Show e aw wood 0 0 d of f sleepy S VY V Y 1 te e 1 q M sat ap 1 I se ey q Is r by FRANK H SPEARMAN servie copyright by chares char Scrib nees tT bonit CHAPTER XII continued 14 pushing the ill III smelling lantern closer to the fireplace replace il lie picked up lip ane one of the half burned mesquite roots raked together Pard aloes scattered embers and after patient effort pot got a tiny blaze flickering having done this he sat down on the blanket near the hearth put out tile the lantern and advised tracy to go to sleep What ll you be doln asked the drowsy tracy ill st sit here for a while give me your cards mil bill Par daloe had br brought rought in an extra blanket tor for selwood who was cou coush h ing As lie he readied reached into its his capacious hip bill pocket for or the cards he trained framed an apology gummed up some john no matter returned selwood curtly gle ghe tile me the cards cardi Par daloe handed the chilly gambler tile the greasy cards and withdrew tracys talk gradually subsided lie he was soon asleep in the uneven play of light from tile hearth selwood vie tiie blanket spread before him mechanically shuffled Pard aloes cards absorbed and silent he held the pact pack in tits left hand impassively Pi lipped the cards one by one to ills his right and faced bent slowly on the lie blanket pausing at intervals to marl mark their sequence and to read in it the answer ain to the question ile he kept ask aej l ing Par daloe came in with will a handful of wood ripped from a window shutter and fed it silently and skillfully to sel Se woods lwoods fire cre when the blaze suited him lie he turned on his hinges to read the story the hie cards were telling silence till 1111 belwood Re lwood had finished dead man man in in oem em tonight oh f john he gold in afi nn undertone A dead man responded selwood composedly and added this last time theres something new bill whits that A dead woman Par daloe cramping his grizzly neck at the surprising words bent its ills heady eyes close down on the fate barana sequence lie ile stared for a moment then without words he drew I 1 back his hend head the dead woman was there tracy slept only a little while chile longer on Par daloe had gone to the wagon and selwood felt presently that ills his partner was awake and that very probably lie lay watching him tout selwood himself had no desire to break the silence tracy did not lie ile quiet long what you doing there john he asked aska at length with something of a growl it looks to rne me as if one of us anyway ought to be in sleepy sleeps cat a night like this everything weve got up there in the world Is at stake everything P aie e got up there dave amended selwood youre a mine owner now im just plain gambler remember that will you ile ie spoke the last two word with a touch of add acid sharpness that did not often creep into his tone tracy recognized in it an all invitation to quit ive apen back up there tonight since I 1 brought you down volunteered selwood to break the brusque brusqueness fiess of ills his earlier ton V tile vigilantes are holding our part of tile the town and they aliey changed chanced their minds mindi somehow about burning us abe cole told me we were safe of course the other fellows might try it but I 1 just imagine have most of tile the bunch on the telegraph poles by morning if got enough poles dave selwood asked the question in his accustomed cus tomed kindly fashion you youie e played the cards a good while title you lver aver since I 1 was big enough to set up in n play euchre with my dad all coln nigh on forty year gr the old man appeased in turn by the friendlier tone of his do you believe in eni em dave 1 I bellee in the cards ati ansei ebed ed tracy all tile time I 1 belice in logs does most 0 tile lie little lime no not infill men I 1 bellee le in ary title do you believe in dead men dave asked selwood Sel nood dont talk foolishness retorted tracy gnoj and lie added deeper resl 1 I dont believe in no women none 0 the ahrie Par daloe stuck tits ills liend hend in through the shack door just in time to bear tracys Tra cys wo wc ds right for ones once partner lie balf liala bellowed dead dead tiglia ligpit every thord right sil wood showed impatience wake bob ho he said sald to Ilar daloe shortly I 1 illitch up u the horses well be pulling nut of here pretty quick which way sou bead beaden tie adin ln askea tracy us its Par daloe ills tune was waa irritating and the question found selwood irritable 1 I dunt dont know and dont care much he answered indifferently well ill tell you riar remarked kd tracy tra if take me lite back to sleepy sheepy cat boull oblige me tove sneaked rue me out 0 there ther you befall away frair chaee alia e too to talk it hat flat out I 1 dont illa ilka it selwood tried iriel to pass it olt off lip voke with half A laugh and lu in the banner of at his fila partner think take it that hard dave I 1 did what I 1 was right y yes 1 bt A 11 sorry I 1 bothered you it wont happen again I 1 hope I 1 shant be bothering anybody very long tracy crew a sharp austion at him what d you mean by that toul fool Ish ashness Islin ness Is there any particular objection to my meaning exactly what I 1 say the retort was too keen to pass un noti notley ed tracy was silent for a moment when he spoke lie he made a