The daily Alaskan., 1920-07-08
CHAPTER X.
The Rock In the Stream.

ne hOCk III Nl0 ShSo'' WestcOtt was sensible now of feel ing of intense exhaustion. The fierce fighting in the room behind the saloon the excitement of the attempt to es- cape; the chase. ending with the plunge through the stream had left him pitifully weak. The marshal mo- riced it. and cast a swift glance into the others face.
 About all in, Jlm?" he inquired un' derstandingly. Little out of your line, | l reckon. Take a bit O rest thar, an yell be all right. It's safe 'nough fer the present whar we are, fer as theI bunch O chicken thieves is concerned. I reckon we're in fer siege, Jim"
 Westcott extended his hand.
 Its mighty white of you, Dan' to stay by me-" he said gravely. Its liable to cost you your job"
 Ter h-l with the job. kin earn more in the mines eny day. I'm not doin' eny more for you than l would 1 fer any other galOot in bad. l wouldn't let 'em lynch a hOSs-thief without giv- in 'em fight first. Don't be givin' any sympathy ter me"
 "But we haven't any chance"
 "Weu, don't know about that, now, 70 and the marshal looked up and down the stream thoughtfully. Tt might be ; worse. Look q here, Jim. This yere fuss ain't your fault, an yer never shot the man, either"
 'No. l didn't, Dan. l never fired q gun"
 'I know 1t; that's why all h--l can't pry me loose. I saw most ov the row. an I reckon l ain't so dumb that can't catch onto the game what Lacy is trying ter play
 You saw what happened?'
 Sure; It didn't look good ter mo, his gittln' yer ter come ter his place, specially when I knew he wasn't there alone; so, after ye'd gone in through the saloon. I saSshayed down the alley an took peek in through that rear window. Through that peep hole I got sight O you, Lacy, an that fat feller-what's his nRme?"
 "Enrlght. New York lawyer"
 That's it; well. I could make out the three of yer, but never got sight of the other buck--his name was Bea- ton. wasn't lt?-till he came out from ! behind the curtain and grippcd yer. It was a put-up job all right. an may be l ought to have hustled round to the door an took hand. But don't ! aim to mix up in no scrimmage as long ! aS both sides has got a fair show. Course tpar was three agin' one, but artcr you kicked the wind out O the lawyer. the odds wasn't so bad, an | sOrter hated to lose out seeing how | the scrap came out. Holy smoke! but you sure put up some dandy fight, Jim. You had them two guys licked to a frazzle, when that Enright came l back to life agin, an crawled out on the floor an picked up your gun. The fust thing I knew he had it, an the next thing l knew he'd pulled the trig. ger. He meant It fer you, but BeatOD got It."
 Tt was Enright, then, who fired the shot?"
 Sure. 1t was Enright; I saw him, but that didn't cut any ice after got inside. Do you see? The whole crowd was Lacy's gang; they'd do whatever ! he said. It was your gun that had the discharged cartridge; Bill was yellin' that you fired 1t, and Enright, O course, would have backed him up to save his own neck. What was the row about-your mine?"
 Partly, but mostly another affair. The best thing I can do is tell you about it. Whats going on up there?" He pointed up the stream, and Bren- nan shaded his eyes to look, although careful to keep well under cover, confi- dent that any movement would be observed from the shore. He gazed for some time before he seemed en- tirely satisfied.
 "A bunch of the boys crossin' the old fork" he said quietly. "Goin' to picket the other bank, reckon. There's likely to be some more comin' \ jo,,., tho npnncIta uou from the