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Show ' ' > . 'I\1W\ 'I I 1W 'I1Wt1 ' \ ! \ t1 i \ ; . . ( (11 11 ( .r r . : . -U U lJ\ lJ lJj - \ si1 E SS S ; , I 1i\ 1i " \ , \ ' \ j " ' o or r , / , jt r A , , < ceWQ jtceWQ . ceWQII COWBOY if f .v v . .vlJ + - . tk ' < ftt.A fttA . L"N LN . * " N , a.eMAY aeMAY . .MA MA . " ' , ' + w watt , . f'VI fVI itiaavila ' ' ' : . Br II ! _ TUB TIIB TRa BTOBT STORY 8TORY TttUS TdVS TItUS rIH FAa FAnt * . UMSfj.ne UMSfjne Melody MelodyJones U . .Jon Jon Jones . . " . and Oeor GeTf George . . FuI7 alley r ry ba4 had ha tiaaM dIId.a dIIda rlddes . taf bato Into batol'ayoevlDe Intoraynevtae tafr.yvl l'ayoevlDe layoevlDe raynevtae ' r.yvl ryvl . " * Melod Melody " * ) ' < * ailstaliwa mI.ialreD mIialreD mistaken . lor for * tta &Iu Iu the & ! outo out outolaW a t tnw . nw laW Met Monte * Jarraa .Jurad Jurad Jarrad . . . . Moole'l Moolel Monte U to't tot ' $ aIr girl lrl " , Che Chet- Chet Chetry 0 , . - r-y r y - ry , with Oeor.e Oeore George G TK . me met t ' Lee L , . Moate'e Moatee Monte's Montes M ' W ' pard- pard pardner fare par4 ' . - Melod7 Melody Mtl wara wen were MaVtag aeaYIDI Ieavlug tile the tilecity thecity tirdtT n , ner , er ' al as t be he h * and tad ' y city The They Th y , WfWa4 o'l'erwered olerwered overpowered ' " , ( fncind . * - e . , fU1d ) aa " ft Moat . fp fpthe B.t Bt lbe the . , ahack .hack hack . h&ck hck & whera where MODte Moats U af 1114 hid U the th Ut . express expressmoney expre X m . money PIon , , . , . y , . Luke Luk * Packer P k r , . lha Uae the lasaraaaa lDIaraaee Insurance eop cop e , , wu wit , a there t r aad and & .boa boa shot . ah t ay 117 by IOmIOD someone . ou&alde oualde autaidea autaideawhen a tsM & tsMWfef * , Wfef Wben when Mel04 Melody M l y , retuDeli returned r tara a witt wltll with the tk tII . bone hones honestile hwtt.y hwtty . lb tile . ' " , roUlld Sound 1 J dae the tk * iherid . hrr .rUr rUr * . la ID in 01 tII the * . . takia .alalla alalla cebia Bat Ind but Indlbe butthe Batu lbe the u * IH > My body dy cone gone t "wy wy Tlae7 Tbey " .00 00 coos . . loqcl fou4d ' tt tII the themoney " . nrar Ploaey money * hid U In to ( wan waD wall witli wltll with tka tile the 1Iocb body ay * 01 of < L ke Lake 1-akB.At 1akB.At 1 akB.At akBAt - . . At ihli thh this point p l > t Melod7 Melody Ml * 4y aid aD4 and Cfwy hern Cherry wr wer , able kl tel to t make k a break bred : aD4 and a > tf let get . away . . , . VvyhaJ 'I'art Iart Turf ' 'I'artbad Turfhad bad had IDe met t ' ap up p witli with MODte Monte M to Ha De Us wan . wa . 4 da datermined . - termined uimlM rm1ned * to take tak Uwaf MODte Monte IDto Into l t tawa toWL town . ch coArnsB CDAPTEB APTER XY XV 1V 1VAll XYAll [ All An expression had bad latt left Monta Monte Jar Jar- Jarrad Jarrad - rad 1 8 s faca face axcept except tor for a claar clear bright- bright brlght- brlght brightness brlghtness bright-nes bright nes - - ness * in till hIl his eye eyes yea . aa as in tha the eye eyes yea . at of a alynX alynx alynx lynX . . . Crazy ' " ha he munnurad murmured , . a asIf aa as aaU . U If talking to nimaalf b1mselL himselL b1mselLHe himselLHe . He H flred tired fired . . , than then . . Ha He hardly hard1,1 hard11 , leemed seemed aeeroedto leemedto seemedto to go ( o through tha the motion motions * . of a . drf&W drfW draw drf&Wat drawat drawat & at all an tha the weapon cama carne came ao so smooth17 smoothly smooth17trom smoothlyfrom oothlyfrom trom from tba the tied-down tied down tled-d9\VD tled d9 VD tied-dpwn dpwn - - \ nolatar holster hotter at h1a his h1athlih histhigh hithigh * thlih thigh AU All G8Or Gaorga George , . fury Vur7 aver ever law saw lawwas sawwas tawwas was a general galvanizing galvanising , alvanldn . ' Jerk 'erk erk of ofMonte ofMonte ofMonta Monte Jan-ad Jan ad Jarrad - a s . whola whole trame frame ( rama . , and andinstantly andhulantly lBtantly instantly tha the gun IUD blaated blasted in Mont Monte's Montes Monte'shand Monta'ahand Montaahand . ' . hand as ail a * 11 U H It bad had been thara there all the thetime thetime thatime thatimeGeorga time timeGeorge Georga George Fury doubled dQublecl and\ and andpJtched and \ p pJtched itched pJtchedforward pitchedforward itchedforward forward as . a < If U ha he bad had bean been . struck .uuck uuck in to inthe tothe lath the middia middle by a . swinging .wlngJ.n8 wlngJ.n8 wlngJn8 . 