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Show Rimrock TraiF ! A " By J. ALLAN DUNN Author of "A Man to His Mat," tc . ' Copjrrlsht, Vm, by J. Allan Duns MOLLY'8 LUCK-PIECE SYNOPSIS To th Three-Bar ranch. Art ton, owned Jointly by Bandy Bourke, "Mormon" Peter and "Soda-Water Sam" Manning, a fine colli make It way, In the last stajes of exhaustion. Inscription Inscrip-tion on Its collar say Its nam Is Grit, "property of P. Casoy." Scenting a desert tragedy, Bourke and Sam mount and let the dog lead them. The two find a dying man, Patrick Caaey, pinned under an overturned wagon. Kneeling beside the wagon la bis young daughter Molly, fifteen. They extricate ex-tricate the old prospector, who dies repeating, "Molljr-mtnea!" 'Til look out for that partner," say Bandy. It Is agreed that Molly stays a mascot of the ranch, she and the "Three Musketeers" becoming be-coming partners In the mines. Sandy Insists upon an education tor Molly. Jim Pllmsoll, gambler, visiting the ranch, Intuits Molly. He claims he grubstaked Casey, which made him the old man's partner. Mormon drive him oft. Miranda Bailey, iplnster, tells the partner of malicious gossip. might ride Into a rattlesnake In the mesqulte, I aim to handle it Ef I ever got Into real trouble, an' It resembled re-sembled you, fd make you climb so fast Pllmsoll, you'd wish you had horns on your knees an' eyebrows.' Pllmsoll forced a laugh. "Fair warning, Sandy. I never raise a fuss with a two-gun man. It ain't healthy. You've got me wrong In this matter." "Glad to hear It Then there won't be no argyment Game openT" "Wide. An' a little hundred-proof stuff to take the alkali out of your throats. IIow about ttr "I don't drink when Tm playln. I aim to break the bank ternlght. I'm feelln'. lucky. Brought my mascot erlong." ' "Meaning Sam here?" 7 All three laughed for a mutual clearance of the situation. Sandy had said what be wanted and knew that Pllmsoll interpreted It correctly. "Deuce queen five, Pm bettln'," be said. "An" deal ,'em slow." His voice drawled and his eyes lifted to Hahn's and rested there. . Hahn had been mechanically chewing chew-ing gum most of the evening. Now bis cheek muscles bulged more plainly and the end of his tongue showed for a second between his Hps. His right hand dropped and he drew out a deuce. Eyes shifted from Sandy to Pllmsoll, to Hahn. Little beads of moisture oozed out on the dealer's forehead. The atmosphere was charged with Intensity. Plimsoll's dark eyes were boring through the dealer's lowered low-ered lids. "Move yo' flngehg, dealer, an' reveal re-veal royalty," drawled Sandy. "The queen wins I" Ills hands were on his hips, fingers touching the butts of his guns, his eyes burned. For all Its drag there was a ring to his voice. Hahn shot one swift look at him and removed his hand. The queen showed. The room gasped. Pllmsoll clapped Sandy on the shoulder. "You did It," he eald. "Broke the 1 F flat from hoof -points to fetlocks as! the pony whirled away from the yawn-, lng gap In the bridge, where boards had been pried away In the preparation prepara-tion of the ambush. Helpless for the moment until he got his bearings and his pony gained solid footing, Sam automatically whipped out his gun, cursing as he saw Sandy slide from the saddle, clutch at the rim of the gap, drop down to the bed of the creek, while Pronto, frantic at the loss of his mas- ter, leaped the opening and fled with; clatter of hoof and swinging stirrup1 Into the desert. ; Sam, wild with rage at the thought of Sandy shot, scrambling In bloody sand below him, flung himself from' the roan as more bullets whined, J whupplng Into the planks. One seared his upper arm, another struck the saddle tree as he vaulted off, slap-J ping the roan on the flanks, yelling, at It as It gathered, leaped the gapi and followed Pronto. i , "You d d, cowardly, murderuV' pack of lousy coyotes 1" swore Sam mechanically, as he knelt on the edge of the gap and tried to pierce the blackness, listening fearfully for a groan. He had not fired back., There was nothing to fire at hut: clumps of blurred growth. ' He kneeled over the rim of the last, plank, turned, caught with his bands,' revolver thrust back Into Its bolster,; swung, dropped. A hand closed about I his ankle pulled him down sprawling on the soft sand. "I'm 0. K.," whispered Sandy, and