Show RED IZ ED R RANGE A NG N G aa by F EUGENE E CU cunningmam N N ING HAM IL 0 EUGENE cunninbham CUNNIN GNAM WN U RELEASE THE 80 FAR con cameron n const cowboy with no desire to dhoot i fore d by circumstances to turn outlaw w and join the paramore tang gang headd by one dud P paramore cramore ramore he had tome ome into wild hone H 0 rs with iab th the a 20 bar outfit and had immediately gotten otten into trouble with the town boss boil asa aia brock and hl hit by defending another cattleman tatt linan nevil lowe against brock dynamite downes and el Mu blu chacho 11 on the trail again he hid bad met lee welsh and the canlers Han Ran leri lers welsh was wa killed by the reuters and when con rode into civan where lowe li is the new cew marshal he was wai taken a n into c custody asa a a murder and robbery inspect aspect because ol of his as ocl atlon with the ranieri hanlen he had thought lowe was wai his friend but public sentiment was wai against him and lowe had bad apparently forgotten org otteA abe about ut the wild not hone incident con persuaded lowe to wire wiro buzz U P perman his old trail boss and caramba caramb a vear veart at wild hone bores but neither man could b he located a knowing that at he bo a chance of escaping any ther ether way con broke jail with jeff all ahmon a and has be g now ow gone with him to join ren he deparamo Par amores now continue with the story CHAPTER VII nearly a quarter mile from san marcos dud paramore called a halt bait he sent gonzales ahead to scout the village and while they waited he talked to con abo about ut the haulers as he had bad been talk talking ing at the tee cabin apparently his bis informers in civan knew all about official suspicion us biclon that con cameron and comanche linn were the same got no idee huh about w what hat we was s on them renters earners mind he as asked ked for or the tenth time cant figure which way head after they downed welsh nary idea con answered a utile little wearily to hear lem em talk think nobody in the territory stacked up ankle high to a short snake they ari are the hefty busca deros to hear em tell it you and ellis just country boys the last he put ut in artfully but in maliciously all clouspy duds vanity was plain to be seen and it amused con to prod him gonzales came back at the get gal SO pop P a half h lihou hour later no officers were known to be around san mar cos but quill hogan lay in one ol of the houses terribly beaten by a wenger tt ranger huh hub dud cried incredulously quin quill was whipped chos this done it gonzales shrugged and shook his head he bad seen the man a big cock of the walk in the saloon turk was the name he went by he had bad been in san marcos when quill hogan r rode 0 de in quill had picked a row and turk had bad drawn his gun but instead of killing quill turk had merely pistol whipped him up and down the pla zita then knocked him senseless come ont on dud yelled to his followers he hooked his horse into a rocket ing gallop and the others lumped jumped their mounts after him into san marcos they charged to slide to a dust wreathed halt before a long adobe dud was out of the saddle before his horse came down upon four feet and darted through the door big yager lumbered after him with gonzales catlike at his bis heels catfish coyle and kinky odom swung down more deliberately and jeff and con were last so when they stepped into the long dusky room the others were already at the bar dud stood beside a dark beard stub bledman man who reminded con of a gorilla tor for thickness of body and length of arms the mexicans drinking at the pine counter gave dud and this one room and watched narrowly but dud only pushed a bottle to turk within twenty minutes the two had five drinks then dud moved the bottle hospitably and when turks eyes went to it duds right hand flashed to the white bone handle of turks colt he whipped it out stepped quickly back and tossed it from right hand to left in legerdemain almost too fast for the eye to follow then with high shrill laugh the he stepped in again and replaced it in turks holster bolster take your jour drink fellows fell owl he drawled you need ml ill he spat deliberately upon turks boots and turned his bis back turks arm jerked he drew fast and dud turned back deliberately C con on scowled then instead of the roar he waited stiffly tor for there was only a hot hoi alow click and another as turk re mckea aked the colt it was duds pistol that bellowed as it snapped from the holster bolster and flipped up three bullets in all dud drove into the others body he leaned to knock the colt from turks hand had and slid back head on one side watching turk leaned heavily upon the bar left hand upon the bloody front of his shirt then he be crumpled and P began to sag to the floor dud laughed shrilly what always happens to folks that come a hunting dud paramore amorel I 1 hey Nicola ol take care iare pt this beet beef we have got some ling to do us Paramo resl in another big house bouse the dance was going when the Par amores came in there were more women than men and eight or nine heavily powdered overdressed over dressed girls looked expectantly at the newcomers and giggled I 1 dud yelled shrilly big yager and Z he Is outside in the darkness he will kill you catfish and kinky and jeff joined the wolfish chorus they swept down con trailing upon the girls automatically con selected one who seemed a little younger less perfumed and powdered he put out his hands to her and she smiled sidelong up at him then gonzales snarled in his ear and caught the girls sleeve Es ciol she Is minel mine you take another you are his girl con asked in halting spanish holding her wrist 1 I am yours it if you want me and you hotl can keep mel me she said con whirled her deftly away from gonzales and out among the dancers she pressed close against him an and looked wisely into his face ace dance after dance con kept her then gonzales disappeared he sat with her after the eighth or ninth dance beyond the little bar jeff and his girl joined them tor for a drink and cigarette the tw two 0 girls chattered chiefly about gonzales fury then a shabby mexican appeared at cons side out ot of the crowd con found his face vaguely fa familiar millar and tried to place him 1 I am your friend the man whispered you gave