Show di 11 rd dl W 47 S t THE STORY SO 80 FAR on their WAY to the new cot conwood gold diggings in colorado in the early seventies rob ert art Oll illson fion east easterner tia ernar and his partner duck ilay II ayden deli a vete rall minor witness the tha hold holdup up of a 1 taire stuffs 1 coach from which the tha ex preys neon box la Is stolen before the h bandits are beamed oft off among the to hold holdup up v victims are mrs con acance atance donne deatie and mrs airs ilar darnaby who intends to open a restaurant it in cottonwood gilson meats marcus handy editor on hn way to blurt abart the cottonwood courier arriving in town ally ollain oil it and nd hayden together a mining claim A threatened lunching lynching lyn ching Is averted by tile the bravery of chris mcgrath town marshal allson be conion disgusted with KOM digging what with its unending labor mid arid small rewards arid BO the sudden appearance of shorty croly old time partner of duck Is not altogether dis con dorting to him CHAPTER IV continued 6 the look which huck buck flashed back at shorty was a herald of dest destiny lity itald riot not duck buck filat little hesitant flutter of the eyelids had I 1 riot not caught it on oil the wing tire future might lieve run very differently for nil all three of us its it expressed wa was it regret of its ills bargain on tile alio one hand there stood 1 I till nn unseasoned tenderfoot of little use in gold washing on tile other ills old and tried partner yet lie ho was ani hound bound to mo me hy by ties of law arid and lionor honor and buck wits was not the mail inan to edge out of a bargain haig aln lie ile could not know how much tit at that moment I 1 wanted to edgo out of it myself tire sight eglit of the camp of human bunian belongs in gatlon had further sickened alck enod me ine with my liard hurd lot on placer claim number 32 it flashed on me that buck rind shorty wanted to be alone that it if they could talk it over they might como come to closer agreement with the outcome which I 1 desired and there in ili tny my hands was waa my excuse 1 imet I met the editor of tills paper coming across ludlowe Lud lows pass I 1 broke in and I 1 promised to look him up 11 I 1 all right kid replied buck with a readiness which piqued me in spite of f my deeper desires de atres guess ill be round camp until late into so ho forth I 1 went to search for marcus handy arid anil the tha cottonwood courier when I 1 first saw it a week before I 1 lind had thought of main street us its crowded now it ran brimful A blob of light above tire the roadway drew ma mo up a side street it turn inn I 1 saw presently a board loaning leaning against a log cabin I 1 looked again arid and there stood tile the object of my iny search parch an illumination such na I 1 had soon seen car carried in ili political groces pro ces along proclaimed that tills this was tile the morning courier pioneer newspaper of cottonwood the main cabin like nine tenths of tile the buildings lit 1 n cottonwood had not yet achieved tile the luxury of a regular wooden door in its place hung like a portiere port lere tile the conventional gunny sack I 1 pushed through tills to rny my nostrils nostril came 11 scent pungent arid and pleasing but printers ink among tho the details of it cluttered interior my eye caught first the central group at a printers stone just largo large enough to hot leold two forms stood handy in overalls splashed spIn shed with ink inic and grease hammering a block out of it a galley in one corner fumed a hot sheet tron iron stove tho the shack aback beyond revealed the figure of oan n fourteen benir old boy tinkering with margus marcus binn dys precious flatbed flat bed bod press beneath it pietr heads propped on a pilo pile of white print paper lay two iwo other boys boya even smaller sound asleep these I 1 was afterward to learn served as sub statute for the boiler which marcus handy hoped to got get sonic some lay front from denver deliver when time cattle came they would turn tire the great crank which revolved tile the to one side of tile the room in which I 1 stood rows of printers cases lay so close to tile stone that tw two we ancient printers furiously setting type constantly bumped tile the boss bosi on oil the other side was n pine table littered with newspapers proofs scattered sheets fill all weighted down by a double derringer marcus handy jerked up at I 1 me lie a nervous eye tor for gods sake dont ion lie began arid and then oil the tenderfoot 1 ile he rested in position for till nn instant tits his wooden mallet poised arid and I 1 saw that tile lines of ills hla face were drawn and tits his eyes bloodshot were you ou fooling when you said you had ft a college education tha best and most complete education do ll 11 that harvard university dispenses or affords I 1 said taking up where we anid left it off 01 on ludlowe Lud lowa lows pass our western wc stern game of chaff and rhetoric polished polls lied refined but handy broke that off on with it a gesture as thou though gh th situation were too serious for li unior tied almighty must have gent you to reward me for tile the ono one good eked cleed I 1 ear ever d did ld which I 1 dont know what it 11 14 11 said lie he A printers got drunk tind run out on mo me and the paper aint half written