10 lof log . m His Hisgun Hisgun . goo gun which ha he had somehow grabtjed grabtjedout grabbed grabbedout ( rabbedout out of its leather , Bred fired flred only a bare bareInstant bareinstant baraInstant Instant after Jarrad'a Jarrada Jarrad's Jarrads ' waapon weapon , . but butIt butit butit It exploded downward blowing half halfat halfof halfof at of the little litU * campflra campfire campflre away : ; and tho the thorecoil therecoil thorecoil recoil almost tora tore It out of George GeorgeFury GeorgeFury GeorgeFury Fury s * slackened han.c- han.c han.cMonte hand . ! : - . . , tk CP'i- CP'i CPi CP'iUonte ' a - Uonte Monte Idonte Jfrrad Jarrad Jarrad reclined reclinedmotionless reclined recUned motlonle motionless motionlesshis . . , his tau face tsc * impanive impassive . , , but b1 bia his . eye eyes eyesawake eyeaawake . awake watching ; the man who was wasdown wasdown waadown down Hli His gun was wa cocked and andsteady andsteady andsteady steady After Arter a moment or two he henoticed henoticed hanoticed noticed that Georga George Fury a s . right righthand righthand righthand hand half covered a living Uvlng coal fromthe from fromthe fromthe the little fire dre lire but did not draw away awayWhen awayWhen awayWhen When he law saw this Jarrad let thehammer the thehammer tbahirnmer hammer down eaiing easing it gentlyMorning gentlyMorning gently gentlyMorning Morning w was was s leaking : out of thefar the thefar thafar far off oIY Dragonette range ranges * ai as Melody MelodyJones MelodyJones MelodyJonei Jones drew near the ramshackle ramshackleranch ramshackleranch ramsbackiaranch ranch 1-iouic 1 iouic house - of the Suited Busted Nose NoseF NoseF NoseF F rst a dull green illumination apleared ap- ap apl ap appeared - - l- l - peared leared eared In the eastern sky ky without withoutin in any way lighting the soot oot black blacktraIl blacktrail blacktrail traIl and as this appeared the red redIX redpipers red1 pipers IX > < i pers began to go zeep in the thebrush thebrush thebrush brush After Arter a time this first flr t effortwiti effort effort\ effort effortitt "It It witi " \ -itt itt - ! irew hew crew so that the night seemed seemedblacker seemedblacker aeemedblacker blacker than before but a muddy muddygrayness muddygrayness muddyrayness grayness ( was beginning to pervade pervadethe pervadethe pervadethe the ranges as if aeeping seeping up out of oftt oftl ofU tt tl e a ground By the time this thi * had1 hadi had i 1 creased to full dawn Melody was wassItting wassitting wassitting sItting his hi * pony behind a itand stand of oflocust oflocust oflocust locust . , , , watching the ranch house housefrom housefrom hourfrom from a respectful distance of more morethan morethan morathan than ( four our hundred yardsSo yardsSo yards yardsSo So far tar as he could find out ha be he was wasa wasalone wasalone a alone lone In the world entirely Even Eventhe Eventhe Eventhe the bear cub had been turned loose looseor . , , or had worked its it * way free tree from fromits fromits fromif its chain besida beside tha the broken screen screendoor screendoor screendoor door As A Melody prospected closer closera , . a late-ranging late ranging - - armadillo armad1ll0 trundled trundleda trundledaround trundledaround a round around the corner comer of tha the house , . and anddISappeared anddisappeared anddisappeared dISappeared without hurry Melody Melodywas Melodywas Melodyw was s satisfied with that . . The animal animalwould animalwould animalwould would have known better than he hecould hecould hacould could It if anyone wera were around . . Ha He rode to the back