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About The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1917)
RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA, OHIEP i THE REAL MAN By FRANCIS LYNDE (Copyright by Chu. Scritner's Sou) THE TAUNTS OF A HIGH-SPIRITED YOUNG WOMAN CAUSE SMITH TO MAKE AN IMPORTANT DECISION THE PLOT AGAINST COL. BALDWIN IS AT WORK Synopsis. J. Montnguo Smith, cashier of tho Lawrcncovlllo Bank nnd Trust company, mid bnclielor society leader engaged to marry Vcrda Illchlander, heiress, Is wrongfully accused of dishonesty by Wntrous Dunham, his employer, and urged by his guilty accuser to disappear. Smith Strikes Dunham, leaves him for dead, flees the state, nnd weeks later turns up as n hobo at an Irrigation dam construction camp In tho Rocky mountains, where he gctB a Job as John Smith. Ills cvldcnco of superior Intelligence soon attracts attention from tho boss, and nftcr a short time he is asked to Join tho ofllclnl stuff of tho ditch company, which is In financial straits. Smith demurs becnuso he doesn't want his past Investigated, but Colonel Baldwin, president of tho company, urgently seeks tho ex-hobo's aid. Smith saves Miss Corona Baldwin's life and drives some claim Jumpers off company's land. CHAPTER VII. Continued. If Smith hcsltnted.lt was only partly on his own account. Ho was thinking again of tho young woman with tho honest eyes when ho said: "Do you know why I turned Williams down when he spoko to mo tho other day?" Colonel Dexter Baldwin had his faults, like other men, but they wero not thoso of Indirection. "I reckon I do know, son," ho said, with largo tolerance. "You'ro a 'lame duck' of some sort But that's our lookout Bartley Is ready to swear that you aro not a crooked crook, what ever clso It Is that you're dodging for. Besides, there's yesterday" "Wo agreed to forget the yesterday incidents," tho lame duck reminded him quickly. And then: "I ought to say 'No,1 Colonel Baldwin; sny it straight out and stick to It If I don't say it If I ask for a little tlmo It Is because I want to weigh up a few things the things I enn't talk about to you or to Williams. If, In tho end, I should bo fool enough to say 'Yes,' it Is only fair to you to say that, right in the middle of tho scrap, I may fall to pieces on you." Baldwin was too shrewd to try to push his advantago when there was, or seemed to be, a chance that tho desired end was as good as half at tained. And it was a purely manful prompting that made him get up and thrust out his hand to the young fel low who was trying to be as frank as ho dared to be. "Put it there, John," ho said heartily. "Nobody in tho Tlmanyonl is going to pry into you nn Inch farther than you care to let 'cm; and If you get into trouble by helping us, you can count on at least one backer who will stand by you until tho cows como home. Now, then, hunt up your coat, and we'll drlvo over to HUlcrest for a blto to cat I had my orders from tho missus before I left town, nnd I know better than to go homo without you. Novcr mind tho commlssnry khaki. It won't bo tho first tlmo that tho work ing clothes have figured at the mil- crest table not by a long Bhot." And because ho did not know how to frame a refusal that would refuse, Smith got his coat and went Given his cholco between tho two, Smith would cheerfully have fnced another hand-to-hand battlo with tho claim jumpers in prcfcrcnco to even so mild a dip into tho former things as tho dinner nt HUlcrest foreshad owed. Tho reluctanco was not forced ; It was real. Tho prlmltlvo man In him 'did not wish to bo entertained. On the fast nuto drlvo down to Brewster, across the bridge, and out to tho Bald win ranch, Smith's humor was frankly sardonic. He cherished n Rmall hopo that Mrs. Baldwin might be shocked at the soft shirt and tho khaki. It would servo her right for taking a mau from his Job. At tho stone-plllnred portal he got out to open the gates. Down tho road a horso was coming at n smart gallop, tho rider, Corona Baldwin, booted and ppurred nnd riding a man's Buddie. Smith lot tho gray car go on its way up tho drlvo without him. "So you weakened, did you? I'm disappointed In you," was Miss Bald win's greeting. "You've made mo lose :ray bet with colonel-daddy. I said you wouldn't come." , "I had no business to come," ho an swered morosely. "But your father wouldn't let mo off." "Of courso ho wouldn't; daddy never Jets anybody off, unless they