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Show Rim rock Trai l By J. ALLAN DUNN , Author of "A Man to His Mate.'i etc Copyright, 1922, bj J. Allan Duna "SUN-UP TERMORRERI" BTNOP8I8.-T0 tha Thre-Bar ranch, Arlaona, owned Jointly by Bandy Dourlta, "Mormon" Peter and "Soda-Water Sam" Manning, a fine collla makea In way. iiourke and Earn mount and Ut the do lead them. The two And a dying man, Patrick Caaey, pinned under an overturned wagon. Kneeling beside the wagon la hie young daughter. Molly, fifteen. They extricate ex-tricate the old prospector, who dlea repeating "Molly mines!" "I'll look out (or that, partner," says Bandy. It la agroed that Molly atays as mascot, of the ranch, she and the "Three Musketeers" becoming be-coming partners In the mines. Jim Plimsoll gambler, visiting the ranch, Insults Molly. He claims he grubstaked Casey, which made him the old man's partner. Mormon drives him off. Starting with a gold eagle, Molly's luck piece, Sandy, with Sam, pliys faro at Pllmsoll's place, winning 110,000. It Is arranged that Molly shall go East to be "eddlrated," A neighbor, neigh-bor, Miranda Bailey, warns the ranchers that Jim Pllmsoll, as Patrick Casey's "partner," claims guardianship of Molly, and the authorities au-thorities stand In with him. Sandy determines to take the girl to New Mexico, to an old friend, Barbara Redding, for advice. The three men, with the girl, set out Pursued Pur-sued by the sheriff and Pllmsoll, the ranchers separate, Mormon and Sam returning, and Sandy and Molly going on. The two are caught In a pass by a cloudburst, during which Sandy saves Molly's life. Sandy returns, announcing that Molly has been sent East to school. A party of riders headed by a man named Brandon visits the Three-Bar, announcing their suspicions sus-picions of Jim Pllmsoll's conduct of his horse ranch. Gold la struck at Dynamite, where Molly's claim Is located. Pllmsoll claims the Casey mine. - Sandy and his two friends, with Miranda Bailey, proceed pro-ceed to Dynamite. They find Pllmsoll Pllm-soll conducting a gambling place. Sandy rescues a young asnayer. Clay Wentlake, from a bully. West-lake West-lake says Indications are that the strike will pan out well. Pllmsoll has Jumped Molly's claims. ! : : an' sling anythln' they minded to at us, from lead to giant powdeh 1" "WaU" drawled Sandy, flicking the ash from his cigarette, "It's handy to watch, fo one thing, an' yore right about that coveh. Mormon. That's why we chose It." Mormon sat down his load and took off his hat to scratch his head perplexedly. per-plexedly. Then his face lightened as be looked up-hill. "You flgger on settln' the lantern In here afteh dahk," he said. "An' watch-In' watch-In' the fun from the tunnel." "Prttty close, Mormon. Come Inside, you an' Westlake, an' I'll show you suthln." They followed him Into the tent and came out again laughing. CHAPTER XIII A Rope Breaks. The lantern, turned down, dimly Illumined Il-lumined the tent and revealed the fig1 ures of three men seated about some sort of rough table. The flap was drawn and fastened. Occasionally a by crawling beneath painted canvas. Sandy had shattered the pegs that held up the upper .corners of the tent on the slope, had cut the cords of the remaining guys on that side and the structure had swayed and collapsed. Sam and Mormon had lined up now with Sandy. There was no mistaking their Intention to use their guns. But the exhibition had been quite sufficient. suffi-cient. With one accord the men raised their hands shoulder high and began to shuffle down the hill, regardless of their equipment, which, having been paid for by Pllmsoll, they regarded as of much less value than the necessity for departure, "Scattered like a bunch of coyotes," said Sam. "Sure did," agreed Sandy. "Minute they stahted talkin', 'stead of shootln', I knew they was ready to stampede. They'll beat It to Pllmsoll an' we'll see Jest how much sand he's got in his craw." "Think Pllm'll showr asked Sam. "Got to or quit," said Sandy. "That bunch of Jumpers he got togetherll spill the beans unless he makes some play. Let's take a pasear an look at Casey's workings." Patrick Casey had run In a tunnel from the face of his discovery. Its mouth had been closed by timbers fitting fit-ting closely Into the frame of the horizontal hori-zontal shaft, forming, not so much a door, as a barricade, that had been firmly spiked to heavy timbers. This had been recently dismantled and then replaced, as recent marks on the