Show FLAME IN THE FOREST py HAROLD TITUS illustrations by irwin alaers copyright by harold titus service CHAPTER XI continued 11 Blue jays one toot foot had been swing ing idly on youngs appearance the arc are it made diminished more and more slowly it swung until it came to rest and during that interval the man s jaw sagged he sat so gaping unmoving and then his chair came down to all four legs with a thud while the heritage of the indian in him all the superstition and regard for legend swirled upward to possess him completely no one else had noticed this did not until young spoke easily enough surprised Blu ejay he ile laughed then and the laughter was hard menacing laughter slowly rose to his feet hands behind him shoving on the chair back to aid his weakened leg muscles A luminous fear danced in the black eyes surprised eh ell kerry began to ad vance that s what I 1 came for blue jay to see who d be surprised I 1 the man was retreating now hands spread against the wall sidling along making for the rear he did not speak though his lips worked kerry moved faster and as the breed turned left off his touch on the painted boards and halt half staggering lurched down the room was upon him 1 dida I didn I 1 gasped as young a hand fastened on his shirt at the der spinning him around I 1 I 1 dlan didn he moaned t what kerry s voice was like the crack of a whip didn t what insistently when no reply was forth coming all right don dont t answer I 1 I 1 dont don t need your words you snake he let go an arm and his hard fin gers grasped the breeds throat be let drop something he had held in one hand and grasped youngs wrists don I 1 I 1 he moaned don young I 1 I 1 didn dian his knees were sagging but kerry held the man halt half erect by his throat his grip closed down on the wind pipe and his own teeth showed in a grimace of rage you bel he he growled you lie ile Blu ejay youre you re guilty as hell and what you re going to do Is this I 1 1 you re going out of this country as fast as the good god will let you I 1 and if you ever show up again shaking him slowly if you show your face here so long as I 1 in here III strangle you to death as sure as water runs down hill I 1 now do you under stand with a sideways fling he let the man go sprawled on the floor but before he came to rest he vi was as scram bling to his feet circling to be away from young toward the door hg h sent tied and down the steps he ran As kerry stopped to pick up that which the breed had dropped the sputter and roar of a motor could be heard and when he smoothed out the bill and searched its crisp surface for the serial number gears whined and a battered flivver stirred the dust of the street as started for some where else with all the speed he could wring from the ancient contraption mel knight came from behind the counter men who had been oil outside I 1 were entering curiosity aroused by Blue jays s flight my gosh kerry you sure put a crimp in that injun knight said with a queer grin I 1 d like to bet he won t be seen here again my gosh what made him look so scared seared afore you made a move dam right he won wont t come back I 1 said another batcha fifty dollars he wont won t ever show up here acini ag in 1 batcha gunnerd dollars mister young could lick dempsey he could did yuh see him grab him a third asked at large I 1 thought he was a goin to squeeze his in twixt I 1 young gave no heed to these observe eions or questions he ile knew certain serial numbers by heart this was one a twenty dollar bill of a certain series crisp unused for a moment he was impelled to tell what had happened this morning on Town line lake but as he drew breath to speak car brakes squealed outside and izra adams voice curl bously strained called sharply has anybody happened to see kerry young kerry looked through the doorway at ezra a face the spectacles were nere shoved upward the old eyes were wide and fingers fumbled nervously in the gray beard III ezra ezral he called starting tor for ward what a up what was up enough was up I 1 too much was up for old nerves to take calmly for an old voice to narrate coherently for an old mind to grasp comprehensively As quickly and as clearly as he could ezra told the story that the prisoner had told him A frame up on stuart 1 muttered young good god bests est s hand Is in thi this why unless we beat em to it IL they re going to make the rottenest kind of trouble for holt those were viere his words and they voiced an honest thought but not the thought uppermost in his mind the thing which hurt him with the acuteness of physical pain was this before sundown nan downer was ras to see her lover ioner led away annay to jail as a suspect in the murder of her father and thebie they e gonel gone t ezra rasped they crossed th wagon bridge just as I 1 made the turn bridger nd butch his deputy nd tod west I 1 they re bound for the cabin sure as you re born and get out of that seat I 1 snapped young loung roughly he shoal chov the old man mail from beneath the wheel and stepped in to his place up tip I 1 as be he pressed the starter wl WI at d you think wed we d ought to do ezra cried hang on I 1 said kerry as throwing la in the clutch he spun the car about headed down stream lurched into the ruts leading to the wagon bridge ge and shot across with a roar up upstream