stoop of tha the bouse house bousewithout housewithout housawithout without further caution . . After Alter that ha he walked a little llttle way wayout wayout wayout out from the house bouse house . , to get away awayfrom awayfrom awayfrom from the sound of ot the pony a munch munchIng munchlog munching Ing log and listened a whila while longer longervery longervery longervery very lonely in the dawn . , , and then thenmade thenmade thenmade made a fire in tha the store stove with more morethan morethan morethan than necessary nece ary thuds and bangs to tobe tobe tobe be rid of the insufferable insutlerable quiet quietA . I IA A hot smell of coffee smelling smellingten I Iten ten limes Urnes times better than it would ever evertaste evertaste I ILlste Llste taste began floating down downwindfrom wind windrom windfrom from ( rom the lhe Busted Nose Melody Melodyrummaged Melodyrummaged Melodyrummaged rummaged for something to eat eatul eatut ul " ' , ch eb would take no work to fix . . His back was to tba the door , . and b1a his b1ahands hishands hishands hands were pawing over a shelf sbelt ot of otcanned ofcanned ofcanned canned goods when tba the kitchen kitchendarkened kitchendarkened kitchendarkened darkened faintlyHis faintlyills faintly faintlyHis His ills hands faltered , . but only tor for toran foran toran an instant . Ha He went on with what whathe whathe whathe he was doing without looking 106k1ng lo6king ; around around aroundttalling . , , stalling over tha the labels labeu ; Somebody Somebodywas was standing In tba the doorway Be He Beknew Heknew Haknew knew that much much . . , though ha be he had hadheard hadheard hadheard heard righthand rlchthand no approach . . Melody's Melodys ' ' rlcht right hand weighed aedan a .can can edan , . ! can of tomatoes tomatoestesting , testing it as a weapon . . . But ha he .et et set setit . actit .etit it down . . emptyhanded Melody turnad turned slowly slowb ' , empty handed and and . . , tor for tha the first ftrat tima time In Inlis Inhis Inhis lis his ! life lit laced faced Uonta Monte Jarrad . . , Inthe Hi . Hi . , Melody said . . Tha The man In Inthe tothe the doorway gruntedEven gruntedEven grunted gruntedEven Even It If tba the light Ught fight bad had been bet- bet better better - . * ter Instead lnatead of directly behind Jar- Jar Jarrad Ju-r Ju r - - rad red d Melody might mJcht not have recog recog- recognized recognized recognized - - nized him yetLooking yet yetLooking . Looking tor for aomebodyT eomebody somebody ' ? " ' Mel0d7 Melody Mel0d7asked Melodyasked Melodya asked iked this thla strangerMonte strangerMonte stranger strangerMonte Monte Jarrad Jarrad took In tha the whole wholelaYQut wholelayout wbolalay-out wbolalay out laY-Qut laY Qut lay-out out - - coolly , tba the room first first . , then thenMelody thenMelody thenMelody Melody Jones Melody aaw saw him no 110- 110 no- - 110tlce notice notice - tice tlce where tha the carbina carbine wasJust wasJust waa was waaJuit Juit Just passing pa88ing by " Jarrad said aaldetching , . v.atching vatching aatchtng . Jones oddly ill His Bis . , voice voicetad roicel voicet t tad sd d a soft oft lack of tone to If It It , , very veryun veryun veryun un ettling etlUng ettlingYou etlUngYou You don t need to be so edgy "Melody Melody " Melody 1lfelody said . . . We don t ask no noqutsUons noquestions noquestions qutsUons questions : here bere Want some cotr coffee cotre e ? 