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Show WILLIAM MACLEOD RAINE'S COPYRIGHT WIllIAM MACLEOD RAINE WNU SERVICE killer and a thief. Say I'm paying off a grudge I owe Lou Howard and Morg Norrls. That would make me a double double-crosser. Put it any way you like. But get this through yore noodle. If you stick around here another day, you'll go home In a wagon covered by a sheet." "I wouldn't believe anything In the world you told me," Frank answered. an-swered. "Then don't believe it because I tell you. Use yore head. Young Howard is no-account, but right now dangerous as a trapped rat you try to pet. He's mostly vanity, and you've hurt that cruelly. He'd go the limit to get even. Norris is one of these snake-in-the-grass killers, mean all the way through. Boy, I'm going to tell you something I can't prove. Likely you won't believe me. Morg Norris is the man who tried to kill yore father at Tail Holt. I'm 'most sure of that." "You're one of this outlaw gang, but don't mind throwing down on them when it suits you," jeered Chiswick. "Smart as a whip, you are," Gray drawled. "You'll never find out whether I am all the kinds of skunk you claim, because inside of 24 hours Morg Norris will blast you off the map." "Maybe he sent you here to scare me. If he did, you go back and tell him I don't scare worth a cent." "I give up," Gray said, putting away his weapon. "When a lunkhead lunk-head has got hell in the neck there's nothing to do about it. You're grown shoulders. He would not have to play a lone hand any longer. A man coming into the house stepped to one side to let Frank out. The man was Jeff Gray. "Wait a minute, Chiswick," he said urgently. "They're aiming to ambush you." Frank did not answer, nor did he look back. He was not going to let this fellow influence him. But the heart under his ribs began to pound furiously. Involuntarily he quickened quick-ened his pace. "Come back, you fool!" the crook-nosed crook-nosed man ordered. "They're posted post-ed in the cottonwoods over there." Chiswick did not believe him, but a queer chill ran up and down his spine. He kept going, following an adobe wall parallel to the road. The angry bark of a revolver sounded. Frank whirled, dragging out his weapon. Swiftly he fired at Gray. He knew the shot had come from the gun of Gray. From the cottonwoods across the road a rifle cracked. Another boomed before the echo of the first explosion had died. Frank flung himself at the adobe wall and clambered over It, dropping drop-ping the forty-four from his hand as he swarmed up. The boy hesitated an instant Should he go back for his revolver or run the great risk of being caught defenseless? He heard the slap of running feet. If he went back over the wall, he would be the target of several gunmen. gun-men. Nothing could save him. He must keep going. In the darkness a building loomed before him. It was a large adobe stable, and it filled the whole back of the enclosure. Frank hesitated. He dared not let himself be trapped In the stable. Better go over one of the side walls. He caught sight of a figure on top of the wall. A man was astride of it His gun flashed twice. Then he had jumped down into the yard and was running toward Frank. Amazement filled the mind of Chiswick. The man had not fired at him, but at someone out in the road. "This way. Into the stable. They'll get you out in the open." Frank followed him into the building. build-ing. Why he did so he could not tell, for the man in front of him was Jeff Gray. "Up the stairs," Gray ordered, stooping to pick something from the ground. The two men ran up to the loft Gray handed Chiswick a crowbar. "Get to work and knock a hole through the wall," he said. "We're going out that way." Frank pushed aside the hay and began to drive the crowbar into the crumbly adobe bricks. At each thrust of the pointed iron the soft wall disintegrated into sand and straw. Footsteps sounded below. Someone Some-one shouted up a command. "Come down from there, Chiswick, Chis-wick, or we'll shoot you into a rag doll." In a husky voice Frank did not recognize, Gray called down an answer. an-swer. "Three of us are up here. We aim to hold the fort. Don't monkey with us unless a lot of you want to be rubbed out" "Who are you?" the same man called to them. "L C men," Gray replied, still in the heavy voice. "All well armed." "Send down Chiswick and we'll let the rest of you go." "Go chase yoreself through the brush." A bullet crashed up through the floor. Gray fired one down in the direction from which it had come. There was a whispered conference below. "Better give up," the spokesman advised. "We'll sure smoke you out." Gray played for time. The crowbar crow-bar was tearing into the wall. "Will you promise not to hurt us if we do?" he asked. "Sure. What would we want to hurt you for? We got a warrant for the arrest of Chiswick for disturbing disturb-ing the peace." "Give us time to talk it over. "Well, hurry up. And no monkey business. What's that noise up there?" . . . There was a Kish