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Show DRAWSTRING REVENGE By Hal Borden WHEN the sun came up Old Web Evans had already traveled trav-eled three of the 12 miles into town. Tucked in his saddle bag was the iron box concealing the two sticks of dynamite and the mechanism set to explode it at 0:13. The roan was moving at an easy -gate. He wanted to keep her fresh "for the first leg of the run for the Mexican border after he robbed the bank. , A few early citizens were stirring stir-ring when he dismounted in front of the bank. The thought of revenge re-venge on the whole do-nothing lot of them made him even more anxious to get on with the job. They hadn't as much as lifted a ringer to help him track down the Lancey brothers ' since the gang had robbed him of his cache of nuggets and dust right at his claim. Three years of backbreaklng work for nothing. He watched sharply as Clive Emjry the president, unlocked the door. Shortly afterward two of the tellers entered the bank. . Web was right behind them. He had chosen teller Mark Mer-rlt Mer-rlt to pull the stunt on for he had refused to recommend Web for a loan after the Lancey'a had cleaned him out. Furtively be glanced at his own watch and compared it with the bank clock. They tallied. "I've got something here for you, Mark," he said and put the box part way through the cage. The teller reached out to take the box. Just as quickly Web pulled it back out of reach. "Well, what is it, Web?" There was irritatioa in the teller's voice. "A poke of nuggets?" Web was ready to say exactly what was in the box. Even if he had spoken, his voice would have been drowned out by the sound of the bank doors crashing crash-ing open, the splintering of the door frame and the loud tinkle of shattering glass. Web looked up just as the Lancey brothers with guns in each fist, began be-gan ordering everyone around. The guns were apparently ready for use if there was call for it. Web felt his pulse quicken at the sight of the hated foursome. His head throbbed with frustration. Here they were by the rarest of coincidence coin-cidence found only in storybooks, yet he couldn't wrest the revenge about which he'd dreamed. All he could do was watch as Herb and Harry Lancey held sacks outstretched to the cowed tellers and watch the currency being dumped In them. The thought that i it was actually hts money shocked him back to reality. They were butting In on his robbery. Reality brought with it the Iron box still fastened to him by the drawstring. Quickly he lowered his hands and unwound the string. He wanted want-ed to throw the box before it went off and that's when Pip Lancey must have figured the move was hostile. Web saw the tightly clenched fist squeeze on the trigger and he felt the slug bite hotly as it stabbed into his ribs. Just as he sank to the floor he saw Herb Lancey sweep the iron box into the hungry sack he carried. car-ried. The bank Interior seemed like so many thousand shuffling feet as the Lancey's headed out to the street. At the same time, Web felt strong arms drag him Into a sitting sit-ting position against the wall. Someone sent for Doc Dube and above all the commotion came the pounding of hooves of four horses as the Lanceys began reining out of town. That's when he knew that above all else he had to hang on just long enough to enjoy his one moment of glory. He cocked his head to listen lis-ten for the explosion. |
