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Show Raming (Continue id From Our ivw Issue.) CHAPTER III Always Clinch's little pale eyea searched tho for, st twilight In front oj him; not a falling leaf escaped him; not u chipmunk The slightest nlso behind him He waited, turned slowly. Eve stood thrre Hell died in his pa!.- ye xs she ame to him, rested silently In his gentle embrace, returned his kiss, laid her flushed, sweet ehek against his unshaven face. "Dad, darling?" "Yes, my baby " Vnu'ri" watching to kill Qulntana. I Cut there's no use watching any lunger." ' Have the boys below got him?" d manded. "They pot one of his gang. Byron H .-tlnps Is dead. Jim is badly hurt; .-ni M . . M . . too not so badly " - - Qulntana ?" lad, he's gone But It don't matter. Baa here' " She dug her blender hand into her breeches pocktt and pulled out a littlo fistful of gems Clinch, his powerful arms closing her shoulders, looked dully at the Jewels. You see dad, there's no use klll- Ing Quintans. These are the things' he robbed you Of " i " 'Tain t them that matter . . I'm glad -.on got em I alius wanted you should be n great lady, girlie Them's tin- tickets of admission. You put 'em in your pants. T gotta stay here a spell " "Dad! Take them'" Ho took them, smiled, shoved them Into his pocket What Is It. girlie?" he asked absently, ab-sently, his pale eyes searching the woods ahead. I've Just told you." she said, "that the boys went In as far as Qulntana s shantv. There was a dead man there, too, but Qi Intana has gone." Clinch said not removing his eys from the forest "If any o' thorn boys has let Qulntana crawl through I'll kill him, too. G wan home, girlie I gotta mosey I gotta klnda loaf around f'r a spell " "Dad, I want you to come back with me " ' You go home you hear me, Eve 7 Tell Corny and Dick Berry to hr.ok It for wl Marsh and stop the Star 1'onk trail both on ern. . . . Can Sid and Jimmy walk"" "Jim can't " "Well, let Harve take him on his back You go too You help fix Jimmy up at the house. He's a littlo fella. Jimmy HastingH is Harve can tot him And you go along " ' Dad, Qulntana. saya he mans to kill you! What 1 the use of hurting hurt-ing him" You have what he took "I gotta have more n he took. But 0Ven that ain't rnoxigh. He couldn't pay for all he ever rtnnt to me. ptrtlp. . . . I'm almln' to draw on him on sight " Clinch's set visage relaxed into an alarming smile which flickered, fadc-d, died In the wintry ferocity of his eyop "Dad " "O'wan home' h Interrupted harshly "You want that Hastings boy to bleed to death V She cam up to him. not uttering a word, yet asking- him with all tho tenderness and eloquence of her eyra to leiva this blood-trail where it lay and hunt no more. He kissed her mouth. Infinitely tender, smiled; then, again prim and scowling: "O'wan home, you little scut, an" do what I told ye, or, by God, I'M cut a swltrh that'll learn ye good' Nevar a wqjd, now! On yer way! G'wan " Twice she turned to look back Th second time, Clinch was slowly walklnr Into the words straight ahead of him. She waited; saw him go In, waited. After a while she continued on her way. 1 CHAPTER IV And Clinch's mind was on hor. All tlM his watchfulness, his stealthy advance all the alertness of eye and ear, all the subtlety, the cunning, the infinite eautlon were puroly instlno-ttre instlno-ttre mechanics. Somewhoro In this flooded twilight of glRnntlr trees was Jose Qulntana. Knotting that, he dismissed T h c t fact ( from his mind and turned Yijjs I thoughts to Eve. I Sometimes his lips moved. Thy usually did when he was arguing with I God or railing his Creator's attention I to the Justice of his case His two cases each, to him. i cause celebre, the matter of Harrod; the affair of yulntana .Lany a time he had pleaded these two rauses beforo tn Most High. But now hli thoughts were chiefly eoncernod with BVfl with the proh-lem proh-lem of her future hts master passion pas-sion this daughter of the dead wife I ho had loved. I Ho sighed unronsciouilv . halted. i "Well, Ird." h concluded. In his jwordle-s way. "my girlie has goita have u i hanre If I gotta go to hell for it. That's sure as shootln'. . . . ' Amen." At that instant he saw Qulntana. Recognition was Instant and mutual mu-tual Neither man stirred. Qulntana was standing beside a giant hemlock. His pack lay at hla feet. Clinch had halted always tho mechanics! close to a great iron-wood iron-wood tree. Probably both men know that they could cover themselves before tho other moved a muscle Clinch's small, light eyes were blazing; Qulntana Quln-tana s black eyes had becomo two slits Finally "You dirty skunk." drawled Clinch in his agreeably mls- ling voice. I got you now." 