Show 41 A J LE S C ownby ar le MAY SF ts t S THE STORY THUS FAR melody jones and george fury had ridden into Pay payneville neville melody mistaken lor for the outlaw monte alonte jarrad Al montes girl cherry got cot them out of town but melody elody II returned to meet lee lee and melody ran into cherry and george overpowered lee and went to the shack where monte alonte hid the express money luke packer the insurance cop was there and shot by someone outside when melody returned with the horses he found the sheriff in the cabin but the body gone in their effort to learn where the express money was hid they started to beat up melody he had learned that the body was placed in the wall where 0 the strong box was hidden CHAPTER XIV ill bust him down all right t aal yal boone said he was just arming nang up to his work sure bust him stocker said with an ironic slur to it but when right quick boone promised he blew on his knuckles stocker straightened melody up t to 0 take the blow but he be said 1 I aint so sure you aint got all night if them cottons is close as I 1 think they be wait roy said we got to try something different the reason we do because youre going to knock him out th ataway then what good is he what good is he anyhow 1 I thought of something thin gan said talking quickly now A desperate hurry was in his eyes what was the last thing he said just before he balked on us he said he knew where no no that aint what I 1 mean cut stocker off with almost frantic impatience he said he could lay hands on the express box in a minute he and right after that he makes a kind of a false start but not toward the door and he says the box is right over and theres where he drew back stocker said yes said with bitter bitte r sarcasm we recall he drew back but he was right on the ragged edge he even started to move toward it and not toward the outside fellers I 1 that express box is here in this dump youre vo u I 1 re wonderful stocker said laly Y 1 pick it up then and lets go he slacked his grip on melo dys arms experimentally then as melody stood there let go the prisoners elbows but he kept a purchase on Mel odys belt paid no attention to him he was standing right over here he began taking position in imi imitation a of melody over what he never said over here you fool what he meant all right then boone blared at him he says over here you fool meaning you I 1 guess and moves toward the blank wall hell lets get on with the way we was doing hold him mormon both stocker and ignored thise jk boot in that door an acne ed indicating the root cellar doone obeyed the door being unfastened banged wide caught up a candle and both he and royal boone jammed into the root cellar virtually at onca one stocker started to drop melody and follow but caught himself in time when melody moved tentatively stocker prodded him in the ribs with his gun muzzle and said huh uh melody looked at cherry he knew now that it was only a question of aery little time whether the cot tons came or not tears were running down cherrys chernys Cher rys cheeks and this astonished him dont 0 he said dont bawl there aint much more of this left she leveled him a glance of last ditch encouragement as her lips formed the words george fury melody shrugged george had probably assumed melody thought that they had all got free and royal hoyal boone came piling out of the root cellar again stood pulling at his lower lip his eyes so avid as they searched the room that he looked drunken pull this up he ordered kick ing the bunk roy boone tore the bunk out by the roots in a couple of splintering heaves nothing was under it but a considerable rats nest and a litter of such trash as had found its way there melody saw that cherry had sidled nearer the door she could almost reach it from where she now stood if reaching it would have done any good you could always get to that door but you could never get through it still figuring melody thought still trying she never gives nothing up royal boone was methodically testing the packed clay floor under the place where the bunk had been chipping at it with his high heel but now sheriff roddy whirled upon that deep window embrasure in the adobe wall light had come to him sudden and complete he laid hold of the great slab that covered the cache and heaved nothing happened incredibly without any reason the slab stuck where it was tried a few more wrenches this way and that but nothing gave aint no use heaving at that roy boone said its all sewed down with cobwebs you figure mormon stocker said with insult the old man cant even tear a cobweb up them cobwebs been there tor for years boone explained in vacuous good faith you dont tell me stocker said Thin gans voice was low quick breathed and shaky work on him roy he said fervently work on him ill have him talk or roy boone stepped gladly toward melody but mormon stocker swung melody out of the way stop it stocker said stocker if youve gone soft soft hell you aint getting no where cut out this bashing his brains out git some wood in here build a fahr a good hot fahr stretch his pants over it heat his spurs red hot and well write his name on him hell talk hell talk like like hell talk plenty he finished too slow boone objected try it decided try it anyway fear of defeat was riding him we got to take a chance on it git some wood in roy A little otter do it for a moment roddy sat on the edge of the shifting slab a strange blank expression making his face sillier then the slab let go altogether and thundered to the floor the sheriff slid with it sitting down hard and suddenly at the base of the wall he sat there idiotically oti cally for a moment his legs spread wide in front of him one pants leg hitched up to his knee he turned quite slowly as his brain almost visibly began to move again he sighted the black cavity the falling slab had revealed in a curious unhurried way he craned his neck to look into it then suddenly he was scrambling frantically to get to his feet his hands clawing at the wall to help himself up his voice exploded in a bawl theys a dead man in therel A strangled grunt sounded in mormon stockers throat as he dropped melody and plunged toward the cache the voice of royal boone rang out strong and crazy he was alrea already ady beside sheriff Th ingan crouched over the black hole in the adobe ledge its luke Pac packer kerl cherry de longpre snatched melody by the wrist so hard that she almost threw him as he stood there gaping she already had the door open