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Show Superstition Mountain ' Telegram Fiction, by Owen Arnold ' He drove directly to th Maricopa county courthouse and went in to see the sheriff, old Tex Leather-wood. Leather-wood. Tex la older than the courthouse court-house itself and even mora Impressive. Impres-sive. He had been an officer in the 1880's and ao had arrested Jacob Wall, tha Dutchman, for whom the lost mine waa named, when that worthy came to town for an alcoholic alco-holic atampede. "Knowed you waa up thar," the old man told Stuart. "We keep a general eye out on newcomers. Havin' any difficulties'" "Yea, sir," Stuart answered. "Nothing you could put finger on, but " Tells of Father's Escape Stfiart related details of his father's fa-ther's narrow escape in Superstition, Supersti-tion, then of his own experience in the mountain. He was about to tell why he suspected the Colters when it suddenly struck him that he couldn't do ao. They were, after all, Carolee's family. But she waa so separate and different from them in hia own mind that he had liters ally forgotten the relation momen- .. CAST OF1 CHARACTERS .. Carole Colter, heroine, prospector's pros-pector's daughter. Stuart Blake, eastern "dude" tourist, Carolee's lover. Henry Colter, prospector. Paul and Silas Colter, prospector's pros-pector's sons. Nina Blake, Stuart's sister. . Yesterday: Stuart gives Carolee a beautiful bracelet Romance begina to grip them both. As they part Carole telle Stuart she will call him from Hh mesa should she need him. CHAPTER X Stuart tried all that evening to put two and two together concerning concern-ing the near tragediea in Superstition, Supersti-tion, but he couldn't get a satisfactory satisfac-tory four. He suspected the Colter men one moment and dismissed his suspicions the next. His regard for Carole helped with th dismissals. Next day, though, he decided on further action. He would drive In for official counsel. He had leased on eight-cylinder car for their stay in Arizona and he wanted to buy some things in Phoenix anyway. Superstition lodge waa only 40 miles from town. man. But lemme tell you they kill many a deer and cow and hosa. And a boss knows It Son, if yo hoes got on whiff of a lion near him, he'd go loco. I've seen It I've killed, I reckon, a hundred lions in my day, and when they tree I have to whup my boas to get him in shootin' range. Yours likely snorted and trembled and run bis-self bis-self right over that cliff without knowin' If "And ripped open my canteen In tha fall, I suppose," Stuart finished. fin-ished. "Likely." It wasn't convincing, but it all seemed to dovetail. The aheriff, in common with moat old-timers, loved to talk. He gave Stuart more regional re-gional lore than a book of history could have done. He even told of tha Spanish daya when Don Miguel Peralta, Sonoran rancher, was sending expeditions up to th mountains moun-tains to bring out gold ore. And of th time when Don Miguel aent hia greatest cavalcade of all. The United States had acquired Arizona by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and Don Miguel knew the Yankeea wouldn't respect hia ownership own-ership of the rich mine. He sent tn 300 men and many pack animals. They worked tha gold, did crude smelting to make concentrates right there In the mountain, stored their valuable cargo until all packa were filled, then beaded back for the hom rancho. tarily. He felt a trifle ailly, having to change the course of hia narrative narra-tive to th sheriff "Cain't aee nothin' to worry about yet, son," old Tex told Stuart "Superstition "Su-perstition la full of queer doln's. Most of it ain't so queer, when you git right down to it Just a lot of dudes like yourself goes there, and you ain't at home. This is a wild country, lemma tell you. You're more f home in a busy town, ain't vou?" another) that Superstition must somewhere clutch a rare treasure. But aa old Tex laconically answered an-swered hia Inevitable query "gold la where you find It, and Superstition Super-stition is mighty big." Stuart waa about to ahaks hands with tha venerable sheriff and take his leave when the desk telephone rang. Th old man motioned him to wait until th call was dona. Stuart couldn't help overhearing not that ha tried to. A aheriff is sort of public property anyway, everyone feels; his affairs should be open to public scrutiny. At least It's a convenient excuse. Stuart waant especially attentive, though, because th officer listened much and asked a few questions. Finally he hung up. "B damned if this won't Interest you, eon," he declared. "Sfunny. But wait'M I call Watson. Superstition's Super-stition's mostly in Pinal." When old Tex got Sheriff Watson of Pinal county on the phone, Stuart atralned for every word. "Wat? This here's Tex Leather-wood. Leather-wood. Call frum a woman at Apache Junction. A Miaa Colter, C-o-l-t-e-r. Said her brother" lost in Superstition. Supersti-tion. , . . Yeah, they been huntln' gold. He's been out four, five daya Hia pappy and brother went for him and found his hat and nothin' else. Carried just a quart of water. . . . That's a fack. . . . Yep. . . . Yep. . , , Lemma know. ... Yep, Colter; Col-ter; Paul Colter." (To be continued.) I Copyright, 1837, for The Telegram. "But th' danged redskins, th' Apaches, surprised that outfit and killed everything but two boys," old Tex was telling it In excitable fashion. fash-ion. They snuk off in the bushes and hid thar, and got back home half starved. Even th' mulea was killed. Wa have found little bushel sized mounds of th' rich ore, right where the animala dropped and rotted. Gold ain't no good to th' reds. It's cursed." Not Much Accomplished Stuart didn't accomplish much, but h learned more about Superstition's Super-stition's treasure than he had ever dreamed of knowing. He had taken th stories lightly heretofore. Now he waa intrigued by the possibilities. Th Spanish episodes and the half dozen or so subsequent murders that were on official record were convincing con-vincing proof to Stuart aa to many I Stuart amiled and admitted that ! it was ao. "But tha shooting what about that?" he asked. "I don't know. Prob ly some mistake. mis-take. I do know that hardly a month paaaes, since I was a young man, that aome tale of beln' shot at don't come out of Superstition. "Son, shots ain't beln' ahot at There s prospectors alwya takin' ore aamples from up there. And hunters. And ranchers hunt in' steers. Any of 'em likely to shoot at rattlesnakea or paintera." Stuart considered that a moment, while the old man eyed him. Then the aheriff resumed. "You take them two fellers at tha Water association here, name of Blaine and Briest Honest young fellers. Said they waa shot at But it waa deer season when they waa up there and men was huntin' in them hills. "I tell you bow it is fr years, all my life, the's been tales about Superstition. That's how it got its name. Some people have been killed up there, and each one of 'em makes a corral full of yarns come trailin' along. People are skittish when they go up thar. I feel it m'self. I can hear shots and figger I'm beln' ahot at Son, that mountains moun-tains full of ghosts!" Sheriff Tails To Stuart -The aheriff chuckled a little. Stuart amiled and nodded. "I ought to know," Stuart agreed. "I saw plenty of them when I waa craving a drink of water. But dad swore th bullets struck near him. And I cant believe my horse slipped over a cliff." Old Tez considered (hat for a moment "Didn't you aay while ago you found a painter den? Some kittens?" kit-tens?" "Yes, sir. They frightened me plenty." , "Don't blame you, but you likely wouldn't have come to nq harm. These hare lions aren't vicioua Is |
