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Show t1 , ' ; ACE AC ETRrHOLE EIWrHOLE EIWrHOLEJACKSO1 tJACKSONGREGORY HOLE t------ t * - " ' , , - liSt JACKSONGREGORYliSt @ @GREGORY @OREOOQY GIEGOnV JACKSONGREGORY JACKSON JACKSO1 GREGORYGIEGOnV GREGORY W.N.U.RELEASE WNU.RELEASE WNURELEASE WJLU.RELEASE WJLURELEASE . . . TUK mE THE rrOXT IITORY STOUT 10 110 SO FAR FAIl ArrlTlag Arriving Arrlvla , ll .lma lma shaul shaultaneously . ) ltoBfily taaeoadt taneously ) a at as & the Uk KB KID KIag | ( ' Cole CoI C l * ' Rajica Ranch Ranc ' " . , AM Aoa Ant AoaLe Anta Le a & . . anJ and cliii Cole ) Cod Cody C y , . IsfTTf cUlcovered discovered OM Old E.rl Erl E&rl Erl E&rlnut KarlBill . & ) ' ] 1 nut Cole C l * bad had hk made mode tw t.o to two . lanUc&l lanUcl IdeDUcal identicl & * wuli wills .an an willson . . on _ . leavlD ie&ving ieving ( & aTtaiR . all aU bI hi aJs . mone money y , . and tar the Randl Rand RandlCO Randto Raaelto CO to Ami ADD Ann : ; aaJ IUId and Ur Uaa lbs oUaer other ( r iTtag .Ivm Ivm giving . ( . f the * nm sami a . aoo 510551 By * . , . * aaJ aDd bd yfyrty property ; to Cole C r RaBf aane Runes . Waldro WaSdean Wal WaS dro dean na . , stabMiBeJ e5tallU.bed e5tallUbed estabIlhed . * at ta Ib tha * Raaca Rancb Ranch .lac lac sinc . lxc . Old ON OldBlU ONstill OUBill BlU still S * . deatb death aC . , aD4 and ft POilu posing IBK . as a * . 1111 his U nepbe nephew nephewquestioned w . qae.Uoned qaeUoned questioned . M B * t.be tbe lie . tk * . mity .anlt anlt sanity ) ' of I or Old Bill DIU and the fbi fbilegality laiKcaUty 1.aUt 1aUt legality . . ) ' o of f ' la Ute the * tw two will .W W cilia . * . n It was .a a we . . near oearb oearbnoon arlj ' " DOOD noon mi . Wea .ben ben when the fry they , . retBriC retarned returned to Rarca Rancb Ranch bead beadaartera k a . arton artere aartera That Tbat vaJBg evel1lDI evening ; the they , . all aU reUred retlre4 reUredearly retlre4early r tlr early arly fat that titat is I * . aU all except cxe t AUDt Aunt A t "el1ller el1ller Jenifer "el1ller.bo Jeniferwho J " aJr aJrlr ( * .bo bo who . lr .tole tole stole . tl * ollt out t UDder under er a lar harg Ixrf , . oak * k tree tre and anf andwatebed anfwatched an anwktche wktche watebed watched * JlaBf .a.nce a.nce ance Stance . . Wal Waldron Watdroa r help b.lp blp . a .tran.e tran.e trane strange strangeIsrehing . traarlareatag .tran.eSareblD . SareblD Isrehing . . ma * . . Gut oat t o of f . Uae the th boWl house houseNow h . No Now N w . coatlnlle continue e aNM with th f lbs . storycnprn story atory storyCUAmEK CUAmEK CBAPTER cnprn * XII xli XIIAunt xliAunt Aunt Jenifer Jentfer went straight Itralght to Cole ColeCody ColeCody CollCody Cody s outside door and end nd hammereci hammered hammeredat .t t at . t it hard with her knuckle knuckles * H if He Hewas ifwas was asleep a51eep but came awake inlitantly Inetantly In Inatantly atantly litantly etantly and called outWho outWhos out outWho Whos Who s there- there thereWhat ? ' - ' Whets What s II wanted wantedIt ? It s me Jenifer Edwards Dresi Dress Dresiquick DressQuick Dresiquick Quickand quick and come eJme ( out here her * Bring Bringyour Bringyour Brin ' your gun tooWell tooWell too tooWell Well ? he demanded demandfld when he hestepped hestepped h topped stepped out close to ? Aunt unt J Jeul Jeulfer Jeuiter eni enifer fer s shadowy form " . I don t know she said calmly calmlyif if 11 eagerly I don t trust that Rance RanceWaldron RaneeWaldron RanceWaidron Waldron Waidron he be s got a moan mean eye All Allday Allday Allday day long he ha has kept his door locked lockedand lockedand lockedand and all day I ve ye known that he hadsomebody had hadsomebody hadsomebody somebody he s a been hiding I ve ye vebeen yebeen vebeen been watching watehing figuring with all this thissecrecy thissecrecy thissecrecy secrecy he d be anxious to get hisfriend his histriend hisfriend triend friend triendout friendout out of the house hou5e when he was wassure wassure wa waBure Bure sure