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Show P r Harold Titus CHAPTER I TT WAS Armistice day In Tincup. A The time was so far removed from that delirious date in 1918 that in many parts of the country the eleventh of November had come to be regarded as simply another day, but Tincup was a mill town and the surrounding country was timber land and in such a community commu-nity almost any anniversary from the Fourth of July on down to the ' millwright's birthday Is seized upon as an excuse to lay off and play. t So the camps which turned Nicholas Nich-olas Brandon's standing hardwood and hemlock into saw logs, and ' the mills which chewed them Into dimension stuff and flooring and 1 shingles were deserted, and the en-' en-' tire population of a big territory which had commenced pouring Into : town the evening before was loined for the day with the residents of Tincup in competing or watching or cheering or listening. In consequence a mere event such as the arrival of the eastbound passenger pas-senger train drew no attention whatever and so none but the station sta-tion agent was there to greet the stranger as he dropped down from the rickety red smoking car between his pack-sack, slung from one shoulder, and old Don Stuart, literally lit-erally dangling from his other arm. The agent, trundling his express truck and In a hurry to be done with duty and get back to the more exciting affairs which occupied the rest of the town, spoke: "Hul-lo, Donl Back home, eh? Well . . . Glad f see you I "Better git up to the big doin's." Log rollin's just goin' on. Big time !" As if to vindicate this prideful boast of one of Its own, all Tincup and its company at the moment opened lips and compressed chests to send up a mighty, roaring shout of acclaim. Slowly, the sharply contrasting pair moved off, the younger still half supporting the elder and moderating mod-erating his gait to a stroll so Stu- art's quick and audible breathing should grow no more pronounced. A slender young man was climbing climb-ing a jammer In the mill yard. He lifted himself above the heads of the crowd and held up a hand for silence. This, however, was not readily obtained. A drenched and dripping citizen was only just pulling pull-ing himself from the chill waters of the pond, a self-conscious grin g uedto'hls lips as the black ban-was ban-was plastered to his brow by he soaking it had received. On a peeled cedar log in the pond a giant ceacir me wlrorel shirt. of a man in a gu"j : neavey in his hands, balanced and surveyed the throng, a picture of S and boastful self-satisfaction. The slender man on the jammer continued to wave his hands and final y these jibes and compliments were smothered by other cries for ""Give Birney a chanct, now!" a man shouted. Rlrn.v "Gents!" the man called Birney cried from his vantage point. As chairman of the committee. I'm as inz for help! This committees fveJ come to town more to see this C Vhy no hinM" he answered his wny, u d t pre 0WD ql'e: and a Jeml final between nofthem matches . Then th?flB,,UhDuv:rw1-eepaTr1t,neer ST' hHa o"Ue dAaiau"h arose and Duval on the .Awlsfed his mustache and leered "..wfraised a twenty-five dollar prize and half you river hogs got cold feet just because Duval said he was goin' to roll!" Birney was truly annoyed and took no pains to conceal it "Ain't any of you lads got the sand to hand in your names and tackle the Bull. Where's your guts?" he pleaded. "Ain't there anybody here that needs twenty-five dollars?" Another laugh went up and when it had subsided a voice said: "Here's one. WhatTl I do to get it?" This was a full, even, good-natured voice, and a quick silence fell upon the crowd, followed by an expectant buzz as the stranger moved forward, his bronzed face uplifted up-lifted to the man on the jammer. "Atta boy !" Birney cried. "All you got to do, friend, is to put Mr. Bull Duval off that log and stick he rnlpc I' The stranger slipped the pack strap from his shoulder, seated himself him-self on a log, unlaced his shoes and unstrapped the' bag. While he drew from its depths a pair of calked river boots and the cluster about him grew thicker a half dozen old men crowded around Don Stuart, shaking his hand and saying the usual things that men say to an old friend they have not seen for long. One of these was a short, wiry little man with upturned nose and blue eyes and long lip. " "Nd who's th' b'y, Donny?" he asked. "Who's th' b'y thut's goin' to try Misther Brandon's pet bull?" Stuart shook his head. "He's a fine young gentleman, Bird-Eye, and that's all I know. Found me at th' Junction . broke and wantin' to . . . get back home to Tincup. Paid my fare . . . and helped me. Fine gentleman gen-tleman !" Others came up, greeted Stuart and eyed him with true concern. Any could see that heavy sickness was on him. Birney was bending over the stranger as he drew taut the laces of his river boots. "Well, gents, we got one more to try for this prize money. Mister Bull Duval, king