OCR Text |
Show . - . * " . . " j " ' . , . - US-EUSS US EUSS US'tELESS UStELESS - ' f ; ) A ' h ) ? Ih Jt : 't t \ ' , ' \sellls sellls \ selllssMwm . sMwm " "r r " " " ' + r mo't mot ' ' .11"111 .11111 11111 . " " of ' \ { Ht ; - CO elWJJPY ; ) OX ; It , . . _ , . ) , . " "ALAN ALAN FAM.AN FAMAN " . L 9 . MAY A9A'N A9AN ' " + i'W.Ho\ iW.Ho i'W.Ho iWHo i'W.Ho"RV.C . , " ' . tr . \ ' t . "RV.C RV.C RVC " > ; , tGarl . : & .t t . , , I I I I I I : I : I ' : , I I I ' 'I'II III Tf ' T $ TORT IJ'I'ORY IJIORY T01IY ' TWJS TOUI TE11S . fARf 'ARt ARt 'ARtfMelody ' . , 1.elocl1 1elocl1 fMelody 1.elocl1.lones fMelodyJones . MlJa .lones lones Jones . aq4 . Ua bit hla sIrtaM side-rider side rider l14e-rld l14e rld sI - -rtaM rtaM - . , Oeotc oeotgg G rg , Vmryr .17 17 Wary Waryrode . .171'Od 1'Od 1Od ' rode a . tat l into to * PayTUlw I'QDeYlDe IQDeYlDe Paynsvule ' , a ew cow e w * tnat toO town ' OD on ta tafIC Uae the UaehUt theroue fIC hUt- hUt roue hUtto , - f to CaUfarala CaUforaia California . . VW tadse WIllI . ID fa Paynevlns PaynevlnsMelody raj I'Q IQ ' xtllartofy vWe vWelIe1ocJ1 * lIe1ocJ1 Melody was wall . , aUitak J.t Jt tnlstaken . eD B M lot tot Umto MODte Moat . Jarra4a Jarred Jarredand ' .rrad rrad . .rradaDd aDd and Wry hr7 Fury tor for Mgnte's Mgntes M HClBie afa ' . half halt baII.1t baII1t wit . uncle _ acr de . , If no Roe RoeCoe * . eoe Coe , . BhMry 81ae1'l'1 81ae1l1 Sherry ' , . ft a . ctrl girl ( iri frleD4 Mead M a 0 of t ' Maata'aruha Maataaruha Moa Mente'e Mentee . ' . . , , f1I1Ihed rushed Uraa them &be be & . 01 out t o of f . to tow Iowa . f to her 111'Otber 111Otber brother 111'OtberA brotherAvery's hr ' t * iAviy A Avery's Averys yerT'8 yerT8 ' * ' * ranch riIuIa rsaeh : . . 1'be 1be ' They wn .en en were . 'GOD GOD soon s ' tolf toJ4 told b7 by b7AYe byAvery ] Avry Avery AYe " &IUI IUI and & aai Clae ChTry Cherry " to he4 brad h k _ away a.a aa . ) ' b'om bom from b'omthe fromthe ' ( f-th f th - the * ranch .eII eII reach , . ail4 aM 0 to & t * kf keep flag pIq until _ f to UaQ they theyreached th ' reached raeh reaela * " * tha the &b b & . borae bonier rll r , aa as a . posse * . s was wasafter . waiafter .s s . .safter after tkaaa tII.m tIIm them . . Aa.OOQ AaOOQ As . cam soon a as . tJae they ( hy ) ' * laft left te , . , "yer yer Avery Averyand " Awryaa ) ' ud and * Cherry Clael'l7 Claell7 Ckprry ' wat went wea ' eo to tea Uae the " ham "ana ana barn IId aid il IcnuuI toned IcnuuIMODte tonedSteele I a aMeat < Meat MODte Steele * 1 in . _ Us 1111 leis hl IOd htde4wsy . - way . . h lie betWtei f " . . baler " halls .el el . , o of ofbay Ihay . 1Ia bay . They 1'Iae7 1Iae7 ' taUl t.ol4 tol4 told . hit IdJD him what .laatba4 laatba4 . ha bee hay bappeae happened happenedMelody B Uel Mel Melody _ y a D4 Lao JI'arJ JIarJ Fury ' 'wry wry ' turned ( ec1 a ttbOat " 1IO'cd 1IOcd ' 011 and a ftarf re- re rehraec1 re returned - hraec1 turned to Mr the III . far 'arm arm farm ' . . , CHAPTER VDAPTER VIAt VI VIAt At the extreme limit UmJt ot of their com corn comI cornpression ; cornpresslon pression they were at the eaves eavesI eavesThrough eavesThrough eavesThrough Through the tb misfit m1sflt of tha the overhang overhangthey overhangthey ovrhanithey they could sea see the top of Cherry d dLongpr de deI deLongpr deLongpru's Longpru's Longprus Longpr * ; 's s ' * head , amazingly amadngly bright inthe In Inthe inthe the light llght of the three-quarter three quarter - - moon.and moonand moon . , and tb the * black California style bat hat of ofI ofher olher her brother'He brother He 'He ' ' a s changed . , , " . they could hear bear hearCherry bearCherry bearCherry Cherry saying her voice very deep deepin deepin Iin deepIin in her depression 'He He ' Ha He started out outthe outthe outthe the only anI ) ' man In thi the world I ever everI eversaw eversaw ver saw aw who could really get things thingsdone thingsdone thingsdone done I d go to tha the ends of theearth theearth the theearth earth , . for a man like Uke