stream then past nan s mill be hind headquarters and into the road the sheriffs car bad followed youngs brows bros were drawn he dl di vided his attention between the theory forming in his mind and the erous ruts and chuck holes of the road listen ezra ezral he said ft eve got to get to that cabin before they do hold em off see what s been planted there keep stuart from arrest and have haw a chance to pin the frame up at least on na west est nobody else alsed d want to do it but how I 1 don t know I 1 I 1 don t know how I 1 the important thing is lord what a bump I 1 hurt you hang on then I 1 heres a better stretch I 1 their way was now through an old burning where the ruts ran straight and the chuck holes were few with foot throttle down to the floor boards kerry shoved the little car for a mile they traveled at high speed and then brakes on stirred vast dust clouds as they skidded tor for a left turn into a dim trail here I 1 where you that s the only way I 1 it was ezra until a few weeks ago beaver dams out I 1 came through here on foot this morning unless I 1 over looked a lot we can get through it if we get through well we 11 be ahead if we don t we re sunk for the time being anyhow tall grasses raked the fenders bri ers rs squealed their way along the dusty paint here they crawled on low through a marshy stretch there they made a sandy grade by a hair young got out once to lift a dead sap ling from the way and leaped bick in to start forward with a vicious lurch down grade they went ent down into a cattail bottom into a silt slit basin that had been until this summer a beaver pond for many years he had crossed this noon the old 4 his hard fingers grasped the breed s throat culvert that had been under water for so long he thought he remembered its condition but was not sure anyhow he yelled in ezras ezra s ear car it was this way or no way he slowed as they reached the creek bed eased the front wheels gingerly up on the water bleached corduroy held his breath as the car cars s weight slowly went on the structure and then as it gave and crackled beneath them gave the motor everything it wa gouni 0 take tale they tilted they sagged A hind wheel spun tires singing and th the smell esmell of burning rubber was strong fie ile gripped the wheel until his knuckles showed white old ezra clutched wildly tor for a hold as the car ca greened the spinning wheel found purchase they crawled forward slewed side ways and finally with a bump and a bounce were away from the culvert roaring for the high land beyond made her I 1 kerry yelled and vv we e 11 have most a half hour before they can get to the cabin by the good road they were ahead of bridger and his companions for certain but they had not gilded a whole hole half hour the one tire frayed by its tussle on the culvert went down and they made the last two miles of sand trail through the timber on a flat bouncing and rat aling and unable to make time even where the sharp turns and deep ruts might have permitted more speed young was out of the car before the motor stopped spinning he strode to the door threw it open and paused see that dirt he asked pointing pol ntina to tl ti e trickle of dust across the floor rahe doctors old ees follo followed Aed his pointing finger traced the stringer ol 01 fine lumps and granules across to the tar far corner that s w m I 1 ere it ltd d ve been he mut glancing at the one window said he looked through the window its it s the only corner he could see handy and he said he saw holt in here about sun down thursday As I 1 recollect it A plant for suret sure I 1 I 1 was in here about then thursday the floor was clean ezra but today this stuff w as here lets let s go he was on his knees beside the two short sections ol 01 flooring eyeing them closely see here heres a R where here they ft ere pried up with something he said excitedly then they dug a hole for the bos box and carried the dirt out maybe in a bucket or a newspaper anything but they were v ere either careless or what hat they used leaked why rhy they dirtied the floor now not he reached for an ax leaning against the wall inserted the bit in a crack between boards and pried carefully ah ahl the nails gave readily careful of these boards now they may be evidence here we go I 1 he ile began scooping earth tb hit it came out in chunks and lumps some of which crumbled to dust in the handling then his atsy I 1 ands suddenly touched metal ezra stooping far over breall ed quickly with care young worked his aln fingers ers beneath the object lifted and out it came a dirt covered flat box of japanned metal cash cashs s box I 1 the physician mut and his ills voice trailed off in suspense as kerry tugged at the catch of the cover was the money which would borener put nan downer doner beyond the reach of tod west therel there was emancipation for this girl the catch gave the cover opened and era s low moan joined the sound of a swiftly approaching car only that I 1 he said flatly three of cm em muttered kerry three hundred dollar bills and the rest of it gone beyond not for surel this Is a plant remember he hed d put only enough here to pin the thing on holt yes scrutinizing the bills they re the proper numbers the rest ezra Is cached somewhere yet I 1 and here they come cornel I 1 the car gwun swung into the