| Show FLAM I 1 4 ilk dim 0 THE FORES HAROLD t 15 lp B 4 IRWIN AVER L L f B t il e P run SEr aro i CHAPTER XI 11 I 1 N OW nat bridger the sherar aln though aman a nan large in stature arwas was small in heart and soul ile he was alone in ills his office when west enter entered edthe the corridor tod glanced around at the barred door s to the bullpen straight ahead with 11 4 a man standing against it holding 1 one bandaged hand in the other oilier gin gerly hullo hulio bickl west said to the prisoner heard you drank too S much of your own hooch what alls the hand blood poison tile the man growled most drives me crazy I 1 doe doc adams says its better but it dont seem so BO to me i the voices had bad attracted the sheriff who came to the doorway oh hullo hulio hul lo io he cried good lord what happened to you he demanded us as west followed him in to where the light fight was better wily why tod youre all swoll up he was in truth badly swollen ahls face was lopsided lop sided and een the left eye slightly puffed dam hornets li got we me yesterday he said was foshin up rig big dea bea it ver and kicked em cm out of 0 a stump they sure are good at their job ill say so but what brings you here he be asked anything I 1 can do for you tod r well not for me bebby tod lio said but I 1 heard the other night that I 1 kind of figure you oil ought lit to know Ye yeah alk yes you know Blu ejay dont you thought so kind of scum frank Is lies hes worked for me off and on nd I 1 dont trust him much for theres things about him for instance hes always sno snoop ln always sees things hes been camped out north of us cs berries and comes in most every night well night before last he came to me to get a little he be had comin and I 1 got als biting and lie told me something kind of suspicious lie he says hed been lookin bool W for berries north of townline Town line lake thursday and long about sundown swung past that downer cabin n on i his big way back to camp ile he says he heard something that sounded like pounding po inside A little draft through throng gh the pen open transom above fluttered his big graying hair and the lone prisoner in the bull pen leaned closer against the bars straining to listen ile he peeked through the window i and nat he says he saw young holt stuart on ills his knees in a corner money out of a tin box bos hes got burled under the floor ile he watched the look of amazement am az e spread swiftly over the sher Ws face stuart he asked in surprise OS stuart jakini money out of a tin box burled under the floor I 1 uy my god wily nol nd ehe be was in that cabin the night cash was of course nat youre not dumb I 1 ezra was so damned sure that tha ll 11 that ankle had been sprained t the e night cash was killed lied and that the t e idd ive ve gotten out oh well the bertot bes of uell make s takes S bridgers Erld gers face was gray with exy esy nobody else knows 3 this not st a soul fars I 1 know I 1 told to keep his mouth shut sit lit I 1 bridger began to pace the floor bloor in ia agitation it wont do to go alone a man as a murder suspect aint a simple matter As a matter of duty pol id ought to have my deputy with me r tea yes and then some maybe I 1 F would VOul 1 you go 90 along tod anything I 1 can do id feel it 1 my fauty cluty to do ile he rose toll tell you 0 what ive got to drag along home h ome I 1 might hear sOrn ethin there ril ill i be waltin chell you and dutch butch ashow up A and be as a S quick k as I 1 can J je get t ito hold id of him ra ill try it by telephone ait t so I 1 it t was wa S that when ezra adams rusty b black jac k bag in ills his hand mounted red the jail steps to make a call 1 1 ion hla his patient there lie heard the astory story tile the prisoner had heard 0 0 0 0 0 i i y kerry young dog at his heels beels j crossed tile trestle toward bests landing i A car stood before tod bests house A group lounged before the store tod west within had his nick back to tile the sheriff and ills his deputy they bad not seen youngs Is passing but west had and for a moment the man felt panic come again into pos session flog glOn of hi ills falales falt les J young alive lh e and in town towne A and when lie returned from shoestring at noon had bad been walting waiting for him with word that young was forever removed from the mad woman the breed had collected ills his money too two twenties and a ten frank had been so sure had told tod west ot of how young had gone down into the deep waters of townline Town line lake of how his do dog had bad swum round and round the drifting canoe and finally struck out for shore A shaking rage gripped him the indian had lied theal wed ought to be gone tod I 1 so bridger breaking in on his swift train of speculation and doubt and suspicion ue ile might light out ready soon he said thickly young was now out of tod bests sight but in full view of frank BIu ejay sitting in a chair tilted against the store wall kerry had been in full sight of the nan man for perhaps ten seconds standing there in the doorway surveying the dozen people in the establishment this his gaze came to rest on the breed Elue Blue jays one foot had been swinging idly on youngs appearance the are arc it made diminished more and more slowly it swung un tit it came to rest and during that interval the mans jaw sagged ile