The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1919-06-06
CHAPTER Iv-continued.

They was ,hitched jest about a hun
bred yards below Mr.. Curtis propity,
on the of side o. the road. / hadn't
any mOre'n got to our front gate when
! heard some one running in the road
up there behind me. Fore / knOwed
what was happenin', bang went a gun.
I almost jumped out'n my boots. The
runnin' had stopped. The horses was
rarin' an tearing SO l thought I'd"
"Where'd the shot come from?" de-
manded Jones.
up the road some'eres, I couldn't
swear just where. Must'a' been up by
the road that cuts in to Green Fancy.
So / thought I'd hustle in an see If
pa was awake, an git my gum. Jest
then pa stuck his head out'n the win
der an yelled what the hell's the mat
ter. You betcher life l sung out who
l was mighty quick, cause pas purity
Epry with a gun n / didn't want him
takin' me fer burglars s%neaking around
the house. While we wuz talkin' there
n of the bosses started our way
lickety-split, an in about two seconds
It went by us. It vas purity dark, but
we see plain MS day that there was a
man in the saddle, bendin' low over
the boss neck and shoutin' to it. We
waited q couple O. minutes, %wonderin'
what to do, an listenin' to the boss
gittin' furder and furder away in the
direction of the crossroads. Then
way down there by the pike we heerd
another shot. Right there an then pa
said he'd put on his clothes an we'd
set out to see what 1t was all about.
"Well pa come out with my gun an
his'n an we walks up to where l seer
the bosses. Shore 'nough, one Of EN-
was still hitched to the fence. an
t'other was gone. We stood around a
minute or two examinin' the boss an
then pa says let's go up the road q ways
an see IL we en- see anything. An
by gosh, we hadn't gone moren' fifty
feet afore we ONE plumb on q man
layin' In the middle OF the road. Pa
shook him an he didn't let out q
sound. He was warm. but deader'n a
tombstone. 1 wuz fer leavin' him there
tAh we cd git the coroner, but pa says
10. Wed carry him down to our porch
an lay him there. SOS he'd be out o.
danger. I jumps ON Polly an lights
sut fer here, Mr.. Jones. to telephone
up to Saint Liz fer the sheriff an the
coroner. not givin' a dang what l run
into on th6 way. Polly SHE'D some
thin terrible jest af0re WI got to the
pike an / come derned rear bein'
throwed. An right there side the road
was this Teller. all In q heap. Thinks
I. you poor cuss, you must a tried to
stop that Teller on hossback an he
plunked You. That accounted fer the
seco0d shot. The thing that worries all
Of US 10 did the same man do the
sheotin'. or was there two Of 'em, one
wsitfn' down the cr0ss-r0ads"
Must have been two" said Jones,
thoughtfully. "The same man couldn't
have got down there ahead Of him,
hats sure. Did anybody 60 mp to
Green Fancy to make inQuiriesf"
*"Twasn't necessary. Mr.. Curtis
MCUAA AYO o0OVeSA Ia JC0t OCAVAC We
left no sent Z out to see what It
was III about. The old skeezicks that's
teen drivin' his n lately COME down
h~slf-dressed. He said n0thin' out Of
the way had happened up ut Green
Fancy"
It's most mysterious" said Barnes.
glancing round the circle Of. awed
faces. There must have been some
lying In wait for these men, and
with I very definite purpose in mind"
strikes me-" said Jones, "that these
two men were up to some kind Of dirty
work themselves, else why did they
ny they were goin' to Spanish Falls1
They were queer actin men. I'll have
- nay that"
His eyes met Barnes ana there was
Z queer light in them.
You don't happen to know anything
shout this, do you, Mr.. Barnesi" he de-
nanded. suddenly.