HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1931-04-30, Page 7IM era Twwiur, ajwb mifc) mt' ■ _ _.. . LOCATE
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EYE
FIFTH JNSTAMALENT
*The Kiel's name was BO.lvReeyes, put
frack! home on the Brazos they
called him Tiger Eye, because- cme
eye was yellow-—the eye with
■which he sighted down -.a gun*
barrel. His father was “Killer”
” Reeves, hut the boy did not. want
to kill. If. he stayed home he
would have to carry on his
father's feuds’, so ho headed his
liorse, Pecos, northward and en
countered Nate Wheeler, who
-drew his ,45 and fired as Tiger
Rye did. The Kid did not .want
to kill Nate, only cripple him, but
his, aim must have ’been wild,, for
Wheeler dropped from his horse.
' Babe Garner came riding up.
- Wheeler was a “pester,” he said,
and had it coming to him. Tiger
Eye rode to Wheeler’s tcabin to
‘ notify the, diead man’s widow.
The Kid breaks the news of
Nate’s death to .his widow and
then goes out and brings in,.his
body, discovering he had; not miss
ed "his shot to disable Wheeler but
•had broken his arm, while an
other shot had killed the man. A
’ gang of strangers rides up, One
“ pf them insults Mrs. Wheeler by
‘ coupling her names with the
* stranger. The Kid shoots a hole
3n each of the ears ,of Pete Gor-
"• ham, who hurled the .insult, mak
ing his escape in the confusion.
Learning that the “pesters”
plan to draw the Poole riders into
a trap, the, Kid informs Garner,
telling him at the .same time he
liad learned it was the latter’s
allot that ‘kiilled ^Wheeler and not
liis own. Garner is grateful' and
, gets the b,oy a job ridiiig range
•for the Podle- ouffit. "The Kid
jsees a Ione rider attack a man and
a girl driving in a wagon and
-woundh the assailant, and then
finds out he is Gorham.
After rescuing the girl’s dad,
the Kid is given a. grateful warp
ing by the girl, who thinks he is
one of the Texas killers, to get out
out of. the valley, before the nes-
lers shoot him. The boy is touch
ed by Nellie’s concern and lets his
anin-d; dwell on her, realizing she
must have liked him personally to
-warn him when he was ^supposed
to be one of the imported gun-men.
Later he tells Garner he wounded
,: ‘^a> nested-who tried to. ambush him,
t^N.OW GO ON WITH THE STORY.;.
She .glanced, again toward the
querulous murmur of “her. dad’s
voice, '“You better quit the Poole
and get outa the country;” she said
hurriedly. . “The valley folks” kfll
you—”
She seemed to think tjmt was say-
, 5ng more than she dared, for she
turned sharply away and drove off.
He went over to Pete Gorham,
lifted him to his feet and faced him
toward the valley.
"Go hunt yo’self. a coyote den and
crawl into it,” he advised harshly,
and started ’back up the hill, climb
ing like one in a great hurry.
The kid’s lips .thinned and straight
ened when hez remembered that girl
nurniiig for the hill, Pete after' her
with his rope. Any other man
would have shot to kill. But some
how this thing of killing—fit was
plumb easy to do, but yo’all never
could put the life back in a mall
once you’d shot it out,
Funny about the pesters -being
Wise to -Poole rim riders. \
Thet,. funeral waS another strange
tiring. They buried \Nate Wheeler
yesterday, she said. Then what did
they Want to carry/out a coffin and
start another precession today for?
The kid couldn’t see any sense to
that.
/The kid turned his glasses on th*
■Biow-diistant wagon and, looked for
Tete.^ Might as well make shoah he
wasn’t .trying to trail the ,g’irh No,
5?ete was goipg straight across the
flat, making a bee-line for Becker’s
uioulee, as nearly as the kid could
3udge. Satisfied,, he turned’ his glass-
os again upon the wagon.
ShOah was a pretty girl. The kid
uieVQr had seen such yellow hair in
3iis life. Wasn’t mticlf like tliat
Earned stuck-up girl back home that
had made fun of his yellow eye. This
jgirl, Nellie, never noticed his eye. ■
■ He sighe(l and gave another sweep
ing glance at the valley. 'Shoah was
at funny, thing about that funeral
'Reckon they were just trying to fool
Slim With if, like the girl hinted.
