Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-14
CURLY
A TALE OF THE ARIZONA DESERT
BY ROGER POCOCK,
0 a nap
ty Brown Co

BY ROGER POCOCK,

lame. starting back 1.-THE as a panther
and his face dead white.
BE CAREFUL! he whispered, "there's men
passing US! My life amt worth a cent If
1 m seen heah in town.. He had the sling
across his eye again and broke out laugh
ing. / mean the doctor says l got to keep
1t covered, or I'll go blind-and a blind
mans life amt worth one cent in the
dollar"
Quit lying! You're posted at the stable
10 see who comes and goes, one eye in a
sling and one game leg for disguise. Come
here"
Jim dragged him by the scruff of the neck
TO the post office, which stood next door to
and there was an old poster notice on the
wall:
NOTICE.
The Northern Pacific and Wells Fargo
express companies offer two thousand
DEAD OR ALIVE,
for the four robbers who held up the North
ern Pacific express train at Gold Creek,
Deer Lodge county, Montana, on the morn
Ing of April 3. 1899. Descriptions:
Peter, alias Bobby Stark, alias Curly
McCalmont, supposed to be son of Can't
McCalmont, Is five feet six inches in height,
Slim. fair hair, blue eyes, clean shaYen, soft
gtrlish manner, with scar over left eye,
the result of knife wound He is about
twenty years OF age, but looks not more
than fifteen, and was formerly O. cowboy,
riding for the Holy Cross outfit In Arizona.
He was last seen on or about Nav 3 at
Clay Flat, in the Painted desert with a
flea-bitten gray gelding branded X on the
near stif1e, and two led burros, one Of them
packed
Jim turned round sharp on Crook. You're
Curly McCalmontl'' sayes he.
Come away-yo' risking my neck
do you think I'd sell you for that dirty
money!
What you seen, others may and they
= dST N q
"All right. Curly. Don't you forget to
walk lame
"HistI Heah come the Ryansp'
The two youngsters came hurrying into
the saloon, where I stood watching Bal
shannon while he lost the last of his money.
Jim clutched me by the arm, whispering
something, but L did not catch what ne
said. for Curly was making a last play to
get Balshannon from the tables.
You quit" said he, 'befo' yo're too late.
patrone."
It's too late now" says Balshannon
whats the good?"
ITS not too late to save yo' life Come
quickl'
80" says Balshannon. looking up sort
Of surprised, you think you can err
frighten me?"
table. Look a-here, Crook" says he, "you
can play, or you can get right out but you
don't interrupt this game" And Curly was
hustled aside by Ryan's watchers.
finish this
He staked his last chips and lost, then
got UP with a little sigh, thinking I reckon,
of his wife his ranch, his cattle
I'm kind of sorry, Dock" says Louisiana
so am l, little" Balshannon chuckled
II think" says the gambler stacking
away his big heaps of gold and silver coin,
II think that
You are fortunate, Pete" BaIshannon
answered lightly, ~ dare not think"
I'm closing the game for tonight" says
Louisiana.
I'm closing the game tonight" says
Lord Balshanuon.
He took cigarette case from his pocket,
but found 1t empty. felt in his shabby old
a queer little laugh of his which made mo
ache
Outside in the street heard a hand bell
clang and took notice through the tall of
my eye that the room was filing with all
the worst men in that bad town of ours
There was the Alabama Kid and beside
him Shorty Breach, stage robber and thug:
Reef Jones. the horse thief; Gas, tin horn
crook: Thimble-Rig Phipps and two or
three other sure-thing gamblers, rollers and
thugs. I went over to the front end of the
house, where the orchestra were packing
up to quit, and there at the far corner of
the bar were old Ryan and Michael stand
ing drinks to the crowd. Yes, the game was
being set sure enough. I saw Low-Lived
Joe hurry past me and speak in a whisper
to Ryan, and at that Balshannon's enemy
stood out TO the front of his gang, All the
scrubs and skin-gaple men were drifting
into that corner behind him, until there
must have been perhaps thirty gathered,
loosing their guns to be ready.
BY the faro tables were Jim and Curly
trying to get Balshannon out OF the house,