The Jasper news., 1920-03-25

us he-how is he doingi"
what's eatin' you? Ain't he dying
fast enough to suit .you"
Flandrau shrank from the cruel
words, as schoolboy does from his
teacher when he jumps at him with a
cane.
1t was then that Maloney made a
friend of the young man for life. He
let hand drop carelessly on Curly's
shoulder and looked at him with a
friendly smile in his eyes, just as If
he knew that this was no wolf but a
poor dog up against 1t hard.
doc thinks he'll make II all right"
But there were times when Curly
wondered whether 1t would make any
difference to him whether Cullison got
well or not. Something immediate was
In the air. Public opinion was sitting
down to decision. Most of these men
were up to the average for the milk
of human kindness. They were the
squarest citizens in Arizona. But Flan-
drau knew they would snuff out his
life just the same If they decided II
was best. Afterward they might re-
gret IT,, but that would not help him.
Darkness came, and the lamps were
lit. Again Curly ate and smoked and
chatted little with his captors. But
as he sat there hour after hour, feel
Ing death creep closer every minute,
cold shivers ran up and down his spine.
They began to question him, at first
casually and carelessly so 1t seemed
to Curly. But presently he discerned
a drift Ia the talk. They were trying
to find out who had been his partners
In the rustllng.
"And l reckon Soapy and Bad Bill
left you lads at Saguache to hold the
SACK" Buck suggested sympathetically
Curly grew wary. He did not intend
to betray his accomplices. "Wrong
guess. Soapy and Bad Bill weren't In
this DEAL" he answered easily.
The foreman Of the Bar Double M
INTERRUPTED impatiently, tired Of trying
TO pump out the informatjIn by
finesse. "You've got to spe' 4, Flan-
drau. You've got to tell W who was
engineering this theft. Jnderstand2
The young rustler looked at the
grim frowning face and his heart sank,
"Out with It," ordered Buck.
"Oh, expect I'll keep that under
my hat" Curly told them lightly.
They were crowded about him In a
half circle, nearly score of hard
leather-faced plainsmen. Some of
them were riders Of the Circle G out.
fit. Others had ridden over from
nelghboring ranches. All Of them
plainly meant business.
"rhink again, Curly" advised Swee-
ney quietly. "The boys amt trlfling
about this thing. They mean to find
out who was In the rustllng of the Bar
Double NJ stock"
mot through me. they WON'T"
Through you. And right now"
A dozen times during the evening
Curly had crushed down the desire to
beg for mercy, to cry out desperately
for them 10 let him OF. He had kept
telling himself not to show yellow.
that 1t would not last long. Now the
fear Of breaking down sloughed from
his soul. He rose from the bed and
looked round at the brown faces cir
cled about him IN the shine Of the
lamps.
"Fn not tell you a thing-not a
thing"
He stood there chaik-faced, his lips
so dry that he had to keep moistening
them with the tip OF his tongue.
Dutch had a new rope In his hand
with a loop at one end. He tossed II
over the boys head and drew 1t taut.
Two or three of the faces In the circle
were almost as bloodless as that Of
the prisoner, but they were set to see
the thing out.
"Will you tell nowr Bonfils asked.
Curly met him eye to eye. "No."
Come along, then"
One of the men caught his arm n
the place where he had been wounded.
The rustler hinched.
Careful, Buck. Don't you see you're
hurting his bad armf" Sweeney said
sharply.
81 didn't aim to hurt him." Buck de-
Tended himself.
Curly's senses had never been more
alert. He noticed that Buck had on a
red necktle that had got loose from his
shirt and climbed up his neck. 1t had
black polka dots and was badly frayed.
Sweeney was chewing tobacco. He
would have that chew in his mouth
after they had finished what they were
going to do.