Gunnison news-champion., 1920-01-30
BY FRANK sLlcHroN
CepyrlgAs

to do I'd be q 6litherinG as6 You
could take the deed and have me shot,
anyway-theyd only think I'd be-
trayed them-and ned with their
money. Then. again. may be out Of
here tomorrow-and then where
would bel Suppose Moreno's provi-
sional government goes dowaf Your
company would then have n Tgre
without paying q nickel. ME, Har.
dinge; you've got 70 show ne more
than that to get my signature
HardinEe Erinned evilly.
The saturnine features Of h,. DOW.
erful face leaped suddenly into the
blaze Of the match with which he was
! cleaned with amusement a. - AAlf
turned away fron the dooe.
IAN righti A man about to be sfot
Isn't altogether in q position to make
terms. Williams Believe Il Sr not
can do what Eve promised. and peo-
pie who know me will tell you that I
always do ~ promise. II 20 happens
that General Moreno will be quite WILL
Ing to mitigate your sentence In any
way l might request: but you don't
have to believe that. either. unless Il
suits you to do 30. Well. I'm going.
This foul air is giving me headache"
He turned nonchalantly away. Buck.
with Q feeling Of supreme despair.
tried to steady his voice for another
question.
-How do you happen to have such
. pull with General Aorenor'
I'm surprised that you All, WHl-
iams. Moreno was ambitious to b.
come governor and wanted to start .
revolution That meant arms. men.
money. He had none. The United
States has forbidden their export to
rebels. 20 be talked things ever with
rs. In return for certain mining con-
cessi0ns In SinalOa We supplied what
he needed. It's very simple, but OF
course III deny that ever made this
admission u you should mention II to
anyone else. However. I guess there's
little dnnger-you're incommunicado.
No one will see you until the sentence
is carried out tomorrow morning"
Williams pondered. Hardinge's
statement Impressed him ~ truthful.
But he played his last card with all
the coolness Of Q poker player who
has been called for his final chip.
This other fellow. Hardingc. .--he
jerked his thumb toward the interior
Of the cell-''he's q British subject
and . stranger here. who thinks he
owes me something because ! pulled
him out Of = train wreck near Fl Paso
on the way down. AZ . British sub
ject yourself you won't mind notifying
the British ambassador he's here-will
you-no matter what happens to mef'
Il certainly win not" angrily snap
ped the syndicate agent. what the
devil do you take me fora foolr'
mo" draWled The American, with .
deliberation that brought red nush
to the Engiishman's face, mot q fool,
Hardinge. but . cold-blooded. calcu-
lating dog who win deliberately plan
to murder Q rival to gain his ends.
Go on with your fake court-martial.
you white-livered beasti I'd rather
wsiter in my own blood thousand
times than give you the satisfaction Of
putting over q thing like this-to rob
me and the men who have backed ne
with their eon0dence and money.
shoot-and b. damned to youl~
He turned to savasely resume pae-
ing his cell.
His furious anger at nfst kept him
from realising the peril which Har.
dinge had depicted. He tried to be-
lieve that such an atrocity would never
b permitted, even under the odicial
sanction Of provisional government.
Uuch a. ths Englishman had declared
to exist.
| Then he suddenly remembered the
indignation in "a Paso the night he
had last started fof "a Tisre.
| Men in the hotel kefe discussing tAo
latest dispatches ffom Washington-
I ordering al Americans to leave Mex
leo forthwith, after turning over TO
the Aperican consul In their locality Q
list Of the property they left behind.
Everyone thought the story i'm
probable at that time. II sounded n
| together too ridiculous for belief. Bot
now. IN the fetid cal, with Hardingeig
threats stfl ringing In his ears, ths
mine-owner realised that Il must Be
true.
Because of this. the more he ana
1ysed the situation the moro ~ felt
sure Hardinge had voiced no idle
threat. II . New York gunman win
kun man for Q thousand dollars. Wig
should Hardinse get squeamish now.
when his prise was Gve millionsf
TIE syndicate agent bad neves
shown N ovefsapply a coincidence,
ahd - would run liftie danger ID Q
country where anarchy ~ replaced
law and no one knew from one dag
- anothsr what might eone nexk
Bue1as fhougAAs leeped baek 10 II
peupefty. He recalled ~ eoveto11
1eok - ~ fAee q Mannsl PaeAscs
- hav Wyllsosnn ha6 p,~~nounau1v 81.