111 I 11 get gel it myself Don t go goover goover goover over there Don t go any place . . place.Stay placeStay Stay against that wait wall Back up upagainst upagainst Upagainst against gavathpte gavethese it a little closer He gave , ave aveth'se th'se thse these ! ' orders casualty casualI casually ) ' not even both- both bothf'nng bothering both-crini both crini - - - f'nng fnng ering ' to look closely closeI ) ' at Melody Hls His Hlseyes Hiseyes Hiseyes eyes kept wandering around theroom the theroom tharoom room checking , . and checking . , , and andrechecking andre-checking andre checking andrecheckingNow d dre re rechecking recheckingNow - hecJdngNow hecJdng Melodybegan Me1od7began Now you look looky ' beret here I ! " Me1od7 Melody began . . . knowma knowme , "Want Want ' " 'Want Want ' 'wtntto wtntto ' tc to ) 1ay play P y Uka Uke Like YOU you'don't youdont you'don't youdont ' . don't dont ' know me b1aeyes hiseyes . , bunT buh huh ? ? " " * . Jarrad .Jarrae Jarrae ! comnnntad commented . . , b1a his hiaayaa eyes wandering"I tun still tUl wandering " "I I naver never seen ) you ou befora before In my ' born myborn day day days . . . " . . wandering.Noy wanderingNoy Jarrad's Jarrads ' ga 1KM gaze ! e stopp stopped PP wandering . , " .Jtrrad'11 .Jtrrad11 Jtrrad11 UNot "Nor Nor be heard rd of tine ane tne * . , nallher neUber neither . , I sup- sup - . . aup.po auppo supyose yose 50 a " ? "I I " can't cant ' keep knowledge Imowledse of eve every grub-te.Un grubte.Un grub te.Un teUn grub-testing grub testing averygrub-tasting averygrub tasting everygrubtesting - - . , punk that- that thatHe that - - " Hestopped Ha He topped stopped , Hatopped Hetopped abort .hort hort short . . , . "Whafa Whafa "What's Whats . " "What What " ' . tha the matter ? ' " .Jarrad Jarrad .Jarradasked Jarradasked . Jarradasked . asked aardonlcauy Iardontca1Jy aardonicafy , . Malody Melod1 Melody looked puzzled puzz1 d . . "It It " come to comato cometo mightba ma me tor for a minuta minute that you fQU migbt might ' ' " be Monta Monte Jarrad . . But you 10U ain't aint ' . " * . ' "NQ NQ "N N " ( ) < )7 7 ) " ? " " "No No 'No " ' Thia TbJs This Jarrad weasel wea.el weael . loola looks loola.omethin lookssomethin lookaomatbin * .omethin omethin somethin . ' Uka UIce like I do-it do it do - - It fools tools people peopleeven peopleeven peoplaaven even " . .It It "Ifa Ifa " . . a hard thing to lay say about A & Aman a . man " " . . " ' ' " "WhuU WhuU "what what " SlutT ? ' " . W - . . ' "When When " " I [ think of being mistooken mistookenfor mistookenfor nustookentor for tba the kind of cbuckla-head cbuckla head cbuckle-bead cbuckle bead chuckle-head chuckle - - thatyou that thatyou you ) ' 00 look Uka Uke like to me-Ir me Ir me-it's it's its ma - - lfa ' . enough enouh , t.o to . t.oturQ toturn toturn turQ turn a tellar feUer feller alck .ick ick lick . . . " pity"Don't pityDont Uelody Melody looked at him hJm isbn with pit pity ) ' . . uDon't uDont "Don't Dont " ' lat let it worry you . . , " ha he laid said said"Nobody saidNobody . , uNobod1 " ? tobody aver ever mistook ml.took mltook . ma me tor for 0.0 00 no 0.0IUcb nosuch . nosuch IUcb such limping UmpJn . wrack wreck aa all as , you QU ba be It It's Its It'ssmall It'asmaU ItasmaU ' " , smaD small wonder you 10U , got ot atruckcn strucken struckea b1 by l1btnlng lightning byUgbtning b1l1btnlng bylightning , , or something .omething omething . , . tha the mannen manners mannenyou mannersyou mannersyou you , got ot . And here's heres bere's beres ' another anotherthing anotherthing anotharthing . ' " thing- thing - thing'WeD thing"Well ? _ ' "Wall Wall "Well Well " 'WeD WeD ' . . , ' I'll Ill I'D ID ' ba be damned . " , " said Jar- Jar Jarrad Jar.rad Jarrad - . . . , rad tad i inuuiii -nuuiii- nuuiii - nuuiii"And 1 1 . < ' - "And And UAnd " hera'a heraa berets here's heres ' ' another anotheron another thing tblng Keep Keepon Keepon - . on you'Dth1n.k Uka Uke like you youra re haloing haldlng haiding , . and you'D youD you'U youU you'Uthink you'Uthink youUthink ' th1n.k th1nk think . lightning Ugbtnlng hit bit you agalnl againl agalal " Tha The two looked at each other otherstranleb otherstrangely otherstrangaly stranleb strangely across acrOI , tba the kitchen tabla table . . "A A " ' teller 'teUeI teUeI feller ' naver never knows know . . , , " . Monte MonteJarrad MonteJarrad MontaJarrad Jarrad . said .aid aid obscurely , , as if U to hJm- hJm him hJm7 him-7 him 7 him7vw - . 7 t . . , . + /v-w v w / rw rwtr ? - , tr , pt ptrV -rV rV - 'I"I II 'rl rl ' " ' ( |