Show T rn TURNING PO NT ti v r By BIf Mary carY Imlay Taylor l a j w. w N. N u. u RELEASE 1 T THE TIIE E STORY THUS FAR Mac Mae tells Sherwin that Jane is going coins to marry I think she will not bo ho reI re- re I piled plied Solemnly Mac stated that the sheriff had bad a picture of someone that's want wanted d. d Sheriff Cutler had bad shown the picture to Jim too Murder first degree decree escaped from Rhode thode Island I 1 dont don't think Wink lies he's around these parts Jim re re- plied piled Jane too saw the picture and Stenhart panted Dont let him kill kUl killme me met mel Sherwin admitted t to Jane that he was the man they wanted Jim advised advised ad ad- him to melt away recline Feeling like Uke an outcast Sherwin goes gocs to Old Macs Mac's shack stuck where tho thou foreman has a meal ready for him Aint no use I. I says cays Mac I i CHAPTER VI VIDo Do you know Vh why Im I'm wanted Sherwin asked still standing The old fellow nodded Seen th 1 1 paper you ou had in your pocket Sherwin Sher- Sher win You'd marked the description and It dropped day dayan an I 1 saw it Th m sheriff sherif talked some too V when we were goin to look for th tho place where Jordan jumped the creek I 1 aint a askin skin questions You sit down an eat Sherwin sat down Youre a good goodman ti man he said chokingly Im old old said MacDowell quiz quIz- r I aint dead set on punishing pun pun- f fishing other folks Except Jordan said Sherwin Mac laughed Well maybe maybel I Eat son you may have a long hike You cant can't take th thO trains have your our picture up in em cm J You said a while ago when ago when you were tending my arm that arm that Miss Keller was to marry Stenhart Is that true MacDowell considered pulling on his pipe Ive heard Jim say so You dont don't like Stenhart Hes my cousin Sherwin said in a Sat flat emotionless voice The old man started and took his pipe out of his mouth Gosh I he hc ejaculated and stared at the young man dumbly lies Hes my cousin and his testimony sent me to jail jai for life said Sherwin Sherwin Sherwin Sher Sher- win and his voice shook He lied He lied me out of the way for fear Id I'd break our our uncles uncle's will He got everything An youre you're accused of killin th tho uncle because hed he'd cut you off aint that it Mac leaned his elbows on the table looking across it at the shadowed face of Sherwin V V The Thc latter nodded The old sto sto- ry he said shortly Uncle was killed in the garden He was stabbed while he slept on the old bench by bythe bythe bythe the cedars Id I'd just found him when Max came in the gate hed he'd been up the thc street at the newsstand He swore I had the knife in my hand It was perjury but he got away with it Uncle and I had had a difference difference difference differ differ- ence the day before and people l k khew ew of it That went against me me and Max swore me mc into jail for life That's all Mac was silent for a while then he grunted Did you tell Jim about it it Sherwin laughed bitterly He I wouldn't believe me if I did The jury Ive I've served eight years I 1 was two twenty-two when I was sen sen- Ever been in jail he asked ironically Come mighty near it once son Punch In a rogues rogue's head got me arrested arrested arrested ar ar- ar- ar rested but somehow th thO judge kinder kind kind- er agreed with me that it needed Its like being In hi hell hell to to shut a healthy man up behind stone stonewalls stonewalls stonewalls walls for life lle Sherwin said bitter bitter- ly y I 1 wont won't be taken if ff I can help it Id I'd rather die only die only Ive I've got something to do first The old man looked across under the lamplight again something Inthe in inthe inthe the white face opposite moved him bun deeply Sherwin was a stranger he was an escaped convict yet yet yet- Dont do it it son son old Mac said gently Sherwin startled raised his blo bloodshot eyes to his You know I 1 reckon I do Sherwin rose and began to walkabout walk walkabout V about the room I 1 came out hereto here hereto to find him He wasn't in his usual sual haunts in the city cIty so so they told me and Id I'd tracked him patiently tracked him to Kellers Keller's ranch when I stumbled into your accident and motored you here It was pure luck I thought to get here so easily easily- j without credentials too MacDowell nodded Hes get gettin tin tinwell well an hes he's sure to hang around Jane Sherwin said nothing but his hands clenched until the nails bit into the palms In the silence the little room seemed full of Janes Jane's presence Again he saw her eyes I change saw her recoil A shudder ran through him fury ury leaped up in him he remembered Stenhart's white face his bis cowardly cry Dont let him kill me mel Again he paced up and down Old MacDowell rose slowly stretching his uninjured arm Th be around here for fora a spell maybe thirty-six