FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157  
158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   >>  
't going to kill me, Hiram. No need for all that monkeywork, if that had been the case." "I only saw the man with the razor," Hiram told her, "and got busy. Of course, I didn't even know it was a razor then, but I saw steel. I thought they were going to kill you. Didn't take much time to think, at that." "You terrible scrapper!" laughed the girl. "Who'd have thought that I'd ever have needed such a man--and got him! Hiram, you've--you've never kissed me since that night." Hiram's face turned red as fire. "I ain't worthy to kiss ye, Jo," he said, lapsing into his backwoods drawl. "Wait'll I settle this thing that's come up for you. Wait'll I find out about 'the paper.' Then maybe I'll have somethin' to offer you." In his great embarrassment he pointed to the ground, where were tracks and scratches. "Ben a bob cat usin' thereabouts," he drawled. With Twitter-or-Tweet Orr Tweet the month that Hiram had been laid up had developed a new and unforeseen situation. He laid the particulars before Jerkline Jo and Hiram, both investors in his enterprise. The conference took place when Jo's freight outfit jingled into Ragtown two days later. Tweet invited them to dinner in the Wigwam, a saloon and restaurant and gambling house combined, where the patrons sat on stools before a high counter which was in the nature of a continuation of the bar. The three took seats at the farther end, so that their conversation would be less likely to be overheard. "Playmates," Tweet began, when their orders were before them, "I didn't think our Uncle Sam would go to work and hand us a package just when we were gettin' us a toehold. But that's just what he's done. I been watchin' for it to develop for some little time. Now the leak has sprung. "You see, outside o' Paloma Rancho, every other section o' land in here b'longs to the Gold Belt Cut-off, and adjoinin' sections are government land. Maybe you c'n guess what's happened." "Thrown open," Jerkline Jo said promptly. "Yep--open to homesteaders. They're flockin' in in automobiles, in perambulators, on motor cycles, burros, horseback, and afoot--in everything but submarines. So far as any one can see, they're gettin' just as good land as Paloma Rancho; and the folks we've sold to are castin' dark looks at one Tweet. As if I was to blame! Two fellas that hadn't paid in much have jumped their contracts with us, and are takin' up claims. If many more pul
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157  
158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   >>  



Top keywords:

Rancho

 

gettin

 

Jerkline

 

Paloma

 

thought

 

farther

 

watchin

 

develop

 
jumped
 

contracts


toehold

 

orders

 

Playmates

 

overheard

 

sprung

 

conversation

 

claims

 
package
 

automobiles

 

flockin


perambulators
 

homesteaders

 

promptly

 

castin

 

cycles

 

submarines

 

burros

 

horseback

 

Thrown

 

section


happened

 

adjoinin

 

sections

 
government
 

fellas

 
conference
 

worthy

 

turned

 

kissed

 

lapsing


backwoods

 
settle
 
monkeywork
 
laughed
 

needed

 

scrapper

 
terrible
 

somethin

 

invited

 

dinner