everybody was In bed Just Justnow Justnow Justnow now he and another man sneaked sneakedout sneakedout sneakedout out and went to their horses thatwere that thatwere thatwere were saddled and hidden in a willow willowthicket willowthicket willowthicket willowthicketWhat thicket thicketWhat What about it it7 ? demanded Cody Codyabput Codyabput Codyabout abput as amiable as most moat men rudely rude rudeIy rudely Iy ly awakened from trom a deep sleep all allfor allfor allfor for the sake of a mere trifle What Whataffair Whataffair Whataffair affair Is it of ot mine mh1e mipe ? Or of yourseither yours yourseither yourseither either ? I art of it is this Ranee Rance Wal Waldron Waldron Waldron dron has had this man hid in the thehouse thehouse thehouse house behind a locked door all day daythat daythat daythat that s R a a myatery mystery young man and I Idon Idon Idon don t I like mysteries Then it ft s a shady shadytheir shadytheir shadytheir their sneaking out of the house this thistime thisUme thiatime time Ume of night speaking in whIspers whIspersAnd whispersAnd whispersAnd And someone shot Early Bill Btll a tew few tewdays fewdays fewdays days ago and in case there was wasno wasIto wasno no Ito will Ranee Rance fiance Waldron Waidron would have havemhented havemherited haveinherited mhented mherited ranch cash and every everything everything everything thing Another thing thmg the itage stage was washeld washeld washeld held up yesterday by someone whoknew who whoknew whoknew knew that Bucktooth Jenkins was wasbringing wasbringing wasbrinfiing bringing ten thousand dollars in cash cashto cashto cashto to Early Bill Cole And you Hred tired fired atew afew a tew few ( < w shots at the robbers and thoughtyou thought thoughtyou thoughtyou you hit onfe one of them And the man manwith manwith manwith with Waldron limped so bad that he hec heriuld hec c riuld uM mk ! hardly walk Is that an ear earful earto earful to ful ! or just child s a chatter7 chatter chatter7Which ? ' Which way did they ride ride7 ? asked askedCody askedCody askedCody Cody gn gr ( Wi w-n w n wn - ) brisk nowStraight nowStraight now nowStraight Straight north along the creek on onthIs onthis onthis thIs side sideYou sideYou sideYou You d better get to bed Aunt AuntJemter AuntJenifer AuntJenifer Jemter Jenifer It s dawning on me that thai thatyou thaiyou thatyou you re a pretty wonderful wOlnan woman wOlnanbut womanbut woananbut but you can t keep going day and andnIght andnight andnight andnightYou nIght nIghtYou You bet I 11 Ii go to my room BIU Bill BIUCole BillCole BillCole Cole Cody and lock my door Dam Darn Damit Darnit Damit it I m scared And you come back backas backas backa as * soon as a8 you can I II 11 hear you youand youand youand and I 11 Il creep out into the hvlng living hvlngroom livingroom hvingroom room to make sure 8ure it is you Now Nowpoke Nowpoke Nowpoke poke alongHe alongHe along alongHe He hurried down to the ranch ranchbUildings ranchbuildings ranchbuildings bUildings for tor a word with Cal Round Roundtree Roundtree Roundtree tree and a horseCat horseCal horse horseC Cat Cal C . l , . wakened and apprised of the thesituation thesituation thesituation situation was out of the door stillb stillb still stillb b ittoning Ittonmg ittonirig his hili overalls and drawing drawinghis drawinglila drawinghis his lila belt about his lean middle Cole ColeCody ColeCody ColeCody Cody was ahead of hi him at the sta stable staide stable ble ide they saddled swiftly and tookthe took tookthe tookthe the trail Aunt Jenifer Jenlter had specified specifiednorth specifiednorth specifiednorth north along the creekIt creekJr creek creekIt It Jr they want to hide they canmake can canmake canmake make themselves hard to find in inthiS inLhia inthis thiS Lhia country said 5ald Cal Roundtree RoundtreeI I know the most likely place to tolook torook tolook look rook for tor them since they must havethought have havethought havethought thought that no one had seen their theirgetaway