Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-02-19


was pointing his big forty-five at hel
relentlessly. Get up from there!" hs
ordered sternly. Don't try any game
like that on me, Buck Olneyl Get W
and go over and sit in that chair. I've
got few things to say to you
Billy Louise somehow grasped the
truth, up to certain point. Ward was
sick; so sick he didn't know her
She thought she would better humol
him. She got up and went and sat il
the chair as he directed.
Ward, keeping the gun pointing hel
way, sneered at her in a way thai
made the soul of Billy Louise crimple
She faced him big-eyed, too amazed
at the change in him to feel any feal
that he would harm her. He had whis
kers two inches long. She wouldnt
have known him except for his hair
and that was terribly tousled and hi.
eyes, though they were wild and angry
His voice was hoarse, and while he
glared at her, he coughed with hard
crOupy resonance.
$50 you came back, did yuh?" he
asked grimly at last. well, you didn't
get a chance to plug me in the back
How long did you lay up there on the
bluff this time, waiting to catch me
when I wasn't looking? I've been wish
Ing I'd left that rope so 1t would have
hung you, you -w (Billy Louise
listened round-eyed to certain man.
sized epithetS strange to her ears.)
Il suppose you and Foxy and that
halfbreed have been fixing up some
more evidence, huh? You figure that
l can't catch 'em this time and work
the brands over, so they'll stand Yes
and I'll get railroaded to the pen
Well, you've overplayed your hand
old-timer. l let you fellows down easy
last time. l don't reckon Foxy object.
ed much to those few / turned back to
him, and l don't reckon you did any
Kicking when you found I'd cut the
rope so it wouldn't hold your rotten
carcass. You can't let well enough
alone, though. You thought you'd raise
me, did you? You thought you'd come
back and try another whack at me be-
hind my back. You knew hanged well
| wasn't the kind of man that would
jump the country. You knew you'd
find me right here. attending to my
business like I've always done.
But you've overplayed your hand
This time I'm going to get you-and
Foxy and the breed along with you. II
was a rotten trick, running Yes over
Seabeck's brand. If 1 hadn't caught
you In the act, you'd have planted
them cattle where all HI couldn't
have saved me when they were found
If l hadn't caught you at it and run
NIX monOgrams over the whole cheese
I'd have been up against it for fair
So now you're going to get what's com
ing to yuh. l won't take any chances
on your not trying it again. I'm going
to protect myself right.
"YOu throw that gun on the bed"
Chilly Louise did so, her eyes still
upon Wards flushed face.) "Now, get
down that tablet from the shelf,
1lCIC pSuCIl. ne uE6W one lEOUl
under his pillow and tossed it toward
her. Now you write the truth about
all this rustliDg. It's a bigger thing
than shows right in this neighborhood.
l know that. And l know, too, that
Foxy has been pulling down some on
the side. He never paid for all the
stock that's running around vented
and rebranded NIX. I've got that sized
up. Pretty smooth trick, too; heap
better than working brands. He ought
to have been satisfied with that-but a
crook never is satisfied. l knew he
wasn't the tenderfoot he tried to make
out, and when | saw some of his stock
and that gate fixed to ring a bell when
it was opened, knew he was crook.
But he made a big mistake when he
threw in with you, you
81 want you to write down the
truth about that Hardup deal; who
was in with you. know, all right, but
1 want it down on paper. And 1 want
to know how long FOxy's been in with
you, and who's working the game on
the outside. Get busy; write it all
down. I'll give you all the time you
need :; don't leave out anything. Dates
and all, want the whole graft Don't
try to get away. I've got this gun