The Lamar register., 1920-01-28

| HE butt of his coarse pleaSantries.
| Day after day he pointed his jeers at
Curly who continued to grin as If he
did not care.
When the worm tUrscd. II happened
thai they were all sitting on the porch.
Curly was sewing broken stlrrup
lenther. Blackwell had quirt in his
hand, and from time to time licked IL
nt The back of his victim. Twice the
lash stung. not hard. hut with pepper
enough to hurt. Each time the young
man asked him to stop.
blackwell snapped the quirt once
too often. When he picked himself
out of the dust five seconds later. he
was the maddest man In Arizona. Like
a bull he lowered his head and rushed.
Curly side-stepped and lnshed out hard
with his left.
1t was n sledge-hammer bout, with
no rules except to hit the other man
often and hard. Curly watched his
chance. lodged wild swing and
threw himself forward hard with his
shoulder against the chest of the CON
Wet. The man staggered back. tripped
on the lowest step of the porch and
went down hard. The fall knocked
the breath out of him.
Had enough?" demanded Curly.
For answer blackwell bit Flandrau's
thumb snvagely.
since you like 1t so well, have an
other taste" Curly. now thoroughly
angry. sent a short-arm jolt to the
mouth.
The man underneath tried to throw
him of. but Flandrau's fingers found
his hairy throat and tightened.
You're killing mel" the convict
gasped.
"Enough?"
Yves"
Curly stepped back quickly. ready
either for a knife or a gunplay. Black
well got to his feet and went into the
house swearing to get even. His face
was livid with fury.
"You wouldn't think little thing
like whaling given fair and square
would make man hold a grudge. My
system has absorbed se-ve-real without
doing It any harm" Sam stopped to
inspect n rapidly dlscoioring eye.
"Say. Curly, he hung peach Of
lamp on you"
Soapy made no comment In words.
but he looked at Flandrau with new
respect. For the first time n doubt as
to the wisdom of letting him stay at
the ranch crossed his mind.
His suspicion was Justified. Curly
had been living on the edge Of a secret
for weeks. Mystery was in the air.
More than once he had turned n cor
ner to lind the other four whispering
over something. Occasionally man
had ridden into the yard late at night
for private talk with Stone. and
Curly was morally certain that the
man was the little cowpuncher Dutch
OF the Circle @.
Through II all Curly wore n manner
Of open confidence. But all the time
his brain was busy with questions
What were they up tor What was 1t
they had plannedf
Stone and Blackwell rode away one
morning. To Curly the word was
given that they were going to Mesa.
Four days later Soapy returned alone.
Lutte had found job. he said.
"That a paper sticking out of your
pocketf" Flnndrau asked.
Snapy. still astride his horse, tossed
the Saguache Sentinel To him as he
turned toward the stable.
Caught between the folds Of the pa
per was a railroad time table. 1t was
schedule Of the trains OF the Texas.
Arizona < Pacific for July. Curly
turned the pages idly till penciled
marking caught his eye. Under Num-
Der As time was scrawled. just below
Saguache. the words Tin Cup, and
opposite them the figures 1913. The
express was due to leave Saguache at
8 81 In the evening. From there 1t
pushed up TO the divide and slid down
with air brakes set to Tin Cup three
thousand feet lower. s. apy could not
want to catch the train fifteen miles
the other side OF Saguache. But this
note on the margin showed that he
was Interested In the time II reached
the water tank. There must be ren-
son for IT,
Flandrau's doubt had been convert
ed into lively suspicion. Presently
he took gun and strolled or to shoot
birds. What he really wanted was to
be alone that he could think the mntter
over. Coming home In the dusk, he
saw Stone and young Cullison with