The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1911-04-06

snuaiing down the long slope the
drooping poay sweEved a little, snort
90. and then halted. tremb ling. Star
neo OUT OF his unpleasant rumina-
eSns. MS lips tenstng over hts teeth
In savage snari, Nevins swayed ia
Ne saddle. caught himself. crouehed.
AHe swung his heavy pistols TO an
alert poise.
Ten feet /. front Of the pony. and
equarely in the center OF the trail. q
gigantic diamoRd-beck rattler swayed
ans warned. Nevin's snarl deepened.
NO dug spar into the pony's left
Rank and pulled sharply upon the left
rem. The pony lunged forward,
launches as the reins suddenly tight
e1ed. Thea the heavy revolver ia
NoVins right hand roared spitefully:
eAere was sSdden threshing in the
aHst OF the trail. and the huge RATHER
sauddered into sinuous. twisting
heaP-its head neatly severed.
Mas size" declared Nsvins. his
saari reiaxing. cit along. yah durn
feOll Scared OF = rAttIeri'
Relieved. debating its lungs with a
returned to the trail In thirty sec
ends NeVins had retained to his un-
pleasant rumfRatioas.
A mile up in the shlamering blue
an eagle SWAMI On slow wing. shaping
hlS winding c0ursc toward the cotton
wood clump that fringed the waters
sf the Purgatory RiVer-fiVe miles
away. Besides the eagle, the pony and
himself. there waS no living thing In
tine valley. la the shade OF a rock,
perhaps. iurked a lizard; in the fllmy
mesquite that dropped and curled In
the sitting heat crawied a RATHER;
In the shelter Of the gray sage brush a
sage-hen nestled her eggs in the hot
sand. But these were fixtures Nevins
his pony. and the eagle were not. The
ld CIV ftC
mile-wide circles many times to reach
the point near the cottonwood; il was
migratory and alert with the hunger
last. NeVins was not hungry. Back in
Trinidad he had met a man who had
treated him royalty. There had been
many words between them, and when
they had parted the man had pressed
a great roll of bills into NeVins' hand
There had been few words of instruc-
ton. But the mans voice had been
hard. His name is McVea. He's
manager OF the Bar Cross There's
two hundred in that roll I've given
you II McVea dies before the fall
roundup, you get two hundred more"
That had been a week ago. OF the
seven days five had been expended in
a riotous blow" Money had flown
like water; terror had reigned i'm the
saloons and on the street. oven the
hardy men Of Trinidad were admitted
~ relieved when one morning Nevins
"a,
to look upon the last dollar of the
two hundred. He had few friends
There were none who cared to be-
come familiar enough with him to at
tain that personal eminence Trini-
dad had known him long. and had
come to the conclusion that n CERTAIN
aloofness toward him was no waste
OF prudence. Therefore there was a
concerted sigh OF relief when. on the
sixth morning. Nevins had quietly
tossed his last dollar upon the bar
of the Red Cloud Saloon. drank his
whiskey. and departed down the wide.
sun-baked street in a cloud of dust.
IL.
The pony clattered down the slope
plunged deeply into the stream, and
drank with eager. silent draughts
Nevins swung himself crosswaYs in
the saddle, fumbled for a moment at
the slicker. and drew out battered
tin cup. Reaching over. he filled the
cup with water. tilted his head back
and drank. a blur in the white sky
caught his gaze and held il. His
eyes Knocked. his lips snarled-
Its that damned greaser eaglei"
he said Followed me fifty miles. 8"
A flash OF race hatred glinted in his
eyes. Il wouldn't let no damned
greaser eagle git me. anyway"