owo him .money. Whero are your evening clothes?" Smith let tho lover of moroscness allp back to the grinning notch. "They are about two 'thousand miles away, and probably in somo sccond-hnnd shop by this tlmo. What makes you ftlilnk I ever wore a dress suit?" Ho bad closed tho gates and was walking besldo her horso up tho driveway. "Oh, I Just guessed It," eho returned lightly, "and if you'll hold your breath, I'll guess ngaln." "Don't," ho laughed. At tho steps a negro stableboy was waiting to take Miss Baldwin's horse. iSmlth knew how to help a woman down from a side-saddio ; but tho two tpOrraped rig stumped him. Tho young woman lnughed as sho swung out of her saddle to stand beside him. "Tho women don't rido that way In your part of the country?" sho queried. "Not yet." "I'm sorry for them," Bho scoffed. And then : "Como on in and meet mam ma ; you look as If you were dreading it, and, colonel-daddy says, It's alwnys best to have the dreaded things over with." Smith did not And his meeting with the daughter's mother- much of a trial. Sho wns neither shocked at his clothes nor disposed to bo hysterlcnlly grate ful over the railroad-crossing incident A large, calm-eyed, sensible matron, some ten or a dozen years younger than tho colonel, Smith put her, and with an air of refinement which was reflected In every interior detail of her house. The dinner was strictly a family meal, with tho great mahogany table shortened to make it convenient for four. There were cut glass and silver and snowy napery. Out of tho past a thousand tentacles wero reaching up to drag Smith back Into the net of the conventional. When tho table-talk be came general, he found himself Joining In, and alwnys upon the lighter side. He found himself drawn more and moro to tho calm-eyed, well-bred ma tron who had given a piquant Corona to nn othcrwlso commonplace world. Mrs. Baldwin saw nothing of tho rudo fighter of battles her daughter had drawn for her, nnd wondered a little. Sho know Corona's leanings, nnd was not without nn amused im pression that Corona would not find this Inter Smithsonian phase altogether to her liking. Smith got what ho had earned, good measure, pressed down, shnken to gether and running over, a few min utes after Mrs. Baldwin hnd left him to finish his cigar under tho pillared portico with Corona to keep him com- aKtt-4 Wl "You Have Committed the Unpardon able 8ln." pnny. IIo never knew Just whnt start ed It, unless It wns his careful plac ing of a chnlr for tho young woman nnd his deferential and perfectly natural pause, standing, until Bho was seated. "Do, for pity's sake, Bit downl" Bho broke out, half petulnntly. And when ho had obeyed: "Well, you've spoiled It all, good and hard." Smith was unnblo to lmaglno where in ho hnd offended. "Really?" ho said. "What have I dono?" "It Isn't what you'vo done ; it's what you are," Bho retorted. "You have committed tho unpardonablo 8ln by turning out to bo Just ono of tho nlnety-nlnc, after all. If you knew women tho least little bit In tho world, you would know that wo are always looking for tho hundredth man." Under his smile, Smith wns begin ning to understand what this aston ishingly frank young woman meant. She had seen his relapse, and was calmly deriding him for It "You may pile It on as thickly as you please," ho said, tho good-nnturcd smllo twisting Itself Into the construc-tlon-cnmp grin. Then, with mallco aforethought: "Is It ono of tho require ments that your centennial man should behave 1 Mself Uko a boor at a din "You know that Isn't whnt I. meant Manners don't make the man. It's what you talked about tho trumpery llttlo soclnl things thnt you found your keenest pleasure In tnlklng about. I don't know whnt has over taken you out to a construction camp. I don't bcllovo you ever did a day's hard work In your life beforo you camo to tho Tlmanyonl." It was growing dark by this time, nnd tho stars wero coming out. Some one hnd turned the lights on in the room tho windows of which opened upon tho portico, and the young wom an's chair wns so placed that he could still sco her face. Sho was Bmlllng rather more amicably when sho said: "You mustn't tnko it too hard. It Isn't you, personally, you know; It's tho type. I've met It before. I didn't meet nny other kind during my three years In tho boarding school; nice, pleasant young gentlemen, ns Immacu lately dressed as their pockctuooks would allow, up In all tho latest little