somehow with a surprising use of her slight weight she man melody spilled back against the wall hard aged to sling him through the door ahead of her As he slowed up and caught his balance he could hear her furious whisper allun run run you damn fool run or I 1 will kill youl melody jones looked about him for cherry then but she with him now he hunted around for her a little aimlessly not daring to sing out and he find her at first he find the horses either he found a place he thought he had left them but they there and when he recognized that he was in the wrong place he could no longer be sure what he had done with them he whistled softly the call he used for harry henshaw the gelding had never paid any attention to it before but melody hoped that this time he would at least paw or something in this emergency instead a soft answering whistle sounded in a different part of the scrub and when he shook off the first fantastic impression that his horse had whistled back at him he knew that cherry had answered him he ran toward her trotting stiffly to keep his high heels from turning his ankles but she whistle again and he find her I 1 he did find the ponies though montes carbine was still on his sad dle die so that he was armed again now and mounted he left two ol of the ponies tied there and scouted aimlessly through the manzanita wondering what was sensible far off up the mountain perhaps a mile and three furlongs away a double pistol shot sounded as two guns fired almost together monte jarrad sat well back in the shadows as george fury walked into the ring of the firelight montes gun was in his right hand where it rested across his knee the gun was cocked but it swung nose down idly not raised monte looked at george fury in a puzzled way tinged with admiration this was mainly because he understand how george got here let alone how he dared come here to begin with who sent you he asked without expression 1 I come on my own george said howd you find this its a reasonable question george admitted 1 I figured you was up here george said because I 1 figured it was your shot killed luke packer so dead is he plenty monte jarrad grunted ally 1 I already figured out you was wounded so I 1 knowel you travel fur and I 1 knowel be cold like any wounded man so I 1 look in the near places where a fire could be hid and here you be smart maybe jarrad said uh huh my name is george fury 1 I know who you are youre the old buck been palming himself off as my uncle and youre the cheap gunfighter gun fighter that has framed up a sap of a boy to take your medicine for you george said monte jarrad looked him over with some puzzlement george fury did not look dangerous enough to face monte jarrad with a comment like that he wore one boot and one sock frazzled to the shape of a spat he was hatless and his thin hair was full of leaf twigs and other trash his knees were muddy and his shirt torn 1 I dont look nothing like your yo ur half wit uncle george said what do you want here monte asked him now the question carried a strangely detached curiosity as it if monte jarrad had already decided what disposition he was going to make of george 1 I come here alone george began 1 I know that I 1 been listening to you blundering around here for an hour I 1 could of picked you off any time just as easy as now george reddened a little this time but he let it pass the sheriff and some of his posse are already down there at your cache what that shooting was you heard monte Jar eyes showed a sharpened flicker as george used the word cache but he only said 1 I figured that they aint found your express box yet george went on when they do find it find luke packers body because I 1 loaded the corpus in there on top of your dang box how did you find it the gal showed us monte jarrad watched him with amusement and a taint faint admiration so they caught that there imitation of me he said seems like so george fury admitted 1 I thrashed around and tore some of em cm up and come sway away but Mel odys no way quick in n a thing like that not quick and not biot lucky he seems lucky many i a time but he aint so they still got him by the neck I 1 judge in a little while more find your dang cache and when they dob do find the corpus of luke packer about then them cotton friends of yours are due to show so now they got melody jones four ways from the ace he aint got no more show than a one lagged buck at a pants kicking you dont mean to tell me jarrad said greatly entertained yes said george fury and you took all this trouble just to come up here and tell me 1 I come here to make a reasonable demand george said biting off more jerky this here boy is only a boy and he aint got the sense he was born with a living fact he dont know which is up or what the score is or good for him im the first to admit all that and freely tell him to his face for his own good but leave me tell you one other thing make it short jarrad said he readjusted his position moving carefully as if his wound might be stiffening again there aint a mean hair in that boys head he never done no harm to nobody in his life nor of any hes in this because of you and because your gal hauled him into it and made out she needed him to help her you and her rigged up all this between you so there aint but bul one right thing you can do now you got to whistle up your bullies and go and get him out of this 1 I swear monte jarrad said 1 I dont believe my ears or make an honest try george finished you come up here to pull a sob like that what I 1 come for partly george said you mean to tell me you know the answer get george fury tore off one more bite of jerky looking down at monte jarrad sardonically no he said no I 1 lie to you like that his words sounded odd coming muffled from a full mouth 1 I knew the answer id git this beats me monte jarrad said his breathing was quickened and broken by a silent laughter git to your feet george said chewing monte jarrad stared up at him unbelieving but the twisty laughter left his face as it if he had been struck you heard right george fury said im taking you down there monte jarrad still stared at him thunderstruck der struck unable to conceive of this going to hang bang you george said and it aint going to be in effigy with the effigy consisting of melody jones you cheap gun throwers dont make no impression on me ive seen you come and go so git up out 0 that before I 1 smoke your ca carcase reasel TO BE 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