he sat so gaping unmoving and then his chair came down to all four legs with a thud while the heritage of the indian in him all the superstition and regard tor for legend swirled upward to possess bli him completely no one else had noticed this d did of not until young spoke easily enough are you surprised BIu Blu ejay ile he laughed then and the laughter was hard menacing laugher slowly rose to his feet hands behind him shoving on the chair back to aid his weakened leg muscles A luminous fear lanced in the black eyes surprised ell eh kerry began to advance what I 1 came for BIu Blu ejay to see be surprised the man was retreating now hands spread against the wall sidling lin along making for the rear he did pot speak though his lips worked kerry moved faster and as tile the treed breed turned left off his touch on the painted boards and halt ha if staggering lurched down the room was upon him 1 I gasped as youngs young Is hand fastened on his shirt at the shoulders spinning him around 1 I I 1 didn dian he be moaned what jerrys voice was like the crack of a whip what insistently when no reply was forthcoming lie ile let go tin an arm and his big hard aln gers grasped the breeds ahr throat oat beseechingly let drop something he had held in one hand and grasped youngs wrists don dona III he moaned don young I 1 I 1 didd didn ills his knees were sagging but kerry held the man halt half erect by his big throat you liel he growled you lie ile BIu ejay I 1 youre guilty as hell and what youre going to do Is tills I 1 youre going out of this country as fast as the good god will let you I 1 and if you ev ershow up again shaking him slowly if you chov your face here so long as im here ill strangle you to death as sure as water runs down hill now do you understand with a sideways fling he let the man go sprawled on the floor but before he be came to rest lie he was scrambling to ills his feet circling to be away from young toward the door he scuttled and down the steps he ran As kerry stopped to pick up that which the breed had dropped the sputter and roar of a motor could be heard and when lie he smoothed out the bill and searched its crisp surface for the serial number gears whined and a battered flivver stirred the dust of the street as started for somewhere else with all the speed lie he could arl wring from the ancient contraption mel knight came from behind the counter men alen who had been outside wore were entering curiosity aroused by Blue jays flight sly my gosh gobb nerry kerry you sure put a crimp in that injun I 1 knight said bald with a queer grin id like to bet he wont be seen here again my ITY gosh what made him film look so scared afore you made a move dam right he wont corne come back said bald another did yuh see him grab halmel him a third asked at large 1 I thought lie he was a coln to squeeze ills his wiz zen in twist young gave no heed to these observations or questions ile he know knew certain serial numbers by heart this was one a twenty dollar bill of a certain series crisp unused for a moment lie he was impelled to tell what had bad happened this morning on Town townline line lake but as he drew breath to speak car brakes squealed outside and ezra adams voice curiously strained called sharply has anybody happened to see gee kerry young kerry looked through the doorway at ezras face ill III ezra lie he called starting forward up cupl As quickly and as clearly as he could ezra told the story that the prisoner had told him A frame up on Stu stuart artl 1 muttered young good god bests hand Is in tills this why unless we beat em cm to it going to make the rottenest rott enest kind of trouble for holt those were his words and they voiced an honest thought but not the thought uppermost in his mind the thing which hurt him with the acuteness ot of physical pain was this before sundown nan downer was to see her lover led away to jail ns as a suspect in the murder of her father and gone ezra rasped they crossed th wagon bridge just as I 1 made the turn bridde baldger nd butch his deputy nd tod west bound tor for the cabin sure as youre born and get out of that seail snapped young roughly he shoved the old man from beneath the wheel and stepped in to his place hang on sa said I 1 d kerry as throwing in the clutch lie he spun the car about headed beaded downstream down stream lurched into the ruts leading to the wagon bridge and shot across with a roar upstream up stream then past nans mill behind headquarters and into the road the sheriffs car had followed youngs brows were drawn ile he divided this attention between the theory forming in his mind and the treacherous ruts and chuck holes of the road listen ezral he be said weve got to get to that cabin before they do hold bold en em off see been planted there keep stuart from arrest re rest L their way was now through an 01 old d burning where the ruts ran straight and the chuck holes were few with foot throttle down to his hard fingers grasped the breeds throat the floorboards floor boards kerry shoved the little car for a mile they traveled at high speed and then brakes on stirred vast dust clouds as they skidded for a left turn into a dim trail here I 1 where you the only way ill it was ezra until a few weeks ago beaver dams out I 1 came through here on foot this morning unless I 