Show the man all from Yo yonder lIder by HAROLD TITUS copyright 19 28 rsm 1934 harold titus sel service j SYNOPSIS ben elliott from Yon yonder dee arrives ILI at the little lumbering town of tincup accompanied by don stuart old very sick lck man whom he hits has befriended he signalizes his coming by defeating alg bull duval king of the th river and town bully in a lor log birling contest nicholas brandon the towns town leading citizen resents stuarts presence lie he tries to force him to leave town and E elleott El llott tt resenting the act knocks him down elliott Is arrested CHAPTER II 11 continued are you guilty or not able repeated and ben elliott who had bad stood at ease before him slouch hat lo in his bis great brown hands now gave his head a grave twist well it if pitching a man off the sidewalk into the mud Is called assault and battery in tincup then rm fin about a hundred per cent guilty he be said A stir in the room followed that and able frowned a convincingly judicial frown guilty eh lie he cleared his throat at length now how bow about this disruption of the peace anyhow the sheriff spoke you see able etwas this way sir mr it now just a minute art this accused has pleaded guilty as I 1 und understand er it IL I 1 dont see any need of anybody else saying anything hes thrown himself on the mercy of this court you might say and its regular and proper and according to the spirit of the statute that I 1 question him before passing sentence senteria rim besides he added with a twinkle at brandon im a little curious the sheriff sniffed and subsided clearly there was little friendship between him and the justice now sir mr able glanced at the complaint again sir air ben elliott El llott how come that you go about the country tossing reputable citizens into the mud why he was trying to make a friend of mine do something he want to do all I 1 butted in I 1 guess he got hard and so shrug 1 I lost my bead for a minute and put him in his place in the mud you mean yeah in the mud well go on go on go back to the beginning be inning I 1 want to know all about this affair elliott drew a long breath 1 I started tor for tincup several days ago I 1 was a long ways off over in minnesota this morning I 1 got down to the junction west of here and while I 1 waited for my train got talking to this old timer don stuart who ws was la III the station maybe you know him judge other folks here do able blinked twice hard the old fellow Is about all in id say lies hes got it into his head bead that hes about to dle die and probably his guess such a bad one seems this used to be his stamping ground that hes been away a long time and that 1 guilty eh hed started back to finish his days here where he be could see some old friends ile he went broke on the way and was just sitting there this morning waiting tor for something to happen I 1 happened I 1 any too well heeled myself but I 1 had enough for his bis ticket so I 1 brought him along As luck would have it I 1 got a chance to pick up a few dollars of tincup money as soon as aa we got in a nod and I 1 had to have it with the old timer on my hands while I 1 was busy bus iz etrIng this cash this man brandon evidently saw my buddy and started rushing him bark back to the depot to take the tie next train back to where he be came from I 1 like that so well I 1 I 1 tried fried to talk him out of it but mr air brandon a great talker alker nil 11 here I 1 am ami I 1 guilty r as charged eh able turn fum billed leu with me papers what brou glit tiiu ou such a long ways into tincup tny quy how 1 I lle cause id heard lineup was a i imai nut to crak A stir in III the crowd then a sharp shar k froin to Fi billott llott nil li ilond of onta are your you able asked and the look in his eyes was wag much less severe so beard about Tin cull and started for it from a long ways ot off and now this matter of nuts you like all kinds not L all nuts no the steel gray eyes were a bit narrowed now as ott tried to plumb the old mans mood well for instance like peanuts no cant stand em cm 11 not at all almonds then A twinkle was surely coming to life in the courts eyes but seeing it the defendant only frowned cant vote very strong tor for almonds or english walnuts or pecans never did hold them to be what w hat call irresistible either HUM ni how about black walnuts now declared elliott with a nod now youre getting into real classy nuts 11 men in n the crowd looked at one un an other not knowing what to mako make of tills this well it if you like black walnuts would you say they were your favorite 7 the other considered this question with great it if not wholly genuine ine seriousness ous ness no not exactly id put black walnuts high up in the list all right your honor but since youre interested about my preferences in nuts id say that the best nut that ever hung outdoors or offered itself tor for the cracking