Show hu ma e IN W T n kl vm L UL by HAROLD TITUS copyright IMS 1923 mil 1134 harold titus I 1 service am ve m sam a se 0 a CHAPTER X continued 14 the biffle difficulty alty brandon you expect to see me this morning worn why I 1 that Is I 1 thought ben stepped pd close and dropped his voice nearly to a you thought I 1 be walking today was that it not walking I 1 dont rn know ow what youre talking fili acut nut the older mans self elf control was coming coining back rapidly now that his fright lind had passed away 1 I just came in it to get gel matters straight gh between us brandon Pr andon leeral serious things hale ahne to the hoot ONNI but in spite of thorn them the hoot owl Is 13 boonin booming dow I 1 pr presume estime I 1 enn can look for things to happen lii pien to me before anything does because bec aue im not rash enough to be cok cocksure bure that it wont I 1 I 1 wain you to set get me straight the lust lu st vestige ge or of his smile was gone by then ue ile stood stoid legged hands locked behind his back eyes boring into brandona Bran dons gaze im not Inte retted in but listen listen or ill choke you until beg tor for the opportunity to listen brandon Rr andon listen to me this morning and be the first and last time 1 I 1 know a great deal I 1 can prove but little I 1 know that you started in to run roe me out by sending duval to clean up my camp next nest you tried to cripple my operation by having a firebug touch off the mill next you on or some of your men stole a piston head out of the express dont go too tar far young man maul I 1 1 I wont the pits of h 1 are the inside limits for you brandone Bran donl doal after that you timed it nicely and blew up my trestle you almost had us two or three times but you hopped flopped I 1 the loot hoot owl Is up on its knees will be on its feet in it month it if we keep going and be sitting on the world by the time breakup hits us all youve done to the job has only helped it next you try to get me thinking probably that it if you knock the skipper off the bridge the craft will founder tor for certain youre wrong there you cant lick my men because itt eyre too many tor for you you cant stop the hoot owl by getting me out of the picture but it if y you on want to keep on trying its you own funeral ive only one thing thin to ask of you try to play the white man brandon and fight your own fights figh 1 his face was dark with rage now arid and he emphasized his bis last words by downward thrusts of clenched handi long along his thighs brandon smiled lightly youre a queer young man he remarked you dream in broad daylight and with your eyes open A peculiarly detailed dream brandon I 1 ive said all I 1 have to say lay about the lob job and about myself but there Is another matter left to be mentioned while im here I 1 wont even utter her name lame in your hearing b but u t any man who would pull a trick like you did and involve a girl brandon a snakes belly Is sky high compared to you youl I 1 and that touched the well springs of rage that had been dammed back until the moment you fool the man said heavily the words worda came like the first break in a levee slow sluggish words and then like the following toss of foam was the frothing rage in his scream you foell ill drive you out of this coun country tryl 1 ill hang bang your operation on up tor for the crows to pick I 1 ill string the bones bonea of this timber and your own bones across this count country ryll 1 he swung his arms in wide wild gestures ile he stopped sobbing for breath and his teeth clicked tn in an agony of passion down not mention her ame well I 1 will ashes mine you tool fool body and soul ashes been mine tor for years because she smiled at you because she played with you dont think ashes interested fool ashes Us tie swayed backward as elliott lurched toward him but their bodies did not lock white and trembling ben stayed his own rush not dont want to brawl over her he chokel choked but it you mention her name to me again im likely to lose my head bead and tear your hide ot off your carcass P his rage was so high so holy that the fear it inspired carried through brandona Bran dont dons frenzy and the man stood alent perhaps in awe ben relaxed now he be said quietly ive just one thing to ask brandon its this fight your own batt battles lesi 1 ile fie turned on hla his heel and slammed the door behind him CHAPTER XI ben began his bis team with the haste baste of high temper but before he bad finished DIshed 11 able A armitage balled him from across the street and came hurrying through the rutted snow the old justices just leea face was marked by so an expression of concern and he came close before he be spoke 1 I hear rod red bart delaneyy Dela in town den ben nodded grimly came cagne to see me yesterday no yelth took a ion long lo look lok k at me i over the sights of a rifle ride ben beat I 1 why son elliott laughed mirthlessly and told w what hat had happened in the hoot floor owl chopping the iho day before so ties hes gotten down donn to the hiring of a killer able looked anxiously into bens face son it cant RO go un TI her or do timber limber sti success ceass or failure for or the hoot owl youve got to think of yourself fl 1 im doing that ive been to see brandon find and tried to drine him into the open all I 1 