dont say youre doing anything tonight just grab a pencil arid a handful of that copy paper over there here and bring it herel even as he spoke tp ole he had biad i hammered out the block and when I 1 had find obeyed fascinated rind turned back to him lie was lifting with careful lingers a stick of type take notes on this and when youve takai them sit down there and put them into me H english language he ha added never looking up from its hla work and dont stop atop to get et tiny any of your by ay will irwin iram by wilt will irwim bg college grammar into it either cither there wits was a fire this morning up in white mule gulch got two cabins on a claim name of claim jennie june nameon name of owners jolin john ferguson and ad woolwich got that down marcus marcua had now filled out his column nod and set get in the rules all right two hundred words work in something about fie needing ed a city government to afford fire protection hush em cm both flee needed ded to 1111 out tills page and then ill give you the big story 1 As I 1 sat eat down to the table and shoved papers paper 8 find derringer away to give myself writing room I 1 had a spurt of amusement at tire unconventionality of tile proceeding I 1 glanced up at marcus again find amusement yielded to sympathy and understanding the early I 1 appearance r e arance of tile cottonwood courier alp had a d been no miracle unless a miracle of hard work in III less than a week marcus had got ills plant set up tip and ili his newspaper out find and I 1 conjectured that he was as yet its IN whole editorial and business staff which li accounted for ills hla odd almost drunken appearance lie ile was working by the light of hla his own blazing nerves blush it I 1 lie called twice as I 1 set down my plain tale having finished I 1 handed over the tit sheets to him some what thrilled at the prospect of seeing myself for tile the first time lit in print lift he did not even glance at my copy but yelled to a printer get tills this out as soon us as the cordill let youl you t now lie he wits lifting and arranging type again this reading item goes on tile tho front page for a lead start it bot about this way mysterious holdups for large sums have grown entirely too common in camp of late we do not refer to plen picayune affairs where a tell tenderfoot parts with ils h ls roll the boys must have their fun but hard upon two robberies of the stages came the affair at black canyon and yesterday tire the gang tor for the same gang it must be attempted the boldest crime yet perpetrated do you think you can call get that down about tile tho wily way I 1 said it 1 I think so I 1 faltered well take lake a note or two cant you when I 1 looked up marcus was locking his completed page all ready lie he proceeded write the rest of it your own way heres the facts stonewall jackson mine up on oil liverpool sends down a messenger to cottonwood in a buckboard for the payroll probably about live five thousand dollars lie ile dont take any chances of being soon seen at the bank gets a bust busl neis ne ia man on mani main street dont know who to draw tile the money for him then at the last minute something makes ilia him just tin an instinct I 1 guess ile he ends enda up by sending the money in the saddlebags saddle bags buga of the boss rind and lie rides alone with a sawed off shotgun on oil the seat for n blind sure enough lies held up four men masked they go through him and see been fooled one of ems for torturing him indian fashion to make hm him tell become of the payroll but tile rest lose their sand so they kick him once or twice for luck and vamoose broad daylight proposition ile he comes down to notify the police e arid lets go ot of the facts to me at the klack black jack tills this afternoon malie male the story of the holdup an interview with him arid and get it dramatic go strong on oil the minute when lies hes facing the prospect of hellish torment ills ilia names henry there ill be d d it I 1 deniem badr what the rest of it Is call it smith for the present finish up by drawing strong attention to the fact that someone in camp must be systematically beaching pe aching Pen Pe aching ching I 1 interposed for that verb now flow almost forgotten in i the progress of our american inrig liui guage was then new slang ili fo watching ing shipments of money for the gang its plain to me as the th nose on your face some of tile the gambling element maybe and make an all appeal for if a strong pure munica pal government all no walt wait a minute marcus larcus 1 lifted ills fits form with a weary whary grunt set it down on the floor leaned it carefully agn against I 1 fist the wall and rested ills his hands on fie shonu its as tie lio meditated no drop that dont even cun hint about confederates in call camp p no politics either elt lier I 1 want vani to know more before I 1 cut loose now get it written I 1 looking up occasionally from the frantic haste of my labors I 1 noted absently that men inen were constantly pass ing arid iund through tile the canvas door find and talking with marcus as lie he worked one evidently laid had brought in ili tin an advertisement just as evidently marcus had told him to write it himself for lie he seated himself at the table me find and with it protruding tongue tip following the