thirty hours You cant can't hardly miss him i if you try to get out now some of em cm will meet up with you I tell you what Ill I'll do you do-you you come along with me now I before moonrise an an Ill I'll fix you up i Ive I've just been gurIn figurin it out Sherwin stopped in his pacing and I looked at him strangely touched How about Keller He wanted me meto to get out at once You awn aint t goin gain to stay on th ranch you follow me Mac picked up the pack food and opened the thed d A sudden gust of wind blew out the lamp In the thc dark Sherwin pressed his hands over his eyes he was trying to shut out Janes Jane's face Were goin to th stables aint no one there an an we can saddle up I cant can't take a horse from here I Sherwin exclaimed sharply Easy son son Ill I'll lend you mine to tonight tonight to- to night said Mac I can ride one of the thc ranch horses we aint gain coin gainso so terrible far r They went to the stables and old MacDowell brought out the horses Sherwin hated to lay a hand on one of them but he mounted when the thc theold theold old man told him the thc roan was his own property Silently after that they rode past the ranch house and out on to the twisting mountain road Five miles up in the redwoods they passed the thc limits of Las Palomas The wind from the hills grew cold but the sky was brightening the highest peaks were already touched with moonlight Sherwin turned in his saddle and looked down Below I V Ii- Ii a. a x r V. V ft h i r e r In the dark Sherwin pressed his hands over his eyes he was trying to shut out Janes Jane's face him lay the ranch he could just seethe see seethe seethe the lights in the house mere pinpoints pinpoints pin pin- points of brightness Darkness like a velvet cloak had fallen on the valley He drew a deep breath Jane was there Jane who had repudiated ed him with her chill look and Stenhart Stenhart Sten Stene hart His hand clenched Stenhart's Stenhart's Sten- Sten harts hart's lie had sent him bun to prison it pursued him still Resolve was hardening in him he could not go until he had killed him He rode rodeon on again but all the while he was aware of those lights down there inthe in inthe inthe the darkness He had lived eight years in prison but he was still young The girls girl's eyes ees her voice her tier soft soU hands on his wounded arm had bad kindled a flame now the flame was made fiercer more terrible by jealousy Stenhart was with her herl Then suddenly he was roused from his fierce Old Mac drew rein Get down he said briefly We can hobble th tho horses weve we've gotto got gotto gotto to hoof it the rest of the way The moon was rising over the top of the mountains as Sherwin swung himself out of the saddle They had left the road and were on a moun moun- mountain mountain mountain tain trail great trees surrounded them their spreading boughs making making making mak mak- ing a dense shade through which the rising moon shot here and there an arrowhead of light MacDowell MacDowell MacDowell Mac Mac- Dowell led led and and as they advanced the almost imperceptible trail grew narrower trunks tree of gigantic size locked them in far off was the sound of rushing water a mere murmur murmur mur mur- mur mar at their ears Walk slow Mac cautioned him th paths path's mighty narrow In hi front now an a mite treacherous Were We're coming to the edge of a precipice aint nothing to save you l if you fallI fall I hear water somewhere said Sherwin Mighty pretty little cascade below below below be be- low us bout two hundred feet Its It's too far down for th moonlight to strike it yet yet mind mind th tho turn now now now- there you can see th drop its it's mighty steep They stood on a narrow ledge Some convulsion of nature had long g ago ripped out the side of the slope Behind them was a bit of sheer r rock on either side the great trees s stopped and there was only a narrow narrow narrow nar nar- row path at the edge of a deep ravine ra ra- ra- ra vine Far down a turbulent little littleriver e river roared over the broken rocks es s and tumbled from a high cliff into o the depth below The moonlight r revealed re revealed a sheer precipice with nothing nothing noth noth- ing lag reaching out from it but one e old gnarled tree A uA mighty bad place to slip Sherwin said musingly easy casy t to o thrust a man over there there to to his s death I Old Mac grunted Mighty easy easy- easy easy- but you but you aint goin to get th chance hes he's too lame a duck to get this s far farl Sherwin felt the hot blood burn in Is his face how easily the old man had read his mind mindl Mac stopped slopped now and pointed Ignoring ignoring ignoring Ig ig- noring what he had just said Th cabins cabin's hid in there there among among them trees I built it most forty years ago I 1 hadn't no health those days doc said Id I'd got to live out up here