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Show THE RICH COUNTY REAPER, RANDOLPH, UTAH JL. Momey to Buma. By Peter B. Kyne p by Peter 'B. Kyne. CHAPTER XIV Continued 29 He was greeted enthusiastically by Benjy, his old hunting dog, and his colored retainer, Jasper. To the latter he handed the wages due him to date. Til not need you any more, Jasper, he announced. "Im sorry. Youre a goad servant and faithful, but I can't afford you. Ill dine uptown tonight. He left the amazed and disappointed Jasper staring after him, went to the telephone and called up Nellie at the bank. Elmer speaking, Nellie. Im home back home and broke. Id like to take you out to dinner tonight probably for the last time and tell you all about it. Uncle Hirams estate has melted like a dish of ice cream on a hot stove. Funniest tale youll ever listen to, Nellie. Brace yourself for a laugh. Oh, Elmer dear! Im so sorry! Nellies voice was pregnant with tears. Please do not Dont, he pleaded. feel sorry for me, Nellie. Time enough for that when I begin feeling sorry for myself. Ive assimilated the grandest thrashing any man ever assimilated, and I can still stand and see and think clearly. Yes, Ive taken a thrashing, but Im not down and out for the count. Ive got all kinds of fight left in me yet you wait and see. Well. Nellie replied, its all terribly awful, of course, but for all that. Im happy. You have come back to me and nothing else matters. Ive come back to you, but not for Im not you, he answered bitterly. to to ask share you enough my dog poverty with me. Nellie, you must forget that I was ever selfish enough to ask you to marry me. Well talk that matter over before we decide, she retorted. Pick me up at the house at seven oclock. At seven oclock Elmer called for Nellie and drove her out to Joe roadhouse for dinner. And there, between the soup and the nuts, he told her the tale of his vanishing million. When the story was done Nellie poked the tablecloth with the tines of her fork and was silent for about a minute. Then: What are you going to do, Elmer? Anything at all that I can find to . do, Nellie. But youre the mayor of Pilarcitos youre a trustee of the Union high school. Are you going to resign and leave Pilarcitos? Not if I can make a decent living here. To resign and leave now would be equivalent to running away. But youll be laughed to death, Elmer. Oh. you havent any idea how cruelly youll be twitted by the townspeople! Itll hurt terribly. I wouldnt blame you for, leaving the town. I know. But Ive stood some hurts in my day and I can stand more. Nellie looked up at him with love I unutterable in her brown eyes. adore you, she whispered. Her simple, heartfelt declaration Please brought a mist to his eyes. dont say it, Nellie, he pleaded. I love you more than Ill ever love any woman again, but you understand, dont you darling? I cant expect you to marry a pauper. Ill probably be a man before Ill have fat, middle-ageenough money to support you decently and oh, please understand, Nellie! I want you so, but Ill not be selfish enough to ask you to wait. I understand thoroughly, dear. I do not expect you to ask me to wait and as a matter of fact 1 would not consent to wait. When I marry you I want some of the sweetness of life, not the sacrifice and the drudgery of poverty. I have my place in the bank and I take me out of here, Elmer Clarke. Im going to cry. Elmer hurriedly paid his bill and they left the roadhouse. Five miles down .he road they came to the first arc light on the outskirts of Pilarcitos. Pull up under that arc light, she commanded, and Elmer obeyed. From her bag Nellie drew a sheaf of typewritten papers and handed them to Elmer. "Read! she commanded. What is it, Nellie? Its the final accounting of your Uncle Hirams estate submitted to the court by the executor, Absolom McPeake. You didnt take time to read it when he submitted a copy to you, so he sent it on to me to show you. now d never-endin- g How do you he knew you Read it, . why booby ! I Our Pet Peeve WNU Service didnt know Nellie cried. you drive me Youre so deliberate crazy. Read it. So Elmer read it and when he had done so he was aware that he was riding in an automobile with the next of kin of Benedict Catheron, who had received from the estate of Hiram Butterworth the Sum of $1,078,000 in full satisfaction of that certain mort-- ' gage, et cetera. His face was very long and solemn as he folded the doc- JUNE. IS SUCH ument and returned it to her. Im happy you happened to be Benedict Catherons granddaughter, You dehe said quietly. Nellie, serve every cent of it God bless you I hope youll conserve it and enjoy it and never know the pinch of poverty again as long as you live. I told you I wouldnt wait to marry you until you had become fat and middle-ageand accumulated a few thousand dollars, Elmer. I meant what I said. Oh, my dear, I knew it all the time! knew how little you were going to have left after everything should have been paid and when I discovered, through McPeake, that you would escape with two hundred and eighteen thousand dollars I had a great curiosity to see how you would stand losing that. So I told McPeake I wanted you to. think oh, please forgive me, darling, but old' Bunker