weathered lumber showed. Sandy looked at these places closely, frowning frown-ing as he gave his verdict. "Some one monkeyln' with this inside in-side of the last month," he announced. "Like as not It was that bunch of Easterners. East-erners. They'd flgger the camp was abandoned an' consider themselves Justified as philanthropists into bu'stin open anything that looked goodlike this tunnel. Yes, sir," Sandy went on, wnrmlng to his own theory, "It w'udn't surprise me If this warn't the mine they sampled which Pllmsoll finds out Is the real stuff nn' clumps on." "Well," snld Mormon, "we'll have a chance to ask him In a minute. He's comln' up with that crowd of his raiiRln' erlnng an' their ha'r Uftln'." The three partners met the Jumpers, now headi'd by Pllmsoll, on the border of the claims. The gambler's face wns livid. "You four-flushers get off this ground," he blustered. "You're claiming claim-ing to represent Molly Casey's rights after you've kidnaped the girl and sent her out of the state. It won't get you anywhere or anything. I've got a half Interest In these claims and I've plenty of witnesses to prove It." "I don't believe yore witnesses are half as vallyble as they might have been before politics shifted In Herefo'd county," said Sandy. "You ain't got a written contract an' It w'udn't do you a mite of good If you had, fur as I'm concerned. Because I've been duly an' legally app'lnted guardeen to Cusey's daughter Molly an' I'm here to represent repre-sent Uer Interests, likewise mine. I've got my guardianship papers right with me." "A li 1 of a lot of good they'll do you In this camp," sneered Pllmsoll. "Representln' her Interests. I'll say you are, an' your own along with em." A laugh from his followers heartened him. "If the camp ever The words came cold and even, backed by a grim earnestness that Imprinted Im-printed itself on the lesser manhood of the Jumpers as a finger leaves Its print In clay. They shifted back a little from Pllmsoll, circling out as they might have moved from a man marked by pestilence. lie stood trying to outface Sandy, to keep his eyes steady. ' "You pack yore gun under yore coat-flap," coat-flap," said Sandy. "I don't know how quick you can draw but I aim to find out" He handed one of his own guns to Mormon, announcing his action lest Pllmsoll might mistake It. "Now, then," he went on, "I once told you I looked to you to stop any gossip about Molly Casey. Same time Butch Parsons an' Sim Hahn got huht. You don't seem able to sabe plain talk an' I'm tired of talkin' to you, Jim Pllmsoll. Me, I'm -goln' to roll me a cigarette. Any time you want to you can draw. I'm glvln' you the aldge on me. If you don't take that aldge, Jim Pllmsoll, I'm glvln' you till sun-up ter-morrer ter-morrer mornln' to git plumb ont of camp. An' to keep drlftln'." Deliberately Sandy took tobacco sack and papers from the pocket of his shirt, his fingers functioning automatically, auto-matically, precisely, his eyes never shifting from Pllmsoll's face, measuring measur-ing by feel the amount of tobacco shuken Into the little trough of brown paper. The group gazed at him fascinated. I'llmsoll's face beaded with tiny drops of sweat, his hands moved slowly upward up-ward toward his coat lapels, touched them as Sandy twisted the end of the cigarette, stayed there, shaking slightly slight-ly with what might have been eagerness eager-ness or paralysis. For the look In the steel-gray eyes of Sandy Bourke, half mocking, all confident, spurred the doubts that surged through the gambler's gam-bler's chance-calculating mind, while he knew that every atom of hesitation lessened his chances. Ills own hands were close to his chest. His right had but a few Inches to dart, to drag the automatic from Its smooth holster. Snndy's hands were high above his belt, rolling the cigarette. ciga-rette. They had four times bs far to go. However, Pllmsoll knew that If anything went wrong with his performance, perform-ance, If he fnlled to kill outright, that nothing would go wrong with Sandy's shooting. But If he did not take his chance and, falling It, did not leave camp. . . , "Gimme a match, Sam." Sandy's voice came to Pllmsoll across a gulf that could never be bridged. He watched the flame, pale in the sunshine, sun-shine, watched It lift to the cigarette and then a puff of smoke came Into his face as Sandy flung away the burnt stick and turned on his heel. Murder stirred dully In Pllmsoll's brain at the sneers he surmised rather than read on