that thaL . But youcan't youcant you youcan't youcan't can't cant ' tell teU m me he s driven to all aU this thisshooting thisshooting hooting shooting atufTI stufYI stuff ! ' . . " " brother said saiduncertainly saiduncertainly saiduncertainly'He "Why Why 'Why ' , Cherry , her I'He uncertainly uncertainly'He 'He He ' s a got to quit this shooting shootingbusiness shootingbusiness shootingbusiness business " . Cherry said In so o intensea Intense a whisper that it carried better than thanher thanher thanher her spoken words worda . ' Why , Cherry " Avery said againshaken again againby againshaken shaken by this heresy You You-you You Youyouwouldn't - youwouldn't youwouldnt wouldn't wouldnt ' go back on Mont Monte * wouldyou would wouldyou wouldyou you Cherry ? " Cherry a s answer came late but butclearly butclearly butclearly clearly spoken . ' No I wouldn't wouldnt ' go goback goback goback back on Mont Monte * I couldn't couldnt ' do that that.But thatBut . . But he h * make makes * me m tired , worrying worryingabout worryingabout worryingabout about that grub t testing stlng horsebreakeri horsebreakerl horsebreakerr horsebreak erl err ' That 'That ' ' bronc stomping punk Is thebunk the theI thebunk bunk Avery A very said with conviction . . "You You " eot got that did you ? " "He He " s too foolish foollsh acting to be betrue betrue betrue true they heard Avery say cross crossly crossly crossly ly 'The The ' Th ' old one-of one of one - - of course he's hes he'sanother he'sanother he'sanother hesanother ' another matter There you got the thereal thereal thereal real thingGeorge thingGeorge thing thingGeorge George Fury nudged Melody to be besure besure besure sure he was getting this thisAnybody thisAnybody Anybody can see the old one la fa is agenuine a agenuine agenuine genuine halt half hail wit all right " Averyadded AveryaddedMelody Avery Averyadded Averyadded added addedMelody Melody was going to nudge George Georgethis Georgethis Georgethis this time tme ( but he heard George.s Georges George's George.sbreath George'sbreath George'sbreath Georgesbreath ' . . breath suck through his ls teeth 'Why Why "Why "Whythem "Whythem Whythem " 'Whythem ' them Gaar- Gaar GaarShet G a a r- r rShet r - . ' Shet up ! Melody hissed ' Or OrI OrI OrI I II 11 hesh hash you with this gun bar II I 1 ! There 'There ' ' s more rats in that root roof roofevery roofevery every very year Avery said looking upat up upat upat at the eaves For a moment Melodythought Melody Melodythought Melodythought thought be he was being looked be between be- be between - . tween the eyes . I . "The The 'The " ' old one ' Cherry contested . ' la is virtually virtualIy a brilliant mind com corn compared cornpared cornpared pared to what tha the young one on * Is IsWhat isWhat IsWhat What s the matter with you and andMonte andMonte andMonte Monte ? Don't Dont ' you know a common commonslmpleton commonsimpleton commonalmplaton slmpleton simpleton when you see one ? ' . ' Monte ain aln airs t seen him bins " . . ' I wish he had He sure lure wouldn'tworry wouldntworry wouldn't wouldnt wouldn'tworry wouldn'tworry ' worry about him any more it if he gotone gotone got one ne look . . It beats me how the thepunk thepunk thepunk punk gets himself hlmselt fed He came camewhen camewhen camewhen when I called him and he left when whenI I turned him out-and out and out - and he a s sheriff sherl1 ! s sbait sbait sbait bait tor for the next three hundred hundredmiles hundredmiles hundredmiles miles Now will you forget it it ? ? And Andget Andget Andget get down into town I ! ' . Mark that well George Furywhispered Fury Furywhispered Furywhispered whispered to Melody I want youshould you youshould youshould should remember every word wordl ! Now see what you done Mel Melody Melody Melody ody answered Both A Avery very and Cher Cherry Cherry Cherry ry were looking up at the eaves this thistime thistime thistime time George and Melody began beganlnching beganinching beganInching