ask of him that he lights fair and if he wont what then ill have to smoke him out I 1 able clicked its his tongue benny your way of doing things scares me why this cant go on it 1 its your own affair tor for sure when he tried to shoot you down but maybe perhaps possibly im going to beg you to be careful so too long as de laneys landys to in the country youve got to keep low get back to camp stay there let us pick some man I 1 can trust to follow bart and brandon night eight and day so not be caught no ben shook his head resolutely ill go eo on about my business as I 1 should ive never run yet and dont like to start tiny any fast foot work now cut but its your life at stake pen ben I 1 dont be silly what recklessness sg la Is downright silly 1 not dot like you why riot not raking precautions in this thing Is like with a high tension wire no good able I 1 hold up my head if I 1 bid out after the play ive made so aue alle was forced to give up after a time and shuffled up the street drawing oft off his mitten again and rubbing his bis face briskly with his palm ile he had only reached his office and was unlocking the door when aunt em walking grimly as it if with a definite purpose approached good morning he began forget the palaver able armitage I 1 the woman said sharply you toure re in III trouble so are we all maybe why I 1 came to see you Is it tru true e what they say that this red ned bart bar t delaney has showed up here to lo Tin lineup eup I 1 As true as disease or death or anything else unpleasant 1 what id beard I 1 do I 1 have to guess why hes come able untied his scarf and shook his bis head sadly no em your four first guess will be right and he took a shot at benny yesterday I 1 and missed id judge from the loot look of him just now but if hes still here therell be a next time lime and he wont miss then did you do your duty and send the boy to some safe place able sighed and told her of his talk with ben so you make him listen to reason she muttered well it if you cant I 1 cant and us falling failing theres only one other who would have a ghost of a show dawn she nodded dawn could but she wont she wont go to him now she even listen to me talk about him ashes in such a bbate ashes up to the ears in love with den ben el llota or ive got three legs legal I 1 and then to have that scandalous woman do what she did and upset it all aall I 1 she sat down heavily in it a chair and drew a great breath 1 I doot dont have to ask you or any other man about ben elliott El llott able I 1 know the clean and decent folks when I 1 see em cm id bet my reputation as a christian woman on that boyl boy I 1 that piece of play acting at the dance was some of nick brandona Bran dons work you can bet your last red cenal I 1 had bad to give him a piece of my mind just for relief the other day and goodness me what a look he be give met me I 1 why able that mans worse than ever I 1 thought I 1 uy ob my I 1 lie ile gave me a look that like to froze the blood right in my veins after all the years of palaver and soft ive listened to from him I 1 well what im gettin at Is this the boys in danger of abeln murdered every minute of day and night unless he takes your advice theres no one left to try to talk him into being careful but bur dawn and how am I 1 going to get her to see her duty when she goes into a bryin lit fit eiery time his names mentioned yes sir every time she hears his name dame she yet see that the affair was a put up tip job then see she cant see anything able Armit aget put yourself in her place suppose you were a young girl chos had the things to bear that she has all her life and suppose you fell in love for the first time and suppose that young man was accused of such nastiness right in public with will everybody listening and gawping gasping gaw ping would you stop to figure that the reason he seemed guilty was natural that the thing was so far fetched from the truth and such a shock that lie he was all I 1 should say you do just what ashes doin make yourself all sick with chills and fever by cr bryin cry yin ln she twitched at the skirts of her cloak irritably and glared at the old justice as though he were a sworn enemy instead of a friend what whar alls ails her Is shock she aint got over the shock yet and every time his name or anything else about him la Is mentioned it sets her off again shell get over it give her time but then shell be so humiliated to think she use her reason that she wont be herself for another spell and she should be herself now I 1 there aint any time to lose she should patch up her misunderstanding with him right today right this hour and use her influence to persuade him to keep low but how its to be done id like to know for lords sake able aint you got a single ongle suggestion the justice had been Et stuffing uffing light wood into his stove during this now he touched a match to the tinder opened the drafts and stood n ith hands behind him rusty overcoat unbuttoned and drooping deep in thought its difficult to get anyone in her state to use reason mabbe the shock of knowing that bens life Is in danger would be a counter irritant to this other shock maybe not if the affair of last week could be cleared up it if dawn could be shown that this lydia woman was only carrying out a plan but I 1 wonder aunt em