Show iyo all AB rac K i ci 1 P e t CHAPTER X continued 14 tire central col committee round th life 0 of a wagon ghost ly av forms lit in the moonlight glit uri aind 1 I tho ali Jm dows savo for from this group and gritl imin nuis lei ler rising riflIng in the of their frn unil fl aiom oln tile prisoners within tile corbul noisy trolly optimistic cottonwood now lay iny under tho ali moonlight its client its ill death ocen occasionally lorral indeed distant root foothills hills re sounded from tile board sidewalks they tent hent no longer with a cheerful cilto hut with tile determined concerted ip of marching troops yet everywhere in file moonlight stood the Lot tod indistinct forms of men liten wal tIll tile li night seemed full of devils lc vII the rile slight nervous form fonn of mr or cult walking beside tile into tire the lantern light tire guard reported casualty to tile lio central crinini lt fee cc rec received elved it nod vanished w all ill clergyman and now out from it the e cr cor nl drifted tits ils voice resonant rayth inac praying into ills his prayer broke lie hysterical squal equalling ling of red lied ni 11 I 1 do to not know by what curiosity of human soul licko sounds of comfort mid and despair tore toie away within tire me file dinst of film go barriers which elvill vi tIon cultivation education imd hall built round the rin tural primitive hurst burst lit in il my ly head I 1 I 1 became tit nt one with tile alie licit best mid and worst of tills orderly mol mob they were pirir going to kili hideously int atilt and 1 I whose wrong was lost of nil 1111 1 I to kill will then bom at one moment I 1 seemed to myself nn air angel of justice n rebirth of my puritan who amoto and spitted trot not in tile alic name of the tie lord tit fit another lie in blunted clun ted tricked lovar hurning for revenge on nil him whose touch ouch hild polluted the ure life find eifes normal leR dr fres eq were over for tire ine if I 1 IIA vall valiantly antly before moncil monn letter so if only I 1 not got illin i I 1 strode back mid forth le tween wit Rons tile ono one moving fig tire in tense dintle moonlit landscape and then came opportunity the circle about lie wagon luid hall ahn I 1 up to marcus lie ile bending beside a lantern to con stilt alt ills ids bullseye bulls eye watch an hour or so before daybreak lie billil letter starl the cavalry A jerk of taylors Tny lors hend brought one ole or of the lie guards to therea was it 11 whispered order it nod tint and tile the guiard n R little nolde eifle froin the rest resl and so when I 1 asked ii inea quo tinn tion drown finin tile ine by tily my enio tiona none else heard next net I 1 inquired marcus hesitated trail then lien the boyn bon out for the main api ro lie he replied rep llod alic hand handies its gave Q n slow ni ennIng nod 1 willit mint to RO go too I 1 sit my IV tongue filled a dry mouth I 1 heard my voice olee its as though Romp olle otio else were and it was ts thick marcus hesitated wel 1 it will be tire the r tory story of tile the dav try lie he still na as though finding tin nn ec eltise tise then shorty I 1 lie he culled called im ill sending gilson ablong to report it yell vm know shorty Sli orty inspecting ids side alde airm pr fir roi nging tho lie cartridges in tits lita belt looked up till no you dont t lie growled blit blitzen blitzed zed I 1 found myself st ns over shorty Sli orty cursing him with r round und ondis challenging him lalni if lie hf had Hily liling roe me to fight it out here jirld now whatever doubt shorty lind of me tills this blast of genuine emotion seemed to dissipate ile he ignored my insults ind antl in dinv inv challenge only regarded rile mo from the shade of hl his hut hat lini nd then hen addressing marcus responded all right old hob 1 well vell take him along nl oriff hut but lies got to be rd u d II 11 good bon bey I 1 alve from now alley be hinl the courier k keap your mouth shut eliut if anybody disks you what youre loank doing here joe rive give this mun a long run gun und and it belt pet get your horse and rust rustle let I 1 dIrect eLl ve we sat our ofir horses in tile the shadows waiting so still that now and their at 11 long breath drawn involuntarily from tile the hi inhering boring lungs of excitement bouli pull my spine up ill stiff ns its though I 1 had heard a pastol shot the unlit hit and begun to imle anti and the inspiration of death that announces ounces the down blow blew it iton from on tile lie peaks must we walt there for everl ever the rattling lope of a horse sounded from the roadway beyond the rider crime cn mo into sight from the sickly slin shadows dows pulled up fell lit in beside shorty tit nt tile hend head of tile the column lie he was ln in a low tone but steadily I 1 began to catch tits his words 11 1 I says to him you chint bluff nio me 1 I says saya 11 1 I know what youre doln 1 I 1 says im just wat batchin chin sou I 1 anys no you dont dare put mo me on off the ali force I 1 says 1 I 1 suspect too much emalia tie over to the point of insincerity whose voice olce was that lit he pushed hack back his sombrero and the lie leaden light ills hla face it was wai charlie mock aleck into tits his monologue cut shortys Shor tys 1 harp co milland 1 Vor orward ward march I 1 As wo we einer emerged ged from froin