Show bolit I 1 es IL iwo F S E 1041 C W lewhy CHAPTER X continued 13 I 1 pointed to tile lie legend sprinkling tho the front pago page of the courier that I 1 hike it for gr grunted giantel antel its your signal for fir lection mid and the guard nt at the door alad tile the oilier things ivo ive sec been ll 11 im riot not entirely a fool perhaps per hapa I 1 added re resentfully no said in it a mollifying tono tone 1 I figured read the signa 11 well weil go on oil I 1 snapped there was a certain party objected ti tc you Nob dyB odys doubted your lie 10 added hut but it was a dollente question sort of you ate at e weve welve watched everything closer than you knowlie thought you wore were too too well acquainted with it i certain other party that somo some think Is 13 riot not wholly above 11 lie stopped shorty was it lie who objected I 1 asked with a irish flash of intuition im riot not saying it wi replied marcus we wore were silent for n moment afar cus cua never then ilion or there thereafter spoke tho the ollie of the person under tinder suspicion I 1 knew and nn an illogical paradoxical feeling of necessity for protecting her phoso whoso blender neck I 1 lind had choked in III imagination but nn an hour 6 before prompted me to ask you dont intend to harm lier her we dont harm harin indies in this camp said marcus no not ladles though theres some women on oil pearl street nobody calls tallies ladles who will ile bo traveling to lower altitudes this morning I 1 want you to under understand sta n it lie went on oil shifting hack brief to my illy person personal til considerations it ra t ions that it suspicion of you on the part of the boys just del delicacy leacy 11 just the hot murder within tile me surged again tills this was tile the crown of tier her offenses Tenses of lir for I 1 knew that it was more than delicacy marcus wits simply trying awkwardly to bo be mild kind of course if I 1 find tilo secrets of tit the vigilance I 1 could not ile he trusted not to tell tier lier slip she lind treads triads a fool of me ine nut but marcus wits was till talking king on and 1 I for very and pride wits forcing myself to listen even to make intelligent tell igent answers q ily fly tile time you or anyone else leaves tills flits hull building ding what alint were going to do will hp be public property I 1 can truit you with most of the rest that robbery happen spontaneous ilke it was kind of managed alint Wl int I 1 said sharply was it ju jut at pretended A hope began to dawn in tile me n hope which jarells dashed with lila ills next words it was h rohl robbery wry all right but you iou sop sowe so we needed it kind of dranit iq ie episode appl ppl andt something that voul d got get the flip whole camp callip liet het up tit so wed have public opinion with us some of tile liova boys were for walling thought it wits was only a ti nitter of time until something of the lie kind happened I 1 we ave lind the insiders Ind dpra up tip to the lie proper hent they might cool or 07 if we waited the wrong people might get killed and tile wrong people hanged so we nr ranged who lc it we oil oh taylor and cohen aind your friend buck back blayden and a few others inside ring you know we arranged to inform cortIl certain ln parties just when and how that shipment would reach tile the bank it worked I 1 was sure it would taylor and showed nerve Con consented to IT held up tip it H was of course it if anybody it blundered into the picture one of f t alie bandits might ret get nervous with hlf trigger finger still we were looking lookin out pretty careful to see that nobody walked across the stage there wil ana s it nian man hidden in every babli along altin that back alley wo we watched eni cm when they in saw lyn em musk watched era em come out they were tho the people we were after rame outfit that held held up the cottonwood stage twice s anio outfit that held up tile the stonewall jackson paymaster why did you let them goaly go Pung ng orous erous d n dangerous to start it fight there probably thefil lieve pot got taylor and flut clatis first crack then everybody on euln street would have rustle rushed up tip to see what the clouting atvas about wed ved n not 0 t only alive killed n lot of innocent people but we dhave spoiled tile lie whole beauty of our performance and turned public opinion against us no taylor stand for thant hut but lie ho let them get away with two boxes of gold the face of marcus broke into it ditillo unit and his fits sharp eyes twinkled 1 I suppose rin im too much with my lily mouth he said hut but theres somo nomo things you cint cant resist they got away will our stielf hell IOK hot just that worn out job type that I 1 junked bunked last week eliji up tight in III two steel strong boxes combination locks cant rt be opened without explosives were inida some risks of losin our men lien hut aben we do got get then theres theres no need of any decent citizen getting killea and afterward X the smile went from his fits face his expression set act lynching lunching Lyn ching lie said trial before it regular miners court open and above board no masks our GUI affair cottonwood city CJ ty 11 then though I 1 said nothing but only sat aal with my iny eyes on li ills ls face tie lie broke into self justification shoot it rattlesnake you