lnching inching backAvery backAvery back backAvery Avery a s heavy voice came to themvery them themvery themvery very plain There s rats movingup moving up there big enough to cast abronc a abronc abronc bronc he said saidAvery saidAvery saidAvery Avery came cam * Cherry s weary wearytone wearytone wearytone tone will you put that gun away awayand awayand awayand and get gone ? ' When A Avery very got hold of an Idea Ideahe ideahe Ideabe he hung onto It If there ain air t a arat arat arat rat up there I J can shoot by ear he hesaid hesaid hecaid said I hope to never shoot another anotherSweat an another another other otherSweat Sweat broke out at th the * root roots * ofGeorge of ofGeorge ofGeorge George Fury a s thin hair and trickled trick trickled trickled led down behind his ears The small smallof smallof smallof of his back began to ache first flrst then thenthe thenthe thenthe the cords behind his knee then thenI thenswiftly thenswiftly swittly swiftly a strained fatigue swept all allthrough allthrough allthrough through his hlB frame His stringy old oldmuscles oldmuscles oldmuscles muscles began to quiver with the thetension thetension thetension tension and red moons began toweave to toweave toweave weave before his eyes The to toe * ofGeorge ot of otGeorge ofGeorge George Fury s a boot balanced onthe on onthe onthe the edge of the feeble stringer as unsafely un unsafely unsafely safely as an egg on the edge of a acup acup acup cup He knew this could not go on onHe onHe onHe He knew what the end must be beIn beIn beIn In the next few minutes minute . George GeorgeI GeorgeFury GeorgeFury GeorgeFury Fury lived one thousand yearsAn years yearsAn I An outrageous crash shook the thewhole thewhole thewhole whole hous house * as George s a boot bootsUpped bootslipped lipped sUpped slipped The whole weight of his hisI hisbody hisbody I | body drove his has foot toot through througb the theftlmsy theflimsy [ flimsy ftlmsy celling ceiling protruding into throom the theroom theroom * room belowInstantly belowinstantly below belowInstantly Instantly a burst of gunflr gunfire * exploded ex exploded exploded ploded in the lean to beneath . . Avery Averyhad Averyhad Averybad had snatched matched bis his forty five and ftred tired ftredupward tiredupward firedupward upward aa as Instinctively instinctiveI ) ' as a mule mulelazhe mulelashes mulelashes lazhe lashes . out ouL . A splinter Iplinter stuck .tuck tuck . In the theskin theskin theskin skin of Melody s thigh George Fury Furyfelt Furyfelt Furyfelt felt the hard jerk of a bullet thatrazed that thatgrazed grazed ( razed his hI . leather lea ther cuff cu1J cuffAvery cuffAvery Avery fired ftred three times as aa fast fastas as . j his hie pistol plltol hammer could cock and andfaD andfall andfall faD fall , aad and Instaatly 1nJtanUr instantly ; afterward a gen- gen eeD- eeD gem- gem - - era oral ral ! tumult tU1'l\ul tU1'l tU1l ul tuntult ' \ broke b.roJte broJte . out ut belw be1Qw below * . They Theyheard Theybeard Thyb * heard beard ard Fever Crick Crlck de d * Longpr LOngpre hOfgpra * bound boundout boundout bundout * out of be bed * with a ylL Jell- Jell yell JellTh : - . Thy They Th * ' he.1'd he.1d he1d beard he.1'dChen beardCherry heardCherry . ' Chen Cherry ' ) n running tag acrosl across cress ; tb the * kitchen kitchenAnd kitchenAnd kitcb kitcbAnd And clos clo.e cloe close ; . * to him bbn la In tb ' * - dark dafk : Uelodycould Mtl0d7 Meody Mtl0d7could Meodycould could hear bear Georr GeoflG George cusalxx cussing cusainlln la in hoarswrhlspera hoarswrhlsperaMelody boar hoarse hoarsewhispers . * . whisper whispers , whispersMelody Melody MeIod1 ' { , irld raid aid . . , "AnI AnI "Are Are "Ar Ar " * you bit hit ! ? Did be beeit begit bIt * eit git ( yoU youT ' ? " . "No No 'No " ' , . I J ain't aint ' bit hit . , but- but but"They's but"They's but - - " "They's Theys " "They They "They's Theys ' ' * a corps-- corps corpse- corpse corpsFever corpseFever - * - - - " Fever