the alie alley rodo rode tit at a sharp trot stward co toward the of the pyrites I 1 saw a chrit charlie charile meek still rodo rode beside shorty horty 18 lending leading tile column CHAPTER XI now its as onty early lawn dawn and lato late moonlight begun to blot out the mountain stars I 1 looked up from my own sulphurous misery to per perceive ce I 1 ve that the expedition bull bad swung round tile crimp camp turned tile the nh ri houlder of liverpool hill cut into the forty rod hod road front from the single file which we lind had on oil the trull trail we fell without orders into double column co lutrin shorty rind charlie meek aleck stilt still lending leading rind as the road began its ita sharp ascent slackened our lope to a fast walk then when tire the posse broke into a lope on oil a love level stretch and lost formation fonn atlon I 1 worked my fust fast and eager roan through tire the press presa like it jockey when it sharp grade compelled ut again to slacken our pace I 1 was just belind behind shorty alio ty and charlie meek ch chaille arlle as though by shadow of tits his of old nut authority hority seemed to bo be in command out of the shades carne came that castle rock beside which I 1 lind met constance denne deane rind arid liar her so long agol ago I 1 why it was only a night since I 1 lind had dwelt in n tools fools paradise over ber tricked nicked myself byseit into believing hol levIng in lierl and I 1 found myself praying that I 1 might never see another night but aut tile the relaxing rc mom memory ory of f tier kiss hiss would creep creel into my meditations so that I 1 closed my eyes and relived relieved that moment hut but the thought of tier her coming coining tainted to my irnis firms from tier her cl cherished I 1 rogue relit delit tile flames of my torment looking back as we topped it ridge I 1 could see that a follit pink glov wits was beginning to rim tile the snows of the giant range behind us and eliat cot tori Mood camp it a crazy pattern at af the bottom of the vista was streaming through tile the violet valley l ml ua trails of kiny gray smoke front from breakfast fires another ridge and we broke into sight of forty rod bod creek n cabin or so anil and a square fronted store beside tire the road a red dump or a gray root roof peeping liere here end there from tile dwarf trees white patches of columbine fringing a shallow gulch shorty ind and charlie meol meek pulled up shorty raising his hand hall to halt the column Wh rits tire the new idea now asked shorty horty 13 elmost deferentially deferent lally my notion that alint make for the ludlow pass country replied charlie Tl inta where held field out before according accord lna to police information theres three trails cut out just jast below timberline all toward lud I 1 lows 0 N I 1 s first breaks south about it nille choe forty hod spose we tool look into them trails for tracks good idea I 1 guess responded shorty all right boys sure I 1 came front from the nearer fringe of the lie posse poe ali then en spose wo we start said shorty quiet now I 1 at a fast walk we passed forty rod I 1 was riding just behind shorty to left of the double hied column I 1 could see but dimly tile the saw toothed mustached broffle of charlie meek there wits was a i nervousness it special tension in ills hla attitude lie ile was talking again but tits his voice jerked had bad place here could shoot into it us s and git clean away 11 I 1 saw hla his hand go to ills pistol scabbard lind wondered why the cowboy riding holing lit at my right had find pushed forward until lie ha ans opposite charlies saddle 11 sly G d that I 1 jerked out Chit rile meek and then things hapan hallan hapa halla A na N a aan av hour or so before daybreak he said better start tho the cavalry 11 pealed so swiftly that only long afterward could my mind arrange them into nto the memory of nn an ordered event charlie drawing had fired three tunes into the forest the first two s came close to jether the third utter after till mi interval like a single letter heard on a telegraphers key hut but hard on oil these two shots came awo mure more in abe same rhythm and though I 1 wits was looking in tire the other direction I 1 knew that tills this time it wits was shorty who fired my own gun shy roan danced and sidestepped I 1 silt sat and embed hill lalni by instinct for my eyes were on the cowboy As with one motion lie he had forced tits his horse up beside charlies had suited from his fits e it to th the e by will irwin copyright by wilt will irwin bg avico runia of charlies horse had thrown tile the crook ot of ills left inn arm about charlies neck had with fits right arin inid across charlies elbow it 11 hoo killo grip shorty leaped from ills fits saddle sn dille hung like a squat bulldog to tile the bits of tile the snort snorting ind double loaded horse tire tho gag quick 1 tie he cried and na its my own horse shied again into the shrubbery horsemen anti and footmen crowded past me I 1 saw charlie with tile the cowboy still hanging like ilke a buran baran uncle le to ills back tumble inep tire the road it vay ay saw a confuse d rd struggle in the shadows by tire the ground then charlie Cli arlle meek was lifted to tits his feet I 1 dismounted now drew near ills his arms were trussed behind bit him