Maybe they wanted to go all in a
hunch somewhere and couldn’t fig-
Utro out any way to keep from being
sseen, and maybe they just had a
italse funeral to fool any' Poole rim
p-Mor that happened to hie keeping
®asem Plumb foolish. Easiest way
was* to send sainebody along over
Wefe to, bushlchack him. The kid
jgavo a sudden grunt of understand
ing, Tlio nesters had sent some
body, ail right. Or they thought
fthey had. ’They’d sent Pete Goyham,
wAnd pete'had lcinda got side-track
ed, thinking ho could kill off that
old man and gut the gin.
The kid’s face darkened at the sim
plicity of the scheme. Pete had
thought he could do it and lay it to
the Poole. They'd blame the Poole
and they’d ko gunning after them
harder than ever. But Pete didn’t
make it stick. The kid had come
along and fixed Pete good and
plenty, ,
, There was something in her voice
that was like her hair. ’ Something
like. gbld, Of course, you couldn’t
say a voice was yellow, or had a
shiny sound, but yo’all could kind.a
imagine it was like gold. That girl
down in Texas-^—her voice was like a
tin pan, Funny about voices—they
say more than* words, 'sometimes.
Moro than a person wants their voice
to say,. Hers did.. Hers said she'd
hate to have' anything' happen a rim
rider.
The kid rode dreamily along,
■watching the wagon as it bumped
over the. dim trail in the grass,
Watching just in case she might
peed heli) or something. Girl like
that didn’t belong with no nester
outfit. She oughta have some big
rich cattleman for a pappy and ride
around on a nice, gentle horse.
The wagon finally turned into a
shallow depression and was seen no
more from tlie rim. The kid marked
4he plaice where she lived; marked
it with a special significance in his
mind.
Now and then he swept the valley
what little she had dared to say,
“Shoah hape yo’all didn’t have no
trouble, Babe,” the kid said.
“Never had a word of trouble.
Tiger’ Eye,” Babe's eyes yeiled
themselves suddenly from the kid’s
questioning stare. “Know what they
done, Tiger Eye? They knowed they
had to go through with that buryin’
or we’d smelt a rat. So they did.
They buried a coffin full Of Hfles
they aimed to use on us/^When they
was 'gone, the old man had US dig
up the box and open it,
'Babe folded a paper Into a trough,
sifted in a little tobacco, evened it
with a careful finger tip', rolled it
deftly and drew the edge of the
„paper lightly along the tip of his
tongue before he pressed it down
and folded up one end. He fished
a match from a pocket, flicked his
thumbnail across the head and got
a flame, and lighted the cigarette,
then snapped the match stub in two
and dropped the pieces at his feet.
The kid watched him, his mind piec-
•ing together certain details of flic
Story which Babe did not know.
“I shore was worried about you,
Kid.” Baibe said finally, drawing a
mouthful of smoke. ^Where’d that,
feller jump yull, Tiger Eye—Jf it’s'
a fair question?”
"Back down the rim about a mile.’,
“Unh-hunli. Mus.ta took yuh
quite a while,” Babe fanned the
smoke away from his face while lie;
looked hard at the kid.
“Takes a, sight smaht while, Babe,
to trap a wolf.” A strange, implac
able look came into the kid’s boyish
face. Babe looked at him .and look
ed away again. „ .
“.Shore, Well, let’s go,” he said
aftpr a silence, and there was'a new
.note, of respect in his voice, “I'll
tell the Old Man haw it was. You
done the right thing, Tiger Eye.” -
In the cabin at Cold Spring line
camp that evening, the kid was play
ing the mouth organ, his slim brown
fingers supped and touching the
metal where the nickel was worn
through to the brass*
“Moah rim ridin’, Babe?” *
“Why? Yuh ilikerrim riding’, Ti
ger Eye?” , _■
“Shoah do, Babe.” ..
“Yuh shore look happy to-night,
Tiger Eye.”
Baibe spoke from the bunk, when,
the kid’s dreams, could no longer .be
.compassed,’ by the music and he"sau
Staring1, at the smoky bottom of the
dish pain hanging back of the stove,
“Time to roll in, though. We got
t’ be ridin’ at dawn.”
“Shoah feel that-a-way, Babe.”
Babe pulled off a boot with 'a vic
ious yank and sat holding! it in one
hand while he eyed’ the kid, -
“Damned if I can see what there
is fo be happy about, Tiger Eye.”
“Damned if I can eithah, Babe.”
He picked up the water buckets and
went out into the night.
