Show Copy rigl t by joseph bowles V ilch I 1 ve told you observed the old cattleman puffing 1 cob p pe which ive already told you rucker goes on s irro old rucker with joy to sech a degree that one mornia when her wifely back Is turned he ups an stampedes off into the hills an takes with the apaches but I 1 never relates how he gets aroused to his dooty an returns that mircle comes to pass in this wise following a reminiscent smoke failed pause the old gentleman con linued when rucker is guilty of this yere de bertion says bothin an does bothin it is no part of wolf ville s como onal ability as it sees the sime to go piro otin off on the trail of rucker with a purpose of braggin him back th atawa to his domestic happiness his elopement is wholly a private play an one charin we aint entitled to ask for byards on the imme git heels of rucker s plunge into savagery rucker sever aloois to him never lets on she so much as notices his absence she to deal her game at the raw unmoved she fries our dally sal thoss an compiles our dally flapjacks six to the stack an neither bats an eye nor wags a year concertin con cernin that vanished hus band Nache rally aint no one so prodded of a morbid curiosity as to go askin rucker with her view as to comin to her as a lady an her bein allers in the kitchen sur rounded by sech weapons as flatirons an griddles an stove lifters any sech impolite break might result disaster ous old man enright puts it right an his views gains endorsement by doc peets an among the best intel elects of the camp to go pe around rucker says he in her bereave ments would be on gentlemanly to the verge of bein rash an the gent don t live in who s that foolish or it mem ry is squar ly in the saddle I 1 reckon it s bebby a year before rucker mentions he loss it s one time when we all shows up tor chuck and finds her in a dress as black as a spade flush the same bein moarnin she ex plains in answer to a remark by doc peets compliments her looks which peets was the shar an the best dedicated edica ted that ever shows up in arizona I 1 m moarnin for my de parted helpmeet I 1 hears about it in tucson pore rucker is deceased an of course I 1 dons black as markin his in yere rucker snuffles a lit tie an gouges into one corner of her eye with her handkerchief like she s rounding up a tear after which she sort runs a calc latin glance over us gents then an assembled like she s cizin us up as to our domestic p ints s a heap of silence follows that look not bein gifted none as a mind reader I 1 can t say how it at facts the balance of the outfit but for myse f a chill like ice creeps up an down my back also I 1 observes a ai look on the faces of enright an boggs as though smells perils As to texas thompson who Is camped next ta me at the table an has had marital ex perien ces which culminates in a di vorce down laredo way I 1 overhears him grind his teeth plenty de ed an mutter by the lone star of my natif state I 1 won t be took we re all some eager to ask about them tidings which rucker ropes onto in tucson but none has the nerve it s faro nell who comes hea n to the general she s per aed next to cherokee hall an looks gently up from a piece of pie she s babkin off the board and says good sakes miss s rucker an whatever do you all track up ag dinst about pore mister that on fortunate pard my bos has departed this life responds the widow moppin away hei grief I 1 crosses up with a tucson party who me that when them apaches goes all straddled out last spring they nac herall begins them ties by proun cin on R icker an leavin him on both sides of the can yona right chimed in D tie jutt who bein married a whole lot to tucson jennie feels immune from further wedlock whenever them dav ages diga up the war ax they i ally inaugurates negotiations by kayin out what palefaces la weak minded enough to be caught among em too dead to skin no it ain t it caution V aich they riggers them squaw men it spared will be off to the nearest arm post with pree catoor word of the whar tore they descends on em like a fallan star an blots em out after wh ch thy proceeded with their reg lar klum an more at lets ure its over in the red light to which we ree pairs when feed i through that abe subject comes up in form black jack the barkeep is so impressed by the gravity on our faces as we aliee in tabt he announces the drinks is on ahe hoi se W e refo oses it bein too dost on the hocks of that salt bosa an them for nose paint an we take instead when we re sociable an become somewhat on buckled an con fluent agin in spite of them of rucker ef right brings the topic boram about her bein a widow that a way doc he says ad dressin peets what do you all as a scientist think f chith it seems feasible enough responds peets bitin though ful t his you know anat be out to slay they aint apt to overlook no sech bet as ruck er the d be onto him first alas out the box like a mink onto a settin hen yes returns enright some on easy as to tone I 1 reckon you calls the turn doc they d about bump off old rucker by way of curtain raiser as they calls it over to ohp bird cage op ry ho ise dont you allow now breaks in boggs some agitated appealing app ealin to en right an peets together don t ou al low now that old ruckel bin wiped out that a way sort leaves the camp As how returns pete As