Crick Crickde Crickde Crickd de * Longpr Longpre * shouted Plouted hoarsely boarseb-- boarseb hoarsely- boarseb.they'll hoarsely"they's - - .they'll .theyll theyll "they's theys . " they ' a corps corpse * up tharl thart thartIt tharlt It " ItWith ' With a supreme effort eftort Georgtreed George Georgefreed Georgefreed * freed bis his b " foot . , and thy they * wnt went * floun floun- floundering floundering . - dering an411cramblln8 and scrambling back lato tnto into tbmain the themain themain * main loft . . Cherry's Cherrys Cherry ' a voice vole * C8ffi cams came choked and andstrange andstrange andstrang strange * "You'v Youv "You've Youve " ' * killed BOmebodyt somebodyl somebody ! " "Wen Wen "WU WU "Well Well " * . . , what In hell-damn hell damn hellJamn . ( - were werethey werethey werethey they doing up there thr * ? ' " Avery and andCherry andCherry andCherry Cherry were wer * at the th * foot of f the th * lad ladder ladder ladder der to tb the * loft lolL . "Stand Stand " back andbold and andhold andhold hold the Uehtl UghU Ughtl " Avery started uptb up upthe upthe the * ladder slowly , . wU weD well * shaken nowbis now , his six gun In nil his hand"PuU hand"Pull hand hand"Pull "Pull Pull "PuU PuU " off oft your other boot George George"Melody GeorgeMelody , " Melody suggested "You You " can any anyway . ' way try to hav have your feet match matchcain't matchcaln't matchcaln't matchcalnt cain't caint caln't calnt ' 'you you ' you ? " But Georg George * Fury bad had ad recovered recoveredhis recoveredhis recoveredbis his boot . . He H * pulled It on with a asavage asavage asavag savage * wrench , and drew his gunCrawling IUn gun IUnCrawllng gunCrawling Crawllng Crawling on bands hands and knees kneell , b he be beI * I / y by b r rInstantly 1 Instantly a burst rat of f gumr gunfire * ex exreached exploded ploded plodedreached reached the top of the th * ladder to tomeet tomeet tomeet meet A Avery very de d * Longpre A Avery very re reluctantly reluctantly reluctanUy luctantly lifted lilted his head abov above the thefloor thefloor thfloor * floor of the th * loft to find ftnd a gun like Uk * a acannon acannon acannon cannon staring him squarely be between between between tween the eys eyes eysAvery eyesAvery Avery ' . looked blankly from trom oneto one oneto oneto to the other of them S SQ So * it s you"he youhe you , " he said Dazedly DazedIy he h * withdrew and andbacked andbacked andbacked backed down the th * ladder He H * and andCherry andCherry andCherry Cherry stood staring inanely up- up upward upward up upward - - ward at the th * two faces which now nowlooked nowlooked , looked down at them from trom the trapII trap II ' , It's Its ' them he b * told his sisterCherry sisterCherry sister sisterCherry Cherry s a voic voice " , ice * came cam * faint andsmall and andI andsmall andsmall I small What you doing ? ' shasked sbe she sbeasked sheasked * asked Melody not unreasonably unreasonablyGeorge unreasonablyGeorge unreasonablyGeorge George Fury tried a foolish bluster blus bluster bluster ter A man has to sleep some somewhere somewhere somewhere where s a don the t he ? ' Melody Jones lay at full length lengthrelaxed lengthrelaxed lengthrelaxed relaxed his chin on hi his . arms as ashe ashe ashe he looked down . . He H * didn cUdn dldn t contrib contribute contribute contribute ute anything anythingA A slow anger was turning : Avery.s Averys Avery's Avery.seyes Avery'seyes Avery'seyes Averyseyes ' . eyes green 'I I ' . I guess gue.s gues . you bettercoma better bettercome bettercome come down here be he decided . ' Back down slow without any IUl7 falsemoves f Jse false falsemoves Jsemoves moves And one on * at a time three " b be he * add added added added ed unnecessarily unnecessarilyMelody Melody and George Fury ex exchanged exchanged exchanged changed a slow look of mutual dls dis dlslike dislike dislike like then bolstered holstered their guns and andobeyed andobeyed andobeyed andobeyedSo obeyed obeyedSo |