of the Mad Woman Wom-an will now take on Mister Ben Elliott El-liott . . Mr. Ben Elliott of Where' d "you say you come from, Elliott?' , The stranger turned that good-natured good-natured smile on the spokesman and waved one hand in an indefinite indefi-nite but Inclusive gesture. "Yonder," he said and grinned. "Mr Ben Elliott of Yonder will now roll against Mr. Bull Duval for the grand prize of twenty-five bucks! That rope around the log marks the middle, imiiulu oj your own end, don't touch the other man and anything else goes! As a helper used a pike pole to drag the cedar with Duval upon it close, Elliott stood still and surveyed sur-veyed his adversary. His glance held that light of good nature and did not linger long cn the Bull s glowering countenance. Rather, it dwelt on his pants and the nver boots, sheding water in oily bead After this, he looked Duval in the eve and grinned broadly. 6il sound like a breath which Is almost a laugh ran through the crowd A likeable grin, that was, sood natured, frank, fearless; men take to a grin of Its kidney and on the instant, Ben Elliott, the stranger strang-er had the crowd with him as against Bull Duval, said to he the kin" of the river. The cedar came against the boom stick and Elliott took his place on It with a light leap. It was a good eg nearly two feet through at the small end, twenty feet long wltl. a small taper, dry and peeled; a ixrArtrirB- a the best river hog In Tincup who hefted his pearer and glowered at the stronger. "I give y' two minutes," he growled. "Thanks, buddy !" Elliott retorted. "I'd say that's sweet of you !" "Are yon ready?" Birney cried from shore. Both nodded. "Then let her go !" A hush. Balanced on the log, faced in the same direction, double an arm's length from one another, they poised. And then Duval's right toe lifted, the heel pressing downward down-ward ; the buoyant log moved quickly. His left foot raised free, sharp calks in Its sole clawed savagely sav-agely and with a mighty drive of the leg he had the cedar spinning beneath them. Ben Elliott did not offer resistance. resist-ance. He followed the moving footing, foot-ing, walking for the first three or four turns and then, adding his Impetus Im-petus to the blrling stick, commenced com-menced to trot, with each stride forcing the tempo of the turning. Faster and faster, now. The tret-ting tret-ting became a run: the run waxed to a nimble dance. Up and down, np and down; a mad gallop of supple limbs, now, and then Duval leaped. He leaped high and without warning and, feet spread, drove his calks deep Into the log again, hunching his shoulders, shoul-ders, thrusting his peavey before him for balance, bending forward. The spin of the stick was checked sharply and had his opponent been caught unprepared, he certainly would have pitched face foremost into the pond. But Elliott was not unprepared. He had watched the Bull's every move. He did not jump when Duval jumped; he waited a split instant, eyes on Duval's feet, and when he saw the toes pointed stiffly downward down-ward he rose nimbly into the air, a galloping break in his swift run, and came down, poised, spread-legged spread-legged himself, crying out in an ejaculation of mock distress as he balanced on the cedar which swayed and heaved beneath them. A great roar went up, cries of encouragement fcr the stranger, some shouts of admonition for their townsman. The Bull would have no cinch in this contest! On the shore Bird-Eye pranced up and down, swinging his arms. "Duck him, Elliott!" he yelled. "Duck th' big chunk! Sure 'nd he needs him a bath !" The smoothvbole gathered momentum momen-tum swiftly and Elliott began to skip and dance, breaking the steady measure of his run. As his weight came and went irregularly upon the cedar It commenced to teeter, causing caus-ing Duval's feet to splash In ankle-deep ankle-deep water. Again without warning, warn-ing, the Bull leaped. He went higher, high-er, this time, but Instead of driving his spikes into the far side cf the log and stopping Its spin as he had done before, he drove them Into the near side, Increasing rather than i checking the momentum. "Got yiu, big boy," Elliott cried as he, too, came down running , . . and grinning. That was quick thinking, instantaneous instan-taneous action. To leap was simple; but to determine the opponent's move and meet it with complacence and poise was another matter. To have come down to a stance, then, would have flung the challenger to wet defeat. "Ah, th' big chunk av a Bull's goin' to get thut bath he needs!" Bird-Eye shrilled into the roar. But this was only one man's en-fhiieinem en-fhiieinem his animosity for Duval finding voice. Tincup knew that; and Ben Elliott knew it well. He-like He-like the town was waiting for the king of the Mad Woman to draw more Items from his bag of tricks before he should assume the offensive. offen-sive. Without a flicker of warning Du-. val dropped the pick of his peavey, twisting the shaft in bis