stiffened in her chair she looked hard at able and her eyes narrowed a trifle you see he resumed it if the girl hold on able she cut in holding up a hand in warning hold on now I 1 ive got to think got to think I 1 tell you youl I 1 and I 1 cant think while you carry on your gabble 1 you leave me alone now keep your tongue still they say a womans comans tongue Is hung in the middle and loose at both ends but yum As she pressed one hand hanti over her eyes her words dwindled to unintelligible ive got etl she cried excitedly after a mor moment nent ive got it ft bowl you stay right here able you stay until I 1 came bade back it if it works it works it if it dont be time to talk some boref more she moved resolutely resolutely to the door left the office and strode down the street people of tincup watched her pass people she had known for years spoke to her and drew no response not even so much as a glance or a nod on past the bank the post office the pool room on beyond all the stores on down to the depot there on the platform she stood a long interval searing scaring across the tracks to that short row of house on section thirty seven the station agent came out of the office and looked at em in surprise hello VI 1 lie he cried what brings you down here before homer she cut in grimly in which one of them nasty places does this lydia clydla woman live why why why dow should I 1 know he evaded as a red flush crept up from his collar in the one at this end I 1 think im not sure of course I 1 think she does though she but he no longer had a listener slowly with something like defiant majesty the woman crossed the 06 tracks with never another word to her informant and never a look to right or left tier her head was up her mouth seti set and her long iong nose wrinkled as if at a SYNOPSIS den ben elleott from brorn yonder arrives at tho the lumbering town of tincup with dun don stuart old very sick mao man whom he has baa befriended nicholas brandon the towns leading citizen resents stuarts presence trying to force him to leave and elliott resenting the act knocks him down judge able Air altage hires him to run the one lumber camp the hoot owl that brandon has haa not been able to grab this belongs to dawn mcmanus whose father has haa disappeared with a murder charge hanging over his alg head brandon sends duval to beat up ben and do ben throws him out of camp don stuart dies leaving a letter for billott lieving to be used when the going becomes too tough den ben refuses to open tho the letter believing he can win the fight by his own efforts fire breaks out in the mill en ben when the names flames are subdued discovers it was started with gasoline elliott gets an offer for logo loga that will provide money to tide him over but a definite time Is ret met ben discovers dawn mcmanus Is 19 not a child as aa ho he had supposed but a beautiful young woman the railroad bridge over which the hoot owl ow I 1 lumber must pass Is blown up by superhuman efforts ben b hullda tide a now new bridge and himself drives driven the train over the rickety structure to tincup making the delivery with only a tow few minutes to spare brandon compels a woman known 0 n as dydiw Ly dla dIW who Is in his power to accuse elliott of misconduct with a girl at dance to which elliott escorts dawn bydia I adla makes public her charges overwhelmed elliott can only make ft a feeble dental denial dawn apparently believing be 11 evit him guilty leaves the dance without wa waiting ing tor for him while in the we wooda ode elliott IJ llott la Is fired on and drops seemingly dead but his fall has be been 0 n a ruso ruse to make no ko hla his enemy believe him dead the would be killer to Is proved to b be e r red ed bart delaney notorious desperado disgusting odor A woman up by th the e stores shaded her eyes and peered a at t the moving figure and stared and stopped aunt em coburn headed beaded tor for thirty seven why it bet but aunt em mounted the steps sti a she h rapped at length and vigorously on the scarred panel of the door hiie she went within leaving a dozen long distance watchers to wonder it was waa long before she emerged and then ah then tincup had a sight to see a subject for speculation 1 for by aunt ems side moved the woman lydia collar af j her fur c oar coat big high h about her face as if to hide bide the traces of tears which hastily applied d powder p allder could not eradicate tears from those hard eyes nothing lessl less for women know women and before aunt em had talked to this outcast five minutes she had bad discovered the weakness in her shame the clean spot left in her heart and how bow emma coburn could balki she talked that clean spot to a growing glowing glorious thin thing she talked lydia clydla out of her house across the tracks talked her into that slow unashamed almost flagrant march up the main street talked her out of all but bur one look ot of misgiving at the windows of nicholas brandona Bran dons offices and around the corner and in beneath the hemlocks which whispered above the snug white house bouse they entered where dan mcmanus Ianus had hidden since the comans womans words sent her flying from the dance hall to the sanctuary of aunt ems understanding arms a toe all the wy way out to camp dawn snuggled close against able in his worn old |