the faces of his followers. Ills defeat de-feat was also theirs. But the moment had gone. He knew he lacked the nerve. Sandy knew It and had turned his back on him. His prestige was gone, ills boon companions would talk about it. Mormon Mor-mon gave Sandy bock his second gun and Sondy slid It Into the holster. He exhaled the last puff of his cigarette before he spoke again to Pllmsoll. "Sun-up, ter-morrer. You can send fo' yore stuff here any time you've a "You Flcjfler on Settln' the Lantern in Here Afteh Dahk," He Said. figure moved slightly. No passer-by would have guessed that the three partners were ensconced In the black mouth of the tunnel, ramparted by the dump heap, watching for developments develop-ments they were fairly sure would start with darkness. Every little while Sandy twitched n line that was attached to a clumsy but effective rocker he had contrived beneath one of the dummies they had built from the stuff that Pllmsoll had not reclaimed. re-claimed. "Don't want to work the blamed thing too much," he said. "Might bu'st it. It's on'y the one flgger but I'll be derned if It don't look natcherul." After which they all relapsed Into silence, restrained from smoking for fear of a telltale spark or casual fragrance fra-grance carried by the wind. It was a dark night, the hillsides stood blurry against a blue-black sky In which the stars glittered like metal points but failed to shed much light. Lnter, much later, toward morning, a moon would rise. They settled down to their watch. The Great Bear constellation dipped down, scooping Into the darkness beyond be-yond the opposing hill. "Prltty close to midnight," said Sam at last. "What's the . . ." Sandy's grip on his arm checked him, all senses centering into listening. The three stared blankly Into the night, while their hands sought gun butts and loosened the weapons In their holsters. Out of the blackness came little foreign sounds that they Interpreted according to their powers. The tiny clink of metal, the faint thud of horses' hoofs, an exclamation that had barely been above the speaker's breath floated up to them through the stillness. The glow of the lantern showed through the tent wull. They crouched, listening to the soft padded sounds that told of the approach ap-proach of man and horse. These censed. Still they could see nothing. Then there came a sharp shrill whistle, answered from the levels. Followed Instantly the thud of palloplng ponies going at top speed, parallel, one between be-tween the watchers and the tent as i they saw the swift shadow shade the glow for an Instant, the other between the tent and the rret'k. There wns a sharp swishing as of something whipping whip-ping brush. "Yl-j i-ylppy !" The cries rang out exultant as the horses dashed by the tunnel. The light In the tent wavered, went out. There was a shout of tur-prise tur-prise and dismay, a twang like the snapping of a mighty bow-stng and thenrume the whoops of the trio from the Three Star as they realized what the attempt had been and how It had 1 failed. I "It's gettin' erlong to'ards iUn-up, iUn-up, fast at a clock can tick." (TO UK CONTI.NUKD.) , CHAPTER XII Continued. 10 Sandy, with Mormon and Sam, stood Just above the group on the norrow bench that furnished the floor for the tent. Sandy's hands rested lightly on his hips, his thumbs hooked In his belt, fingers grazing the butts of his guns. There was a smile on his lips but none in his eyes. His tone and manner were easy. "Saw his stencil on the tent," he said. "J. P. n a diamond. Same brand he uses fo' his hawsses. Or niebbe you found it." His drawling voice held a taunt that brought angry flushes of color to the faces of the men opposing him, yet they made no definite movement toward attack. There were seven against three but, when the odds are so big and the minority faces them with a readiness and an assurance that shows in their eyes, on their lips, vibrates vi-brates from their compacted alliance, the measure Is one of will, rather than physical and merely numerical superiority, su-periority, and the balance beam quivers undecidedly. One of the crowd blustered. "I'm giving you men two minutes to clear out of here," he said. "No two-gunned eowpuneher enn throw any bluff round here, if that's what you're trying to do." Sandy laughed Joyously. The smile was in his eyes now. "If I flgger a man's throwln' a bluff," he said, "I usually flgger to call him, not, to chew about it. Now, I'm talkin'. These claims are duly registered