course of his pencil set himself to the labor of literary creation another must have borne news for presently marcus called to me I 1 you idd I 1 name of the messengers henry seward they took seven sd yen dollars off him lie ile left ills his gold watch in camp when lie started his bluff put that in contrast between what they expected end and what they jot got I 1 finished finis lied hesitatingly set at the copy on tile the case before marcus he ran rapidly professionally through the sheets nine hundred words or thereabouts lie he said have guessed better at space myself now ill show my gratt gratitude tude and app appreciation practically just for a change I 1 can use us aj yc ive been wanting it a re porter if you like the job sit alt down and go on with it at twenty a week what say my breath taken away by the dramatic suddenness ol of tits proposal I 1 realized that here lay my way out the smell of prin teen ink was already perfume to my nostrils I 1 had enjoyed tills this little whirl at intellectual work the thing I 1 was trained to do as much as I 1 had loathed digging on the claim it if shorty would only buy me out with a promptness winch which equaled that of marcus I 1 answered give gave me ine an hour arid and ill let you know well conic come back anyhow need you tonight exclaimed marcus as I 1 darted through the door to search for buck and shorty Sli orty CHAPTER V I 1 pushed and jostled jostled my way from fl beer hall to tire the black jack front from the black jack to maurs variety theater where nt at last I 1 found my two adventurers lolling expansively on a back sent scat bucks arm arill hooked over shortys Shor tys shoulder they in common I 1 with tile tho rest of the audience were listening with heads sentimentally askew to the little blue alsatian mountains its as rendered to tho lie accompaniment of a guitar a violin and the only piano phino in camp by it a hawk faced in short and skirts I 1 had to tn walt wait until she rendered two encores before I 1 could announce to buck and shorty that I 1 wanted to see them on oil important business rind drag them to the recess between the variety find and client cheap jack dry goods km em borlum arid and there I 1 wasted no time with preliminaries but plunged straight into business v shorty I 1 sald said I 1 had never heard any other name for him do you want to buy out my share of our claim it was buck who answered he looked upon tile me with a startled eye I 1 I 1 sat down to the table and shoved paper and derringer away to give myself writing room which grew it a little suspicious its as he asked the game oot got anything in sight nothing in mining said 1 I but ive been offered a job on the newspaper arid and I 1 want to take it shorty spoke a slight difficulty in P proved that since I 1 left hin him lie ile I 1 ind had taken many drinks Th throwing rowin down your good old pardner hull huh I 1 he exclaimed Irti cull antly double cross him shift up tip shorty I 1 commanded duck buck tills Is a square square kid only I 1 want to see if lie he aint a fool dont you yon know yoiiro lettin go of a mighty promising prospect 1 I know you think so I 1 replied 1 course said buck with the hash flash of un tin understanding for which I 1 had riot not given him credit youre plumb dis disgusted with diggin just now its liard hard for a young fellow to get down to real work but the first weeks tit nl ways the toughest boll aw come collie to the plin tl 1 exclaimed Sli shorty orty waving wa lii slightly toward me file as t though to begin hostilities how flow much do you want to skin me tor for 1 I dont want to skin ou at all said 1 I a 1 little touched tou clied in spite of shortys Shor tys condition alist what I 1 put into it dont knows I 1 can let you client yourself that wily said buck utterly ignoring then lien arid and afterward the in ili ter positions of his muddled friend wily why dont you grubstake grub stake stalie shorty then have your share comin 11 grubstake grub stake stae h I 1 11 I 1 broke in ili Sli shorty orty no grubstake grub stake in mine when we strike a pocket concluded buck arid and hows shorty goin 0 fo o pay any id rather not grubstake grub stake anyone sala said 1 I and shorty ran can pay mo me on uie tire installment pill plan cant he be I 1 was growing eager for our discuss discussion loll hand had brought brou glit up tip in my mind the sickening memory of af that last week in the oozed ooze of the stream bed arid and the blisters on my hands still blit burned ned I 1 perceived however that my affair was g going well buck had riot not denied that lie he wanted to combine with shorty only honest man that lie he was lie he had bad tried to guard tn my interests ive iva got a better chance with the courier co ur I 1 er I 1 added of courie c I 1 dont like and here I 1 stopped too shy br virtue of 0 my youth and my origin to ti bring out the rest I 1 wanted to tell ruck buck that my only regret at selling belling claim no 32 was tho the thought of leaving him toward buck I 1 felt at that stage of my western wanderings as a young soldier must feel toward a stern but benevolent and efficient superior of licer hut but buck it seemed understood for lie replied in an unwontedly low voice ril ill be sorry to lose you kid and it was done all excepting the process procesa |