gruff complaint whenever you get 1 a I chance you like to take me hard dont you anything I 1 say selwood suppressed a smile 1 I thinking about you pave dave dont you know a man can feel that his games about played mine begins to look that way to me tonight shucks Shuck sl you got a cough started again alls the matter with you selwood released a hard little laugh coughs dont bother me ive been acquainted with em cm too long I 1 asked you a while ago whether you believed in dead men lust last night I 1 dreamed I 1 saw frank sanger 1 I thought I 1 was walking down ther street in sleepy caf cat it seemed as it if it was dusk evening or early ni morning orning I 1 looked across the street there was frank sanger walking on tile the other side ilde i looking straight over at me looked the same as lie he lid did that night we int I 1 nt at bortoes but ills his all mustache inalie was heavier lie ile had on a queer looking hat 1 I tried to reach for my gun I 1 move a finger all of a sudden ile he started across the street toward me ills his eyes were as big as teacups tea cups and all the time I 1 knew lie was lead dead I 1 I 1 tried to cry out I 1 must have made some kind of a noise for something woke tile me up I 1 grabbed d my gun out from under my pillow I 1 was sure lie was somewhere in the room and there I 1 lay in a cot cold s sw ea t dead men dont walk the streets gr growled oiled tracy stir up that fire alre what you sitten there in the dark for theres to a dream man selwood made no move its in the cards too dave ive tried ern em throe three times it always comes tile the same way theres death in this deck for somebody I 1 guess its full time for me to cash in anyn anyway ay and remember everything between you and me lie Is I 1 fixed you own tile mine I 1 own the hill hall light the lantern dish dash it hurst burst out tracy with a deepening growl dreams dont mean anything it if theres anything wrong with the cards its because ban hanging ing men in sleepy cat without a word selwood rose frit felt for a match and striking it looked for the lantern tracy kept up a nervous running fire of talk punctuated at times hy by abrupt pauses hut but persistent selwood holding the lantern in his land slipped the glohr down over the lighted wick then lie he paused and as lie he stood listened doubtful at first of his big sense of hearing the faint regular sound of hoof beats soon fell unmistakably on his ears Selvo selwood Sel nood extinguishing by a short drop the flame of the lantern and bidding tracy lie still picked up the lie box and set it over the fire stepped through the lie half halloren hal lopen open door hn and d stood for a moment just outside lie he imd hold not been mistaken a horseman wils nearing tile cluster of evil tints huts known as malahias calabasas Cala hias basas standing in the full ligi of a late dimna ninin moon selwood wis was joined hy by the lie indian who anit ing only to get tits ills orders stole forward under cover toward the main road ile he reached a point of vantage it the moment tile horseman slackened his pace scott al allowed loed him to ad vance oil and turn and rein about in indecision only 1 luna ing enough to him film out Par daloe in ili the In internal tenal Int Tul lind had selwood and had move ove I 1 illk with film from tile lie floor door heeti which hl eti it tip ell left biffl banging imry avry on its one hinge ingv the hie shadow there they stoid adien reining about after afler speaking low to scott iho had hailed boiled 11 him I 1 ri 1 tile the rider spurred nguan down chri t le draw nod and holtel before tracys ablack for taj 0 is i s sake tie ile floan ills sl iddle where Is ever everi lody body selwood recognized the voice and the at tile same instant and stepping out into the to lo mcalpin tile stout hearted little barn boss staggered red stiffly into the alie after selwood ye lwood the ivo ano other oilier men erod crowd ing in behind bc him Par daloe he lanstein lan lant tein eill scott lifted the box that selwood had chucked bott bottom oril up over the smoking fire and Seo alwood SL wood to the stool neither lie he nor scott ninde made any effort to hurry the foreman it was enough tor for them to study its ills blood shot eyes until lie he should be ready to what was responsible for its ils peculiar condition und and his unexpected appearance at Calo basis ile he sat bat on oil the box lingering fingering at and aill with ills left forearm about him stood Par daloe and scott who vvhs had risen from the hearth while selwood III stood with his back to the ire fire studying li cAlpin hy by its light arid and the light of tile the lantern on the table wondering ul whether tether mcalpin could be TOun wounded ded and aarl how badly or whether lie he was running a huge bluff john exclaimed the barn boss bos darting ills bloodshot glance at sol wood ond ha ba y rot got any cat cartridges ridges selwood answered only after a pause and then impassively A few ew jim iby why iI cAlpin holding ills his left for forcini enrin and hand pretty well up spoke to scott rob poll lie he said take your knife and silt mit that sleeve up a bit im nicked in ili tile orm arm john but its naught carpy bound it for me jolla theres plenty doln doin in sleepy cat have they hung anybody an body snapped tracy fiercely