courtesies nnd tca-tablo shop talk. They wero all men, I Bupposc, but I'm nfrnld a good many of them hnd never found It out will novcr find It out. I'vo been calling It environment; I don't like to ndmlt that the raco is going downhill." By this time the sardonic humor wns once more in full possession, and he was enjoying her keenly. "Go on," ho said. "This Is my night off." Tve said enough; too much, per haps. But when you wero walking with mamma, you reminded mo so forcibly of a man whom I met Just for a part of ono evening about a year ago in a small town in the mlddlo West He was ono of them. He drovo over from somo neighboring town in his natty little automobile, and gavo me fully an hour of his valu able tlmo. He made me perfectly fu rious I" "Poor youl" laughed Smith; but he was thankful thnt the camp sunburn and his four weeks' beard were safe guarding his identity. "But why the fury in his caso in particular?" "Just because, I suppose. I remem ber ho told me he was a bank cnshler nnd that ho danced. He was quite hopeless, of course. Without being what you would call conceited, you could sco that the crust was so thick that nothing short of an earthquake would over break it" "But tho earthquakes do come, onco in a blue moon," he said, still smiling at her. "Let's get it straight You oro not trying to tell me that you object to decent clothes and good man ners per se, are you?" Tho colonel was coming out, and ho had stopped In tho doorway to light a long-stemmed pipe. Tho young wom an got up and fluffed her hnlr with tho ends of her fingers a llttlo gesture which Smith remembered, recalling It from the night of tho far-away lawn party. "Dnddy wants you, nnd I'll have to vanish," Bho snld; "but I'll nnswer your question beforo I go. Types are always hopeless; It's only tho hun dredth mnn who Isn't It's n great pity you couldn't go on whipping claim Jumpers all tho rest of your life, Mr. Smith. Don't you think so? Good night We'll meet again at breakfast. Daddy Isn't going to let you get nway short of n night's lodging, I know." Two cigars for Smith and four pipes for tho colonel further along, the tall MIssourlan roso out of tho split-bottomed chair which ho had drawn up to faco tho guest's and rapped tho ashes from tho bowl of tho corncob into tho palm of his hand. "I think you'vo got it all now, Smith, every Inst crook nnd turn of It, and I reckon you're tired enough to run nwny to bed." Smith took n turn up nnd down the stone-flagged floor of tho portico with his hnnds behind him. Truly, the case of Tlmnnyonl ditch was desperate; oven more desperate than ho hnd sup posed. Figuring ns tho level-headed bank cashier of tho former days, he told himself soberly thnt no man In his senses would touch It with n ten foot pole. Then tho laughing gibes of tho hundredth worann gibes which hnd cut far deeper than sho hnd Imag ined camo back to send tho blood surging through his veins. It would bo worth something to bo nblo to work tho mlraclo tho colonel had spoken of; and afterward . . . Colonel Dexter Baldwin was still tapping his palm absently with tho plpo when Smith came back and said abruptly : "I havo decided, colonel. I'll start In with you tomorrow morning, and we'll pull tills mired scheme of yours out of tho mud, or I'll break n leg trying to. But you mustn't forget whnt I told you out at tho camp. Right In the middle of things I may go rotten on you und drop out" vntcd ranches. A summer .totel on tin shore of Lnko Topaz reached only by stago from Brewster had added Its Influence; and since tho hotel brought people with well-lined pockctbooks, there wns n field for tho enthusiastic real-estate promoters whoso ofllccs filled nil the odd corners In tho Ho phrn House block. In one of those ofllccs, on tho morn ing following Smith's first dinner nt HUlcrest, n rather caustic colloquy was In progress between the mnn whoso name appeared In gilt lctterlns on the front windows nnd one of his unofficial nsslstnnts. Crawford Stan ton, he of the window name, was n man of many personalities. To sum mer visitors with money to Invest, he was tho genial promoter, and If thero were suggestions of Iron hardness In tho sharp Jaw and' In the smoothly shnven face nnd flinty eyes, there was also a pleasant reminder of Enstern business methods nnd alertness In the promoter's manner. But Lnntcrby, tilting uneasily In the "confldentlnl" chair at the desk-end, knew another nnd more biting