Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1917-02-02

The very nrSt Tine De spain iNnue
IN inspection trip over the stage line
with Leftover, he was conscious OF the
sinister mir OF this lonely building. He
aud Lefever had ridden down from the
barn, while their horses were being
changed. te look ut the place. De
Spain wanted TO look over everything
connected In any way, however remote
ly, With the operation Of his wagons,
and this Joint, Lefcyer had told him,
was whore the freiEhterS and drivers
were not InfrcQucntly robbed Of their
money II was here that one OF their
own men, Bill McCarty, once
Scratched mans neck with n
knifc-which Bill explained, he Just
happened 10 have in his hand-for
cheating nj cards Lefeyer pointed out
the uHlucky gamblers grave as he and
De Spun rode into the canyon toward
the i'm.
Not sign Of any sort was displayed
about the habitatlon. No man was In.
y.trd to enter, no man warned to keep
out, none was anywhere In sight. The
stage men Gismounted. threw their
lines, pushed open the front door of
the house and entered a room of per
haps sixteen by twenty feet. A long,
high bur stretched across the farther
side of the room. The left end as they
faced the bar, was brought around TO
escape a smnll window opening ON
court or patio to the rear Of the room.
Back Of the bur itself, about midway,
a low door In the bare wall gave en-.
trance 10 rear room. Aside from
this the room presented nothing but
walls. Two windows thanking the front
door helped TO light II. hut not mir.
TOR, picture, chair, table, bottle or
glass was 10 be seen. De Spain coy-
cred every feature of the Interior at
glance Quiet around here, John, he
remarked casually.
This is the quietest place in the
Rocky mountains most of the time. But
when 1t is noisy. believe me, II is
noisy Look al the bullet holes In the
walls"
The old story" remarked De Spain,
inspecting with mlld.mannered interest
the puncturcd plasterlng, they always
shoot high.
He walked over to the left end Of the
bar, noting the hard usage shown by
the ornate mahogany, and spreading
his hands wide open, palms down, on
the face Of II, glanced AT the low win.
dow on his left, opening on the gray.
eled patio. He pcered, In the semi.
darkness, az the battered door behind
the bar.
Henry" observed Leftover, IF you
are looking for drink. II would only
BE- fair as well ms polite, TO call the
Mexican"
De Spain, turning, looked oil
around the room again. you wouldn't
think" he said slowly from looking al
the place there was rOad.agent with
In n thousand niles"
"You wouldn't think, from riding
through the Superstition mountains
there was lion within a thousand
miles. I've hunted them for eleven
years, and | Fever saw one except
when the dogs drove EN- out; but for
eleven years they saw me. If we
haven't beea seen coming In here by !
some of this CalabaSas bunch, | miss
my guess" declared Lefeyer cheer.
fully.
The bntten door behind the bar now
began TO open slowly and nolselessly. |
Lefever .cereG through 1t. Come ill.,
Pedro h. cried rrnssurlngly, "cOme
in, man. This Is no officer no revenue |
agent looking for your license. Meet |
a friend, Pedro" he continued encour-
ngingly. as the swarthy publican, low.
browed and sullen, emerged very de-
liberately from the inner darkness into
the obscurity of the barroom, and bent
his one good eye searchingly on De
Spain. "This," Lefever's left hand lay
on the back of De SPANS
shoulder, ''ls our new manager, Mr.. I
Henry de Spain. Henry, shake hands
with Mexico"
This invitation to shake hands +
seemed an empty formality. De Spain
never shook hands with anybody; at /
least If he did so, he extended, through
habit long Injured, his left hand, with
an excuse for the soreness Of his right.
Pedro did not even bat his remaining
eye at the invitation. The situation, as
Lefever facetlously remarked, re-
manned about where 1t was before he
spoke, when the sound Of galloping
horses came through the open door. A
later three men walked, SIN
gle file, into the room. De Spain stood
at the left end of the bar, and Lefever
introduced him to Gale Morgan, to
David Sassoon, and to Sassoon's crony,
Deaf Sandusky, as the new stage-line
manager. The later arrivals lined I'D