howa repeats boags his ex cit ement what s to pre event to pre event her de on one of us like a pan of milk from a top shelf itself an wed din him a heape she s a mighty res cloote female Is rucker an its only last week she ups an saws it off to me abrupt that she s jest 38 years old last grass I 1 sees her drift now that ladys makin ready tor a spring which she s aimin to snatch a husband from our sh midst an bothin short after what I 1 passes through with that laredo wife of mine says texas thompson grim aa a tombstone you can gamble a bloo stack never be married alive AS lu masef ree marks peets imitation a cheerful countenance im barred drug sharps onder the booles cannot be claimed in private matri mon be longin as they do to the enright ere is like wise out bein too old right coincided relief into his eyes im too far gone in years to be raw material tor nuptials what I 1 feel however I 1 looks on the as serious As dan says it s plain she has intentions then s that black frock which widows Is dangerous tn precise proportion as they bheda an piles on moarnin it s my on biased she s fixin her sights for dan or texas gents interrupts texas thomp son agin his manner iron you hears what I 1 say a moment back wolf ville may follow me to the tomb but never to no altar if 1 thought this yere widow was that imminent says boggs to an fro like a startled wildcat I 1 d line out for tucson onell the forture s moie guaranteed im nac herall plumb nervous I 1 can t camp down in the hadow of a great threat on moved we was shore to ever let rucker get away that time e might have knowel it would end in bome sech bluff as this it I 1 had fore seen the trap he was bettin for us I 1 d have ree stored that old profligate to rucker s arms or got downed by the A aches jiin what ever s your advice sama he con floods gaam anxious e ed at en it it was bothin worse than a hostile sheriff my trail I 1 d stand mi hand but this yere is when I 1 re quires ansel seem boggs so keyed up enright goes ot on a ai gle peets in encouraging the both s to boggs that s no cap to be i it 11 most likely be weeks before rucker really de clat it arse t an sinks them widowed ta into her se elected victim meanwhile as for the worst all boggs has to do they argues is to keep his mind on his number aa sing out no to avei thing she says likewise it might be well to hold a pony saddled in case of sudden swoops in which event says enright it it turns out we her activities an she wheels on you ab nept s the pony an you klavs the same quirt an heel as a last re sort still it s possible we re scein on ghosts she may have it in her heart to make happy some other gent entire s one thing chimes in peets I 1 wants it understood onder stood in case this conference comes to rucker s notice later that I 1 say she is an ex tee mable lady an calk to raise the man so fortunate as to become her husband to pinnacles of bliss also declai u baright some hast let it be condei stood I 1 m in on them observations As the pre in flooence of the ra v rucker Is on approached an on approachable her pies 13 poems an her beans a dream no as I 1 states the of boggs an the balance ant upheld I 1 bisot that rucker don t frame it up none to come fluttering flut terin from er lonely leich only it ain t boggs or texas or any of the boys it s old col cos ote clubbs on whom she s down you recalls how I 1 on eirls to you i the little colo n 1 now he s grizzled an harmless an died an lame of the nigh hind laig how ne got a face like a owl innocent an wide eye I 1 o 0 ful of ignorant wonder like life Is a s prise As I 1 then explains he s p ilenin coyotes a dollar a pelt an at first has a camp an hour s ride over towards tuc son bebby it s two months prior to when rucker gives it out she s alone in the world an goes to dancin that he done give up his dug out an takes to beardin at the raw bein gregar ous the colonel likes company an as for them little wolves they re as prolific an apt to find his arsenic in the sub bubs of imset as farther out on the plains so as I 1 observes he s now gettin his chill con carne at rucker s an out from camp instead of into it which it s plenty like we all would have seen it was the colonel s per bonal trouble from the jump only the day rucker goes into black an scares us up that a way the old maroa is across to red dog deal in for a train of burros to pack his wolf pelts to tucson As it is it aint a day after he gets back be fore we identifies him as the gent in interest alisasis rucker as though concealment is now at an end an the hour ripe for throwing off dis guise takes to doverin over him at chuck time with a solid tood that comes mighty dost to bein tenderness she takes to headin his plate with viands to a degree that s enough of imset to set any sport ot thoughtfulness to sideways it shore rattles the colonel you can bet an his appetite gets less the more she lavishes them delicacies upon him which you aint batin more than sparrow birds colonel she says win him a most on mistakable grin yere let me get you some plum pre senes which they ought to tempt a angel with that she totes forth one of api bartic lar which even enright dont get a glimpse of only I 1 0 th of an christmas an on loads the same on the colonel he grows white at this for jest as the good book says that its vain for