TOP-NOTCH
MAGAZINE
{A COMPLETE NOVEL)
CHAPTER I.
BOOTS FOR BARTON.
A LARGE consignment of shoes had just been delivered at "The Emporium," as Long & McKenzie's general store in Burt City, Montana, was usually known, and Amos Long, the fat little senior partner, was standing in the doorway, watching one of his assistants unpacking the case of goods.
As the boxes were carried into the store, one of them, considerably larger than the usual shoe box, dropped to the ground, and out fell a pair of heavy-soled tan bluchers with eighteen-inch tops. That they were a special order was certain.
Long picked up the shoes, and was admiring them when Arlo McKenzie, the other member of the firm, came to the door. It was only recently that McKenzie had bought a share in the business, and Long began explaining to him about these particular bluchers.