step on a tarantula I 1 which to Is better to string up a set 0 of bandits or to let a lot more innocent citizens get killed aali and if you dont get them therell probably ho be one lynching lunching lyn ching just juit tile sn samel illel marshal arshal ll mccrath Mc Alc drath Grath I 1 inquired throwing out tile most natural conjecture lord almighty riot not said marchi I 1 that shooting fool I 1 though lie ito may bo be among the missing by night lie he added kidded cryptically I 1 paused before I 1 asked my next significant que question silon did you did your people watch them froni from the time they entered camp cal lill yes sold said marcua A moment of charged electric silence and he added you wore were watching one bone of them 1 I 1 could geano get no voice to answer my aly eyes still interlocked with ills his 1 I nodded im sorry boy he said softly for him to h I 1 with your sympathy I 1 I 1 exploded so loudly that the printers busily distributing type craned their necks dt at me what marena might have answered ans were to tills this I 1 to do not know for bor jut just then taylor of elf tile the hank bank and cohen the jeweler pushed through ough the door outside of their conventional business suits they wore full cartridge belts from which dangled scabbard ed 45 caliber revolvers drawing marcus into the single unoccupied corner they held field a close whispered conference glancing round alo 11 office I 1 felt tension ten flon the prin printers tors and mannle Leaven tritt hall had stopped work drawn together with anxious wondering eyes they were regarding that group in the lie corner so suddenly that we nil jumped mike the bartender appeared in the doorway tile the marshal Is back and lies got ile he announced cc it any sho shooting otin asked marcus acx lowly lou ly I 1 not Q u chonce hoya boys dropped on film lin frow frodi behind belil rid and 7 inquired marcua ile he glanced at th printers tin and ills lips appeared silently jo to form a name iles hes with its replied mike blike unaccountably taylor ind and cohen broko broke into ned hysterical hysteric ni laugh ter tei marcus turned to the carriers hot clet those eliose papers out on tile lie streets rustle e I 1 lie he sn sald I 1 d let anybody out that wants to got lie called to the guard at the lie door and then to mike cut the lie wolf wok boeset mike disappeared there wits was a moment of silent tension then from the street before our office sounded the lie note of a gong beaten furiously the distances gave gave back tin an echo of that Illet metallic allic sound all quarters of tile horizon seemed to be imitating it as aa though strong men wera were hammering every wasti boller tn in camp every dishpan every implement capable of imitating a bell iet lets 9 look it over it if we pet separated abated reassemble here bere in an hour KIM marcus Marci it taylor and cohen coben swung their revolvers to handy positions before their hips rind and in nervous haste followed marcus through tile the door leaving tile me alone in the blackness of my own thoughts A shuttle shuffle of many feet evolved from confusion to steady rhythm sounded on tile unpaved roll roadway without the alie printers tind and even the press boys were tearing olt their antons eipl ons scrambling into their coat rushing through the doors numbly Y almost indifferently I 1 rose anti and followed nuil and lifted tile me out 1 of myself those knots ot of men inen choin when I 1 entered theoffice the office I 1 hall had marked loafing and whispering whIsp Pring along the sidewalk had crystallized into military formation four abreast they th ey stood unit und constantly the t lie column co lunin grew gr ew as inure morp und and more shadowy figures emerged front from the moonlight fell into title line while I 1 watched a ille file closer near tile me took off tits his wide black hat flat tossed it away pulled from underlies under his lils coat the old slouchy long peaked cap call of tile the civil war put it on I 1 walked round the column noncommissioned officers busily ing the ranks shoving tile the men who carried rifle to the fore imposing silence stopped me again and again always the answer Mar marcus crus ilandus assistant gaye tile mo passage A third of mch were wearing either cither that old 0 d union cup cap tile the bluck swashbuckling G A it 11 lint or the slouching wideawake of the confederate army ma th lbs ason for that quiet discipline of this mob movement began to dawn on me we were little more than a decade from appomattox scarcely nn an american in crimp beyond tits lila twenties but had wallowed in the trenches of vicksburg with orant dashed north to gettysburg with lee marched through georgia with slier ninn man swept tile the shenandoah with sheridan or raided ollie ohio with morgan trained soldiers they had find fallen tit nt coni command niana into tile old habit of discipline ci A voice low hut but authoritative sounded from the entrance of tile the street where dimly I 1 saw the outline of a ninn on horseback right shoulder birins I 1 As tile tio pieces slashed the moonlight I 1 could divide the veterans of the war brou frou tile the young recruits by lie stuart motion with willell their guns time came up tip to position I 1 perceived too that tile the rear ranks carried instead of