was a good old hickory nut real tough ones eh real tough ones yes 11 able wiped his bis face with a palm and wet his bis lips the two looked long at one another and that spark passed which will jump from man to man carried sometimes by a deed often by a word frequently by only a glance that message which says as plainly as though inscribed in black characters against white background 1 I like you I 1 am your friend I 1 it went from the old man mad to the young and back again from young to old nicholas brandon understood and the in his bis dark eyes played more briskly more ominously and so figure tincup as a sort of hickory out nut 1 I had tincup has a reputation all through the lake states wherever you go bear it ft talked about as a hard bard camp iod id heard beard so many times that a good man with ideas of his own with independence and maybe with ambition had better keep away from here that I 1 found myself hankering to get a look at the place your line of work 1 I follow the timber anything well just what for instance what are some of the jobs youve held elliott smiled a bit good many I 1 was a chore boy once another time I 1 was a road monkey ive teamed and sawed worked as millwright and on rivers once or twice ive run a camp or two but your avocation I 1 take it it Is looking for hard nuts brandon spoke now your honorl honor 1 ills his voice was well modulated and yet in its quality was something which suggested rug iron covered with velvet As complaining witness in this case may I 1 suggest that we are beginning to waste time this young man has pleaded guilty of course I 1 do not want to be put in the light of one who attempts to dictate to a court of law but I 1 have pressing matters to attend to ana if we can ge get on outwardly this was vas only a suggestion a plea really though it was one way of demanding of giving an order yes youre a bu busy sy man nick able said and nodded id sort of figured being busy here today myself sort of wondered it if somebody bring in bull duval on a charge of assault and battery ile he trimmed my man harrington so badly that hes gone and my operations without a boss today I 1 sort of thought being interested as you are in taw law and order that duval duva might be brought in that Is something I 1 know nothing about brandon said severely likely not you cant be expected to keep as close track of the men who work for you as I 1 do of mine that Is it reasonable to think a man or of your caliber would ile he spoke and elleott El llott watching the two could see that his bis words stung brandon the justice straightened in his chair however but maybe we are delaying things now mr air elliott El llott dont you think it a little out of the way to come into a town a total stranger and upset all that towns precedents it if you instead of one of air Bran brandona dons hired men had bad cleaned up on my man liar ilar ring arington rington ton for instance it might not have been such a grave offense but here you come and pick out the one man in tincup who been struck or even ahrea threatened bened la in longer than I 1 can recall a man who Is regarded here about like most folks would regard a baron of the middle ages and toss him ut iut into the mud I 1 why elliott El llott not ever happ bcd before I 1 probably bly it hurt nick much but there are his bis feelings to consider arent you ashamed of giving people a chance to jeer at mr air brandona Bran Brand donl oarl elliott looked at brandon then deliberately libera tely carefully inspected him from his glossy black hair to his muddled died breeches it a very smart thing to do I 1 guess lie he admitted its not likely now that ill even get a chance to see how hard a nut this town really la Is and no worse than you yon de deserve servel 1 able said sharply you know better than to carry on that way elliott ive got to give you a fine commensurate your offense Tense ol ill fine you a dollar and seventy five cents for costs or send you to jail for a day in the rear a sacrilegious titter or two F from rom the sheriff a grunt from nicholas brandon a breath of offended dignity and a look that scorched but on ben alliotts elliotts Ell Elli lotta otts face only appeared a foolish smile reasonable enough he ha said but the joker Is this 1 I even got the dol dollar larl 1 well our jails real comfortable im told A day therell let you think over the advisability of going around d the country muddying up the pants of respected citizens P 1 elliott El llott though faced even so short a jall jail sentence with anything but relish 1 I can get the money easy enough he said that Is if you your honor or somebody somebody easell send a wire tor for me that might be arranged where to tol here tie ile reached for a sheet of paper and pencil lying on the table swiftly he wrote the words badger forest products company beech ridge wisconsin he handed it to able will