The air was. clean and crisp and
drops of dew on the grass winked
like diamonds in the sun. The
horsps had galloped steadily for more
than a mile, but now they had set
tled. down to a walk and the reins
lay loosely along their necks. Riding
so, a habit horn of the long trail up
from Texas took hold of Tiger Eye.
Instinctively his hand went to the
breast pocket and pulled out his
mouth organ, and he began to play
soft snatches of olid, melodies As lie
rode. '
The music timed the easy swing of
the “kid’s slim body in the saddle,
and the occasional click of his iron-
bound ^tirrupS against Babe Garner’s
wooden ones. The tune 'didn’t mat
ter; a medley of this thing and that
thing drifting1 along with his idle
thoughts.
When the. kid played, lid thought
of the girl down in the valley behind
him. Reckon her old. pappy was a
rustler, like all thb rest of them down
in the .valley. Leastways, the kid
had gathered that Nellie’s brother
Ed had been shot by a Poole rider,
and they shoah seemed, to hate- the
name of Poole.
The kid didn’t feel that he knew
Babe’ even after a week living with
him. Babe always seemed to have
a lot on his mind. But Baibe shore
was a fine man and a fine friend, and
the kid wasn’t the kind to piiclc flaws
in any one he liked.
Babe got out his tobacco and pap
ers and rolled a cigarette as he
rode along. He lighted it, blew out
the match, broke the stub hi two
and dropped the pieces on the ground
The kid was, watching for that little
trick ahid his eyes twinkled when
Babe's fingers went true to form*
Almost a week 'now lie had lived'
with ’Babe, and never |iad he seen
Babe throw away a whole match.
Stub* Always broke it in tWO'. The
kid wondered why, ibut lie didn’t ask*
Pap shoah had learned him not to
ask questions unless ha plumb had
to.
Far ahedd across the level ‘bench
land, a faint veil of dust crept slow-
, iy toward the north, carried far on
with a perfunctory gljince, but most1
of the time lie was staring! at the
ridge which hid her home. A thin
line of cottonwoods ran up along a
creek there. There were places where
the "tops of the trees showed above
the ridge. - One place, k where the
ridge dipped a little, the kid thought
he could make out part of the roof
of a building. Might be rocks, but
it shoah looked like, a roof.
The kid stirred uneasily and let
the glasses drop from his eyes. .A
■long, oddly attenuated shadow was
sliding stealthily down the rocks* be
side him, a big1 'hat and a pair of
shoulders growing longer as he look
ed. The,kid sprang up like a start
led deer, his gun in his hand and
pointing straight at the man who
Stood looking at him. Then sud
denly the kid smiled sheepishly and
.’ttmkdd the gun back in -its holster.
“Come alive like a rattler,. didn’t
yuh?” Babe,,, Garner grinned. “You
been asleep?”
“No been watchin’ the valley.” ••
“Hunhl.” .Baibe’s tone sOundecJ
Skeptipal^' “See anything?”
“Saw a' fiune’1 ovah to Nate
Wheeleh’s place.” '
“You didn’t report it to the Poole,’
Babe charged grimly. "What was
the matter? Paralyzed, so you could
n’t git to the pinnacle?”-’
“No, sub, I was right busy soon
aftah,” he said mildly,’ - ■
“Doin’ what?” ’
“Shootin’ a nestahi”
“Hell! Why didn’t you say so?”
Babe’s voice- had warmed amazingly.
“Some one tryin' to dry-gulch
yuh, Tiger Eye?” *
“I reckon he was aimin’ 'that-a-way
Babe.”
• “You son-of-a-gun' ” Babe step
ped forward and clapped a hand ad
miringly down on the kid’s shoulder.
“I knowed, there was .some reason
why you let that damn’ fake funer
al get by.” ,
"Yo’all says it was a fake fune’l,
Babe?”
“Shore, it was a fake. One of the
boys got wise ’t they was goin’ to
pull off something. You was sent
over here to keep cases, but one of
the boys over at the Poole happened
to see ’em when they come up on
the Bench. Old man, he suspected
something was wrong about that per-
cession, s.o he sends us all over to
the buryin’ ground over on Cotton
Creek, That’s, where they was head
in’ for; Shore had ■ more mourners
than what they figured on!”
“Yo’all didn’t fight ’em, Babe?”
“No—-shore, we didn’t. But we
shore beat ’em to that buryin’ ground
Thirty-'five punchers was settin’ on
their horses back on the ridge about
a hundred yards away, when that
funeral percessioii come along. There
wasn’t no grave dug, stywe set there
and watched ’em dig it.”