was bluffing Aiy, WHAT LOVELY WILD A BEAUTIFUL M0ATTH IN THE. I , NM9N0ER vXHATTHEV ARE ? FLOWERS COUNTS ! d 5 oust eote&oo? I'LL PICIL A FEW ANP TAKE 'EM HOME. (Copyright, W. X. ONE HOUR. LATE- R- U.) THE FEATHERHEADS FELIX VENCR-SAVl-Y- Oh, Not at All! TiftS IS flOYMY OO me KMOjO VOQ WEttE SAYlN SOMETHIN ABOUT WANTING To WELL, YOU r X join chilly wills GOTTA BREAK, COMPANY IS MOVlN to another territory CAN LET YDU HAVE BERSUIPI -- - MY NO KlDDlN aw' MEM-- , thats I Sweu.1 HOW -- on -- MUCH WILL IT I'll Not Need You Any More, JasI'm Sorry." per, He Announced, you all the time! So Air. AlcPeake fixed it with the bank to tell you that story and then he pretended to have a long conversation with the collector of internal revenue and heres your two hundred and eighteen thousand dollars and some odd, Elmer and oh, youre so brave and simple and unspoiled, and I love you so much more now that I know how truly fine you are kiss me, booby, kiss me, I say! Take me in your arms and tell me you love me. I want to hear you say it over and over again, darling and say you forgive me. Ive bought out old Anse Aloodys controlling interest in the bank and youre president and nobody is going to laugh at you. Oh, darling, you jpught to know I wouldnt let anybody do that You dont Dout! he pleaded. knov. anything about it. That Doris Gatewood will make a laughing stock of me yet. She cant prove a thing, ! br.t well I Told you it cost mesoo to GET IN AMO IF YOU COULD GET A MEMBERSHIP ANYWHERE ELSE - WHICH YOU CAN'T VuW Y KWyd IT WOULD COST 2000 , AT LEAST, SO IM WILLIN' TO LET IT 30 TO $ A FRIEND FOR 6 1,000! shell give me a lot of publicity. Shell not. I have a dictograph record of her conversation with you the night she and Colorado Charley called to blackmail you. Why, Im the one who put them in jail so they could think it over quietly, and when they get out theyll leave the state on tickets furnished by me, or go to the ' penitentiary for conspiracy to blackmail you. I knew all about them long before you did. Then in heavens name, why did you keep me in ignorance and let me suffer? he asked. Nellie laughed softly. Oh, I had a silly idea youd think ever so much more of me if I permitted you to have some experience of her Elmer threw in his gears and the car glided down the highway. Presently he turned off into a lateral road and pulled up in the shadow of a line of eucalyptus trees. Very calmly he reached down, switched off the ignition and lights and then turned to - ! Nellie. Now, he said soberly, Ill kiss the most wonderful girl In all the world, and after that were going to motor over to San Jose, get the county clerk out of bed, secure a license and get married. If Im to stay in Pilarcitos and pool my fortune with yours, we might as well start now because well, because oh, Nellie darling, how can you love me so? What an ass Ive WMtern Nswspsptr Onion Great Idea Look here, that dog of yours killed three of my sheep last night, and I want to know what you propose to do about it. Are you sure it was my dog? Yes. Well, I scarcely know what to do. I think Id better sell him. You dont want to buy a good dog, do you? Picture Not Necessary The club bore had been, at it for Picture the jungle by night, hours. he said, dramatically, the prowling lion in search of his prey, and me lying only a few feet away. Brown stood up. Quite But theres no need to picture the last part, he said. I can hear you! I did. ! PRACTICING? Sacrifice of Serenity Sweet Innocence A candidate cannot afford to miss Dont you know there is a rumor that the racing in which your husband is interested is crooked? Not a bit of truth in it, said young meeting the public during a campaign. No, replied Senator Sorghum. There are times when a great man has to climb down off his pedestal and take the stump. Revenge Late but Sweet Mrs. Finnegan Its a queer taste ye have, Mrs. Wilkins, to kape an old hobbeen ! Nellies arms went around his neck. nailed boot on your parlor mantel. Mrs. Wilkins Its a comfort to put Stop singing the national, anthem of You dear me tongue out an say, Kick me Siam! she commanded. old booby! ) again, ye old divviL THE END. Highly Probable who invented barbed Mummy, Ancient City of Mexico When the Spaniards conquered Mex- wire? Probably a manufacturer of boys ico, Mexico City occupied an Islam? in trousers. Vienna Muskete. a great shallow lake called Texcoco. - Modern Version Where have you been, dear? Only to a wedding, mother. Was it interesting? No, ghastly! Oh, who got married? ... They cant be crooked. Charley showed me the track and its a perfect oval. Washington Star. Mrs. Torkins. Tom proposed to me six Madge times in two weeks. Mary Whom do you suppose be is practicing up for? Agreeable A police officer met an organ grinder on the street and said : Have you a license to play? If not, you must accompany me. With pleasure, answered street musician. What will sing? Cappers Weekly. the you Letting Off Steam Hows that new office boy of yours? A regular steam engine A good worker, eh? No, a good whistler. 1 How About tbo Readers? Margaret r (reading newspaper- )Whats literary aspirant, I wonder? Vera (a little older) I suppose Its what an author takes when he has a headache. Stray Stories. |