Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-06-28

49, -, s'NNs t'tSAANNA VII 1Aht
set down the cOffee-cup and began to
stare. and at the conclusion of the
story his face lost some of it's red color
and beads Of sweat stood out thickly on
his brow.
wal, if the doesn't floor me-" he
calculated. blinking at Duane. Young
man. L fingered o was some swift, an
sure to make your mark on this river;
but reckon l missed your real call
lbre. SO thet's what it means to be a
man! guess I'd forgot. Wal. I'm old,
an even if my heart was in the right
place l never was built fer big unit
Do you know what it'll take to do all
you promised Jen"
II haven any idea," replied Duane,
gravely.
You'll have to pull the wool over
Kate BANDS eyes, an even if she falls
in love with you, which is shore likely,
tibet won't be easy. An she'd kill you
in a minnit, Buck. if she ever got wise.
You amt mistaken her none, are your
Not me, Euchre. She's a woman. I'd
fear her more than any man.
WAL. youth have to kill Bland an
Chess Alloway am Rugg. an mebbe
some others, before you can ride off
into the hills with tibet girl"
why? Can't we plan to be nice to
Mrs. Bland and then at an opportune
time sneak off without any s%un-play"
Don't see how IN earth.'' returned
Euchre, earnestly. when BANDS away
he leaves all kinds of spies an scouts
watchin' the valley trails. They've all
got rifles. You couldn't get by them.
But when the boss is HON there's a
difference. Only. of course, him an
Chess keep their eyes peeled. They both
stay at home pretty much, except when
they're playin' monte or poker over at
Benson's. So 1 say the best bet is to
pick out q good time in the afternoon,
drift over careless-like with a couple of
/ hOSSaS choke Mcc p1op1 or kpnnk hnr
on the head, take Jennie with you, an
make a rush to get out of the valley. If
you had luck you might pull tibet stunt
without THROWN a gun. But 1 reckon
the best figgerin' would include dodgin'
some ead an leavin' at least Bland or
Alloway dead behind you. I'm figgerin'.
of course, that when they come home
an find u you're visitin' Kate fire.
%quently- they'll just naturally look fer
results. Chess don't like you. for no
reason except you're swift on the draw
-mebbe swifter n him. That's the hell
of this gun-play business. No n can
ever tell Who's the swifter of two gum
men till they meet. Thet fact holds a
fascination mebb you'll learn some
day. Bland would treat you civil onless
there was reason not to. an hen 1 don't
believe he'd invite himself to a meetin'
with you. He'd set Chess or Rugg to
put you out of the way. Still BANDS no
coward an If you came across hin at
a bad moment you'd have to be quicker
n you was with Bosomer."
"All right. I'll meet what comes" said
Duane, quietly. The great point is to
have horses ready and pick the right
moment. then rush the trick through"
"Thet's the only chance for success.
An you can do it alone
I'll have to. l wouldn't ask you to
help me-. Leave o behind!"
wal. I'll take my chances" replied
Euchre, gruffly. I'm goin' to help Jen-
ME, you can gamble your last peso on
ihet. There's only four men in this camp
who would shoot me-Bland an his
right-hand pards. an tibet rabit-faced
Benson. If you happened to put out
Bland and Chess. I'd stan a good show
with the other two.A Anyway, I'm old an
tired-what's the difference if l do get
plugged? l can risk as much as you,
Buck. even if l am afraid of gun-play.
You are correct. Hoses ready, the
right minnit, then the trick Thet much
S settled. Now let's figger all the little
details.
They talked and planned. though in
truth 1T was Euchre who planned,
Duane who listened and agreed. While
awaiting the return of Bland and his
lieutenants it would be we'll for Duane
to grow friendly with the other out
laws, to sit in a few games of monte, or
show a willingness to spend a little
money. The two schemers were to cal
upon Mrs. Bland every day-Euchre to
carry messages of cheer and warning to
Jennie. Duane to blind the elder woman
at n cost. These preliminaries de-
cided upon. they proceeded to put
them n action.
No hard task was it to win the friend
ship Of h most of those ~good-natured
outlaws. They were used to men of a
better order than theirs coming to the
hidden camps n sooner Sr later sink
ing to their lower level. Besides, with
them everything was easy come, easy
go. That was why life itself ven on so
carelessly and usually ended SO cheaply.
There were men among them, however,
~explicable wrath rise in his breast. He
could not ear to be near them. He
could not trust himself. He felt that any
instant 8 word, q deed. something
might call too deeply to that instinct he
could no longer control. Jackrabbit
Of him and other outlaws of his ilk
Duane could scarcely ever forget the
reality OF things. This was q hidden
valley. a robbers den. a rendezvous for
murderers. q wild place stained red by
deeds OF wild men. And because of that
there vas always a charged atmos-
phere. The merriest. idlest, most care
less moment might in the lash Of an
eye end In ruthless and tragic action.
In IN assemblage of desperate charac-
ters 1t could not be otherwise. The ter
rNble thing that Duane sensed was this.
The valley was beautiful sunny. frak-
rant. q place to dream In: the noun
tain-tops. were always blue or gold
r1mined. the yellow river slid Alowly and
majesticany by. the birds sang In the
cottonwood, the horses graxed and
pranced. children played and women
l0nged for love. freedom. happiness: the
outlows rode Ia and out, tree with
money and speech: they lived comfort