| Show P ED A NGER by EUGENE cunningmam cunningham C EUGENE cunningham THE STORY SO 00 VARI to save his lire 1116 liter after be h q quarrels a reli with the ibe boss bois of wil d hone flare 1 ala brock con cameron hits the trail leaving his all pal caramba vear behind on the trail he meet the he haulers I 1 and fides with them until he dearion they are ar wanted tor for robbery and murder murde in covering that novil lowe whose ilia he had moved shortly before has ha a ranch a nomnear near civan con goes coel there only to be sel aelred ae aas ai a murder minder and tab iob bery on inspect pee 1 D decarie a ol of his anolla alon with the hanlen E MI at he 0 Is believed bel ved to be Coman comanche cb 8 lt allun a lowe law ba bai lean been made marshal but will not releasie r olea him so ho be and jeff allmon break out of jail and join in dud cans par am amort 0 to hates lowe lone and tries to avenge the de death of some lorae of at big men killed by lowes posse by lowes liter ister I 1 ja janet at in ap to ol of lowet lowes treatment ol of him con helps janet ja ne I 1 escape then he be loui falls duds dudi attempt to rob the TIM bank when be find s jeff allmon killed hilled by dud he leaves a not by jeffs body what happened caramba vear vast catches 0 op p with h him alter after looking for or him all toll this t time 1 me an and d im bersu des him to stay to the neighborhood tz it b ll is not seen icen with th gang in y ot be recognized it he runs rum he li is almost certain cartain to be caught a ing ht calling bieselt twenty johnson johnso con goes with caramba to a saloon w where here they meet gals gale goree gorea foreman of 0 the broken wh wheel a at ranch now new continue with we the story CHAPTER XI con and caramba ate in a place the bartender recommended a C lean clean house called only Carm carmelitas carmelites Car elites joint where the cooking was wholly mexican con talked of slash ox weld and speculated concerning the gu gunman amans 3 next movements movement a caramba nodded agreement with cons measure ol of gale goree the real yes sirl much of 0 a man reckon we measure up to busted wheel size we might hit up goree tor for jobs huh I 1 wonder how come they call this bentson outfit the broken wheel wagon wheel I 1 have heard of lots ol of times but a busted one B back a c k in the cantina cant lna explanation ot of the brand came from the nervous bartender that was the wheel up to awen ty thirty year back seems old topeka had him a partner in some ul mine and they tell fell out and this partner figured Tope kad skinned him which maybe topeka done anyhow emory was awful mad and a s hard man himself he grabbed up the tenison boy that was six or seven and he run Nob odys seen the kid from that day to this elther either emory killed him or maybe hes got kids of his own by now but topeka come back from the last ol of his bis traUl and he knocked a chunk out of his brand changed it to the broken wheel 1 you know ow ill bet my uncle knew something a about all this con said thoughtfully he never was much to talk but he did use around civan and on over in his young days before my aunt knocked his horns off ive heard him tell a thing or two and he roust ve been something extra with a gun he slash Ox weld the bartender interrupted his voice almost a groan hes got everybody plumb cat eyed since goree and the wheelers pulled out slash is poison As soon kill you back or front aront without a 8 bobble he just alms aims to get the killing done now hes plenty fast castern fa stern goree I 1 bet you but somehow he just cant get the glue out of 0 his bis holster around that texas man if he could he would kill him I 1 bet you anything but P there was a poker game going in a corner of the big room presently con and caramba drifted over to watch A cowboy got up professing himself empty of both money and liquor con slid into the seat and began to play against three cowboys and two nondescript townsmen caramba looked on con had poor cards tor for several hands and lost a 8 few dollars then as he picked up his bis cards on the sixth or seventh deal and found three jacks he leaned back a little and swore with artful amazement throw em away before they land you in trouble and let a man set act down and show these tinhorns tin horns how to play slash snarled at his shoulder three lacks jacks is nothings not hingl con put his cards down without so much as turning his head A man who had been looking on from the other side of the table edged away iway and began to walk fast tower toward the door looking back con stood and pivoted deliberately to td meet ox welds grinning stare you asked tor for said to in a high flat voice you just asked tor for ill he grIn grinned Aed his thumb had been hooked in the belt just over his tied down holster bolster now his hand twisted dashingly lett left handed he slapped down and outward just as he would have blocked a boxers punch to knock Ox welds hand away from the colt butt his own gun was inside his shirt comfortably snuggled in his waistband waist band As he struck he drew and let the hammer drop as the muzzle bore upon thumbed the hammer back and fired his second secand shot staggered with each impact of lead the flaming powder at this range set his shirt afore he spun with a groan and lurched one step away from rom the table then tell fell flat sprawled without moving carambas shot was like an echo to the tha report of that other mans 1 I want a detective but ill take two gurl gun A cowboy came in sight beside a table with lifted colt and ca shot again and puffed dust from the mans shirt he dropped the gun and went scrambling toward the door on hands and knees ahead of him a tat fat little man jumped up irom from under another table with a high squealing scream he ran still squealing to the door the cowboy whom caramba had shot followed still on hands and knees the tat fat man plunged out caramba sent a slug into the tea floor just behind the cow cowboy boy and he fell ell flat and began to roll to the door in the cantina there we was 0 sudden quiet then a buzz ol of voices stockem stick em up you aall a nervous voice commanded from the shadows around the back door im the constable and I 1 got you covered with two barrels full of buck he was a lank and fidgety and un certain seeming man this officer but the short double gun in his hands was trained upon them and con shrugged and