hanged anybody echoed pin turning toward tracy on theodot theo fot cot 1 I want to tell y dave the biters bit r b 17 I 1 tove tolve sneaked me out 0 there tit th night in sleepy cat it if hanged there the jie night be vigilantes lan tes III ScIvio folwood clone alone made no exclamation ile he stood quiet with ills his ebes fixed on the wounded courier what do you mean jim ventured scott patiently III 1 I mean exclaimed mcalpin the 9 gamblers a millers are on topi top I 1 turned the tables rallied hell bell bent drove the vigilantes to cover up tit town crowding em cm to the river close to the new railroad station I 1 mean john cole Is wounded abe cole Is wounded chris Klek kickbusch busch is dead doe doc carpy Is wounded and starbuck Is boss of sleepy cat part of it and only part of it how flow many cat cartridges ridges y got john meaning they need em meaning me aning the minute starbuck took hold of the fight lie doubled ohp blamed VI Il antes up like a jar jac knife stole a march on the suckers behind their hacks backs got into john coles store where was all their am mu littion stole it and burnt the store hints another part of it ILI are the barns gone asked sol sel wood harshly not yet ret lefever and the wagon boys are boldan both the barns iut ut if the hie wind comes up they wont save bell ein there aint enough left of our bl big hall 1111 on the hill to roast a alic chestnut st john tracy half sprang froni from the cot lie he poured a torrent of wrath on the canles and tile the with incidental in shots at the fate lint had kid nailed nuin d him oay away fion filin where here lie rould could stand in defense defene against tiny any and all comers rs of his own selwood waited without an interruption for lle lite fury nf if the storm to abate od 01 david stopped only when physically exhausted cited now lie ile panted looking malevolently at selbon 3 1 III 1 I hope youre sati hed fied youve played your game gaine aint you sent everthia everth evert hla fag weve rot got on the hie hill up till in ili smoke anil and I 1 mn turn out when I 1 set get up lip will ili a pack of cords cliris and 6 tart all over again I 1 aint hut but sixty years old why dont you say s ay iy something ihl ng lie demanded violently selwood turning toward tits ills partner rested ills elbow on the rock ledge ahova the took fook broili ills his lips the el ni lie he lind lighted and spoke deliberately ill have a lot to say rin im afraid dave more thin than I 1 wont want to say tia man mail half sick hut but its got ot to he be said ili ether I 1 like it or you like it or not 1 I want you to remember dave first of nil all the hall Is or wag mane all mine I 1 took over your interest yesterday afternoon in sleepy cot cat and turned oer to you my interest in the thief river mine it was 1 n I trade fair to you and fair to me you said I 1 was giving half a dozen tiros timet what I 1 was getting I 1 lint hut I 1 I 1 wa was i giving you a square den deal fin I 1 you on said it was a square deal and I 1 I 1 know it was tracy tried to interrupt patiently but firmly protested III 1 I gave you your say drive I 1 waited for all your cards I 1 want a chance to face mine now and lie added with a touch that tracy find rarely hendl in his 1119 voice im going to hive have it youve tried hard to make a good gond gambler out of me dave ond and tit alip only reason you do it Is be bc cause it never was in me when my own food blood kicked me out took the lie place of my father I 1 shut up nut but dave I 1 exit cut to travel the lines you laid for me you said it tonight I 1 knew it yesterday so yesterday I 1 closed my gane game dave daie im done Yester dlly I 1 traded you out of the place on the hill I 1 gaie gae you a half bolt interest in the bet best quartz ein along river den wentworth a man as square as you are Is your partner never know need while tile the pay ore lasts and theres enough in sight to keep you twenty fl faie e years Pe besides sIdes pin im able to work awhile myself yet so I 1 dont see why you should weir wear yourself out raving about the place on tho the hill being burnt I 1 owned the place dave its gone up in smoke and its my fault for day dave im telling you now and telling the boys here I 1 smashed the big limp lamp on the floor door tonight and fired the hall myself selwood was perhaps hotter better prepared tor for what followed than his companions who lister listerud wd stupefied it was a moment before tracy could frame fraine words then lie launched it selwood a further torrent of abuse perhaps I 1 played you a low trick as you say dave perhaps I 1 anyway I 1 meant to cut that string and that was my way of cutting it ive done you no wrong if anybody Is loser I 1 am you say youre done with me for good and all pretty hard to take from you dave its hard because I 1 owe you so BO much and sou owe me just next to nothing B but U t whatever you say or whatever sou feel I 1 cant ener eer honestly say im done with you youre the only partner I 1 ever had and you cant ener eee change my feelings toward you youve said a few things tonight I 1 wish jo you said but most of what youve said was coming to tile me and I 1 ask you to take a thim back before tracy could reply scott started to leave the room Pardi Pard alne lne would have hare pushed ills huge hulk |