1 overlooked a lot we can get through it if we get through well be ahead down grade they went down into a cattail bottom lie he had crossed this noon the old culvert that had bad been under water tor for so long he thought he remembered its condition but was not sure he slowed as they reached the creek bed eased cased the front wheels gingerly up on the water bleached corduroy held his breath as the cars weight slowly went on the structure and then as it gave and crackled beneath them gave the motor everything it would take the spinning wheels found purchase they crawled forward slowed slewed sideways and finally with a bui buind rill and a bounce bo ance were away from the culvert roaring for the high land beyond d made her kerry yelled and well have most a halt half hour before they can get to the cabin by the good road they were ahead of bridger and his big companions for certain but they had bad not gained a whole half hour the one tire frayed by its tussle on the culvert went down and they made the last two miles of 0 sand trail through tile the timber on tt a flat bouncing and rattling and unable to make time even where the sharp turns lind and deep ruts might have permitted moro more speed young was out of tile the car before the motor stopped spinning he strode to the door abrew threw it open and paused see that dirt he asked pointing to the trickle ot 0 f dust across the floor the doctors old eyes followed his big pointing finger traced the stringer of fine lumps and granules across to the far corner where ive ve been he muttered glancing at the one w window I 1 n BIu DIu eJay said he looked through the th window its the only corner he could see handy and he said he saw holt in here about sundown sun down thursday As I 1 recollect IL it A plant for surel I 1 was in here about then thursday the floor was clean ezra but today tills this stuff was here lets go III 1 ne he was on his knees beside the two short sections of flooring eyeing them closely see heres where eliere they were pried up with something he said excitedly then they dug a hole for the box bos and carried the dirt out maybe in a bucket or a newspaper anything nut but they were either cither careless or what they used leaked why they dirtied the floor now I 1 he reached tor for an ax as leaning against the wall inserted the bit in a crack between boards and pried carefully ahl ah I 1 the nails gave readily careful of these boards now they may be evidence here we go 1 he began scooping earth that came out in chunks and lumps some of which crumbled to dust in the handling then his busy hands bands suddenly touched metal ezra stooping far over breathed quickly with care young worked his fingers beneath the object lifted and out it came a dirt covered flat box bot of japanned metal cashs cachs box bos the physician muttered and his voice trailed off in suspense as kerry tugged at the catch of the cover was the money which would forever put nan downer beyond the reach of tod west there was emancipation tor for this girl the catch gave the cover opened and ezras low moan joined the sound of a swiftly approaching car only he be said flatly three of em muttered kerry I 1 three hundred dollar bills and tile the rest of it gone beyond not for sure tills this Is a plants plant remember hed put only enough here to pin the thing on holt yes scrutinizing the bills the proper numbers the rest ezra is cached somewhere yet I 1 and here they cornel comel the motor swung into the clearing its Is motor died and a voice said sharply what th hell other voices sounded subdued then they heard the word ezras bus What ll we do now the old man whispered stand pat kerry muttered closing the box bos closing it and flipping the cover up ag again gain quickly to stare lit at the inside surface black and glossy its lacquer still bright A curious smile of triumph was in his eyes as lie he raised his face ezra this is your investigation dont C let let em em get their hands on a piece of tills this evidence because it was nat bridger swinging through the door what comes off here he demanded and stopped poised just within the roof frowning oh you ezra ills his ready hand dropped from the hip youre here ell eh yes the coroner said shoving up his big spectacles yes nat good afternoon I 1 howdy butch as the deputy appeared bridger turned to his subordinate and then looked past him at tod west who adar approached jached scowl slowly as if perhaps he be were not just sure of how to conduct himself well this Is a surprise the sheriff growled how come youre here ezra Off official leial business nat I 1 got a tip this afternoon that bebby be of interest to the coroner of this county in this camp nd I 1 guess the tip so far wrong at that point tod west showed himself in tile the doorway ile he halted there and his eyes rested an instant on the old physician then them as it if he forced himself to an ordeal they swung to kerry but if he expected to find challenge or accusation on youngs face he was wag wrong they heard it too tod said bridger and in his voice was an appeal for guidance perhaps but bests mind was not simple he was tb thinking Inking things many things trying in ills his swift reasoning to encompass nil tile elements possible to this situation frank probably peddled his story west said bridger |