n ills his light yea eyes stared with inexpressible terror from a gray face ills jaws were mumbling and slobbering slob bering over the wooden kg gag is as though he were trying fran to speak shorty poked n gun into fits ribs shut up lie said or cash in premature weve learned nil all we wanted Ant Ld to know about you lit in case youre mixed up in your niland about these proceedings lot let tire me inform you tnt tile the one olle two one signal means scatter out annl tilde hide and was elrd by somebody in the alie posse ou after tile lost last stage robbery anti and ono one two one two three means idill ill clear git to tile chafin 1 it was wag fired similar after the holdup of the stonewall jackson payroll we were d n certain you was the party that tired fired it now weve got you dead the me mouthing at tire the gag stopped shopped Ch charales artles jaws seemed to drop and set lie ile sagged down onto the shoulders of the men su supporting him and you tried to hitch tile blame onto that poor tool fool chris McG mcgrathy concluded shorty lie ile turned to the posse now grouped about him on oil foot steady hoys boys mid and keep your guns quiet im goin to repeat that hint signal just to make sure ile he drew a second revolver aiming at the bole of a tree lie he fanned ills his hammer in five shots with with that same rhythm billop pop pop pop pop pop 11 I 1 now said bald shorty as the reverberations rever bein died out leave your horses here those that wont start stand you matt this to the cowboy youre guard to tills prisoner bring him and ills fits horse along iut but keep to jo tire the rear so you wont show if lie tries any monkey business kill him lit in dont anybody try to git ahead of me ive looked over the land ills eye fell on oil tire me apu leavo leave your horse and you keep entirely to the rear you aint tit in this something of shortys Shor tys old suspicion seemed to sharpen sli arpen tits his black eyes as lie added orders Is to shoot anybody who tries to spoil tills performance per 11 the posse shifted six shooters to workable positions drew rifles from the scabbards of their saddles and hitched lilt clied their mounts to bushes bust les come out on 1 cracked shortys Shor tys voice lit he turned round the thick bole of a pine ducked between two bushes the posse followed in single file 1 I as ordered at the rear some twenty yards of tiptoeing through the sparse underbrush and we had taken an abrupt turn to the right on a well dennec denned trail behind me I 1 could hear the padding of the led borse once charlies voice mumbled the gag artil tile the cowboy muttered red shut cupl up I 1 I 1 could imagine lintig lite the swift motion toward hla his gun the trail cattle came out into an open dip beyond rose a low sharp ridge bristling with djarf tirs which topped thick underbrush and no one was watching me even the cowboy charlie meek had his eyes on the focus of interest fully reail realizing zing that I 1 wits was taking a chance with my life tind for the moment wholly indifferent 1 I dipped into the underbrush tit at th tho left of the alie clearing worked as quietly ns as I 1 could through it cattle caine out at last into a trait trail evidently nn an offshoot of the one down which we bind bad marched it ru ran lit in the general direction which I 1 wanted to follow suddenly j I 1 was aware that there wits wag no longer n hill ride moto at al my right but the bright morning air I 1 dropped tit nt the alie foot of 0 spruce which edged the trait trail crouched crouch d among its low lying branches in tie dim till light I 1 reflected I 1 must be dinv inv invisible s I 1 looked about me below lay a bowl of the mountain side traversed by the head waters of forty rod hod creek at the bottom of the bowl stood it t ept hole with winch which and bucket beside a small dump of yellow earth and red rock instinct and the lay or of the land told we me that this was the center of IrL terest the focus of those invisible eyes along the ridge I 1 lay and waited five minutes perhaps though jt ft seemed hours tile claim below lay deserted or was it my ay iy perceptions sharpened by till nil hateful emotions and now by suspense sits I 1 felt about it a sense of life of interior movement somehow le if seemed inhabited packed it bulver with lift life I 1 could have sworn that I 1 even heard something stirring within it how much longer must I 1 awalt await the beginning of that hint action for which my hell burned soul longed my hand went to tho the revolver tit nt my bolt belt theu I 1 ru re and remembering cursed myself fo for an inept fool that I 1 had left my lay rifle lit in its scabbard gitil in horse hors e no 11 battle there wab 1 0 7 to be I 1 would charge in with my pistol or charge in nal naked ced handed so I 1 got my man and then a figure emerged slowly cautiously from tile alio tangle of bushe i beyond tile lump dump iio Ile stood a moment ment yes there was life in the cabin A hand waving a white cloth had been thrust from till tho window the solitary figure stepped back bach into tire the bushes A motile ino niMit ct more and four our men emerged emer emor ged walking in III pairs each pair carrying between it a box and then far oft off to my right sounded rounded a n light shot ahot us its of a pistol a heavier one its as of |