“Yo’all shoah they buried Nate
Wheeler o#eh theah?”
“Nate Wheeler? t/law, they never1
buried Nate Wheeler there. Jim
Poole’s nobody’s fool. He saw though
their little scheme right off, It’s
like this, ’ Right/up the creek, about
two miles from that burying ground,
is the Poole ranch, and it’s a good
seven miles across to Cotton Creek
from here. , If they got over oh Cot
ton Creek with a funeral percession,
they could sneak on up the creek to
the . Poole. 'Seven miles of bald
prai/ie, and four miles under cover,
f^iV|Vy now?” . * ,
“Hhoah de, Babe,” said the kid,
his the girl and
their smefetfe*
(‘fmahy friends and forinW^
for the kindness shown inf’t4
,w Uy’s sad bereavement.
aj '
tho breeze that Mumd the kid'# lesft
cheek as he rode* Cattle, ihunehed,
and riders driving Reckon
maybe Babe "was taking hiin ever so
,he could go ,to work on round-np*
The kid hoped so, for that was the
work he wanted and had come all
the way up from the Brakes to find.
“<Shoah will enjoy swingin’ a rope
again, Babe,” he said in his soft
drawl, \
“Swingin’ a rope?” BabX# voi(ce
had a startled note,
“Er ridin’ herd-^’anythlng, so it’s
cows."
“Yo're ridin’ line with Babe
reminded him shortly, “Old Man
ain’t likely to put yuh on round-mp.”
'The kid did not argue <fho point,
hut his eyes clung to the slow-mov
ing dujt cloud, and because his
heart was there he unconsciously
communicated his desire to the
horse.
Riders we/e visible now in the
■fringes of the dust cloud. Riders
and a slow-moving river of backs
.seen d'imly as the bree.se whipped up
the haze. Gattie going tu same
Chosen round-up ground. The kid’s
eyes glistened at the thought,
“I’ll ride ov’er and see who’s in
charge,” Babe said suddenly, and
struck his horse with the quirt he
carried.
The kid’s hand tightened on the
reins. A cold weight fell like a
lump of iron on his chest. He didn’t
know those riders up ahead. .They
were not the same old boys, with
Pap, tall and hawk-eyed, on his big
horse, riding here and there, giving
his quiet orders. Plumb strangers,
these were, -JBalbe knew them, .but
he didn’t. He was just an outsider,
.and Babe wasn’t taking him over to
get acquainted.
A man galloped out to meet Babe
and the two talked, hand and head
making little unguarded ' gestures
now and then. The .kid’s sidelong
glance saw everj* move they made.
They were talking about him, and
they seemed to find, a right smart
lot to say.
Babe finally turned in his saddle
and flung out an arm in a beckoning
gesture, but the kid .kept liis face
straight ahead and' ghve- no" sign that
he saw he sigtaai. Babe cupped his
hands around his mouth and let out
a loud “Ya-ahoo!”
"Hey, Tiger Eye! Y’ asleep?”
The kid slid over so that his dan
gling foot m>igh( find its stirrup, and
yawned as he looked at Baibe.
"Yo’all got me outa bald befo’
■daylight, Babe.” x .
,, "Come on over and meet Jess
MarkeJ?’
“Ain’t impawtant is it, Babe?”
“■Hell, no!.” !(Babe gave him a
studying look, “Thought you want
ed to meet the boys. You said.—”
“Said I’d plumb enjoy swingin’ a
lass rope. Nevah said I achin’
4p meet anybody, though.” •
^■£|“jess is wagon boss,” Babe furthei*
qyplained. “Good man to know.
Might put you on, when thiS' trouble
Witli'the nesters is settled.”
' “Reckon I bettah make shoah of
my.job, first. And if yo’all want
me line riding ovah. on the rim, I’d
shoah -love to stay with yo’all.”
“Jess is a Texas maw,” Babe- re
marked in too casual a tone.
"Thought maybe you might know/
him. Don’t the name mean any
thing, Tiger Eye?”
“Shucks, Babe, names don't mean
anything' to a Texas manT Not up
No’th. Plumb easy to lose yo’all’s
Texas name awn the trail.”
“Did you?”
■ “Ain’t wore my name only twenty
yealis, Babe. No call to change it
yet.”
