The evening world., 1912-01-23
The
X Riders
A Another Great Cowboy Romance
PyC. 4. t-e.tzer. Author Of"7HE TWC-CUN MAN,
T h e
49,
~

the tsvlc, closed ME nasds, ~ held
hs leaned forward. his eyes xlintin4
ooidiy as they rested on bonanza
Il reckon you must know Q lot" -
snssrcd.
Tuscon's vv1es vas soft tts ven
moss. more than It's quality. told Of the
sinister feeling behind IT. While his last
~oids s,ili re-. olive in the CONSEQUENCES
OF his hearers. he iad q slight move
ment with his iigh; hand and . hsavy
six shooter come from somew here out
Of his shirt front In the dead silence
he spoke to pohanzn.
II reckon you On tell these poyU night
now that you're a false alarm"
Into the strange quietness his words
dropped with a grim r~ssonance that
wskenod thoughts % death and atcrn-
ity Some faces went pale. tense. shrill
breathing told OF tho strain and sus-
peiss OF the moment Yet BONANZA
seemed undlsturhed His face hold its
color and his eyes seemed to CLEAN with
u quiet amusement
II amt teiin' uooody nothln'." ~
returned. coldiy.
AeterWafd only ono maj of the four
ecn-besides U~Onanza-couid have told
how II happened. At tho instant that
Tucson had ssuhs his gun upward he
had awkwardiy struck his elbow
against the edge Of the table. The
bullet had gone wild. striking the wall
Of the adobe hut fully two feet above
B%onnnza's heud.
And hon. like = q Of iI.hI BO.
nanza's own sun had como OFT a
was gaping somberly down the centre
OF the table. And before Tucson could
recover for q second shot. Bonansa's
! voice came lard n cold Into the SO.
ond silence that fell.
Drop IT,
II had beon quich worh for B0naaAA
II had seemed only the space Of Q
lightning flash from the time that
Tucson had drawn his weapon until
he was laying II Cd tho ~table-beatsn
at his own game,
II amt goin' 10 moot" said b.
nanxA smiling s~aturnin-ly over the
space that separated him from Tucson;
no be wastin' powder nm lead. An
I amt hankrrin' to be . fool-killer.
Give you time you'n git whsre you're
Eoin'I"
lie made a significant motion toward
his throat. over IN ~Guadalupita they
wasn't wise to you I'LL you was ready
10 make your git-a-way."
Tucson secm-d to shrink into his
chair The eyes OF every man In the
OUTFIT were sudde.Iiy sdulnted at him
with inter rogation. trying to read his
face FOR signs that would prove the
truth OF Bonnnza's accusation But
beyond shrinking under The v~itriolto
words 81 the saturnine bonanza. Tue.
son gave no signs Of revealing any.
thing.
'Ili $40 you again about this" no
said.
a case OF plain backdown. said h
eyes OF the outfit Smiles came. winks
followed; tho room came suddenly out
OF It's tragedy into the lightnsss Of
farce comedy.
yellow" said a man who sat near
tho centre OF the table. in q voice loud
enough Tor Tucson TO hear.
TN see you again about this"
sncored another. mimicking Tucson's
manner OF speech.
Reckon he'll hurt hisself. foolin' with
his gun that.away." whispered another
generously.
Jocuiarity was again paramount Ap-
parently the Incident was CLOSED. No
further reference was made to II by any
Of the men who had been mere on
lockers. bonanza resumed his .
without again looking toward Tucson.
Five minutes later Tucson arose. shut.
fled carelessly to the door. and disap-
peared into the shadows that were sue.
rounding the ~bunkhouse.
Then Bonanza spoke.
y" want to tell you boys." he 0d
quietly. that there man amt Tor to be
monkeyed with You-all don't want 70
try an herdride him. 7 reckon I ought
TO be tickled to death that I'm able tn
set here an tell you that"
His words were received IL s'ispo~
Already those men who had ubed Tue
son were wondering II they had .
exactly wise In doing II. Only one at
than haA nptualv sean fha accLt.nt chat
had prevented Tucson from killing Do
mama, and now. since the latter had
spoken. they began to realize that II
might ave been only one OF those slight
interpretations through which fate
thwarts tho desire.
IL.
Tho following morning Mcvea. the
Bar Cross manager. listened with In
terest to the range boss story Of the
Incident OF the clubhouse. Ten minutes
after he had left the managerial pres
ence tho r,nge boss DR. ped Q low
word into Bonanza's ear.
nan was repairing a saddle oinen
when the word came 10 him. and for .
few minutes after receiving II he con-
tinued his work on the cinch. so that
the other men who were about him
might not wonder. Tlen presently he
got up and wandered toward the ofico.
lie oun tho manage awaiting him.
set down. he said. as Bonanza halt
ed In the door one foot over the
threshold. The motioned to a
chair that stood near. Bonanza took
II, showed Il against the wall and
lropped into It.
Il reckon YOU como mighty near
'ashin' in last night" said Mcvsa.
Bonanza grinned feline y.
ITO Ba C~oneinusdS