Show THE GIRL AT THE HALFWAY HOUSE A S T O 0 R Y O 0 F P L A I 1 N S BY E HOUGH AUTHOR OF jhb STORY OF THE COWBOY if cammans lw cirit CHAPTER cont aued the left arm of the sheriff dropped arbe whole body of ike shot low through the trunk as was the sheriff s invariable custom melted and sank into a sitting posture leaning against the edge of the stoop the sheriff with a leap sprang behind the fallen not firing again ike aanderson tA with a black film now come upon his eyes raised his revolver and once twice three times tour kilnes five times tapp ng the space in front of him r and carefully with his fire then 1 e sank bad wearily into the sheriffs arms 1 all right mammi remarked ike anderson somewhat irrelevantly CHAPTER the bc ay iy of the crime hour after hour in the beat of the la or the cool of the evening the bant mexican strode on by the side t the two horsemen sometimes trot ting like a dog more often walking alth a shambling wide reaching step tireless as any wild animal espres si onless mute the colossal figure strode along I 1 ke some primordial creature in whom a human soul had abot yet found home te mexican was running the back 11 a 1 of the horse of cal greathouse the missing ranchman and it was very early seen that the horse had lot le turned over the route taken by when 1 e started out iad gone along the valley of th smoky river whereas the course of he loose animal had been along th chord of a wide arc made by the val le of that stream a course much shorter and easier to ti averse as it a part of that rough country known as the breal a of the smoky a series of gullies and draws run ning from the tableland down to the leep little river bed the afternoon the first day brought the travelers vell within view 0 a timber line but the rough country along the stream was not yet reached when they were forced to quit the trail and make their fough bivouac for the night there was a curious feeling of in franklins mind as they again took saddle for the lourney that he end of the quest was not far dis ant and that its nature was arede erml ned I 1 either he nor curly ex pecked to find the ranchman alive though neither could have given letter and line tor this belief As for juan ils face was expressionless as ever que camia cami a asked curly in cowboy patois which way the mexican pointed up the stream with carelessness and they turned thither As they resumed the march how along the level floor of the wind ng little valles franklin was revola ng a bertain impression in his mind n the mud at the bank where they lad stopped he had seen the imprint if a naked foot a foot very large and an upturned toe widely spread ng apart from its fellows and it leemel to him that this track was not 0 o fresh as the ones he had fust seen nade before his eyes troubled he laid nothing but gave a start as cur without introduction remarked as hough reading his thoughts cap I 1 seen it too his footprint at the banka yep he s shore been here afore neither man said more but both trew grave aa both looked ancon piously to their weapons the can plunged ahead as confidently as etore and in the tangled going his peed was greater than that of the borses cullado Cul dado careful juan ried curly warningly and the latter arned backed a face inscrutable as ver the turned an angle of the valley nd came out upon a little flat among he trees toward this open space he mexican sprang with horse ex cited cries the horses plunged back dorting yet in the little glade all silence solitude swiftly frank in and curly dismounted and made ast their horses and then followed ip the mexican their weapons now loth drawn this glade now empty had once beld a man or men here was a trod en place where a horse had been led to a tree here was the broken nd of a lariat here had been a little a bed scraped up of the canty fallen leaves and bunches of aller grass here were broken bushes broken howa there was the fire ow sunken alno a heap of ashes a ong large white heap very large tor cowman s camp ire and there and there was it there was some hing there lay the object of their earch in a flash the revolvers cov ired the cowering figure of the giant aho prone upon his knees was now abing gibbering praying calling up n long forgotten saints to save him rom this sight 0 santa maria 0 uris siina 0 madre de dios be moaned wringing bis hands and shiv ring as enough stricken with an ague ie writhed among the leavea bis Q es fixed upon that ghastly shape which lav before him there lie the ashes bf me dead fire as though embalmed as though alive as though lingering to accuse and to convict lay the body of greathouse ohp missing man not merely a charred incinerated mass the figure lay in the full appearance of life a cast of the actual man molded with fineness from the white ashes of the fire noam feature not a limb not a fragment of clothing was left anje strayed yet none the less here stretch ed across ane bed of the burned out fire with face apt arned with one arm doubled beneath the head and the otier with clinched hand lay the image the counterpart nay ohp identity of the man they sought it was a death mask wrought by the pity of the destroying flames these winds this sky the air the rain all had spared and left it here in most terrible in evidence unbar aleles incredibly yet irresistibly tr e franki n felt his heart stop as he looked upon this sight and curly s face grew pale bebeau its tan they gazed for a moment quickly then curly sighed and stepped back keep him covered cap he said and go ing to his horse he loosened the long lariat araba juan he said quietly get up and the giant obeyed as meekly as a child curly tied his hands beh nd