Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1916-11-16

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new departure in specialization. We
We're sadly in need of garments. so we
entered and were at once met by Il
very oily, specimen of the chosen
people. When we had escaped from
this robbers den VIC looked at each
other in humorous dismay.
"Glad Yank don't need clothes. any
way" said Johnny.
We were, it will be remembered, out
of provisions, so we entered also one
of the general stores to lay in Il small
supply. The proprietor proved to be
an old friend. Jones. the storekeeper
at Hangman's.
"Which.' said johnny shrewdly. lis
a sad commentary on the decline Of
the diggings at Hangman's.'
Jones was evidently prosperous and
doing business on Il much larger scale
than at the old place, for in his COM
modious building were quantities of
goods displayed and many barrels and
boxes still unopened. He did not rec
ognizc us, of course. and we had to
await the completion Of Il tale he was
lSlllHSo IL SloVp lCiNlICd VII llc CottiltclS
and on the boxes.
We turned into the entrance of the
hotel, to find ourselves in the we'll re-
membered long, low room wherein we
had spent the evening Il few months
before. 1t was now furnished With a
bar, the tiimsy partitions had been
knocked III and evidently additions
hn1 hnnp anncfYn,ntnl 1,n,n,h1 %bn vori
u closed doors.
The man behind the bar looked
vaguely familiar to me. but l could not
place him.
where's the proprietor of this
place" 1 asked him.
He indicated q short, blowsy, trucu-
lent looking individual who was at the
moment staring out the window.
There used to be an Italian | be-
gan.
The barkecper uttered a short bark
ing laugh as he turned to attend to a
customer.
"He found the climate bad for his
heart and sold out said he.
On the wall opposite was posted a
number of printed and written hand
bills. We stopped idly to examine
them. They had in general to do with
lost property, stolen horses and re-
wards for the apprehension of various
individuals. Ono struck us in partic-
ular. 1t was issued by Il citizens COM
mittee Of San Francisco and announced
Il general reward for the capture of
,xY o,11, "a Nv t.TTo.,-y
Looks as if they'd got tired of that
gang down there" Johnny observed.
They were ruling the roost when we
left. DO you know, l saw one of those
fellows this afternoon-perhaps you
remember him-a man with q queer
sort Of blue scar over one cheekbone.
swear l saw him in San Francisco.
There's our chance to make some mon
ey. Jim"
The proprietor of the hotel turned to
look at Johnny curiously, and several
Of the loafers drinking at the bar
glanced in tho direction Of his clear
young voice. We went on reading and
enjoying the notices. some of which
were very quaint. Suddenly the door
burst open to admit a big mar follow
ed closely by u motley rabble. The
leader was u red faced, burly. whisk-
cred individual, with q red beard and
matted hair. AS he turned l saw a
star shaped blue scar above his cheek
bone.
where's the blamed cur that is 60
ing to make some money out Of ar
resting me?" he roared, swinging his
huge form ostentatiously toward the
center Of the room.
l confessed | was aghast and COM
plctely at a loss. 4 row was evidently
unavoidable, and the odds were against
us. Almost at the instant the door
came open Johnny, without waiting Tor
hostile demonstration, jcrled his two
revolvers from their holsters. With
II bound he reached the center Of the
room and thrust the muzzles beneath
the bully's nose. His black eyes were
swapping.
"Shut up, you Hound" he said in a
low, even voice. Il wouldn't condes-
cend to make money out Of your mis-
cradle carcass, except at u glue fac
tory. And if you or your friends so
much as wink an eyelid I'll put you
in shape for it,"
Caught absolutely by surprise, the
Hound stared fascinated into the
pistol barrels, his jaw dropped, his
face redder than ever, his<cyes ridicu-
lousy protruding. I had recovered my
wits and had backed against the bull
letin board, a revolver in either hand,
keeping an eye on the general COM
pany. Those who had burst in with
the bully had stopped frozen in their
tracks. The others were interested,
but not particularly excited.
I'm going to stay in this camp"
Johnny advised crisply, "and I'm not
going to be bothered by big bluffs like
you. 1 warn you, and all like you, to
let me alone and keep away from me.
You stay in camp, or you can leave
camp, just as you please, but I warn
you that I shoot you next time l lay