The Little River news., 1920-05-12

When the worm turned, it happened that they were all sitting on the porch. Curly was sewing a broken stirrup leather. Blackwell had g quirt in his mana, ana from time to time tiicked it at the back of his victim. Twice the lash stung, not 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 ot the dust five seconds later, he was the maddest man in Arizona. Like bull he lowered his head and rushed. Curly side-stepped and lashed out hard with his left.
 It was sledge-hammer bout, with no rules except to hit the other man often 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 mel" the convict gasped.
 "Enough?
 Yves
 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 man hold grudge. My system has absorbed se-ve-real without doing it any harm." Sam stopped to inspect rapidly discOloring eye. Say, Curly, he hung peach of . lamp on you"
 oodpS AbuuC hO SOIlluCHt III WoAuo, but he looked at Flandrau with new listened lntently while the other told the story of his first rustling And i how Miss Kate and her father had stood by him in his trouble.
 If I had folks like you have, the sat of the earth and they were. worry. ing their hearts out about me, seems to me TdAauit helling around and go back to them," Curly concluded. ''The old man sent you to tell me that, did he?" Hard and bitter was the voice of the young man.
 "No, he didn't. He doesn't know Pm here. But he and your sister have done more for me than l ever can pay. ThAt's why I'm telling you this.'
 Sam answered gruffly, as a man-does when he is moved. Much obliged, Curly, but I reckon I can look out for myself"
 &"Just what I thought, and in Sep- tember I have to go to the peniten- tiary. They've got me cinched. But with you it's different. There's noth- 'Rg to this sort of life. The bunch up here is no good Soapy don't mean right by you, or by any young fellow he trails with.'
 'Ill not listen to anything against Soapy. He has been a good friend to me. Pm not going to throw him down."
 "Would it be throwing him down to go back to your peOple?"
 "Yes, it would. We've got plans. Soapy is relying on me. No matter what they are, but Pm not going to lie down on him. And Pm not going back to the old man. He told me he was through with me. I'm not begging him t. take me back, not on your life.'' p Curly dropped the matter. But as the days passed he kept one thing in his mind, not to miss Any chance to win his friendship. They rode together good deal, and Flandrau found that Sam liked to hear him talk about the Circle c and it's affairs. But often he was discouraged, for he made no prog ress in weaning him from his loyalty to Stone. The latter was hero to him, and gradually he was filling him with wrong ideas, encouraging him the while to drink a great deal. That the man had some definite purpose Curly was sure. What it was, he meant to find out.
 Because he could not persuade him to join in their drinking bouts, Stone nicFnamed Curly the good bad man.