, 1906-07-11

you TO visit the street. They have 1t
In their heads that you are playin' the
Spy"
Il must find that boy. He left the
Springs at s this morning, and his Sis
ter is worried about him."
Il will go for we. Rob. It's too dan
gerous for you"
Raymond rose and laid a hand on
Kelly's shoulder. "See here, Matt. |
want to talk plainly to you. You've
got to bundle up that little wife and
the boys and get out of here. I'm CO.
ing to take Il hand in this game. I'm
going to call the Independents togeth-
er and make a stand"
Kelly faced him. IF We make a
stand | must be beside We. What is
your plan?'
81 will not tell you unless you prom
Use to take Nora out of danger"
Kelly's face grew stern, and his
voice fell TO a level hoarseness that
sent Il CULVER through the young mans
blood. See here. boy, we struck hands
III this partnership. We share and
share alike. | am with we and SO is
Nora. | am ready to dig Il hole in the
ground and stand ZEN off. I'm worn
out with their comm and goin', whip
sawin' now on this. now on that side
o. the. question. They've declared war
on us. Now, by the powers, We'll meet
'em h~alfway!'
Raymond surrendered. "All right,
Matt, here's my hand. Well defend
Nora and the mine too. When your
fighting blood is up l don't want any
dispute between u.s."
Kelly's eyes began to twinkle. 81
begin to draw me breath natural again.
For weeks I've been wanting to put
me fist beneath the noses of these rap
scallions, but for fear of Ann and Nora
/ could not"
every well, We'll sent out a call for
a meeting tonight. The quicker we
move the better. l feel as you do-now
we are acting IL mans part. There is
a big element here that is sick of this
monkey business. Half the camp will
rally in our support. | know it. Then
we will serve notice on Munro The
sound of h%urrying feet interrupted him,
and a moment later Louis burst into
the room.
"Oh, Rob, I'm glad you're here. Hell
10, Matt" lie shook hands, breathing
heavily. His skin was flushed and his
eyes shining. You ought to be up
town. Jack is maxim EN- sit up. He
shot one man. They We're building a
fort, and Il drunken fellow
"Take your time said Raymond
coldly. "There are several minutes left
In the box. You might begin at the be-
ginning and tell me why you sneaked
away again without saying goodby to
AnnT"
The boy was not daunted. "As 500
as | heard what the sheriff's plans
were | wanted to leave, but it was so
dark; that was last night. l was afraid
to try liz so this morning l pulled out
early"
"Where have you been all day"
I'VE been with Jack. l met his men
way down the canyon, and they took
me to headquarters, where | told my
story, and then | went to supper with
Jack: and then this big row came on,
and | stayed to see that. oh, but Jack
IS inel He faced the whole crowd
alone. One man wanted to clean out
your cabin. He said it was Il nest of
traitors. He drew his gun on Jack, but
he hadn't time to pull the trigger.
Jacks bullet went through his arm"
Raymond, who had been studying the
lad with softening glance, interrupted
him: "Now, see here, Louis. you sit
down here by the fire. Don't let your
words all try to get out of the corral
at the same time. We want to know
all about it. but we don't want you to
hurry. It's only 10 o'clock, and you
can get over a whole lot of ground by
midnight"
The two men looked at each other
with grave eyes. The boy was trem-
bling with excitement, and his voice
was high and strained.
Kelly said gently: My lad, 'twould
serve your sister better if you kept out
of this. | don't like to see you riding
between the lines as Il spy
81 didn't intend to be a spy, but
when heard the trick they were going
to play l couldn't help hurrying back"
"Wha trick z"
"Why, they're going to load all their
men into freight ears and make them
keep quiet, and then they're going to
run them through Jacks guard at
Doggy clear to the end of the rails"
"That's a very nice plan,' said Ray
mond. when do they intend to
Gomez,