Courier Democrat., 1920-04-08
Curly Lashed Out Hare With His Left.

Curly laShed Out HarG With His Left.
Blackwell picked on the youth to be
the butt Of his coarse pleasantries.
Day after day he pointed his jeers at
Curry. who continued to grin as IL he
did not care.
When the worm turned, it happened
that they were all sitting on the porch.
Curly was sewing broken stirrup
leather. Blackwell had a quirt in his
hand, and from time to time fiicked it
at the back Of his victim. Twice the
lash stung, no! hard, but 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 lashed out hard
with his left.
1t was a sledge-hammer bout, with
no rules except to hit the other man
eften and hard. Curly watched his
chance, lodged a wild swing and
threw himself forward hard with his
shoulder against the chest of the con-
vict. 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 savagely.
"Since you like it so we'll, have an
other taste" Curly, now thoroughly
angry, sent a short-arm jolt to the
| mouth.
The man underneath tried to throw
him off, but Flandrau's fingers found
his hairy throat and frightened.
you're killing mev' the convict
gasped.
"Enough?"
"Y-yes."
Curly stepped back quickly, ready
either for knife or a gunplay. Black
we'll 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 a man hold grudge My
system has absorbed several without
doing it any harm" Sam stopped to
| inspect a rapidly discolorng eye.
"Say, Curly, he hung a peach of
| lamp on YOU"
Soapy made no comment in words,
but he looked at Flandrau with new
respect. For the first time a 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 cor
| ner to find 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 cowpunchcr Dutch
of the Circle {.
Through il aIl Curly wore Il manner
! of open confidence. But all the 'nIe
HIS DI.lIIl NilS 'uSA Will NlWtSllollS.
What were Il,"N up to? What was it
they had planned:
Stone and ElariiWcl 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 II Job, he said.
That paper sticking out of your
pockolT Flnndrnu asked,
SoNpy, still aSlrjd" his horse, tossed
the Suguuch" sentinel to him rs he
turned toward the stable.
Caught between the folds of the pa
per was a railroad time table. II was
schedule OF the trains Of the rcNns,
Arizona \ Pacific for July, curly
turned Tho pugrs idly III a pruciled
marking rau&W bls eye, Under Mum,