Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-06-21
CHAPTE V.-(Continued).

Duan casually glanced in the direc-
ton indicated. and he saw a spare,
gaunt man with a face str.kingly white
beside the red and bronze and dark
skins of the men around him. 1T was
q cadaverc-s face. The black mus
tache hung down; Il heavy lock OF black
hair cropped down over the brow; deep
set. hollow, staring eyes looked out
piercingly. The man had a restless.
alert. nervoCS amer He put his
bands on the board that served as a
bar and stared at Duane. But when
he met Duane glance he turned hur-
Iiedly 10 go On serving out liquor.
wv hat have you got against him"
inquired Duane. as he sat down beside
Euchre. He asked more for some-
thing to say than from real interest.
What did he care about a mean, haunt
ID. craven faced criminal?
Wal. mebbe I'm cross grained re-
piled Euchre, alphabetically. "Shorea an
outlaw an rustler such as me al be
touchy. But l never stole nothin' but
cattle from some rancher who never
missed 'em w Tibet sneak Ben
son-he was the means of putin a
little girl in BANDS way"
"G:ri?" queried Duane, now with real
attention.
Shore. BANDS great on women. Isl
tell you about this girl when We get
out of here. Some of the gang are
SOln TO be SOClaDle, an i can talk
about the chief"
During the ensuing half hour a num-
Der Of outlaws passed by Duane and
Eucnre, halted for a greeting or sat
down for a moment. They were all
sruff. loud voiced, merry, and good ma
tured. Duane r, Piled civilly and agree
ably when he waS personally addressed,
but he refused all invitations TO drink
and gamble. Evidently he had been
accepted. in a WY, as one Of their clan.
n, n made any hint of an allusion
to his affair with Bosorner. Duane saw
readily that Euchre was we'll liked. One
outlaw borrowed money from him; an
other asked for tobacco.
BY the time it was dark the big room
was full of outlaws and Mexicans. most
OF whom were engaged at monte. These
gamblers. especially the Mexicans. We're
intense and quiet. The noise In the
place came from the drinkers, the
loungers. u a seen gambling
resorts-some of the famous ones in
San L-ltonio and Ell Paso. a few in
border towns where license went UNI
checked. But this place of Jackrabbit
BensOn's impressed him as one where
guns and knives were accessories to
the game. To his perhaps rather dis
tinguishing eye the most prominent
thing about the gamesters appeared to
be their On several OF the
tables were piles of silver-Mexican
pesos-as large and high as the crown
of his hat. There were also piles of
gold and silver in United States coin.
Duane needed no experienced eyes to
see that betting was heavy and that
heavy sums exchanged hands. Thu
MeXicans showed a sterner obsession,
an intenser passion. Some of the
Americans staked freely, n~onchalant-
~. as befitted men to whom money
was nothing. These latter were mani
testify winning, for there were brother
outlaws who wagered coin with grudg-
ing, su!len, greedy eyes. Boisterous
tax nd laughter among the drinking
men drowned, except at intervals, the
10 Z. brief ak of the gamblers. The
sometimes just ow. steady musical
rings, IL again, when a pile was tum-
bled cuicl.,"., there was a silvery crash.
Here an outlaw pounded on Il table
with the butt OF his gun; there another
Mostly palmed a roll OF dollars while
he studied his opponents face. The
noises. however. in Benson's den did
not uatribute to any extent to the sin
lister aspect of the place. That seemed
to come from the grim and reckless
faces. from the bent, intent heads, from
the dark lights and shades. There were
bright lights. but these served only to
NAL tie shadows. And in the shad-
w lurked unrestrained lust of gain, a
spirit ruthless n reckless. u some
thing at once suggesting lawlessness.
there. murder, and hell.
"Bland's not here tonight" Euchre
was saying. He left today on one of
IS . Fps. takin' Alloway an some 9TH
ers. sui his other man, Rugg. he's
here. See him standin with them three
tellers. all close to Benson. Riggs the
little bow legged man with the half OF
his face shot off. He's one eyed-but
he can shore see out of the one he's
got. IN, darn me! there's Hardin. YOU
know him? He's got an outlaw gang
as big as BANDS. Hardin is standin
mex to Benson. See how quiet an I'M
assumin' he looks. Yes. thet's Hardin.
He comes here once in a while to see
Bland. They're friends. which's shore
strange. Do \ GU see tibet greaser there
the one with gold In lace ON his SOM
brero? Thet's Manuel. a Mexican BAN
dit. He's a great gambler. Comes here
often to drop his coin. Next to him is
Bill Marr-the Teller with the bandanna
round his head. Bill rode in the 9TH
er day with some fresh bullet holes.
He been shot more'n n Teller l ever
heard Of. He's full of lead. Funny,
because Bills no trouble hunter, an,
like me. he'd rather run than shoot,
But he's the best rustler BANDS got
q grand rider. an q wonder with cattle.
An see III tow headed youngster.
Thet's Kid Fuller. the kid Of BANDS
gang. Fuller has hit the pace hard, an
he won't last h year on the bor-
der. H killed his s%weetheart.s father.
got run out OF ~Staceytown. took to
stealth bosses. An next he's here with
BlaAd. Anottsr boy gone wrong, an
now shore q hard nut"
Euchre went on calling Duane's at
tsntfons TO other men. just a . he hap
a them would have bee. q marked
0an ia q respectable crowd. Here each
took hio place with more or less die
tinction. according to the record Of his