back my money now I 1 pay gonzales will kill youl you he Is outside in the darkness he will kill you he has said to men at the door so I 1 slipped a away w ly to give you this word ill fix himl him he grunted ill give him all the trouble he can pack he shook his head at jeff who was getting up from between the two girls stay out of it he be said grimly this is my war he went with jeff trailing across the end of 0 the big room and to the side door someone muttered out oil there a nervous sound then from the right away from the lounging 0 group there was the roar of a shot and a blast of flame A bullet twitched cons hair like a 0 finger automatically he drew his colt just as he had done a thousand times in practice As it came level pointing at the spot where that flame had blossomed he let down the hammer thumbed it back and lo 10 loosed ased a second shot then he twisted inside the room the music stopped the dancers cried out excitedly then someone outside yelled that gonzales was dead con watched them carry gonzales in there was something about the sagging figure that reminded him of a dead rattler A hand tugged at his sleeve he turned to face jeff and take the tin cup jeff held out he lifted it and gulped down the drink coughed and wiped his bis eyes Than thanks kal he gasped well well aeu I 1 teel feel bet better terl you hit him both times jeff said admiringly dud daid shrugged shook his head nothing to 10 stop our dancing dancin gill he cried and con could not tell from his high agh singsong what he be really felt lets got go amelia took his arm and looked up at him with h a kind of savage adoration he shook his head no more for or tonight qu querida erlda I 1 will sit by the bar tor for a time you go with jeff jeb 0 or r another she nodded and left him he found kimseu a place in a dusky corner and wa watched t ched almost without seeing while the dance continued as it if gonzales had bad not died then about midnight a boy came yelling tor for dud and the music and stamping stopped short it Is nevil lowe and a possel posse the boy reported shrilly they come quietly con followed dud outside the intermittent moonlight presently showed two men supporting a third helping him onto a horse this con learned by the talk w was as the battered quill hogan dud yelled tor for the others come on you nitwits I 1 first thing you know that shooting be making red doll rags out ot you catfish coyle reappeared and mounted but big yager and kinky odom were missing Hight aill dud commanded shrilly hear them horses that nevil L lowe owe and his damn possel posse we cant wait for or leml deml just get us all killed Hight aill come on con jeff urged him we cant buck that many con whirled pancho with a furl furi ous snarl snatching at his carbine lie he hooked the sorrel into a gallop and went racing to a house oo on the edge ol of san marcos in the pale moonlight he saw a dark mass ot of horsemen not n t fifty yards away get bacal he yelled at them sliding the winchester out weve got you surrounded surround edl back you nit wits back As he began to shoot holding low at a t the horses legs jeffs voice lifted in a bellow picking up the phrase con had used the mass of riders rider seemed fairly to blow apart as a the carbine rattled but a horse went wen down and another scattered return shots came from the sides of the road come comb on jeff called to him hi M big and kinkas gonel gone he spun pancho and together they thundered away with other horses pounding ahead of them out of 0 f san marcos they galloped gt il loped with lead whining waspishly about them but not too close they overhauled big yager and kinky odom passed them with an encouraging yell but a mile of alternate darkness and moonlight had been covered before con saw dud quill hogan and catfish jeff and con overtook them dud and catfish seemed to have better horses than any of the others including c hogan or con thought perhaps the beaten man was not in condition to get the most out ot of his mount he lagged farther behind and made some indistinct answer when dud yelled at him to keep up the four spurred away from him then became three when horse slowed As a trio they slackened pace to a walk in the foothills of the lobos and listened and let the blown animals get breath well sirl siri dud drawled cheerfully nevil lowe he will be a disappointed up young sheriff tonight who was that sho shooting doting after we left town big and kinky like belll jeff answered before C con on could speak that was con stopping the posse Li listen steni con grunted sudden suddenly 3 not so far behind right now what do we do why I 1 reckon the smart thing Is to set right here bere and see about things dud answered they sat minute after minute smoking listening to the flat rattle of shots until the sound died and only the small night noises of the hills bills could be heard dud grunted impatiently and moved his horse con checked him with a word walt coming it might be our oui bunch just one horse jeff announced it was catfish and he was panting ao ai if be not the horse had bad been running when he came up to them dud called a sharp question rubbed whole bunch catfish answered that damn nevill lowel lowe knocked quill out of the hull bull right at my elbow swear I 1 heard four slugs hit quins quills back then it w was as big me and kinky kept ahead awhile a w bile lowe stopped again opened up got through the head well mae make that son pay for it boyll boyl dud assured him fiercely dont you never think we wont me make ke nevil lowe remember tonight come on bowl now no use crying about it they rode in silence by twisting trails to the cabin nobody was in talking mood when they reached the place they rolled into their blankets but catfish took his hi to the point used as lookout he said that he was not sleepy he bo would stand guard they were up early with the grim events of the night very heavy upon them all dud alone was cheerful or pretended to be he looked at them and swore that they were the sourest set of cowboys cowboy jae he had ever put eyes upon from some hiding place he produced a jug of whisky and uncorked it the liquor brought no lightening of 0 I 1 cons disgust with this company instead he thought of the miff misfortune or which had bad put him here as ai it in a trap TO BE CONTINUED |