up the stairs. In the darkness the defenders had all the advantage. Gray pistol-wiped the first man and sent him tumbling back against the others. Frank drove the point of the crowbar into the midriff of another. The attackers attack-ers feU back in disorder. Hurriedly they scampered out of the barn. One of them had to be dragged. "Back soon," Gray said grimly. "How are you getting along with that exit-hombres hole?" With the sleeve of his shirt Frank wiped away the perspiration dripping drip-ping into his eyes. It was hot in the hay under the roof. "Give me ten minutes more," he panted. "You don't get ten minutes," Gray told him, and he handed his revolver to the younger man. "Give me that crowbar awhile." With short swift drives the red-haired red-haired man slashed at the wall The point of the crowbar went through. The hole grew larger. "Why not ten minutes?" Frank asked. "Think they'll rush us again?" "Not none. They will set Are to the hay below and burn us out." "Good God! We'd better go down and try to hold them back from getting into the barn." "I wouldn't say so. Three-four would get killed, including maybe me. We'll just about make it The creek is below. We'll drop down in the brush and slip away if we're lucky." "And if we're not?" Frank asked. His companion pried out an adobe brick. "I've been in a lot worse tights than this," he said. Frank had been slammed from the saddle to the ground many times. He had been in stampedes and blizzards. These seemed to him trifling hazards compared to the danger he was in now. "Wish it was lighter, so you could see better," he replied, emulating the coolness of the other. "It will be light enough soon, if I don't miss my guess." Gray stooped and worked at a loose brick with his hands. Someone ran into the barn. From the top of the stairway Chiswick fired. "Get him?" inquired Gray. "No. I didn't really see him . . . He's lit the hay." The flame leaped up. Through the loose floor it caught the hay in the loft. Frank tried to stamp out the fire. A brick crashed down from the wall into the creek outside. "The hole is big enough," Gray cried. "Slide out, fellow." "You first," Chiswick urged. The smoke was pouring up in great waves. "Do as I say," the older man ordered. or-dered. Frank wriggled through and dropped. The heat and smoke were almost unbearable. Gray worked his legs and body into the open. He dropped, landed on a stone, and rolled over and over into the bed of the dry creek. "All right?" Chiswick asked, in a whisper. "Yes," Gray snapped. "This way." He ran crouching along the bed. The brush along the bank protected them from observation. Leaping flames from the stable drove back the darkness. The fugitives were brought up by a barbed-wire fence stretching across the creek. They crept between the strands. They stood in a clump of mesquite on the edge ofthe creek. (TO BE CONTINUED) SYNOPSIS Ruth Chiswick o( L C ranch, obsessed by frar til danger to hor outspoken fa-tiicr, fa-tiicr, Lee, from a band of lawless rus-tiers rus-tiers hearled by Sherm Howard, decides to save him by eloping with yount? Loii Howard, Shcrm's son, and comes to the town of Tail Holt to meet him. While In Yell Sanger's store, a crook-nosed stranger stran-ger enters, sizes up the situation, and when a drunken cowboy, Jim Pender, rules In and starts shooting, protects Ruth, while Lou Howard hides. Disgusted Disgust-ed with Lou's cowardice, Kuth calis oft the elopement, and sends the stranger for her father at the gambling house across the street. There the stranger, calling himself JefT Gray, meets Morgan Norri.s. a killer. Curly Connor, Kansas, Mile High. Sid Hunt, and other rustlers, and Sherm Howard. Lee Chiswick enters, en-ters, with his foreman, Dan Urand, and tells Sherm Howard of his orders to shoot rustlers at sight. Jeff Gray returns re-turns to Huth and coldly reassures her of her father's safety. At supper, Ruth Introduces Jeff to her father and Brand, and In Sanger's store later she speaks cordially to Curly Connor. Coming out of the store, they are greeted by sudden gunplay, Lee Is wounded, and Jeff Gray appears with a smoking revolver. Two days later, Ruth tells her father of her projected elopement and her disillusion-, merit. Later, Ruth meets Jelf Gray, whom she thinks tried to kill her father. Ruth accidentally wounds Jeff. She takes him to Pat Sorley's camp. Ruth Is credulous of Jeff's story of shooting at the assassin rather than at her father, and later pleads with Lee to listen to him. When Lee arrives at Pat Sorley's camp, he finds onlv a note to Pat from Jelf. Meanwhile, Jeif rides Into Tail Holt and sends word to Sherm Howard he wants to see him. He shows Howard a poster wllh his picture, with the name of Clint Doke. wanted as the leader of a band of outlaws. The rest of the band arrives. Jeff shows the outlaws the poster and asks their confidence, and tells them Ruth shot him. They agree to allow him to stay. Another raid on the L C cattle causes Lee to line up his men in pursuit, and to send his son Frank