When Luck Changes

• Watchlist

Young Cal Jim had often called upon Betty but never found the courage to propose. His pal, Mark Halworthy did, however, and Betty accepted. Disappointed, Cal asked and received a grubstake from Mark and went away into the hills to seek gold and heart balm. Two years later Mark took to gambling. He neglected Betty and, one day, intoxicated, struck her. Then Cal returned and the pair had a joyous meeting, a meeting witnessed by the drunken Mark. He assaulted her on her way home and with what remained in her pocket-book went back to the saloon to gamble. He quickly lost the little change and in coming from the saloon, roughly knocked down a bad-looking Mexican who carelessly blocked his way. This same Mexican, Mark had irritated persistently on each occasion of his periodical drunks and gambling losses. This time the Mexican, nursing a fiendish hatred toward Mark, slipped behind the barn and shot him dead. No one could be found whom to fix suspicion and the matter gradually dropped for Mark was never popular. A short time after the shooting, Cal, having attended to some small business matter wended his way to Mark's home to divide his bag of gold, according to the law of the West, for Mark, be it remembered had grub staked him. There he found the widow crying softly. But in the days that followed, Cal found little difficulty wiping away those tears and leading her to a happiness that should have been theirs' from the first.