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Show Zm SHARE ALIKE CORNER By Richard Hill Wilkinson THE second week after they reached the cabin on Wolf Creek, Sid Condon, exploring a tributary alone, found gold. He spent half a day estimating the I value of the filnd. It was a pocket 1 and would prob- 3 .Minute ably net a total i?.,. take of between FlCtlOn $40,000 and $50,- I . 1 000. Sid filled his pipe and sat down to meditate. The thing to do, of course, was to get Duke Brandon, his partner, clean out the placer, and hit for Big Rock settlement before the snow came. Sid sucked on his pipe, and his eyes grew crafty. Into his mind there came a picture of thin-lipped Duke Brandon. Why should he share this find with Duke? A man with $40,000 could retire and live for the rest of his days in comfort. A man with only half that amount would have to scrimp. Forty thousand dollars! dol-lars! Duke Brandon was in a surly mood that night. He had had no luck. The food supply was getting low. Snow would come soon. Why not quit now while their chances of getting out were good? "Wait a week," Sid urged. "Might as well make sure we ain't mlssin' anything." So Duke was prevailed upon. The next morning they started out again in opposite directions. Sid went south, circled west and came to his claim. Working feverishly he panned pan-ned a handful of gold and carried it up stream a half mile, cacheing it beneath a large moss-covered rock. The next day and the next and the next it was the same. Duke be- With the speed of a snake his hand flashed to his hip where hung the revolver. came more disgruntled. He decided to remain only one more day. The next morning Duke headed: north. Toward noon he swung westi and south. At midafternoon he' came to a moss-covered rock lying near the shore of what was to him an explored tributary. He sat down to smoke and rest, and as he sat there the slanting rays of the sun! fell upon a dull, yellow piece of metal. Duke blinked, then leaned forward. He picked up the piece of metal and saw beyond it a small, opening beneath the rock. ' He knelt and reached into the1 hole and took out a handful of gold. 1 Sid Condon had stood in the bed of the stream when cacheing his placer gold, so there were nd footprints foot-prints nor other signs to indicate his having been there. There must be $30,000 worth of metal in the cache. Half of that was his, according to the unwritten law. The other half but what could a man do with a mere $15,000? DUKE took a small ,ack from his pocket and filled it full with the dull, yellow dust. His breathing was heavy as he knelt there. His eyes glowed feverishly. He knotted the sack together and rose from his knees and stopped dead still. Sid Condon was standing not 15 feet away. Sid's left hand contained a sack similar to the one in Duke's. It was not full, but the bulge was evidence enough as to its contents. For split seconds the two men stared at each other. Significance of the meaning of the situation dawned slowly in their sluggish brains. Sid Condon's lips flattened against his teeth. His eyes narrowed nar-rowed to slits. "So!" he cried hoarsely. "So! This is how it is! Partners, eh?" "Partners," Duke Brandon echoed. "Partners!" he repeated in ugly scorn. "You louse!" Sid Condon laughed harshly. He was bigger than the other man, and he felt confident. With the speed of a snake his hand flashed to his hip where hung tie revolver. His finger contracted on the trigger and flame belched from its muzzle. Sid Condon saw his partner's, body jerk convulsively, and he knew: he had scored a hit; knew it only dimly though, for the sound of his own gun had come from a great distance, and there was a drumming and pounding in his ears. He sank to his knees, and through the haze of his vision he saw that Duke Brandon was also on his knees. Then he knew that Duke had equalled him in speed at the draw They lay, so close they could almost touch, each holding firmly to a sack of gold; lay and cursed and were eventually silent while the silvery stream rippled on, and nigh finally came. |