With Gun ^ Rod in Canada 



You know it cost me fifty thousand dollars to prove my 

 innocence in that counterfeiting case, besides three years 

 practically in jail, and I was as innocent as a lamb. I 

 thought I might just as well get the fun as the blame, 

 and I felt as though the Government owed me that 

 money. It was a question of make or break with me." 



" Me too !" said Butch; and, lifting his glass: " Here's 

 how !" 



" And how about you, Butch ?" queried Mat. 



" Nothing much. I was on the wrong side of politics, 

 that's all. As you may have heard, Utah Mormon 

 politicians were some violent in the old days, and I served 

 time for killing a sheep-herder that I never laid eyes on 

 until he was dead. I, too, felt that the Government 

 owed me something." 



I have often wondered if J. W. Matthews could possibly 

 have been " Mat " in the above story, and if Mr. Richard 

 Carver had ever by chance carried the nickname of 

 " Butch." There is something suggestively synonymous 

 about their names and the names of the two heroes of 

 the yarn. 



200 