Sam's heart leaped. "Only plugged the rim of my hat I faked a fall tO fool 'em. Snake erlong down the: crick bed. Here's where we git' even." Sam knew that ring In hla partner's voice, low though It was,, and his blood tingled. Immediately! above the bridge were the stripped trunks of cottonwoods, stranded In a' flood. Peering through the boughs,, they saw stooping figures running along the bank. A man called from' the lower side of the bridge, a shot was fired harmlessly. The hunters In view raced back, "Think they saw us," whispered Sandy. "They'll hear from us, right soon." He led the way back, crossing to the town side beneath the bridge, keeping half-way up the bank, close under the stringers of the bridge, crawling between bushes on his belly, Sara with him. Now they could see no gunmen but occasionally they caught a whisper, the slight sound of moving brush. Sandy found a stone Imbedded In the bank, loosened It, squatted on his haunches and passed It to Sam, taking tak-ing a gun In each hand. "Chuck It into that sunflower patch," he said with his mouth close to Sam's ear. "Then Are at the flashes." Sam pitched the stone through the darkness. It fell with a rustle, chinked against a rock, 1st- CHAPTER IV Continued. "Mebbe, but you can't stop what's started any more'n a horn-toad can stop a landslide, Sandy Bourke. You can't kill scandal with gunplay. The girl's too young, In one way, an' not young enough In another, to be stayln' on at the Three Star. You oughter have sense enough to know that Ef one of you was married, or had a wife that 'ud stay with you, It 'ud be different Or if there was a woman housekeeper to the outfit" The flivver horn squawked outside. Miranda pointed her finger at Sandy. "There's chores waltln' fo me. I didn't come off at daylight Jest to be spy In', whatever you men may think. You either got to get a grown woman here or send the gel away, fo her own good, 'fore the talk gits so It'll shadder her life. Now, Pve said my say, you-all talk It over." Sandy went to the door with her, helped her into the machine. He came back with his face serious. "She's right," he said. "We got to send her away. Me, I'm goln Into Hereford tonight I aim to Interview Jim Pllmsoll an' then bu'st his bank. One of you come erlong. Match fo' It." "Bu'st the bank with whatr asked Sam. Sandy produced the ten-dollar luck-piece luck-piece and held It up. "This. Mormon, choose yore side." "Heads." Sandy flipped "the coin. It fell with a golden ring on the floor. "Tails," said Sandy, Inspecting It "You come, Sam. Staht afteh noon. Oil up yore gun." "I knowed I'd lose," said Mormon dolefully. "Dang my luck, anyway." It was a little after seven o'clock when Sandy and Sara walked out of the Cactus restaurant, leaving their ponies hitched to the rail In front They strolled down the main street of bank when you called that turn. Game's closed and the drinks on the house. How'll you have It?" The crowd made way as Pllmsoll walked across to his safe, twirled the combination, opened the doors and took out a stack of bills. "Bills from a century up," said Sandy. "The odds and ends In gold for the drinks." The excitement was dying down. The man from the Three Star had won and had been paid. Plimsoll's game was square. The drinks were brought. Two men lounged out Into the front room after they had tossed theirs down. Sandy slipped the folded fold-ed bills Into the breast pocket of his shirt In a compact package. "See who went out 7" asked Sam In his side whisper. "Yep. Saw It In the glass of that picture. We'll go out the back way. Not yet" He shouldered his way through the congratulating crowd, Sam close behind him, Into the front room. It was empty. The short end of Sandy's winnings still provided liquor. For a moment they were alone. Pllmsoll had not followed them. Sandy swiftly socketed the bolt on the inside of the front door, turned the key and slid that Into his pocket. "Now we'll go out the back way," he said. "I ain't strong fo' playin' crawfish, Sam, but I ain't keen on bein' potted In the dark. I'll bet what I got In my pocket Butch Is huggin the boards to one side of this shack. I got too much money on me to be a good Insurance risk." Sam chuckled. Pllmsoll met them just Inside the door. "Makln' a short cut," said Sandy. "Good nleht" "You Come Here Looking for Trouble With Me?" They went Into the back room amicably. ami-cably. Pllmsoll left them and went back to a table near the door, where his chair was turned down at a game of draw. He started talking In a low tone to a man seated next to him. The first Interest of their entrance soon died out. Sim Hahn, the dealer at faro, went on lmperturbably sliding card after card out of the case, and the players shifted their chips about the layout or nervously shuffled them between the fingers of one hand. Sam nudged Sandy, speaking out of the corner of his mouth words that no one else could catch. 