Show oatt att cwm GLASS va V n BULLETS dy by FRANK FILSON tho the sheriff had knowd oil all along that the half breed girl girt was as tricking him but big tom cagley eagley had meant to bo be tricked he ile wanted to act set oes upon kid lougnot Lon long gnot not to follow a dubious trail that might lead nowhere and he had been curtain certain that at somo time or other the kid would show up at shack nalda lived alone save for the old trono who was aas said to be her mother baad laad ld looked like ikc her great grandmother twelve miles out in the painted desert t ie Is the cruelest of all deserts it breeds scorpions and gilas and venomous things and those who take to it whether perforce or from natural affinity share the same nature halt spanish half indian nalda at seventeen was a fit mate tor for the kid I 1 the most bloodthirsty and at ut tha samo same time cowardly of 0 the lad bad men nion of parthenon county the list of deaths which ho he had checked off in notches on the barrel of his min ln had all been of inoffensive men and nearly all had been killed unarmed or unawares big tom bagley had laughed when he as warned of the outlaws reputation james Pe u the sheep owner a man universally este ost emed med for his quiet law abiding nati nature ire had been shut in the back by kd kid long lung on account of some grudge the outlay bore and bagley had just taken down his rifle saddled his mare and ridden out to cabin at first the indian girl tried an affectation fec tation of ignorance then cajolery then threats none of these moved big tom 1 I reckon it if your man aint here hell be along soon he aid caid and took up his quarters in tb cabin nalda naida began to be in deadly fear of the big quiet man who treated her with such deference she planned to creeping cautiously through the boulders ride out to the kid and give him warning the kid was lylo lying up among the hills fearing a posse and it was inas cold there ho he longed for the comfort of the cabin but it he had known knon n that only big tom was N as there he would not have hesitated for a ino ment the coyote la Is always a natch match for the lion in guile As soon as nalda at dawn had leaped upon apon the back of 0 hir hi r inu mustang stang she saw bagley standing in tho the doorway ay going riding mise nalda drawled the sheriff 1 I reckon ill go along with you to seo sea ou dont come to no harm for ans answer er nalda dug her heels into the flanks and the desert bred steed was mas away anay like the wind ind but halt half an hour later when it pulled up LIP breathless with heaving flanks the sheriff was as at side and bis his nutre though blawn blo wn was still un NIn winded ded best be getting homo home for breakfast ate a ho he asked with a touch of humor in his gruff voice nalda rode back five paces in front of 0 him she knew that she aaa as beaten not no altogether though sheriff sheril bagley had the instinct of a cat when the mouse was out the next morning at five that instinct made him crawl from his tits mattress in the little room above the kitchen which he had bad mccu pled pied unasked he saw a streak of sunlight dancing upon a rock about two miles distant there would have been nothing strange about that tha only tonly the run sunlight light wag was round backward aad and forward it jumped and the sheriff stood grimly watching it it then looking downward 4 he to saw the elge of 0 skirt in alp tl doorway thu sheriff nent exit back to bed turned over and had a chort sleep bleep taen then he go up and yent vent downstairs in a lei lel surely manner neither the girl nor wr the old crone was to bo be seen the sheriff hunted about until he be found the mirror a email round one which tho the kid had probably brought her from one of hie his jaunta jaunts in town the sheriff clipped it up hie his big alcove took his winchester and lay down don under a tree facing in the direction of the distant hills his ills rifle he snuggled up against his side keeping his finder finger conveniently near the trig ger once it was hot the sheriff enjoyed a brief siesta half an hour later lazily opening one eye ho he perceived a figure creeping cautiously through the boulders of the dry gulch about three hundred yards distant in its land was a rifle 1 the sheriff edged a little so that the tree trea covered him baegl the kids first shot camo came uncommonly near the kid thought the sheriff asleep but ho he thought that ho lie could put a bullat through him at that di distance stanco so co that it was unnecessary to take any chances the sheriff did lacot reply because it is difficult to hit an inch of eyebrow at three hundred yards ho ile pulled the mirror out of his sleeve alcove and dandled it in api hl fingers tho second shot went wild vald tho the sheriff rose quietly to his feet and he did not seem to be barly interested in the man in the arroyo tor for ho he strolled toward him in quite quito a casual manner ho ile still held hold the mirror in his fingers and he ad so ste adil ll and apparently disinterested and quiet in his mind that tho the reflection played always alays upon that inch of eyebrow and the left eye underneath it and try hard as he might the kid could nover never get got hia his eye clear of that circle of light unless ho he ducked behind the stone and whenever ho he did so ho he always looked up to see the sheriff a good deal nearer yet the sheriff was st strolling toward him at tho the same even gait bang bang bang went nent the kids rifle and the sheriff smiled happily as ho he heard tho the bullets go whistling by far to the right and left of him the fingers that held tho the mir did not v waver aver an inch the kid was u as becoming panic struck as well as light struck it seemed like the inexorable approach of doom that quiet even advent of his enemy the figure came near and ever nearer out of a sort of that framed the dazzling light beam like a sheath lue kids head ducked and came up on tho other side of the stone and he leveled his rifle once again into that beam of ot light and hie his bullet plowed up the sand some twenty feet distant suddenly his chance came the sheriff advancing with ith his eyes fixed on the man in the gulley tripped over a stoff with shaking fingers the kid drew a bead on the prostrate man and fired the bullet went ent wild tho the kid had lost his nerve as well as hia clear vision ho ile jammed a cartridge into tho the breech and aimed once more into the same i ho he flung his rifle down don and spring ing to his feet held up his hands dont shoot he lie yelled youve got me big tom grinned in his amiable way as he came up to him you can put your hands down kid ho he said and the kid lo lowered ered them snap snap tha sheriff hid hd slipped the handcuff round them who in thunder gave you that glass began t tho a K kid id I 1 bitterly a as they approached the empty house that oh I 1 just borrowed it from miss naida nalda the sheriff answered ans you uee I 1 found that id como come out without any cartridges copyright 1914 by W a chapman |