the fowler to spread his nets in the sight of any bird so also it Is for a widow to go inon datin any special bent with plum preserves an hope to have them sweetmeats biscon miscon shore the colonel for all hes the guileless est party that ever makes a moccasin track in arizona realizes ohp s put him in nom nation to be rucker s succession likewise the whole outfit grasps this arooth an while the colonel Is curnin gray about the gills boggs Is br eathin freer an even the desperate look in the eyes of texas thompson begins to fade away which the same hows how at bot torn man is a anielle utterly selfish once boggs an texas an them others feels safe the knowledge that the pore old clonel must go ca across the red hot plowshares don t bother em a bit they all likes him sincere at that but sech is life they coldly leaves him to trend the wine press alone an all as as a band of prairie dogs chich I 1 don t sc rupple later to ree 1 roach boggs with this yere lack of s apathy what can we all doa he replie I 1 m a friend of the colonel s but wha thena this is a case whar every gen must kill his own snakes besides I 1 see now she s doo to maka him happy do you note how free she plays them plum air tights on hima an no more holdin back than it they re canned to matters rightly looked at the colonel s in a heap of luck is plumb in his count up 0 the colonel As boggs ob deives hes game as t rattlers rant lers still it s his sand it s his p lite ness an good manners that s bound to hold him which said arooth is evi dent when the colonel dl cusses this new an slant in his for tunes with an peets this yere caucus occurs two days later after rucker offers him her band it s about second drink time in the evenin when the colonel lookin pale an shaken comes tottering tot terin into the red light askin for enright cher okee hall with faro nell on the look out s stool Is dealin bank at the time an ahers of us Is scein what we can do him but at sight ot the colonels face one an all we rashes in cherokee cleans up his game an we all gathers about to listen which oue no objections colonel asks mighty urbane to the camp bein in on this powwow nonea from the rapt look in 5 our aies I 1 guesses what joyful things has happened an of course it bein over delicate bebby in at fairs of the heart you prefer this confab to be private why then brally your wishes sho ild be regard ed an private s the word but the colonel sas he waives privacy the camp to a man Is his friend an plumb welcome to his con hearin which we draws up in silence baitin for him to begin s we does so cherokee whispers to faro nell that mighty likely she d better put on her shaker stampede across an congratulate ruck which s i she yields to re to listen to them adventures of the it s this a way says the colonel when faro nell is gone an every body organized comfortable which it s on necessary for me to go tellin a passel of sech experienced sharps as you all took place suffice it that this evenin after supper Is over she drives me into a corner an tells me she is mine now understand onder stand gents all I 1 m too much a slave to eti quette an was too well brought up by my folks to go babkin out of the of any lady which ive allers held that a lady Is not to be re koosed her heart is ever a boon an once she bestows it no gent so distinguished is possessed of any croiel license to thrust it aside which sentiments does you credit colonel observes enright as the comin bridegroom pauses to wipe his for head that s whatever chimes in boggs emphatic no sir re the colonel when he ag in commands aimse f a lady is not to be declined that is ashes not to be asso omin her to be free it s on that i int an that alone I 1 ve come meandering mean derin over to be heard what I 1 asks is the one question Is this yere old man bucl er shore deada what I 1 urges Is that onell the same be proved I 1 m entitled to a stay of I 1 leaves it all to you to you enright an to you peets do I 1 ask too mucha look in at the play from every angle an keepin it before you that my sole reason for balkin is a reason of mor aliby I 1 puts it to you as gent to gent whether I 1 ain t righta this yere Is a mere quibble shouts boggs plenty heated but en right who a the soul of fairness stops him it s impossible to deny responds enright when boggs growlingly grow linly sub sides that the proof techin the wip in out of rucker an the consequent widowhood of his relict Is at present some meager also im bound to DRIVES ME INTO A CORNER AND TELLS ME SHE IS MINE add that as a strictly moral outfit aint hungerink hun gerin to no enoch arden games what s your jeda ment doc which I 1 entertains beelin s sim lar returns peets we shore don t want to go up no where one lady has two husbands s everything to be said ag dinst sech a social solecism not only from standpoints stand pints moral but economic be sides red dog our hated rival wouldn t cease to throw it up the question bein genral in its op rations breaks in boggs agan he s been whispering mighty feve risi to texas thompson an for texas yere as well as myse f id like to ask the colonel now he casts doubts on a re evered lady s widow hood whatever is to be his moved also I 1 desire to be heard as sain that as he does them doubts by way of defense the bur d n of proof is on him it s for him to show |