in the redwoods so I knocked up th thO shack There used to be mighty good an fish in Its It's stood weather I expected There aint anybody knows about it except Jane she saw it once I fetched her up here You can camp here safe enough till Ull I bring you word where Culters Culter's gone Sherwin looking ahead into the dense shadows of the mountainside saw a light Both men stood still electrified edBy ed By gosh Mac caught at his companions companion's arm and gripped it it Its lis Im darned it if Jordan aint up here sure here sure as J he whis In your cabin Sherwin smiled grimly loosening his pistol in the shoulder holster MacDowell cautioned him to silence si silence si- si lence with a gesture and they both crept forward As they did so so Sherwin Sherwin Sherwin Sher Sher- win discerned the outline of a little cabin set in under a sycamore A rectangle of ot light appeared thedoor the thedoor thedoor door was open Softly step by step the two men approached keeping inthe in inthe inthe the shadow Sherwin slipped behind the house and looked In the win win- dow A man was sitting on the floor smoking and reading a newspaper by the light of a candle It was the outlaw Sherwin signaled to MacDowell MacDowell Mac Mac- Dowell and the old man came softly over and looked in The man was an easy mark but they did not shoot both loved fair play too well Making a sign to Mac Sherwin went quickly toward the thicker shadows of the trees in front of the cabin then deliberately and slowly he began began began be be- gan to tramp down dry twigs and make the noise a man might make makein in carelessly approaching from the woods back of the ravine The sounds reached the rustlers rustler's ears He extinguished the thc candle and stepped outside the door That you OU Kenny For answer Sherwin sprang forward for tor- ward pistol in hi hand and old Mac emerged from behind the cabin with witha a roar Weve got you now no you skunk he shouted The outlaw dodged dropped to his knees rolled over like a ball and went spinning down the slope Sherwin's Sherwin's Sherwin's Sher- Sher wins win's bullet speeding after him A sailing cloud suddenly obscured the moon and In the darkness a gun flashed below them and a bullet whistled past They heard a scrambling scrambling scrambling scram scram- bling falL tall Sherwin fired again Into the dark a man cursed and silence si silence silence si- si lence followed Darn Dam that cloud I cant can't see athing a athing thing old Mac whispered You think Jordans Jordan's down there Sherwin Sherwin Sherwin Sher Sher- win Sherwin who had gone to the edge of the ravine and came back after the last shot answered as softly Yes I can hear him scramble Im I'm Im I'm hanged if u I 1 know how he got away without falling over the precipice precipice precipice preci preci- pice There c comes comes mes the moon moon back back out of range or hell he'll pick you off oil MacDowell They both stepped back into the shadow of the cabin and waited expecting expecting expecting ex ex- a rush by Jordan and his confederates but nothing happened Far below them they heard a twig snap and some gravel slide Comin I reckon Mac whis whIs- Sherwin shook his head Still going going go go- ing the same man Very likely hes he's gone for help true aint any use stay- stay in here to be shot at As he spoke he felt his way into the cabin Want to risk lighting the candIe candle candle can can- dle dIe Sherwin asked him from the door Ive got matches Nope hope Wed We'd be targets sure then I can see from th tho moon Where you goin gain Im going to stay here have to give th cabin up son you'd have a batch of them rustlers to fight fight if if he comes back And the sheriff on the road Sherwin replied grimly true truel Mac thought a mo mo- ment I 1 say Sherwin you'd better just keep under the trees for th night an skip at daybreak The Thc posse be most likely tired an rest- rest in You'll get some hours start any any- ways Sherwin nodded He had other plans but he would not tell them He grasped the old mans man's hand Come Im I'm going to see you off safe sate with the horses then Ill I'll come back here quietly Mac protested grumbling but he finally let the younger man accompany accompany ocean ocean- pany pang him to the road His ills lame arm still made the old man more orless or orless orless less awkward Sher Sherwin in helped him get the two horses and saw him mount You skip at daybreak Mac said kindly and leaned from the saddle to hold out his hand again I 1 dont don't believe you did it he ended brusquely Sherwin wrung his hand and stood under the trees watching him go The old mans man's blunt sympathy and active help had touched him to the quick lIe He watched until the old figure figure figure fig fig- ure In hi the saddle and the two horses became mere specks on the white road toward Las Palomas TO BE CONTINUED |