. Babe accepted the reproof and said
no more, though his eyes stole an
other sidelong glances at the kid. In
unspoken agreement they touched
spurs to their horses- and went gal
loping steadily across the prairie at
right angles to the herd. This way
lay the headqiRirters ranch of the
Poole, which was in reality a ifirm of
Eastern capitalists dabbling in range
• investments.
The Poole owners never saw their
cattle. John Poole, president of
the Poole Land and Cattle Company,
gave orders from his New York of
fice. This sum for icost of opera
tions, that sum deducted for normal
loss,' and the ’investment paying a
certain percentage to the sharehold
ers. But when the calf tally dwind
led out of all'proportion to adverse
weather conditions, John' Poole sat
up in his office chaii’ and dictated a
letter to his superintendent, Rustlers
or whatever the cause, this alarming
shrinkable must stop Tight there.
'The superintendent was an old
range hand named. Walter Bell and
he was growing rich at managing
the Poole. He replied to ’that letter
and he didn’t beat around the bush.
The nesters, he.Said, were rustlers in
reality and were stealing the Poole
blind. John Pool replied that Beil
must know what medicine to use on
rustlers, and Bell wrote back that
he did, but it would cost some mon
ey.
So Bell went qiiietly and method
ically to work, hiring men skilled in
the fiiie art of administering1 leaden
pills as required, with no talk or fuss
about it.
(To be continued) ;
Anci the maddest woman we’ve
seen this week was the one- who
waitejl on the corner for her hus
band. for mpre than an hour,
Gyproe Says
Fire, Brauglits,
Rodents
GyPROC Wallboard that does not Jbmi is
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Qyjproc is made from gypsum rock into sheets
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thicks It nails and cuts as easily as lumber with
a minimum of waste or muss. ,
Gyproc is fire-resistant, easily and quickly
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as fire-safe.
Because it is ivory-coloured, it does not require
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Consult your nearest dealer to-day. He will
gladly supply you with a direction sheet on
Gyproc. Or write for the interesting, free
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Gvppnr.”
For Sale By
The Exeter Lumber Company - Exeter, Ont.
A. Spencer & Son ■ _____Hensalf, Ont.
When the scientists learn how to Radio orchestra used to gO over
make the atom workman can just big, now they advertise, “Not a radio
sit still and yell: “Up and atom.” orchestra.”
FELT TIRED OUT ALL DAY
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COULD NOT SLEEP AT MSGHT
Mrs. Aldamond Lalonde, 2481 St. James St., M<jn-
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Sold at all drug and general stores, or mailed direct
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33,117,314 Pieces is Long Laundry List*
Can you imagine a bewildered
Chinaman trying to total a
laundry list Of 33,117,314 pieces ?
But there is one like that. It i#
the total of washing done
by and for the Canadian
Pacific. Railway Com
pany in 1930, in Canada,
including hotels and ’bun
galow-camps; sleeping
and' dining/ car service,
Xwhich also operates Sta
tion restaurants), and
the British Columbia
Coast boat service. If
one stopped to sit down
and figure out the gal
lons of water and bars
6f soap required for these
Operations, the results
might be even more as
tounding.
The hotel, department
Owns 789,821 pieces of
linen; the dining and
sleeping car, service
some 1,509,000 and the
British Columbia steam
ships another, 247,000»
Making a grand total of,
2,536,821 pieces. These
include all “flat-pieces”,
such as table-cloths,
sheets, napkins, towels,
pillow-caaes, etc; the
white coats worn by the
company's servants ' in
the various departments, and, in-
the hotels, a certain amount of
laundry, done for guests. In the
hotels, too, blankets, bed-spreads,
rugs, and so forth must
be considered. Every
piece of laundry handled
becomes a laundry-piece,
each time it appears in*'
the wash. Thus a single
table-napkin may be a: ’
laundry-piece over and"
over again, according tot
thfe supply of linen heed- >
ed and available. ’ •
The picture shows al.:
battery of washing ma
chines in the laundry ot
the Royal York Hotel,',;
Toronto, the largest ho- ,>
tel in the British Empire, r
Similar equipment in the
great chain of Canadian
Pacific Railway hotels
throughout Canada han
dler the great laundry ‘
list lit various centrds,\
with the assistance, tn
certain districts; of laun
dries outside tlie com
pany’s service. But the •
Standard maintained 'S.,,
the same everywhere,
immaculate cleaniine&i;:i
being the motto, from
coast 14 coast,' both
ashore and afloat* : . •,