his back took away his knife and bound him fast to a tree juan offered no resistance whatever but looked at curly with wondering dumb protest in his eyes as of an animal i punished curly turned again to the fire it s him all right said he that s cal franklin nodded curly picked up a bit of stick and began to stir among the ashes but as he did so both he and franklin ut an exclamation of surprise by accident he had touched one of the limbs the stick passed through it leaving behind but a crumpled form less heap of ashes curly essayed in upon the other side of the fire A touch and the whole ghastly figure was gone there remained no trace of what had lain there the shallow la crusting shell of the fickle ash broke in and fell all the thin ex perlor covering dropping into the cv ern which it had before them lay not charred and dismer bared remains but simply a fiat table of ashes midway along it a slightly higher ridge at which the wind biah arto erto not conspiring now toyed flick ing away items here and there car crying them spreading them returning tham unto the dust cal greathouse bad made his charge and left it with the frontier to cast the reckoning CHAPTER the trial your honor said Tr anklin to the court I 1 appear to defend this the opening sentence ser tence of the young advocate might have been uttered in burlesque to call this a court of justice might have seemed sheer libel there was not the first suggestion of the dignity and solemnity of the law had no hall of justice and the court sat at one place or another as convenience dictated this being an important case and one in which all the populace was interested judge britol had the largest avail able assembly room which happened to be the central hall of sam pres ton s livery barn the judge sat be hind a large upturned box which sup ported a few battered books at his right the red nosed prosecuting actor ney shuffled his papers along the sides of the open hallway through whose open doors at each end the wind passed freely sat jarv and audi ence indiscriminately mingled the prisoner himself ignorant of the meaning of all this sat on an up turned tub unshackled and ed back of these figures appeared the heads of a double row of horses back of the seated men oters were massed standing in the Sor ways outside the building stood crowns now and then increased or lessened by those who passed in or out of the the court was la session these interested spectators were for the most part dark sunburned men wearing wide hats and narrow boots with spurs they all were armed leaning against the the man gers or resting a hand upon the shoulders of another they gazed calm ly at the bar of justice the attitude of was one of sardonic calm As a function as this trial might go on honah said the attorney for the state arising and striking an at learned in earlier forensic days yo honah an gentlemen I 1 rise to present to ou an to push to the ulal mate penalty of the law a case of the most serious the most crime committed by the most desperate and dangerous criminal that has thus tar ever disturbed the peaceful course fal buah quiet little community ther he sets beto you he cried budden ly raising his voice and pointing a forefinger at the prisoner who sat smiling there he sets the hardened and self confessed nal guilty of the foulest crime upon the calendar of buah la A mur derer gentlemen a murderer with rd hands an with the brand of cain upon his brow this man this fiend killed buah fellow citizen calvin greathouse he brutally murdered him the orator knew his audience ae knew the real jury the shuffling and whispers were his confirmation to honah began the accusing voice again I 1 see him now there sets the man there he Is bafo you his guilt has been admitted answer me gentlemen what Is buah auty in mis caseb shall we set this incarnate fiend free on the lan again shall we let him come clear this charge shall ve turn him loose again in buah to murder some other of buah citizens 7 shall we set this man free his voice had sunk into a whisper as he spoke the last words leaning for ward and looking into the faces ot tha jury suddenly he straightened up his cl ached hand shaken high aboe his head no he cried no say to ou ten thousand times no this man shall not go free justice yo honah justice gentlemen is what this community asks an justice Is what it Is a goin to have yo honah an gentlemen I 1 to the statement the defense franklin rose and looked calmly about him while the buzzing of corn ment and the outspoken exclamations of applause yet greeted the speech of the prosecutor the sentiment ot pity was strong in his heart he resolved to use all he know of the can ning of the law to save this halt wit ted savage he determined to defeat it possible the ends of a technical jus tice in order to secure a higher and a broader justice the charity of a di vine mercy he realized fully how much was there to overcome as he gazed the set faces of the real jury the crowd of grim spectators your honor and gentlemen of the juryj he began m defending this man I 1 stand for the law the representative senta tive of the state invokes the law I 1 yield to no man in my desire to see a better day of law and order in this town we are two years old in time but a century old in violence Is it merely your wish that we add one more grave to the long rows on our hillsides hill sides Is that your do vou want a trial do you wish merely an executions 7 gentlemen 1 tell you this is the most important day in the history of this town let us here make our stand for the law the old ways will no longer serve we are at the turning of the road let us follow the law to be continued |