Show AC M L E ak I 1 ACKSON GREGORY 00 GREGORY W RELEASE THE STORY STOBY SO FARI fahl ann LM lee and nd cole cody benea darles under two identical WHIS blui of old URI cole sought to discover disc c who had bad fired the fatal atal blutt lit at U old id bill suspicion centered around ranee rance waldron who was living at t the ranch when amu and cody a arrived arrive 4 doc joe and the judge commissioned by old bill to carry out gat nil bit last wishes were re turning to town from the ranch each with a will tor for safekeeping when ty they were held up by it a masked bandit whom they recognized to a ranee banco waldron to divert suspicion rance hance then killed wo nil accomplice tom gough cal roundtree Hound tree foreman ore raan of 0 via the ranch learned meanwhile that doc joe lived now continue with the botory CHAPTER doc joe pulled up the chair cl close ose to the bed bea and spoke softly throttling his voice down to a near whis per for one thing I 1 aint dead now never was and dont intend to be for a spell yet he said get that in your head cal dont go thinking ghosts you dont look anything like what I 1 might suppose a ghost would look cal said curtly now lets get ke after tafter blazes you been playing dead for for a spell I 1 had to said doc joe if I 1 ranee rance waldron would have killed me sure like he did the judge and tom gou gough g h he nicked me side of the head he put his finger gingerly to a bit of taped gauze over his te temple mple it sort of dazed me I 1 lay on rny my side and saw him step ovet over to the judge he shot the judge between the horns before I 1 could wiggle a finger then he looked at me maybe I 1 sort of fainted a minu teI dont quite know or reflect recIe ct I 1 was scared enough to faint anyhow he canie came back dragging tom gough he shot gough twice and rode away I 1 tried to get up I 1 got dizzy and sure did faint for good when I 1 woke up and the boys hauled us into town I 1 was out cold they thought I 1 was dead me I 1 got to thinking I 1 let lem em keep on thinking so nobody knows but doc evans you and him now cal and youre both going to keep your mouths shut until I 1 give the word ranee rance waldron is downstairs right now said cal stubborn and eager he he killed the judge you says and you saw him and its almost a dead certainty that either cither him or his hired hand tom gough potted old early shut up andrit anait and sit it down brid and keep your shirt tall tail tucked in I 1 now listen the judge and me we had those two wills that old jackass bill cole draped up andar and mr ranee rance Wald ions ons got em abw now and now cal roundtree telling this to cole cody as the two jogged bogged along came to a halt then he began to swear explosively and in the end grown quiet after his struggle with himself he muttered disgustedly gust edly cody 1 1 I dont know which end im standing on theres something I 1 know that I 1 got to keep under my hat like I 1 been dong doing I 1 almost ble blew w my top off and let the cat jump with old doc joe im near doing the same thing wity with y you why not cal said cody quietly you andi and I 1 known each other all summer but on your mind old timer I 1 no cal growled lehme be let me go on now and tell you tile the rest that I 1 can what old doc joe has gairl his mind ile he says ranee rance waldron is smart like a whole herd of 01 foxes he says no waldron wont destroy those wills right off he says waldron will play sale safe and hide em em darn good where the devil himself cant find em until he sees for sure which way the wind blows what he says is this waldron will try to gobble the te king cole le ranch and anything else left co ban hanging ging it if he makes a go of it hell burn the papers if theres any slip up along the trail well then with the two wius wills in his war bag he can dicker after a long while cody asked what does doc joe plan how long is he going to play dead that started cal roundtree off again but he got himself in hand ultimately ultimate lyland and explained some part of doc joes plan late tonight the other doc parke evans will find a paper in does docs room signed by doc ae joe himself dated 6 a couple of years ago saying when hes dead he yearns yearns to be packed up and shipped back to his boy hoods home which is in deni dear old Tennes seel cal spat tar far into space so doc evans will pack him in a box and haul him oft off with him tomorrow going back to rim rock and to the railroad at christmas forks ship some sort of a bundle and doc joe will hide out for a spell with doc evans later hell get a chance to creep back this agayby away by the dark of the maon moon meantime were to watch and wait for ranee rance waldron to be making his play arrived at the ranch they unsaddled aled cared for their horses and said goodnight good night cal to turn in at the bunk house and no doubt tilt hi his s bottle to a long gurgle cole cody hastening L up p the slope to the ranch house in the starlit patio lie he came upon porfirio lounging on a bench waiting for him Porfir porfirios los glowing cig alg arette described a quick small arc in the gloom as Por porfirio firlo came to his feet ill see you in the morning porfirio 11 but wait exclaimed Por porfillo porferio firlo excitedly cit edly what the deuce is it muttered cody stooping to see better not a dead cat is it itt old black toma loma tom lom A hati hat I 1 cody led the way into the iii living room while helas lighting a la lamp Por porfirio firlo explained how his persistence had brought him to his discovery from the place where the man had hidden when he shot early bill Porfi porfirio ric on horseback had ridden it a score of times following each time a slightly different pith path thinking now it if it was me and I 1 wai was riding Tiding like the wind id go this way thinking and I 1 would get rid lid of that hat muy pronto and he had looked at au all the possible hiding places had looked even for signs of a small hot fire and then at last his keen eyes had seen a stick a small dead pine limb its end sti sticking ching out from under a sizable boul boulder derl ile he had ill for how could a stick get itself shoved under a rock me like that it if a man had moved feat rock now and had been in a harry settling it ba back ck andin and in a hurry to ride on he might with a care careless ess boot have kicked that stick where it jot got caught under the stone 1 porfirio sweated over the boulder eriov moving J it iland and found the hat yes there was a bullet hole drilled through it there was more there was everything cole cody could only regret that its message W f 4 i be put his hands on on hers uhe permitted the contact for a long moment cametto came too late in the sweat band merethe we