you wire them for twenty five dollars and sign my name send the message collect a big outfit the judge said you figure do as you ask well they never have turned me down for anything ive asked of course theres always the first it alms if do that until that gets back sheriff i sup gup pose its me for the fee brig Is that right judge able was studying the address and when lie be looked up and grunted an affirmative firma Orma tive reply his gaze was tar far away far far away for a considerable interval after his bis court room had emptied able armitage sat motionless in his chair his eye still held that faraway far away look staring into space and now and again he be picked up the scrap of paper bearing the address young elliott had written and scanned it closely by he said an hour after bein being left alone dy by by jangl it might be you know I 1 it may be possibly perhaps might bet bel thereupon he be rose went to a wall telephone and put in a call for nathan bradger general manager of the badger forest products company of beach ridge wisconsin after this he stood for a time in the front window peering out into the street A man came along the sidewalk a man of about ables years bearing a limp and rusty bag which stamped him as a physician he waved a hand to able and then as on sudden impulse changed his course and approached pro ached the entry big day able as the justice opened the door yeah big old dons back so I 1 heard bad shape too 1 I heard beard that real bad emory emory sweet nodded gravely hearts like a sponge ile he cant last las tiong long nick was all for sending him back to hemlock but I 1 told him it would be murder to move him now oh ob nick showed up did he hel came right from here said hed been providing for don for these last years and wanted him with somebody or other in hemlock see he get hold bold of hooch again was quite quire provoked when I 1 opposed moving him nicholas like the notion of 0 dons being in this vicinity its about as popular with him as ai smallpox when id prevailed on him to let don alone I 1 told him the truth that he cant last more than a few weeks and nick looked like a roan man who well uke like one chos heard beard good news able nodded safer tor for brandon to have him in his grave but when old don goes seems like the last chance of ever clearing the thing wet ups gone too looks that way unless hell talk before he dies even so it amount to much lies hes an old bum he be was a known drunkard at the time it happened ab so long ago and with the courts controlled by who they are all but yours and mine without any jurisdiction lo in sure enough trouble the doctor started out but halted baited in the doorway near hear Harring tons gone yes the bull ran him out ol of town brandon Bran doal dont be simple emory who else certainly cant forget the tha boot owl can he what are you going to do now able the other shook his fits head gravely 1 I wish I 1 could give you an answer or myself an answer all forenoon ive had a feeling in atiat palm extending his creased right band as if the end of a rope were wera slipping through it tough muttered the doctor as he went out an hour later able armitage left his office ile he moved with great alacrity for one of his years and stopped only once and that was to draw birdeye bird eye EYO blaine from the throng of onlookers that lined the sidewalk got yo your ur car in town birdeye bird eye he asked have will it still run run I 1 as though insulted say A able ble car may not be so foxy lookin as some but ashes got a heart av gold nd all right run nun her around by the jail will you might need you again 11 humm hum hurn m he says youre no good I 1 might not best to be prepared though birdeye bird eye nodded assent and the old justice went on ben elliott El llott solitary prisoner in the be county jail lay on the least objectionable of the bunks he found there smoking and staring at the dingy ceiling his hands were clasped beneath hla his head and his feet were crossed an attitude of relaxation surely but his one foot twisted on its ankle around and around most restlessly A man of action this not accustomed to idleness or restraint ile he raised his head sharply when a key grated in the big steel door leading to the cell block and stopped puffing on his pipe when the opening barrier revealed able armitage hello judge 1 elliott cried and grinned able wasted no time ive just been talking with bridger BrId bridgers gerl lie ile here oh no I 1 called him on long distance able smiled as the other gave a puzzled frown bridger and I 1 are old friends we fought spain together and malaria when we had spain whipped I 1 think a lot of bridger ive a great respect for him and his opinions sove L I 1 everybody has hum num humm m he says youre no good F elliott started wha a at why funny do yo you u mean he stake me to the money I 1 asked tor for TO BE CONTINUED |