lifted both hands to his ears as the constable moved slowly toward them you dont mean that arrest a man for trying to save his litel he said irritably has been on the prod ever since goree showed him up and you know idill it maybe so but theres law that has got to be followed I 1 ah cudgel A tall man long of 0 face and narrow of 0 dark eyes pushed through ugh the growing crowd and waved the constables shotgun down impatiently mpa tient ly he said in almost a confidential tone to con put your hardware away I 1 can hold an inquest right here right now some ot of you ment men up you come tor for a jury those who see it by preference it if you did torget forget it weve got plenty of at witnesses the formalities were very slight when three witnesses from rom the players at the poker table had testified promptly the jury called Ox welds death justifiable the justice looked at con that was fast work but it was more it was thoughtful I 1 take it that you think yourself taster faster just because of the way goree treated no no I 1 con answered slowly frowning all I 1 thought was that somebody would have to kill or hed be killing him a man when he shoved himself into our poker game in a way that not only necessary but would make almost anything on two legs fit to tie exposing a decent hand I 1 figured that hed picked me to kill he in a poker humor he want my place I 1 just looked the tender young pilgrim to him so before i I 1 stood up I 1 knew it was ox weld or met mel and knew what you intended to do to make it the justice said still studying him shrewdly 1 I thought so are you and your friend working no we thought about hitting up the wheel it if tenison got jobs well go on to see lit taylor I 1 rode tor for him a while and he told me to come back when I 1 wanted to the wheel the justice said softly why ou peel ern em tor for a better outfit are you vear or twenty johnson twenty johnson but oh I 1 remember mem ber I 1 told the bartender our names does the justice here check on every saddle lobo he looked with open curiosity at the tall man caramba was watching s face him also with blank face and narrowed eyes not every saddle lobo no not as justice either my name is wl ley suppose we have a talk you wait five or ten minutes then drift go past Car swing right abou arou around nd the next house walk straight ahead until you bump into a little corral ill be there nobody seemed interested in their movements when they got their horses and rode through damp darkness up to the corral wiley had indicated beyond was a small adobe house and one shaded window was a yellow square they put pancho and carambas black jeb stuart under a ramada and went cautiously to knock at the hous edoor wileys calm voice answered and con gave his alias the door opened and wl wi ley stepped back to let them in the clean comfortably untidy kitchen and bedroom had no place that would have hidden a man wiley gave them chairs in the bedroom by a table that held whisky and cigars under a shaded reading lamp when they sat with glasses and cigars wiley alley shifted his lean length in the old leather chair opposite 1 I think you two shape up as a the answers to a question he be said calmly swirling the liquor in his glass before we go any deeper into our business discussions let me make it plain that who you really may be or what you may have done Is nothing at all to me I 1 want a detective but ill take two since you boys seem to be siding each other will you pass your words not to mention anything im going to sly say without my permission w whether hether or not you go to work tor for me V why I 1 think we can do that con said after an inquiring glance at caramba 1 I 1 I trot w with ith you caramba a agreed gre d I 1 no talk buenola im not only a justice but I 1 own halt half the walking X sometimes my partner and I 1 have said we own halt half thieves own the other halt half and collect a damn signi more in come than we can well most ot of the outfits in the territory are to in our fix some months ago we organized a private association anyway theres more and more expensive stealing going on than weve had for a long time and a detectives job is more dangerous 1 I want you to take on with the broken wheel if tenison will hire you well then con said slowly as I 1 see the layout you want us to work tor for tenison in two ways as hands bands and as detectives but hes not to know that were anything but hands and we keep our eyes skinned to see it if the rustlers have got help on the broken wheel suppose we uncover something have to use your own judgment well it sounds all right to me con told him how about you caramba want to give the proposition a whirl caramba shrugged but his eyes were twinkling im a scary man judge caramba said whimsically but it if this smoke stomping fire breathing terror of the prairies here hell gar antee to protect me im your gosling well hang and rattle lor for you if the pays right two hundred a month you can split it to suit yourselves and heres something for each of 0 you he got up and crossed to a battered desk fumbled in a drawer and turned holding up two dull brazen disks english pennies ill scratch my initials on each one WW A word goes with them eye any member of 0 our association will recognize the penny the initials and the word as identifying a detective suppose a detective working tor for us joined a sticky looping gang and was caught with the rustlers hed say he was just a passerby passer by search mel hed yell our member in the necktie party would do that very promptly sight ol of the penny would be almost enough to tell him the truth the word would make him sure so he be wo would uld arrange tor for our man to get 0 off if without ever exposing himself if possible does nevil lowe belong to the association con asked oh ob besl yes in fact hes an original member dont worry at all about him I 1 they drank a little played a little stud poker and turned la in at t midnight in the livery corral near their horses without excitement they ate at Carmell tag tas in the early morning and drifted about returning to the cantina to sit talking to loafers like themselves near midday wiley appeared and looked at them as at the merest acquaintances quain you men say youre lob job hunting well topeka tenison of et the broken wheel is down at the rooming house I 1 dont know but he be might have a place tor for you i TO BE CONTINUED |