'The hombre Plimsoll's talkln' to Is 'Butch' Parsons. Par-sons. He's the killer Brady hired over to the M-Bar-M to chase off the nesters." Sundy said nothing, did not move. As tbe play began ha turned and looked at the "killer" who had been named "Butch," after he had shot two heads of families that had preempted pre-empted land on the range that Brady claimed as part of his holding. Whatever What-ever the Justice of that claim, it was generally understood that Butch had killed In cold blood, Brady's political pull smothering prosecution and Inquiry. In-quiry. Butch had a hawkish nose and outcurvlng chin. He was practically bald. Iteddlsh eyebrows straggled sparsely above pale blue eyes, the color of cheap granlteware. He packed a gun, well back of him, as he sat at the game. Meeting Sandy's lightly passing gaze, Butch sent out a puff of smoke from his half-finished cigar. The pale eyes pointed the action. It might have been a challenge, chal-lenge, even a covert Insult Sandy Ignored Ig-nored It, devoting his attention to the case-keener. Iff As the pair went out at the rear, rilmsoll Jumped into the front room. Sam, closing the back door behind them noiselessly, heard the gambler cursing at the bolted door. Silently as a cat he covered the short distance between the house and the arroyo of the creek and disappeared, merged In Its shadow. Sandy Joined hlra and they made their way swiftly along the bottom, climbing the bank where the railroad bridge crossed It striking off for the main street Ht by sputtery are-lamps, making for their ponies, still standing patiently outside the all-night restaurant "No sense in runnln' our heads Into a flyln' noose," said Sandy, "rilmsoll owns the sheriff. Married his sister. We'd be wrong whatever stahted. They'd frisk me of my roll an' we'd never see It ag'in, less we made a runnln' run-nln' fight of it" They mounted, swung their horses and loped off toward the bridge across the creek. There were two spans, one built since the advent of automobiles, the other ancient, little used. They headed for the latter. Hereford and stopped outside the place labeled "Good Luck Pool Parlors. Par-lors. J. Pllmsoll, Prop." The line "Best Liquor and Cigars" was half smeared out. Sandy patted gently the butts of the two Colts In the holsters, hol-sters, whose ends were tied down to the fringe ornaments of his chaps. Sara stroked his ropey mustache and eased the gun at his hip. Sandy pushed open the door and went In. A man was playing Can field at a table In the deserted bar. As the pair entered en-tered he looked up with a "Howdy, gents?" shoving back a rickety table and chair noisily on the uneven floor. The inner door swung silently as at a signal, and Jim Pllmsoll came out "Dropped In to hev a 111 talk with you an' then take a buck at the tiger, said talk beln' private," Sandy announced. an-nounced. Pllmsoll threw a glance at the man who bad been posted for lookout and he left with a curious gaze that took In Sandy's guns. "Sorry I was away from the ranch, time you called," said Sandy, sitting with one leg thrown over the corner of the table. "Hope to be there nex' time. I hear you-all claim to have an Interest In Pat Casey's mlnln locations, loca-tions, his interest now beln' bis daughter's?" daugh-ter's?" "That any of your business?" "I aim to make It my business," replied Sandy. For a moment the two men fought a pitched battle with their eyes. It was a warfare that Sandy Bourke was an expert In. The steel of his glance often saved him the lead In his cartridges. Jim Pllmsoll was no fool to wage uneven contest. He fancied he would have the advantage over Sandy later, If the pair rvally meant to play faro In his place. "I grubstaked hlra for the Hopeful-Dynamite Hopeful-Dynamite