were rethe the initials tooled through the leather TG tom gough who it was Por porfirio firlo he said as he tossed the hat now of no interest to the table but ranee rance waldron look porfirio tom gough is dead already hes the stick up gent that fought it out with kith the judge and doc joe Por porfillo porferio firlo began cursing in the tongue of the south he started to the door hebald he said good night sul lenly then of a sudden he whirled and cried out dead the cab ronel and so he gets away from me like that does he don coulto he laughed and it was an evil sound when po porferio lopez laughed that way cody not yet of any mind for bed and sleep started a quick blaze in the fireplace and dragged a big comfortable chair in front of it sunk deep into early bills pet et chair rolling what he thought was to be a good night cigarette he did not hear a door open and close softly nor did he hear light oncoming steps what he heard first was a subdued voice saying hello cole cody mind if 1 I j join 0 in you and the afie fire a minute I 1 can cant t sleep can you he rose and drew up a companion chair the young firelight catching at a stick of pitch pine flared up and shone brightly on his face and little ann lees as they stood el a moment looking seriously at each other it shone in their eyes and made them bright I 1 ann lee he sald said after a while what is it cole she asked both their voices were quiet hers hushed you realize by this time dont yap yo u that theres not a chance in the world of either you or me ever coffi coming to own any past part athe althe king cole ranch yes she spoke very simply not seeming or sounding in the least concerned scarcely interested he heard her long quivering sigh before she added maybe its funny but I 1 dont seem to care anymore any more after what has just happened those two dear old men darn your dour hide doc joel it was hard for bill cole cody to keep from violating cals condid confidence id en cc just as it had been a mans jo job b for cal to keep from b blurting I 1 out something else he knew something he felt bound to keep to himself little by little out of these drift ing silences they fell to talking briefly and sketchily sketch lly about each other about themselves they laughed a little together and came closer each other than ever before when they started to speak at the same instant and with the same thought why your father and mine too must have been great friends friend sl 1 cody made himself another cigarette and instead of smoking it or even remembering that he had made it to smoke sat rolling and rolling it with his lean strong fin gers lie he said without looking up 1 I could almost be glad in a way I 1 would be glad if it that ranee rance waldron might come to profit by it that those two wills are anyhow for the present and maybe for good out of the picture all weve done maybe all wed ever do is fight like cat and dog over the darned place I 1 maybe now well maybe we can get along without wl tout h fighting figh it might be tun fun tor for a change ann lee im a beast most of the time im afraid she said contritely and I 1 try so hard not to bel honestly bill cole cody I 1 try terribly hard he put his hand on hers she permitted the contact for a long moment then gently slid her fingers out from under his and palm up ward let them curl again on her lap 1 I guess I 1 have spanked you so i hard any howl 1 I deserved every bit of it and har harder derl I 1 but he saw that the hot color in her cheeks now was not altogether the affair of the fire and I 1 guess I 1 gugh tnt to have kis kissed sed you on the stage the way I 1 didell lets not quarrel any more ever she said hurriedly she lifted her eyes to Ms his we have been friends in a way we we do like each other even after all happened I 1 know we do he said soberly youre being mighty sweet ann lee I 1 never knew a girl like youl you I 1 I 1 1 I love fireplaces fireplace sl I 1 one like this look how the coals are forming now I 1 do you like to find pictures in them of course everybody does the fireplace is ia one of the things that makes me love this room she stirred slightly and sighed she moved her arms crossing them her hands on her hei shoulders giving herself a little hurshe hug she said dear old early bill lie he did dietry try he tried so hard to have him his fun and at the same time to do something splendid tor for you and me for hla his old friends son and daughter well ive a tiny fireplace all my own at home and when I 1 go back to teaching annl what are you talking about you forgotten have you Y the money he left for us in the na bank fifty fifty we know that bucktooth jenkins Jenki fis got that ten thousand into the pot you heard the judge say there wasa was a whole lot jot morel and you talking about abou it teachings teach honestly cross my heart and hope to die sh she exclaimed 1 I 1 I had forgotten all shout that part of it I 1 why there are thousands and thousands there all yours and minel aunt jenifer cleared her throat considerately in the far dim end of the long room mind if I 1 come in you two she asked and came straight ahead im close to getting the jim jams all alone in my room and I 1 got to thinking about a pot of coffee and you two fighting again cody gave her his chair squatted on the corner of the hearth and started a fresh cigarette ann lee began to laugh and thus began on the king cole ranh ranch a short chort period of time into which entered many a pleasant moment with moments of quiet peace moments of spontaneous happiness flitting all too swiftly because a always the shadow came back moments when ann lee surprised a look in bill cole codys clodys which he did not know was there which no other girl had bad ever put there and times when he be trying to rind read what lay in her mind what she felt deep down in her heart even dreamed his dreams they rode together hours on end memorizing the lovely lonely details of the vast king cole ranch once ann lee as a s they came to the crest of a rise of land from which they could look for miles across a glory of undulating panorama exclaimed breathlessly oh colel cole I 1 it if this really could be oural and he repeated within himself not looking at her but into the furthest blue distance his jaw hard and his eyes narrowed bourst and his fils thoughts switched swiftly as so often they did to the vanished ranee rance waldron F for or since that night in bald eagle nw at the ranch had seen or heard of min him ranee waldron had simply faded out of the picture leaving no inkling ok 0 where he haztone had gone or why or for how long and so tile the days drifted by with summer ripening and cole cudy cody and ann lee wit with hAunt aunt jenifer lingered on TO BE CONTINUED |