The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-01-14


this Pinney come sneaking into camp
on that blue mustang of Witherbee'sf
He must o. heard me stirring. because
be didn't stop to unsaddle. He just
slipped Off and laid down and pertend-
ed to be asleep. He's as mean a cat
tie thief as ever | see, and if / have
my way he'll hang to the highest cot
tonwood hereaboutsp' Long jerks
spoke fiercely.
"What made him come back here2
Why didn't he run the critter off 2" de-
manded Saleeby's voice.
That's an easy one. He was going
to pinch one or two more and run the
lot off together and leave us-us here
without a hide to git back to Circle O.
Got any loading?" Pinney heard the
click of revolvers and muttered re-
marks as the men exchanged car
trldges. Then they rolled over and APP
parently went to sleep. for long and
noisy outward demonstrations bore
witness to their slumbers.
What unfortunate complication of
circumstances had combined to place
suspicion on him? On his very first
day, too, when he was homesick and
weary.
All night long he shivered In his
blanket under the breeding. sultry sky.
Then just as a faint grayness tinged
the murky black he wrlggled his way
toward the spot where the ponies were
staked.
There was a low whinny as his
hand met a velvet nose, and his fingers
trembled as they touched the dangling
bit and slipped it between unwilling
jaws. In another instant be had left
the group of restless ponies and was
speeding away through the darkness.
the soft thnd of hoofs leaving a trail
which he felt would be followed to the
death. Long jerks had said SO.
He bent his lean body to the rough
name of the horse and pounded with
fists and spurless heels on the vibrat-
ing flesh. He felt the inward rush Of
the beast. the pumping OF blood
through swollen veins. as he chung to
IAC OlAdiC al AJOlliChON NuG SuQdtC
became loosened and at last slid away
In the darkness. almost ~unseating him
and driving the horse almost frantic
with fear. He tried to eDtwine his
legs beneath the pOny's belly. There
was a numbing blow from flying hoofs
and one foot hung useless. Once he
turned. and the glitter of steel and a
faint shout from behind told him that
the worst had happened. The line
riders who had been his companions Of
the night before had discovered his
fight and were In hot pursuit.
With despairing eyes fixed straight
ahead and ears painfully alert to every
sound in the rear. he urged bis tired
beast forward with cruelty nipping I'm
gers. The pain from his wounded foot
was m~addening, and the agony sent
the blood reeling to his head. His daz-
ed eyes hunted the plain for a place of
refuge. Every flashing hoofbeat thun-
dered: ITO cover.r' ITO Govern
There vas a sharp crack and the
whistle Of a bullet owe his head. He
turned his sandy head and laughed
shrilly. but the derisive laughter chang
ed to a cry of terror as he saw his pur-
suers not a hundred yards distant,
their weapons leveled. The next shot
would take him between the shoulders.
He would be shot in the back, and they
would know it at home in the east.
All the blood of his forbears, heroes
of Bunker Hill and Gettysburg. rose
and famed In his little gray-green eyes.
With a hoarse shout he swung his
pony about and faced the oncoming
men.
Blame it all-shoot If you wanterF'
be yelled.
The line riders pulled their dripping
animals to a halt. and the tallest and
leanest. Long jerks. drew a ragged
mustache between his fingers thought
fully. What s-say?" he drawled.
II say, shoot If you wanter. 1t WON'T
hit me in the backT' The boys voice
shook with some sudden emotion as he
faced the three grim, saturnine faces.
For q moment they stared back at
him; theh they slipped from their sad
dies and rolled In the cracking sage.
brush. Long jerks was the nrst to