sldo of Mr. Stanton, ns a hired man will. "Good heaven 1 do you sit there nnd tell mo thnt the three of them let that hobo of AVilliams push them off the map? And do you Bay all this hap pened the day beforo yesterday: how does It como that you aro Just now re porting It?" The hard-faced henchman in the tilting chnlr mndo such explanations ns he could. "Boogcrflcld nnd his two partners 've been hldln' out somewhere; I nllow they was plumb ashamed to come In and tell how they'd let one mnn run cm off." "What do you know nbout this fel low Smith? Who Is he, nnd whero did he come from?" Lanterby told all that was known of Smith, nnd hnd no difficulty in com pressing It into a single sentence. Stan ton leaned back In his chair and the lids of the flinty eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "There's a lot more to it than that," he said incisively at the end of the reflective pause. Then he added a curt order: "Make It your Job to find out." Lanterby moved uneasily in his in secure scat, but beforo he could speak, his employer went on agnln, changing the topic abruptly, but still keeping within the faultfinding boundaries. "What sort of a screw has gone loose In your deal with the railroad men? Williams got two cars of ce ment and one of steel the day before yesterday three hours after tho stuff came In from tho East" Again Lanterby tried to explain. "Dougherty, the yardmaster, took the bank roll I slipped him, all right enough, and promised to help out But he's scared of Maxwell." "Maxwell Is a thick-headed ass I" exploded the faultfinder. "His entire railroad outfit, from President Brew ster down, is lined up on the other side of the fight But go on with your dickering. Jerk Dougherty into line. Now go out nnd find Shaw. I want htm, and I want him right now." Tho hard-faced mnn who looked as if he might be a broken-down gambler, unjolnted his leg-hold upon the tilted chair and went out; nnd n few minutes later nnothcr of Stanton's pay-roll men drifted in. ne was a young fellow with sleepy eyes nnd cigarette stains on his fingers, and ho would have passed for n railroad clerk out of a Job, which was what he really was. "Well?" snapped Stanton when the Incomer hnd taken the chnlr lately va cated by Lanterby. "I shadowed the colonel, ns you told mo to," said tho young man. "He went up to Red Butte to see If ho couldn't rope In somo of the old-timers on his ditch project. IIo was trying to sell somo treasury stock. His one-horso company is about out of money. Mlckle, a clerk In Klnzle's bank, tells mo that tho ditch company's balance Is drawn down to n few thousand dollars, with no more coming in." "Did the colonel succeed In mnklng a raise in Red Butte?" "Nary," said tho spy nonchalantly. "Drake, the banker up there, was his ono best bet: but I got a man I know to give Drake a pointer, nnd ho curlea up like a hedgehog when you poke It with n sharp stick." "That's better. Tho colonel came back yesterday, didn't he?" , "Yesterday afternoon. His wlfo and dnughter met him, and told him some thing or other that made him drive up to the dnm." ST L m 8CH00L LANDS OF STATE GET INCREASE IN WORTH LATE NEWSFROM CAPITOL Items of General Interest Gathered from Reliable Sources Around the State House Western Newspaper Union News Service. Stnto Land Commissioner G. L. Shumway nnd Socrotnry of Stnto Charles W. Pool havo roturnod from a trip through tho Sixth congressional district Tho main purposo of tho trip was to rovlow tho appralsomont of Bovoral tracts of stato land subject to salo. Four tracts of stato land In Vnlloy, anil tho samo number in Holt nnd Boyd, throo In Wheeler, two In Antolopo, and ono each In Grceloy and Loup countios woro rovlowed. The two state officials will recommend to tho board of educational lands and funds an increase over and above tho appraised price fixed by county boards with the exception of one tract. In Grceloy county tho tract which the county board raised to $10 an aero has been appraised for tho past flftocn year at $7 an aero. In Boyd county tho county board raised somo land to $50 an aero. All of thoso will bo in creased again by tho state board, If tho rccommondatlon of tho two stato officers 'Is adopted. MRS. KIESQ SICK SEVEN MONTHS Restored to Health by Lydit E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound. Aurora, 111. "For seven lone months I Buffered from a female trouble, with severe pains in my back and sides until I