clearing its motor died and a a voice said sharply what th hell I 1 other voices sounded subdued then they heard the words azra s bus nv what hat II 11 we do now the old man whispered stand pat kerry muttered closing the hot box closing it and fl aping the cover up again quickly to stare at the inside surface black and glossy its lacquer still bright A curious smile of triumph was ras in his eyes as he raised his face fara 7 this Is your investigation don t let em ent get their hands on a piece of this evidence because it was nat baldger swinging through the door what comes off here he demand ed and stopped poised just within the room frowning oh YOU yon ezra III his ready hand band dropped aiom the hip you re here eh ell ye the coroner said shoving up his spectacles yes nat good at af hernoon I 1 howdy butch as the dep uty appeared bridger turned to his subordinate and then looked past him at tod na west eat who approached slowly as if perhaps he were not just sure of how to con duct himself well e t this Is is a surprise the sheriff growled how come you re here ezra business nat I 1 got a tip this afternoon that bebby there d be so methin of interest to tl ti e coroner of this county in this camp nd I 1 guess bebby the tip evasn v aan t so far wrong at that point tod west showed him self in the door doorway iNay he halted there and his ees rested an instant on the old lien llen as it if he forced himself to an ordeal they swung to kerry I 1 ut if he expected to find challenge or accusation on youngs face he was wrong they heard beard it too tod said bridger and in his ills noice oce vas an appeal for guidance perhaps but na bests est s mind R was as not simple he was ras thinking tl ings many things try ing in his swift reasoning rea sonin to en ell compass all tl ti e elements possible to this situation frank i probably peddled his story IN west est said bridger now moed closer to young and his deputy followed so tl ti at s where he had it cached eh ell stopping and peering down at the hole lets see the box young keny pivoted on one foot snuggling the box against his side swinging it away aay from the outstretched hand not just yet sheriff he said bridger gawped not just say straightening and whirling on ezra just what comes off here the coroner coroners s face shoved show ed bewilder ment kerry spoke quietly what s coming off bridger Is a cor oner s investigation well lnell harshly its a sheriffs sheriff s in esti gation now give me that bos boxi young rose then no bridger when the coroner has finished then iiii it 11 be time for your who the hell are you to be buttin into a murder case kerry shrugged I 1 in only a deputy coroner he said deputy cor since when ezra grabbed the cue for a couple of weeks now nat I 1 appointed young as my deputy sos so a to have another pair of eyes and ears la in this country 1 A A the sheriff scratched his head and grunted tod west took a step or tw which put him close to the table ani leaned against it watching listening A tin cup was tl ti ere he picked it up and tv trifled tried it in ills hands ills heart was ras pelting his ribs now but it was ras no moment to make a move to say a word n ord things had been hap pening of which he I 1 tad ad been ignorant his ills play ras as to learn as much as pos sible well even so began bridger and arid clel his tead lead again he hazard ed a course but you had your inquest you go got t nowhere here no now seems to me we got a hot lead on this case I 1 guess its it s up to my office to go through with ith it and make the pinch weve got to have haie evidence so I 1 guess I 1 II 11 demand what you two have found here demand away awall I 1 snapped kerry demand and be damned to you bridger your authority isn t one two three with I 1 th a coroners go read your law no need of this bridger knew that much but on the rebuff he flushed I 1 otly before he could speak how ever young went on cleres nothing about what weve vieve found to cover up in this box are just three hundred dollars in three bills the serial numbers correspond to those cash drew from the bank the day he was as killed there may be other items here hae which will figure quite largely in hiie the case though that he knew was bad judgment he ile knew it before the words were out of his mouth before west dropped the tin cup lie ile did drop it and it t rolled across the floor just what d you mean nat demanded we don t know yet we ve just made a start now youre you re at liberty to do any investigating you want to just so long as you dont don t mess things up for us our plan he concluded was to take this stuff in and go over the evi dence taken at the inquest but what about stuart well you answer that what about him my god ain aln t you goin to make a pinch kerry debated have holt stuart dragged off to the shoestring jail before nans eyes have him lodged there even for no more than a few hours perhaps charged with her fa ther s murder do you that s smart he asked in a conciliatory tone sparring for time so far as we know tl ti ere s not a great deal against him 3 et and it if we e keep quiet until tomorrow who knows what 11 den develop elop bridger saw his chance of making an immediate and impressive arrest tad fad ing I 1 in not so damn sure young throw em in the can first nd hinves digate afterward I 1 |