regis-tered In the name of Patrick Casey, his heirs an assign. Here's the papers. pa-pers. The assessment work is all done. Pat's daughter owns 'era now. We're representln' her. An' Tm servln you notice to quit We'll take the same two minutes you was talkin' of. Then staht yore U'l demonstration, gents, provldln I don't beat you to It." He started to roll a cigarette with hands skillful and steady. Back of hlra Sara and Mormon stood like dogs on point, watchful, unmovlng, but Instinct with suppressed motion. "The girl may be his heir." said the man who hod spoken, "but Pllmsoll is assignee. Pllmsoll stuked him an' these clulms are half his." "So J. P. was hlrln' you to do his dirty work," snld Sandy, his voice cold with contempt. "You go back to him, the whole lousy pack of you, an' tell Mm from me he's a yellow-splned liar, lilt ! Take yore stuff with you or send bnck fo' It. Now, git off this property." If a man can make movement with his hands so swiftly that they are cov-ered cov-ered In less than a tenth of a second, ordinary human sight cannot register them. He hns achieved the magician's slornn the quickness of the hand deceives de-ceives the eye. It takes natural aptitude apti-tude urn! long practice, whether one Is Juggling glided bulls or blued steel revolvers. re-volvers. Sandy could, with a circling movement of his wrists, draw his guns from their holsters and bring them to bear directly upon tlie target to which hit eyes shifted. Glance, twist of wrist, arrest of motion, pressure of finger, all co-ordinated. One moment his hnnds were empty, his glance carelessly care-lessly contemptuous, the veriest move-ment move-ment of a spllt-sccuml stop-watch and the gun In his right hand spat lire, the gun In his left swung lri.au arc that menaced the five card players. Th other two were struggling beneath be-neath the crumpled folds of g collapsed col-lapsed tent, wriggling frantically like the stngp hands U tiaiulate waves m MI mind to. Fo' a gamhlln' man, Pllmsoll, you're a d d pore Judge of a hand." Pllmsoll strode off down the hill alone. The men who had come with him hesitated and then crossed the gulch. They had severed connections with the J. P. brand for the time, at least. The three partners walked back toward the tunnel. "We got to stay on the claims," said Sam. "If they happened to think of It they might heave a stick of dynamite dyna-mite in our midst afteh It's good an' dahk. A flyln' chunk of dynamite Is a nasty thing to dodge, at that." "I don't think it likely, Sam. Camp knows, or will know, what's been hap-pentn'. hap-pentn'. If dynamite was thrown they'd sobe who did It an' I don't believe the crowd 'ud stand for It. I w'udn't wonder won-der If JIrn Pllmsoll forgets to send fo' that tent ar' stuff of his. Hope he does." "What do we want with It?" demanded de-manded Mor.non. "Nothln". with tlip stuff. We'll set It out beyond the lines come dusk. But the tent'll come n handy. We didn't bring on erlong." "You don't aim fo' us to sleep In It, do you?" asked Mormon. "Don't believe we d rest well If we tnckled It. But It mightn't be a bad scheme If we give the gen'rul idee that we are sleepln' In It. I put it lantern In the cur when we stulited. Fetch that erlong too, will yoti, Mormon?" i It wos lute afternoon before Mormon Mor-mon reappeared, bearing a ramp outfit, out-fit, part of which was carried-by We-t-lake. Sandy and Sam had repUelied the tent on fairly level ground of the valley bottom. Mormon's eyebrows went up nt the locati,,,, with which Sandy and Sain, seated cross legged on the ground, one smoking, the other draining low harmonies through his month organ, appeared perfectly satin-fied. satin-fied. "Why on the flat?" nsked Mormon. "There's a heap of cover round here where they might snake up afteh dahk The Quickness of the Hand Deceivei the Eye. hears the yarn of your running off with the girl and now, with her tucked away, coining back to clean up, I've a notion they'd show you four-flushers where you've sat In to the wrong gutne. Why , , ." Something in Sandy's face stopped him. It became suddenly dev-.fd of all expression, became a thing of stone out of which blazed two gray eyes and a voice Issued from lips that' barely moved. "I've got a notion, too, Pllmsoll. a notion thut It 'ud be a good day's work to hhoot you fo' a foul-mouthed, lyln', stealln crook! You've called me u fo'-fl usher twice, an" the on'y way to prove a fo'-flusher It to cuil fo' a showdown. show-down. I'm dolu' It." |
