02926cam a22003733u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000430011324500220015626400510017830000470022933600260027633700260030233800360032849000610036450000310042550800540045652016420051053400670215265300180221965300200223765300550225765300500231283000610236285600670242385600430249099900190253378677UtSlPG20260610134826.0mcr n260607r20261917utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aTuttle, W. C.q(Wilbur C.),d1883-196910aMagpie—diplomat 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2026  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from the July 1917 issue of Adventure magazine.  aRelease date is 2026-05-13  aPrepared by volunteers at BookCove (bookcove.net)  aMagpie—diplomat by W. C. Tuttle is a humorous Western short story written in the early 20th century. It follows two drifting prospectors, Magpie Simpkins and Ike Harper, whose wry “diplomacy” tangles them in the affairs of a boom‑and‑bust mining camp called Pinto. The likely topic is frontier farce: jealous wives, mail‑order romance gone wrong, small‑town politics, and opportunists circling a newly rich mine.

Magpie and Ike meet Pinto’s beleaguered mayor, chief of police, and treasurer—Tex Jenkins, Cold Deck Briggs, and Peevee Jack—who are hiding from their armed, suspicious wives after a bungled scheme with mail‑order brides brings three determined women to town. Magpie tries “diplomacy” by spinning tragic tales to the wives (which only sparks gunplay) and then spreads a new rumor to local sharpers Weinie Lopp, Slim Hawkins, and Andy Johnson that the three newcomers are wealthy eastern investors. He privately counsels the women—Miss Ivy Clemons, Miss Estelle Waterbury, and Miss Clementine Elvington—to play along and angle for better prospects than the married officials. While Magpie and Ike prospect fruitlessly, the officials abandon home and office seeking “peace,” selling their posts to Slim, Weinie, and Andy, who promptly pass self‑serving ordinances and court the women. Heading home, Magpie and Ike encounter three dejected figures on the same roadside rocks—strongly hinting the new regime’s grand designs have soured—capping a tale of schemes, swapped loyalties, and the comic hazards of love and office on the frontier. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  pOriginally published:cNew York, NY: The Ridgway Company, 1917  aShort stories  aWestern stories  aSimpkins, Magpie (Fictitious character) -- Fiction  aHarper, Ike (Fictitious character) -- Fiction 0aProduced from the July 1917 issue of Adventure magazine.4 uhttps://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/luminist/PU/ADV_1917_07.pdf40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78677  c119395d119395