Casey Ryan

ey's right leg was drawn up at the knee so that he could not put his foot on the ground when he tried, and he did not know how the straps were fastened. His left shoulder was higher than his

d was a blessing from heaven. The show lady begged him, with dew on her lashes,

es, and The Club was just next door. A man can always spend an evening very quickly at The Club-or he could in the wet days-if his money held out. Casey had money enough, and within an hour he didn't care whether he was crippled or not. There were five besides himself at that ta

ir car to be fixed, and was the pay good? Casey replied Without looking up from his hand, which held

l manner. Casey rubbed his cramped leg and hunched down in his chair again and called for a stack of blues. Cas

m to unstrap him for awhile, but just as he was lifting his left crutch around the edge of the restaurant door, two women of Lund came up and began to pity him and ask him how it ever happened. Casey cou

e of your losin's, if you're game to try it aga

exchange comments upon his looks. Casey had received a lot of sympathy that day, and only the fact that he had remained sequestered behind the curtained arch that cut across the rear of The Club saved him from receiving a lot more. But of course there were mitigations. Since walking wa

, and some one came over and lighted a hanging gasoline lamp that threw into tragic relief the pain

ust be pretty well started, by now. He thought he might venture to hobble over to Bill's and have those dog-gone straps taken off before he was crippled for sure. But he did not want to do anything to e

companions believe that his accident had given him a heritage of pain. He hitched his lifte

Casey, who growled an oath and reached almost unconsciously for his

?" Casey's tone was dismal. You simply cannot be a cripple for twenty-four hours, and sit up playing unlucky poker all night and all day and well into another night, wi

a be on it, Casey,"

clothes and make-up. The show lady had wept seams down through

never happened to us before. We've took our bad luck with our good luck and lived honest and respectable and self-respecting, and here, at last, ill fortune

runs clean over to the Utah line, and we can't go back the way we come, or-and we can't go anywhere till this big slob here puts our car together. He's got piece

llar house if it was a cent!" she wailed. "They had a bill as long as my arm for license-we couldn't get by with the five-dollar one-and for lights and hall rent and what-all. There wasn't enough mone

like this for a garbage

the contempt h

he told us he'd give us thirty days in jail if we was in the county to

Bill told them comfortingly.

it, with our car layin' around all over your

r's vocabulary for words which might be pronounced in the presence of a lady, and finding mighty few that were of an

d our stuff in and get away from this horrible town. Why, the preacher was there and made a speech and said the meanest things about you, because you was having a benefit and at the same

. "I'm honest and hard-workin' as any

nefit. We certainly never dreamed you'd queer us like that. But you'll do us the favor to lend us your car, won

distractedly, and hobbled into the garag

ened the office door wide enough to fling o

ank you, Mister! We certainly wouldn't want to go off and forget these props. Jack d

hing exceedingly stage-driverish whi

suggestions, commands, protest. Casey heard the show lady's clear treble berating Jack dear with thin politeness. Then the car came snorting forward, pa

an of your car!" There was a buzz and a splutter, and they were gone-

ave him a ghastly look in the lamp-light when he lifted his face from examining a chafed and angry knee. Bill open

hine shop. I'll lock up, and if any one comes and rings the night bell-well, neve

*

hope of turning up grewsome remains. I know that you are all itching to put sh

been content with dollars enough to pay for the food he eats, without seeing him lose his sense of proportion. Twenty-five dollars he understands and can spend more prudently than you, perhaps. Twenty-five thousand

stronger than root beer. He kept that up for a night and a day and well into another night. Ver

the water running full stream. He looked up and found Bill standing there with his hands in h

he comin

tty fair, too. And in their hurry the lady went off and left a pink silk stockin' in the back seat. The toe's out o

gamely. "I was goin' to git me a new car, an

at again, but he di

ice, whether you believe it or not, was cheerful. "I'm going to ketch that evenin

ave another grunt, and Ca

ousand dollars into the bank-minus two hundred I took in money-and I takes a check book, and I goes over to The Club and gits into a game. I wears the check book down to the stubs. I goes back and asks Dwyer

hich I trust they air!'" Casey got out his plug of chewing tobacco and pried off a blunted

Bill in brief,

extracted comfort from the toba

some bran' new socks, an

Stetson down over his ri

s hands in his pockets a

shi