Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1920-06-18
&C on ( in IL e d.


Cont inued)
Maybe faint that exactly. but I've
,een dom a powerful lot q thinkin'
since you was asleep. Jim. an reckon
We might beat these fellers with a
fair show o. luck. This is how figure
out. Thar won't be no attack;
hats a cinch. Lacy knows We can
shoot. an he also knows we're
nnrooned yere without food. The cas-
lest thing is ter starve us out"
"But there are good men In this
camp, law.abiding men," interrupted
the miner. won't they take handT
Maybe they might If I was free ter
get 'em together; but l amt. Most o
EN- are out in the mines, anyway;
they don't know which party is right
In this rumpus, an they amt got no
leader. Lacy runs the town. an he's
got big gang o. toughs behind him.
There amt nobody wants to buck up
against his game. OF course the boys
might get mad after while, but l
reckon we'd be starved plumb ter
death long afore that happened. An
that amt the worst Nv ii, Jim-the
sheriff u lncy's man. ] wouldn't never
dare turn you over ter him--not by
II iugtul."
"Thcn We are blocked at every
turn.
"N" s,lr are. unless we can dig out
ourselves @rmely. my notion is to
gel Il fair start. 1rrt out into Sho-
shunr. whar Wei .,ave no trail, d.
then MT ia" JNer the iine."
"On fo0tY
''H--l, mol amt no such walker
as all that. Come over yere; keep yer
head down; now hook out between
these two rocks. Do yer see them
cow-ponies hltched ter the rack along
side O. the Red Dog? Well. they've
been thar fer a matter o. three hours,
i reckon, an their riders amt liable
ter leave as long as thar's any ex-
citement in town. They're XII men,
ana mostly drunk by this time. It's
my aim ter get leg over one o. them
animals. Here's my scheme. an
reckon it'll work. Naturally Lacy will
think Wen try to get away-make a
break fer it in the dark. He'll have
both them banks guarded, an Their fell
fers will have orders ter shoot. He'd
rather have us dead than alive. But,
to my notion, ne won't expect us ter
try any getaway before midnight.
haf II
In his place. But my idea is to pull
one off on him, an start the minute
il gets dark enough so them lads can't
see what's gOin' on out yere."
"We'll fight our way through"
"Not fight, my son; Wen make
1t so softly that not a son-of-a-gun will
ever know how II happened. When
they wake up We'll be twenty miles out
I'm the desert, an still goin'. Thar's
big log clinging ter the upper end o.
tn rock. saw II when l fust come
over; an bout an hour ago / crept
back through that gully an took a
good look. A shove will send IL fioatin'.
An with a good pair o. legs to steer
with, thar amt nuthin' to stop II this
side the curve, an / don't calculate
any o. the rifle brigade will be down as
fur as that. 1t sounds blame good ter
me, jim; what dye say?"
Westcott's hand went out. and the
fingers of the two men clasped silent
iy. There was no need for more
speech; they understood each other.
The night closed down swiftly, as II
does In the West. the purple of the
hills becoming black as though by
some magic. There was heavy
cloud hanging in the Western sky, con.
stantly sweeping higher in pledge Of
a dark night. The banks of the stream
became Obscured, and finally vanished
altogether; while the water ceased to
glimmer and turned 10 an inky black
ness. Lights twinkled I'm the distant
shacks, and the front of the Red Dog
burst into illumination. Brennan
chuckled, and pointed his finger at
the glare.
Lacy amt fergettin' the profit in
all this" he whispered hoarsely. 1.-THE
boys are goln' ter be dry, an he'll sell
EN- all they want-wouldn't mind II I
had some myself. Is ii dark enough,
mater"
1.-The sooner the betteri"
That's my ticket. Come on then.
but don't make sound them lads are
more liable TO hear than they are to
see us. Let me go first"
The log was mt the other end of the
little island, but there was consider
able rift In the rock surface. not deep,
but of sufficient width to permit the
passage Of a body. The jagged stone
made the way rough In the dark. and
Westcott found himself at the upper
extremity, gashed and bruised by the
contact
Brennan lowered himself into the
water, assisted In the downward climb
by some low, tough bushes whose ten
drills chung tenaciously to the smooth
rock. Westcott followed silently, and