Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-03

use Georges and my little old five
hundred, all right"
Twelve months went by. Two ex-
presses month toiled up the road.
Nothing happened. Finally Jimmy de-
| cided that four good working days a
month were a good deal to pay for
apparently useless supervision. Three
men comprised the shotgun guard.
| They, with the driver, were considered
ample.
you'll have to get on without me-"
said Jimmy to them in farewell. BE
good boys. We've got the biggest
cleanup yet aboard YOU"
They started on the twenty-hfth trip
since the hold-up. After time, far
up the mountain was heard single
drew sorrowfully into camp. The
! driver appeared to be alone. In the
bottom of the wagon were the three
lguards, weak and sick. The gold sacks
were very much absent.
Done it again. said the driver.
,, the whole outfits down with the belly
ache. Too much of that cursed sal.
mon. Told'em SO. 1 didn't eat none.
That road agent hit her lucky this
| trip sure. He was all organized for
business. Never showed himself at
l all. uSI Opcucu uTc. 0ChI a OuA4OS
through the top of my hat. He's
either a damn good shot or damn
poor one. 1 hung up both hands and
yelled we was down and out. what
could I do? This outfit couldn't Mt
humble bee. And I couldn't git away,
or git hold of no gun, or see anything
| to shoot, If did. He was behind that
big rock.
The men nodded. They were many
| of them hard hit, but they had lived
! too long in the west not to recognize
the justice of the drivers implied con-
| tention that he had done his best.
| "He told me to throw out them
sacks, and to be damn quick about it,
went on the driver. Then drove
! home"
he?" asked some one. Same one as
| last year?"
| 81 never seen him." said the driver.
HE hung behind his rock. He was
| organized for shoot. and if the mes
sengers hadn't happened to- a been
| out of it. believe he could nave
| killed us all.V
ssWhat did his boss look like?" in
quired California John.
HE didn't have no horse, stated the
| driver. "Leastways, not near MIN.
There was no cover. He might have
been around pint. And can swar ar
| to this: There weren't no tracks OF
no kind from there to camp"
They caught up horses and started
out. When they came to the Lost Dog
\ they stopped and looked at each
other.
biggest cleanup yet: and first time
one of 'em didn't go long.
! s1'm glad they didn't, said It'd
/ belts. 'sThat agent would have killed
'em shore!'
For the
| Iovial youngsters had no joke to
"This is getting serious" said jim
nv. seriously. I'VE can't afford to
! lose that much"
George whistled dolefully, and went
| into the corral for the mules.
| The party toiled up the mountain.
I Plainly in the dust could be made out
( the trail of the express ascending and
descending. Plain. also. were the
signs where the driver had dumped
| out the gold bags and turned around.
From that point the tracks of man
and a horse led to the sheet of rock.
Beyond that. nothing.
The men stared at each other a
little frightened. Somebody swore
| softly.
Boys" said Bright in a strained
voice. do you know how much was
| in that express? A half millioltl
| There's nary earthly boss can carry
| over half a ton! And this one treads
as light as saddler."
| They looked at each other blankly
Several even glanced in apprehension
! at the sky.
In a perfunctory manner. for the
sake of doing something, those skilled
in trail-reading went back over the
ground. Nothing was added to the
first experience. At the point of rob-
berry magically had appeared man
and-if the stage drivers solemn as
/ sertion that at the time of the hold
up no animal was in sight could be
Observation-Disclosures when needed
a large horse. Whence had they come
Not along the road in either direc-
ton the unbroken, deep dust assured
that. Not down the mountain from
above, for the cliff rose sheer for at
least three hundred feet. Jimmy
| Gaynes, following unconsciors!y the
general train of conjecture, craned
his neck over the edge of the road.
The broken Jagged rock and shale