discovery," he said. "I've got witnesses." "Well, we'll let that mntteh slide till the mines make a showln. Meantime, Mean-time, there's talk goln' on In this town concernln' thu gel an' her llvln' at Three S'ar. 1 look to you to contradict contra-dict that so't of gossip, Pllmsoll, from now on." " Instantly There Cam Fusillade t From the Opposlts Bank, 1 sfantly there came a fusillade from I the opposite bank, four streaks of Are I the bullets cutting through the dried I stalks, the marksmen evidently hunt- 1 lng in couples. I Sandy, crouching, pulled triggers I and the shots rattled out as If fired I from an automatic. Beside him, 1 Sam's (run barked. Each fired three R times, Sandy flinging six bullets with 1 Instinctive aim while the bed of the I creek echoed to the roar of the guns 1 nn.l the air hung heavy with the reek I of exploded gases. Then they rushed 1 for the top of the hank, wriggling be- I hind the cover of bushes, lying prone I ff'r the next chnnee. 1 One yvll and a stream of curses came from across the arroyo. Two n Istlnct figures bent above a third, lifted it, hurrying back toward a '7, f Ins. The fourth man tral ed the others, hi oaths smothered smoth-ered running beside the two bearers, hand held curiously In front of dimly seen. "Your half, Molly" h, ,a)d. I Hve thousand bucks. Busted I the bank!" TOWH CONTINUED.) ,1 In twenty minutes Sam borrowed s stack from Snndy's steadily accumulating accu-mulating winnings and departed for the craps table. He wanted quicker action than faro gave him. Luck flirted with him, never entirely deserting de-serting him. And Sandy won until the news of his luck spread through the room. The gamblers began to get the hunch that the Three Star man was going to break the bank. Sandy did not have ninny chips In front of hlra, but there were five small oblongs of blue, markers representing repre-senting five hundred dollars apiece. It had come down to the last turn of the deal again. Every player and onlooker on-looker knew what the three card were a queen, a five and a deuce. If the order of the three cards were named correctly the bank would pay four to one. If Sandy stnked all on bis cnll he would win over ten thousand thou-sand ilollurs. Pllmsoll would have to open his safe. Hahn did not have thnt amount In his cash drawer. I'llnisoll himself was looking on. Butch Parsons stood beside him for a second and then strolled into the front room. Another man followed him. Sundy shoved the markers across the board, followed by his chips. Apparently Ap-parently aimlessly, he hitched at his belt and the two Colts with their t!rd-down t!rd-down holsters swung a little to the front, their handles Just touching his hips. CHAPTER V In the Bed of the Creek. Sandy was minded to get back to the ranch as soon as possible with his winnings. Five thousand for Molly five thousand for the Three Star' that was the agreement, the custom' and he knew the girl's breed well enough to have no hesitation In making mak-ing the split as he would with a man The next thing to do was to pick out a school for her. There Sandy was at a loss. He mulled It over as he rode, his outer senses playing sent!-nels sent!-nels to his fonsciousness. Handy could not quite 'Knuge IMIm-soll's IMIm-soll's actions In tamely paying over the winnings and he looked and listened, lis-tened, noting every movement of Pronto moving free-muscled beneath him, for some sign of alarm-perhaps a rifle-shot out of the mesqulte The ponies struck the loosened Planks of the bridge clnp-dop, springing spring-ing forward Into a gallop n8 ,,. riders touch,.,! heels to flanks. The pinto was the quicker to get ,nt0 stride. Just past the center of the bridge Sam saw Snndy's ,onnt Ju, like a startled cut into the lllr saw Sand, pliant in his sea,, marked egnlnst the starry sky. Thet, onme a spurt of red tlan.e fn,m ,hf. fllr hnnk-to the rig!,,-,,,,,,. !,er-r,d . "Iher-fron, the left. A bullet l,"", hy him and Ids own hrs(. ,-( "J legged, plowing the Hunks, hind f.et Pllmsoll mished angrily. "Who In h 1 do you think you are?" he demanded. "Who appointed jou censor to any man's speech?" "A 'mnn's' speech don't have to be censored, pi-msoU, An' I reckon you know who I a tn." -you come here looking for trouble with ni?" "1 never hunt trouble, Jim. If I Mo't b"ii otittrn' Into It like a man |