theirgetaway theirgetaway getaway and arid so no one would be fol followmg folowing tollowing lowmg owing them so soon Likely they U ll llet Uget et under a root roof tonight anyhow anyhowand anyhowmd anyhowand and md maybe poke on tomorrow tomorrownight tomorrow1ght tomorrownight tomorrownightAs night 1ght 1ghtAs As they rode Cole Cody told CalIn Cal CalIn CalIn In detail Aunt J . Jenifer .Jenifer emfer s Information Informationher informationer informationher her er suspic SUSplC ons one and surmisesCal surmisesCal surmises surmisesCal Cal led the way and the darknessdid darkneas darkness darknesslid did lid not Dot matter to him moreover moreoverhis moreoveris moreoverhis his is horse soon discovered where he hewas hesias hewas was sias going and thereafter needed no notouch noouch notouch touch ouch on the reins They kept closeto close closeto closeo to o the creek for a 8 mile and though thoughthey thoughhey thoughthey they hey rode swiftly they heard DO no DO.ound notound nosound .ound ound tound . of 01 hoofbeats ahead Then Cal Calswung Caltwang Calswung swung twang to the right where a smallLributary small smalltrIbutary smalltributary trIbutary Lributary brook came carrie tumblmg tumbling tumblmgdown tumblingtown tumblingdown down town and presently they passed passedInto passedLnto passedInto Into Lnto the mouth of a steep-walled steep walled steepwalledravine steepwalledravine steep-walledravine steep walledravine - - - ravine It was about a half hall hour hourafter hourafter hoursfter after sfter entering the ravine that CalHound Cal CalRoundtree CalEtoundtree Roundtree Etoundtree tree called ealled softly lIoftly over bis his bismoulder histhoulder hisshoulder hisshoulderWe moulder thoulder moulderWe thoulderWe We ve ye run cm em down pardner pardnerThere pardnerI'bere pardnerThere There I'bere Ibere ' s a log k > g cabin up there at thehead the thehead thesend head send of the canyon cahyon where an old oldprospector oldrospector oldprospector prospector rospector used to hang out no- no noody no no- nobody nobody - - body ) ody s . been hi in it for three tin-ce tin ce - four .ear ear year yearut , . yearbut .earbut but ut there s a light there now nowThey nowThey nowThey They rode slow'y slowy ' keeping their theirborse theirsorees theirhorses borse sorees . in m the deep grass at the sides sidesof sidesif sidesof of if the trail so that all hoofbeats hoofbeatswere hoofbeatswere hoofbeatswere were muffled muft1ed Thus they drew Mth with Mthin withn within in n a hundred yards of the log cabin cabinThere cabinThere There 'here here ( ' Cal Roundtree gave a .ignal ignal signal . signalto .ignalto to 0 stop and both dismounted They Theyled Theyted Theyled led ted their horses a score of 01 paces intothe into the ie thick timber Umber fringing the creekmd creeka creek creekand and md J removed their spur spun spurs * to hans bang banghem hanfifccm : them hem ox Oft on tteir their aaddli saddle horn bOTn * . Thenwalking Thenwalking Then walking to in Uence sUence silence , lifting 11ft1ng their booted bootid boot ed id feet as a . daft does 8 a eat cat tr In . wet gru gras " . I I1be7 - they 1be7 hey drew near nesr the cabin . . . A voice , not Hance Rance flance 'Waldron Waldron ' II s wapeaking was wasIpealdn8 wasspeaking > Ipealdn8 speaking ( , . anil nd d U It wa was . rough and end andQuerulous endquerulous nqu . Querulous rulou and came caine near beln8 being beln8threatening beingthreatening beln.thr belnthr . ' threatening threateningU threateningC atcnlng threateningand . U " C and s-nd s nd - 80 so o . , there ther you let mrot me merot merot rot all aU day , danw damn you 7Qu I might of ofdied ofdied odied died I ) ! I J might mfebt die ) " yet "et et tor for all the thedoctoring thedoctoring thdoctoring doctoring I'n In I'm Im ' letting getting By 13y God GodRanee " , Rance I v ve ye cot got a notion noUon and a 100d good 100dnotionu goodnotion goonotion * notion-u notion u notion- " - notionYou'd ' : . 