to permit n futile rage to cloud his reason ; he prided himself upon being a foeman worthy of any mnn's steel. On Tuesday he returned to Sequoia. Sexton related to him In detail the events which hnd transpired since his depnrture. but elicited nothing moro than u noncommittal grunt. "There Is one more matter, sir, which will doubtless be of Interest to you," Sexton continued upologetlcnlly. "Miss Sumner called me on the telephone yesterday and Instructed me formally to notify the board of directors of the Lngunu Grande company of a special meeting of the board, to be held here ut two o'clock this afternoon. In view of the Impossibility of communlcntlng with you while you were en route, I conformed to her wishes. Our by-lnws, as you know, stlpulnte that no meet ing of the board shall be called with out formal written notice to each di rector mailed twenty-four hours previ ously." "What the devil do you mean, Sex ton, by conforming to her wishes? Miss Sumner Is not n director of this company." Pennington's voice wns harsh and, trembled apprehensively. "Miss Sumner controls forty per cent of the I.agunn Grande stock, sir. I took that Into consideration." "You lie!" Pennington all but screamed. "You took Into considera tion your Job as secretary and general manager. Damnation 1" He rose nnd commenced pacing up and down his olllce. Suddenly ho paused. Sexton still stood beside his desk, watching hltn respectfully. ."You fool !" he snarled. "Get out of hero and leave me nlone." Sexton departed promptly, glancing nt his watch as he did so. It lacked five nvlnutes of two. lie passed Shir ley Sumner In the general office. "Shirley," Pennington began in a hoarse voice as she entered his office, "whnt Is the meaning of this direct ors' meeting you have requested?" "Be seated, Uncle Seth," the girl answered quietly. "If you will only bo quiet and reasonable, perhaps wo can dispense with this directors' meeting which nppenrs to frighten you so." He sat down promptly, a look of re lief op his face. "I scarcely know how to begin, Undo Seth." Shirley commenced sadly. "It "I Cannot Trust You to Manage My Financial Affairs in the Future." hurts me terribly to bo forced to hurt you, but there doesn't appear to bo any other wny out of It. I cannot trust you to manage my finnnclnl affairs in the future this for a number of rea sons, tho principal ono being " "Young Cnrdlgnn," lie Interrupted In a low voice. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Charles V Had Faith In Women. 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