hands, flipping flip-ping the hook open. The point plunked into the water, the hook bit into the log simultaneously and as the handle swung upward in a swift arc the man drove his weight on it His body twisted, he grunted and his face wrenched Into a lightning light-ning expression of great strain as the cedar. In a quarter turn, stopped dead. . . . And Ben Elliott, back bowed acutely, peavey high above his head, teetered back to balance on one foot, laughed aloud! "Quick work, big boy !" he cried. Almost got me!' But Duval had nowhere near gotten got-ten him; he knew It, and Elliott's manner was infuriating to him. He cursed sharply and spat and jerked at the brim of his slouch hat as he shook loose the peavey and commenced com-menced again to birl. They ran a moment easily, each waiting Tor the other to try some fresh trick. The Bull leaped and came down running; he leaped four times in the space of as many quick breaths. And then, as though ready to leap again, dropped the hook of his peavey Into the cedar. He wavered wav-ered when the handle, swept upward up-ward by the rush and weight of the spinning log, bore against his great palm. His body swung sharply to the left. He cursed as the smooth handle slipped from his clutch and Bird-Eye Blaine danced in a frenzy of delight as the peavey, handle smacking the water, disappeared in the pond and the Bull, waving his arms for balance, ran the log desperately des-perately to hold his place. The odds, then, were no longer equal. Like a fencer with a broken foil, like a boxer with one eye closed, like a runner with a strained tendon, so Duval was now. "Polish him off, now!" Bird-Eye screamed, like an audacious, saucy bey. "Polish him good, Misther Elliott El-liott ! He's yawpin' for help 'nd the' ain't none fer him !" That was what Tincup believed. He Had Watched the Bull's hvery Move. A quick finish seemed certain, with the Bull so handicapped, without his peavey for offensive moves or to hold for balance. But what happened stilled the clamor quickly. Ben Elliott shifted his peavey. He had held It across his body, arms wide spread. Now he swung the point upward , and outward and as he ran the spinning log drew it back and tossed it toward to-ward shorb. Tossed it high and far, sending with it his chance for a quick and certain victory. The silence was that of- amazement. amaze-ment. This was like letting a man you had knocked down get to his feet and have another chance; this was opportunity handed to truculent trucu-lent Bull Duval on a silver platter. This was the sportsmanship one read about . . . And then came an excited clatter of tongues, rising to an even greater roar. The outsider out-sider was through fooling, through with trickery and through with strategy. He was going to run the Bull off his feet! Fast and faster' spun the log Spray from it drenched the men tc their knees, rained behind them in to the pond. The log was hissing in the water. Rigidity ran from the Bull's shoulders shoul-ders down his back. He was upright, up-right, now, where Elliott was poised forward. And his scowl was gone. His brows no longer gathered but were upraised; his eyes were wide open In the distress of fatigue and he breathed through his mouth. Thought of the rules swept the crowd, because Duval was edging to the right. He moved slowly, awkwardly, awk-wardly, at the cost of great effort, on toward the center of the leg. Was he trying one more trick? Not likely. A man under such a straiu does not attempt strategy . . . not fair strategy. As he progressed an inch at a time Elliott countered by also creeping toward the center so his end might not dip beneath the surface. Both men had their arms extended extend-ed and Elliott's grin had faded to a sort of curious smile, a speculative specula-tive alertness . . . Close and closer they came together and then, as their extended hands were al! but touching, Duval suddenly flecked his right wrist in a pass at Elliott's left hand. "Ah, th' dirty" But Bird-Eye's high scream was cut short by an ominous roar. The Bull, facing defeat, de-feat, had overstepped all rules. The slightest touch on the other's body wctJd upset his balance, now, and after Elliott had proven himself above taking what was even recognized recog-nized as a fair advantage, the last vestige cf loyalty to town or whatever what-ever it was which had put men on Duval's side was whisked away. On Duval's face was ruthlessness along with the flush of fatigue and humiliation. He would be the last man on that log, though disqualified disquali-fied for any pr.ze. At any cost he would stay on that log. But would he? Elliott, a steely quality coming into his grin, retreated re-treated until he was out of the other's reach. He loosed the last reservoir of his energy and by the way his feet flickered and clawed and spurned that log one might well have believed that until now lie had only played with this ci-.wnerl king of t lie river that (lowed past Tin-: Tin-: cup. (TO IE COXTINUFD ) |