'You'd Youd You'd ' ' ' be-.ter be.ter be .ter ter better be - . t r keep your mouthshut mouth mouthsbut moutchut ] sbut shut , , , Tom old man , before you talk talkyoursell tallyourself talkyourself yoursell yourself into more trouble than you youcan youcan yo yocan > can ever crawl out of ofThere ofThere There spoke spok ItanceVsldron Ranee Rance Itance \ Waldron \Vsldron Vsldron and andhi andhis amhis hi his , voice was arrogant contemptuou contemptuous contemptu ous revealing a man very sure of ofhim ofhimself ohimself ohimselfGet himself him sell himselfGet sellGet Get It ft into your head bead Rance Ilance Rancethat Ilancethat Raneethat that things have chanted changE'd changEd ' plentyl plentylYou plentylYou plentyYou You had me down good and end plenty plentydldn plentytlldn plentydidn dldn tlldn t I you7 you ? ' You could have waggled wag waggled waggled gled your finger and cent sent me to the thepen thepen thipen pen couldn t you7 you ? ' He Iaughe laughed laughedchucklingly laughedchucklingly Iaughechuckllngly < chuckllngly chucklingly Not 'Not ' * any more kidl kidlI kid kidI ! I ve ye thought It tt over from trom all an angles anglee anglcs gles glee Ranee Rance You won t do any anysquealing anysquealing an : SQUealing on me becauie because at the end endyou endyou enyou ( 1 you ve ye let your foot slip you d be besquealing besquealing b bsquealing < ' squealing on yourself yoursell the same as ason ason a : ' on me What I ve ye did you paid m mfor me mefor mefor < for The other job with me getting gettingshot gettingshot gettinishot { shot up you and me rue did together togetherAnd togetherAnd togetherAnd And I can prove it ill It illThere ! ! There was a breathless stlllnes stillness stillnessthere stillnesithere there In the cabin Then RanceWaldron Rance Ranc RancWaldron < > I Waldron spoke 8poke again and there was wasI wasa wasa waia I a marked change in his tone All Allthe Althe ' the challenge and threat all aU thimasterfulness the themasterfulness themasterfulness . masterfulness and contempt hadgone had hadgone ha hagone < gone out of it itYou it . . You are right Tom We W have havegone havegone hav havgone > . gone into this thing together andwe ancwe and andwe we had belter better see it through togethAL togeth . J1 AL ALP & P Mf ? ' % t4fle(1 t4fle1 ( i . ' J < " ' ' He De aaw lIaw saw Ranee Rance Jiance WalTw Waldron Waidron clearS clearly ) ' in inthe ! , tar the caiale candle lighter light IIlrht lighter er And IU III I ll even grant you that thatI I no longer have any hold bold on youIt you youif youif if you are big enough fool for tor it it it.you ityou " . , you can leave me flat and go your yourown yourown yourown own way tor for the rest reBt of your life lifeknowing lifeknowing lifeknowing knowing that you don t have to beafraid beafraid be beafraid afraid of 01 me any longer because becauseas as you lay say J .J I . : am as deep in this last lastaffair lastaflair lastaffair affair aflair as liS you are It s your tum turn tumto turnto turnto to speak Bpeak up Stick along with meand me meand meand and take orders from trom me roe and make makeyourseU makeyourseLf makeyourself yourseU yourseLf a big stake If il I get away awaywith awaywith awaywith with this job as I m sure I will wUi with withyou withyou withyou you or without you Or tuck your yourtail yourtall yourtail tail tall between your legs and run Jut out JutIn outon ( outon In on ( me meThat meThat That sort ol ot of talk straight fromthe from fromthe fromthe the shoulder evidently threw Tom TomGough TomGough TomGough Gough of off ! his bis balance balanceI I 1 m rn in with you Ranee Rance he said saidand saidand saidand and all the belligerent menace had hadmelted hadmelted hadmelted melted out of his tone Now what ? You hole up here for tor a f lew few w daysand days daysand daysand and give that wound a chance to toheal toheaL toheal heal Meantime 111 I U 11 plan I U 11 II learn a afew afew afew few things I m not sure of yet I 1 U II Udrop IIdrop |