becamo so weak I could hardly walk from choir to choir, and got so nervous I would jump at the slightest noise. I was entirely unfit to do my houso work, I was giving up hopo of over be Ine well, when my J slater asked me to try Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Cora pound. I took six bottles and today I am a healthy woman able to do my own housework. I wish every suffering woman would try Lydia E. Pinkham's Vcgetablo Compound, and find out for themselves how good it Is." Mrs. CAM, A. Kieso, 696 Nor tli Ave., Aurora, III. The great number of unsolicited tes timonials on filo nt the Pinkham Lab oratory, many of which are from time to time published by permission, are Eroof of tho value of Lydia E. Pink am's Vegetable Compound, in the treatment of female ills. , Every ailing woman in the United States is cordially invited to write to tho Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Co. (confidential), Lynn, Mass., for special advice. It is free, will bring you health and may save your life. State Board Readjusts Wages Tho Btato bonrd of control has reaa Justed wages of employes at tho stato institutions for tho coming year. It made no increases in tho salaries of heads of institutions. A net increase of 17 per cont was made in tho num ber of employes. Two teachors at tho orthopedic hospital woro dis charged and the wages of eighteen pupil nurses wero cut down from $15 a month to $10 a month. This is tho only state institution that pays wages to pupil nurses. Mrs. Clark, wlfo of tho superintendent of the Kearney in dustrial school for boys, was taken from the payroll as matron, and mat rons of institutions who were getting $50 a month were reduced to a level with others who were getting $41.6C. It is the policy of the board of control not to employ porsons who have chil dren. This policy was adopted be cause of the expense of keeping 'de pendents of tho employes at institu tions. A total of 840 persons will be employed in the institutions tho com ing year. The monthly payroll calif for $34,42G, an increase of $21G ovei the amount paid last year. The highest increases were from $5 to $10. STOPSl LAMENESS from a Bone Spavin, Ring Bone, Splint, Curb, Side Bone, or timilai trouble and gets horte going sound. It acts mildly but quickly and good re sults are lasting. Does not blister or remove the hair and horse can be worked. Page 17 In pamphlet with each bottle tells how. $2.00 a bottle delivered. Horse Book 9 M free. ; ABSORBINE, JR., the antiseptic liniment for mankind, reduces Painful Swellings. En larged Glands, Wens, Bruises, Varicose Veins j heals Sores., Allays Pain. Will tell you more if you write. $1 and $2 a bottle at Scaltn or dcllrertJ. Ubcnl trlil bottle tor 10c mat. W.F.YOUNG. P. D.F. I10TlBl1lSt.Sprlniaild.Mase. SHORT ON HIS "PER CAPITA" Allotting the State School Funds Stato funds amounting to $49,700 aro being distributed by tho state super intendent's ofilco to 142 high schools in Nebraska which qualified last year for stato aid in maintaining normal courses. Tho apportionment gives each of these schools $350. About flvo-sixths of it is paid out of the ap propriation for tho last blonnlum and the other six from the 1917 appropria tion. J. R. Dixon, inspoctor of normal training in high schools, Is supervis ing tho allotment. No Bchool receives state money to help maintain Its nor mal department, until It has completed ono yoar of work. Tho requirements include a class of not fowor than ten I studonts, each of whom must pursue tho courso for nt least eighteen weeks. State Pays for Soldiers' Medals A voucher has been filed in tho state auditor's office by a Jowolry firm at Omaha for 1,700 medals furnlshel to Nebraska soldiers who served on the Moxlcan border last yoar. The medals cost 35 cents apleco, and express charges on them from New York amounted to $7.97, making the total cost $602.97. Tho legislature appro priated 1,000 to buy them. The re maining $397.07 will stay in tho state treasury. Boston Man Needs Only $37.50 to Make Up the $43 Which Every one Is Supposed to Possets. According to tho latest population figures with reference to the money in circulation In this country, every man, woman and child In the United States should have $43 in his, hers or its Jeans. Have you got yours 7 I haven't got mine, Newton Newklrk writes In the Boston Post. It occurs to me thnt when the fact becomes generally known that I haven't got mine some "per capita" who discovers thnt ho has considerably more ready cash In his pockets than he ought to have according to this di vision of funds, will split wlUi me, so thnt I will havo my normal quota of dollars. All I need In order to have my $43 Is $37.50. No hurry about It, of course, but tho sooner somebody remits me this $37.50 the moro grateful I will be. There Is really no necessity that I can sco of delaying or postponing such a llttlo mntter ns this. By n rapid mental arithmetical calculation It will rendlly be seen that I now hnvc $15.50 of tho $43 needed nnd before I have spent any portion of this $5.50 It would be well for somebody to mnko up tho defi cit of $37.50 otherwise tho deficit is liable to bo more. The plot which Eastern capl tallsts have made to steal the Ir rigation ditch from the original owners Is unfolded In the next Installment. John Smith acts with decision. CHAPTER VIII. Tho Sick Project Browsterhad grown into city-charter slzo and Importnnco 'with tho opening of tho gold mines In tho Gloria district, ner table, and talk shop and cat with I and the transformation of tho sur his knife?" I rounding park grasslands Into culti- (TO BE CONTINUED.) Beginning' Early. "Father, aren't llttlo girls Billy?" "Do you think so, Bon? Mother nnd I wero thinking you might Uko to have a llttlo Bister." "Thanks, father; but don't trouble on my account, becauso I'vo got all I can do to keep away from thoso girls at school. I don't mind their giving mo presents, but I do hnto to havo them tag after mo going homo from ECbool." Will Get the Liberty Bonds A telogram from Mr. Miller, gover nor of tho federal bank at Kansas City, recolved at tho office of Stato Treasurer Hall, says tho stato of Ne braska will bo pormlttod to bavo the full amount of its llborty bond sub scription, a total of $500,000. Recent ly notlco was recolved that tho gov ernment had scaled tho Btato's sub scription down from $500,000 to $150, 000. The last messago received says: 'Wo havo arranged for tho stato of Nebraska to got a special allotmont of $350,000 llborty bonds in additional to its regular allotment ot $150,000 horetoforo roported. Please wlro us." In the absonco of State Treasurer Hall, Deputy Henry C. Borgo wired that Nebraska will accept tho spoclal allotment ot $350,000 liberty bonds. Ready With Advice. A grocer mnn was telling n customer ' about some woman who had fainted on the street. He rushed to tho rescue, of course, una urteu ner uenu iruiu the "It's a wonder you hadn't killed herl Don't you know thnt her hend should havo been lower than her feet?" The grocer nccepted tho Information with tho smllo of ono who likes cold douches, nnd went on about how a man stopped his automobllo to take her to a hospital, and how they tried to revive her with ammonia. "Worst thing you could have dono I Don't you know that when tho patient Is unconscious you should never " and so on, nnd bo on. Which shows how tho poor dear doc tors aro going to suffer from every woman's training In R. C. first aid. P. S. Also tho poor, dear undertak ers. Washington Star. Frank About It "To what do you owo your success, Mr. Wampum?" "I hardly know. My friends say it was an accident and my folks seem to think it was a fluke." Sixty-five Indians havo enrolled in ono unit of the Sixth regiment at Walt hall. Threo tribes aro represented tho Sioux, Omahas and Winnebagos. By now " the eldest daughter has learned that the best way to help mother Is to keep out of her way. One plows, another sows, who will reap no one knows. An Explanation. Charlotte had been taught to say tho graco beforo each meal. One dny Bho was invited to a llttlo friend's for din ner. When tho father and mother of Charlotte wero seated for dinner, Brad dick, a three-year-old brother, bowed his bead and said: "Amen, God, Char, lotto's goneV Big Acreage of Corn This Year Nebraska this year will produce a quartor ot a billion bushols ot corn, according to tho July estimate ot tho Unltod States department of agricul ture. This is 50,000,000 bushols more than was ralsod last year. Tho acre ago this yoar, however, Is 9,000,000, comparod with 7,000,000 last yoar. Tho estimate for 1917 Is 248,000,000 bush ols. Tho Increased acroago is duo to tho fact that many ot the wlntor-kllled fleldB of wheat, alfalfa and clover were eonvorted into corn this spring. mmmmmmmmam i TlfifTnTffl rnr If I was the grocer Id sell nothinbut Post F aft tt Toasties 33frflfc