Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1915-02-18

tain, on the, upper level" Gallon STAN
mered.
"Get yenr horses, boys" ordered the
sheriff.
It Was. not hut few minutes until
the posse, Gallon riding stolidly on IN
extra horse. was scampering through
the streets toward the mountains, now
absolutely dark. az the moon had set.
Sheriff Hawkins was not aware that
20 they crossed wash painting,
gr0anin1 man was crawling on his
belly toward the solitary light which
marked Vale Vista. Nor did Gallon.
dumbly riding toward the darkness
which hid the scene of his crime. real
tse that Wtlkerson was within ten
yards OF him 40 they splashed through
| the stream.
Then suddenly appeared in the sky a
spot Of white, which spread until the
murk Of the night had turned to dusk
"yVell. thank God it's daylight" said
the sheriff to Gallon. ~ guess we can
get your partner all right now" And
even as he spoke the dusk suddenly be-
came enriched by the light Of the sun
rising In the cast. The moment 1t
struck the brass on his pony's birdie
Gallon involuntarily refined In. Through
his blistered lips ne muttered: "Goldl
Rnth!"
Inquiring eyes we're turned on him.
The sheriff showed his horse over and
| asked. what gold2"
At the same instant came the deputy
| m Tho ntl,oc eide ~ him
"Say, chief. he says there was no
gold"
A sinewy arm reached out and took
Gallons gun away from him. ~ think
| ! better keep this" said the sheriff, his
| dark countenance growing stern.
40 this cavalcade made Its way
through the freeh California dawn
until there was q sudden break in the
mesa. The deputy threw out his hand.
There are hundred gulches in these
mountains. Which one is 1t. pardner?''
At the word 'pardncr' Gallon pulled
himself together The glitter of the
brass on the horses headstall and that
| word. Shonld he tell them the location
4 of that gulch? The stroke Of one
! horses hoof might disclose the mother
!; lode. and yet he had told them the out.
laws had killed Milkerson.
His horse stumbled and threw him.
When he got up he gropingly pointed
his hands toward the hills aud NUT
tered, "That way, boys-thats where
they got HIM"
Halt an hour Later the posse was
grouped about the dead fire. aud the
| sheriff was staring at a blood stained
blanket
'-Thers has been trouble" he said
abruptly. Then he turned on Gallon.
"Why is this coffee hot?" he said,
lifting mp the pot The brusque tones
Of the sheriff cut the silence that fol.
lowed.
II don't see Your man. ] don't under.
stand This. You are under arrest-for
the murder or He looked at Gallon,
aud the old man nvolIutarily said,
"Wilkerson"
All day the sheriff. with Gallon, his
arms pinioned behind him, searched
the Enllics and gulches for the man
whose blood stained blanket they had
found. The old man. taciturn as ever,
merely said. % il repeating by rote,
'.rhe outlaws got him"
When the full moon had risen and
the night life Of the desert had begun,
grotesIue life. built of. fieetlng forms
and bizarre shadows. the sheriff called
Q halt up the canyon.
On one side of the gulley on which
they were camped the sheriffs men
had built q hre. II was against rock
which rose whitley under the moon.
Gallon saw his chance He worked
bis way to the IRE and In spite of the
pain held his hands ont over tile blaze
until he felt the strands of the rope
weaken and finally part.
| A moment later he was making his
way to where the horses were tied
He leaped upon the nearest one and
within second was on his way down
the hill into the mist which filed the
valley.
But the noise OF his horses hoofs or
the rough shale OF the hillside awak
eled the guard.
II think win have cup Of coffee, >
10 said to himself sleepily and slug
gishly stretched himself. moment
later he flung the empty coffeepot into
tho darkness. Sheriff." he cried, "he's
gOne!"
The sheriff lifted his lanky form as
II by single movement. who's
gomez" be yelled.
'"That man. Gallon" replied the
guard.
I'VE must get him, boys" the sheriff
said. They rode to the edge of the llil
and looked down into an irldescent SCI
Of mist, mere pool Of curdlIng moon
shine.
Hes got away from u.s. boys" sni(
the sheriff "We'il never find hin
there"
Gallon rode quickly on. no longer
seeking for light, but for darkness
and yet a. he felt the pony qniver I'M
der him he himself felt strange lrern
or-Wilkerson was still alive-sonle
where behind that veil was his enem,
and the man who knew the location OF
the richest mine in all golden Califor
nia.
Mission Street pier marks the poin'
Oh the San francisco water front where
sooner or later every one in this worlt
passes. and among the multitudes
strange, subdued and nnsubdued by
the tremendous forces which make ON
civilization. Gallon found himself abso
lutely unObscrved in this throng-he
was rs he hoped to be. Berthed a,
the pier was steamship. quarterlnas
tiers at the gangway. and sign hung