'Ah h." said Qulntana. "thees has happen ver' nlco Ilk I expec. . . . Always I say myso'f, yet a littlo pa-tlence, pa-tlence, Jose, an' one day you shall meet thees fellow Clinch, who has rob you. ... I am ver thankful to the good God " He had made the slightest of movements move-ments instantly both men vr' behind be-hind thotr trees. Clinch, In the fero-cloua fero-cloua pride of woodcraft, laughed ex-ultlngly ex-ultlngly filled the dim and spectral forest with his roar of laughter. "Qulntana," he called out. "you're a-golng to cash in. Savvy" You're, a-going to hop off. An' first you gotta hear why. Tatn't for tho rtuff New! I hookod it off'n you; you hooked It off'n me; now I got it again That'a all square- . . . No. 'tatn't that grudge, you green-llvered whelp of a cross-bred, still-born slut' Xn' it a becuz you laid the heft o' your dirty Mttlo finger onto my girlie. 'X' now you gotta hop!" Qulntana's sinister laughter w.n his retort. Then "You damfool Clinch," he said, "I got In my pocket what you rob of me. Now I kll! you. and then I feel ver' well I go homo live like aome kings; yes But you," he 9neered, "you shall not go home never no more. No. You small remain re-main in thees damn wood llko ver' dead old rat that la all wormy . . . . He' I got n million dollalre five million franc In my pocket. You shall learn what It cost to rob Jose Qulntana! Quln-tana! l"nner8tan'," ' You liar," said Clinch contemptu-oo8ly, contemptu-oo8ly, "I got them Jools In my pants pocket " Qulntana's derisive laugh cut him short "X glvo you the Flaming Jewel if you show me you got my gems In your pants pocket!" "I'll ahow you Lay down your rlflo ao's I see the stock " "First you. my frlen' Mike," said Qulntana cautiously. Clinch took his rifle by the muzzle and shoved the stock Into view so that Qulntana could see it without moving 1 To his surprise. .Qulntana did the i sam then coolly Stepped a pace J outside the shelter of his hemlock i stump. ' You ahow me now'" he Called I across the cwamp. J Clinch atepped Into view, dug Into his pocket, and. cupping both hands displayed a glittering heap of gems "1 wanted you should know who's (.Totti-m." he said, "before you hop. , It II give you something to think ov. r In hell " Qulntana's eyes had become allts again. Wither man stirred Then: "8o you are buzzard, eh. Clinch'' You feed on d-ad man's pockets, eh? You find Sard aomowhere an" you feed " He held up the morocco ca-v emblazoned with the arms of the Grand Duchess of Esthonlo. and shook It at Clinch "In there Is my share . . . Not all. Ver' quick, now, I take vours, too " CUnrt, vanished and so did his rlflei nnd Qulntana's first bullet struck tho iioas where tho Stock had rested "You black crow'" Jeered Clinch, laughing. " I need that empty ra?" of youra. And I'm going after II . . But It's because your filthy claw touched my girlie that you gotta hop! Twilight lay ovfr thi phantom wood, touching with pallid tints th flooded forest. 8o far only that one shot had h u fired Both men were still maneuvering, maneu-vering, always creeping in circles an I always lining some great tree for shelter shel-ter Now. the gathering dusk was making mak-ing them bolder and swifter. anl twice, already Clinch caught the shadow sha-dow of a fading edge of something that vsniihed sfstHi t- too swiftly for ,b0...f ;otv Quintan. W u brushed with bJ leafless moois-bulb " lng as he avoided y Instantly a -J " him; he slipped o'J of It on the bush, i 4" waving and dirt J Waiting, he ' his coat tnada In l-'-rr.ovlng a llttl-ult nJJ bush with hti crouched almost Sudden v the red rrtjjj 1 ' hVni smashed '-""TksI |