to town to reconnoiter. Pat Sorley finds Gray's horse's hoofmarks on the trail with the suspected rustlers'. CHAPTER V Continued 9 "He didn't whop me," blustered Howard. "Didn't you hear me say he jumped me when I wasn't looking?" look-ing?" "I heard you," Curly said with a skeptical grin. "I never saw the day I couldn't comb that bird's feathers for him," the damaged man bragged. He finished his drink and went away to repair his wounds. Jell Gray,- watching him, caught the look that passed between young Howard and Morgan Norris. Presently Pres-ently the latter left the bar and sauntered back to the wash-room after Lou. Gray also drifted in that direction. direc-tion. He sat down at a table close to the washroom wall and began to deal out a hand of solitaire. Intently In-tently he listened to catch anything that might be said back of the thin t wall. CHAPTER VI 1 1 Frank called "Come in," and Jeff Gray walked into the bedroom. "What are you doing here?" Frank demanded, jumping to his feet. "Like to have a few words with you," Gray said. 1 i "I won't talk with you about any thing!" Frank cried, excited. ' "Something important." "No," the boy exploded. "Important to you." . . "I won't have you here," Chis wick barked at him. "Unless you want trouble, get out." "I'm going to get out in just a minute. All I want is to tell you something I've heard." ""' ' Walking to the table where his gun lay, Frank shouted at him, "Get out, you double-crossing polecat." pole-cat." Swiftly Gray whipped out his gun. "Don't make a mistake, Chiswick," he advised quietly. "So that's it," Frank said. "You've come to kill me. Does yore contract call for me, too, as well as Father?" "You damn fool!" Gray broke out in exasperation. "I never saw so crazy a family. I've come to tell you something, and you're going to listen to me whether you want to or not. Morg Norris and Lou Howard How-ard are fixing to rub you out." "If it were so, would you be here telling me?" Frank asked, with a scornful lift of his lip. "I am here. Boy, forget what you've got against me. I overheard some talk. You'd better light out of town before they get you." "Are you afraid if they do you'll lose the reward for me?" Gray shrugged his shoulders. "Have it yore own way. But listen to what I've got to say. You're going go-ing to be watched. They will try to draw you into a fuss. At the right time you'll get it Understand?" Under-stand?" "I understand you ate supper with my father and tried to gun him from behind afterward," Frank told him wildly. "And that you loaded my sister with lies so she took you to one of our line-camps to be doctored doc-tored up. We've got yore number, fellow. You were with the thieves who drove our stuff up Box canyon. What's the use of pulling this line of talk when I know you are in cahoots ca-hoots with these rustlers here with the vry scoundrerls you are warning warn-ing me against?" Gray swept this aside with a gesture ges-ture of the revolver. "All right Leave it lay at that. I'm a hired "No. I didn't really see him He's lit the hay." stuff. If you have any last messages mes-sages you had better write them out. Norris will get you sure. Don't get any other notion. You won't be one-two-three with him." He turned and walked from the room. Angrily Frank watched him go. An irritable resentment filled young Chiswick. He had an uneasy feeling feel-ing that he had been an ungrateful boor. This was absurd. Gray was a villain. He had come here for some evil purpose of his own. No point in letting him fool another of the family. His father and sister were enough. But there was something about the fellow that didn't tie in with the facts. He did not look like a sneaking sneak-ing scoundrel. He was hard as nails, a tough bad hombre. Frank did not doubt he was an outlaw. But everything every-thing about him e;es, bearing, manner proclaimed him game. His reckless strength gave the lie to all they had foun.d out about him. Frank decided to take as few chances as possible. He would sidestep side-step any attempt of Norris or Lou Howard to get him into a quarrel. Tonight he would stay in his room. It came to him later that perhaps per-haps Gray had been sent by Sherm Howard in the hope of driving him out of town. There might be something some-thing doing they did not want him to know about He would stick around for another day or two at least. After supper a Mexican came with a message for him. Lee Chiswick, the man said, was at Yell Sanger's store and wanted to see him at once. "When did my father reach town?" Frank asked. The man shook his head. "No sabe, senor. His horses are at the hitchrack in front of Sanger's." "Not alone, then?" "Senor Brand is with him." "Tell him I'll be there pronto." Frank went back to the bedroom for his hat. He felt as if a load had been rolled from his chest In spite of what he had told Gray, he had been worried at the warning. He had wanted to light out for the ranch and only his sense of duty was keeping him in town. Now he could pass his fears to broader |