rifles new hickory wood pick handles handle but every man mail whether equipped with gun or club lind a revolver belted outside outride of tits ills cont the camp before these shadowy olindo wy instruments st of vengeance and grim justice formed fornies in the moonlight had gone to bed there wits wag no music in the air no distant clamor of crowds then out of that silence came a won comans womans inns scream a distant hoarse chorus of male voices clops I 1 could see sec a jerky reflex action in tile ranks heard one or two quick profane expletives which were stien silenced cea as abruptly as though a soundproof sound proof curtain had find been drawn by the huby noncommissioned officers A horseman putting pulling up tit tit at tile the corner where our little highway joined main street luotto it ft moving blotch in the flight the tina other horse horseman ninn who SeP seemed tiled to ile be in coin command inand rode out from tile lie shadows took tile head of the column arid and his word of corn command minnil cattle came out clear and strong for nil all cottonwood to henr hear forward guide left march I 1 As lie ho wheeled lila ills horse tits his face came out clear in tile moonlight and I 1 recognized him this was brown tile the 4 no said marcus in a mollifying tone 1 I floured figured read the signs lis assayer sayer I 1 remembered then that ho be had been a major of cay cavalry under 8 sheridan herldan feet a drum gave a short roll then begin tile thump thump thump thump thump of df nn an annly march step the column swung left into main street I 1 trailed along on the edges before Iluff akers hardware store major brown gilve gave the command halt officers beann splitting tile the column dividing the riflemen from tile pick men the riflemen tit at command marched on from the others it squad fell out of line broke in the door with halt half ft A dozen doen kicks lights cattle on within a tile mo ment later the saiad emerged with its arms full ol of assorted rifles rides distributing bliem along the ranks I 1 became aware now of the street tile the sidewalks wa fihs ihs were filling with half dressed men and women they spoke in whis bersi or not tit at nil all and along the gutters walked guards with drawn revolvers vol vers keeping line the di stiling regul regular tir tramping trum ping of the riflemen rifle illen stopped then changed to irregular inot foot bents beats evidently the focus of interest lily lay in that direction I 1 hurried flurried on oil lanterns backed by re electors lectors lec tors rind tiling onto the seats or wheels wheela of the wagons which fringed tile Plot pioneer feer corral made a glaring blotch in the moonlight thero there 1 as aa hazy with shadow yet its as definite I 1 and na though rembrandt had painted it stood tile the bials of the vigilance committee shorty squatted on oil tile ground lita ills stocky figure hardly less tall than when erect ills faco face lay illy 11 in tile shadow of tits his broad hat but lila attitude implied alertness and command con imand ile ho was pointing to n document above lint him leaned cohen lila ills hands resting on his fits flexed knees lila fits derby lint pushed buck back buck starcus marcus handy and aayers of tho the variety theater stood in conference central group of tile composition strung about them I 1 identified siegel of tile the beer lanill taylor of the he bank hutchins its ills teller lockhart lockhert superintendent of the stonewall jackson round the pole corrill corral built heavily to resist the rushes of wild horses in process of breaking ran a circle of riflemen hummers hammers sounded through the slash of 0 light passed two men stringing barbed wire at one side tile the remainder of the rifle comilang company comi lany kept its column of fours fears and us as I 1 watched it squad on oil some special nil aln slon In marched arched awny away nt at n quickstep quick step just as I 1 stepped up tip beside tile the central group shorty and cohen rose erect staring I 1 followed their glance A company of nien men was coming round tile he corner some one twisted alib lie reflector behind tile the lantern in tile the circle of light advanced town marshal handcuffed a guard holding tits his arms on either side shoulders square head bead erect he was waa a beautiful figure of de defiance flance book him mr cohen said marens marcus in his most matter of fact businesslike bustnes nes tone what charge asked cohen balancing a pencil above in a black notebook 1 I dont know replied marcus 1 I swear I 1 dont whether to put you down mcgrath as nn nil all round crook or just a fool make blake it laus sua pecked person for the present mr cohen but now the marshal hall had found that splendid singing voice of its D n you Ilan handy dyl 1 lie he cried th this Is Is how youre getting even you yo u aint a nt roan man enough to ight fight me you cant c nt fight except in your filthy newspaper p er 11 lie choked my imy way of fighting replied marcus cheerfully 1 I cant shoot for cold beans mr ex marshill and now im ilin forced to give you some advice by way of saving your life tit at least temporarily pora rily this corral Is the county jull jail of the new municipal government these guards here are armed with rifles rides containing genuine lead bullets bullet sr their |