The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1917-12-27

"Slopin fer back country, ehF
There came a pause. The stranger
appeared to grow a little r%esentful and
drew himself up d~isdainfully.
"Wal, considerin' you-all so
damn friendly an oncurious down here
in this Big Bend country, l don't mind
sayin' yes-I am in on the dodge" he
replied, with deliberate
aFrom west of Ord-out Ell Paso
way. mebbe?"
"Sure."
"A-huhl Tibet sop Knelrs words
cut the air, stilled the room. you're
from way down the river. Thet's what
they say down thereon the dodge
Stranger, yos're a liarl"
With swift clink of spur and
thump of boot the crowd split, leav-
ing Knell and the stranger in the
center. The stranger suddenly be-
came bronze. The situation seemed
familiar to him. His eyes held a
singular piercing light that danced
like a compass-needle.
Sure l lied" he said, $50 / amt
takin' offense at the way you called
me. I'm lookin' to make friends, not
enemies. You don't strike me as one
of them four-flushes, achin' to kin
somebody. But If you are-go ahead
an open the ball. =. +. You see, l
never throw a gun on them fellers
till they go fer theirs"
Knell coolly eyed his antagonist,
his strange face not changing in the
least. Yet somehow 1t was evident
in his look that here was metal which
rang differently from what he had
expected. Invited to start a fight or
withdraw, as he chose, Knell proved
himself big in the name character
istic of only the genuine gunman.
stranger, / pass" he said, and,
turning t the bar, he ordered liquor.
The tension relaxed, the silence
broke, the men filed up the gap; the
incident seemed closed. Jim Fletcher
attached himself to the stranger, and
now both respect and friendliness
tempered his asperity.
"Wal, fer want of a better handle
I'll call you Dodge" he said.
"Dodge's as good as any. !. Gents,
line up again-an' if you can't be
friendly, be careful"
Such was Buck Duane's debut in
the little outlaw hamlet of Ord.
Duane had been three months out
of the Nueces country. At Ell Paso
he bought the finest horse he could
find, and, armed and otherwise out
fitted to suit him, he had taken to
unknown trails. He passed on leisure
ly, because he wanted to learn
the way of the country, the work
habit, gossip, pleasures, and fears
of the people with whom ne
came In contact. When he heard
Fletcher's name and faced Knell h'
knew he had reached the place he
sought.
Duane made himself agreeable, ye1
not too much so, to Fletcher ant
several other men disposed to tall
and drink, and eat and then, aftel
having a care for his horse, he rods
out of town a couple of miles to {
grove he had marked, and there, wei
hidden he prepared to spend thu
night. This proceeding served
double purpose-he was safer, ant
the habit would look well in the eye
of outlaws, who would be more In
clined to see in him the lone-wol
fugitive.
Long since Duane had fought on
a battle with himself, won a hard
earned victory. He had assumed
task impossible for any man save on
like him, he had felt the meaning o
it grow strangely and wonderfully
and through that fiourished up con
seriousness of how passionately he noN
chung to this thing which would bio
out his former infamy. He neve
forgot that he was free. Strangely
too, along with this feeling of neN
manhood there gathered the force Q
imperious desire to run these chic
outlaws to their dooms. He neve
called them outlaws-but rustler'
thieves, robbers, murderers, criminals
He sensed the growth of a relentles
driving passion, and sometimes b
feared that. more than the newl
acquired zeal and pride in this range
service. 1t was the old. terrible II
herited killing instinct lifting II
hydfa-head in new guise.
This night a wonderful afterglo
fingered long in the west, and again'
the ~golden-red of clear sky the boil
black head of Mount Ord reared itse
aloft, beautiful but aloof, sinister "
calling. Small wonder that Quar-
gazed in fascination upon the peal
! Somewhere deep in Its corrugate
sides or lost In a rugged canyon WI
: hidden the secret stronghold OF Il
master outlaw Cheseldine. All dow
4 along the ride from FL Paso DuaI
had heard of C~heseldine, of his ban
his fearful deeds, his cunning, h
widely separate raids Of his fifth
a here and there like a Jack-o'lanterl