The Little River news., 1920-05-12
Continued from nage ,


 respect. For the first time 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 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 cowpuncher Dutch of the Circle c.
 Through it all Curly wore a manner of open confidence. But all the time his brain was busy with questions. What were they up to? What was it they had planned?
 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. Lute had found job, he said.
 'That a paper sticking out of your pocketF' Flandrau, asked
 Soapy, 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 railroad time table. It was a schedule of the trains Of the Texas, Arizona X Pacific for July. Curly turned the pages idly till a penciled marking caught his eye. Under Num- Der 4's time was scrawled, just below Saguache, the words Tin Cup, and opposite them the figures 10:19. The express was due to leave Saguache at pushed up to the divide and slid down with air brakes set to Tin Cup three thousand feet lower. Soapy 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 it reached the water tank. There must be req son for it.
 Flandrau's doubt had been convert ed into lively suspicion. Presently he took gun and strolled off to shoot birds. What he really wanted was to be alone that he could think the matter over. Coping home in the dusk. he saw StonA and young Cullison with their heads together down by the cor ral. Curly sat down on a rock and watched them, himself unobServed. They appeared to be rehearSing some kind of scene, of which Soapy was stage director.
 The man on the rock smiled grimly They're having a quarrel, looks like. <. Now the kids telling Soapv to go to Guinea, and Soapy's paving around mad as a bull moose. It's all il play. They don't mean it. But why"
 Curly's mind was so full of guesses that his poker was not up to par that night. About daylight he began to see his way i1Eo the maze. His first gleam of light was when row started be- tween Soapy and Cullison. Before anyone could say word to stop them they were going through with that identical corral quarrel
 Flandrdu knew now that they had been preparing it for his benefit. Cranston chipped in against Sam and to keep up appearances, Curly backed the boy. The quarrel grew furious. At last Sam drove his fist down on the table and said he was through with the outfit and was going back to Saguache.
 "Yo tambien." agreed Curly. Not that I've got anything against the horse ranch. That ain't it. But Pm sure pining for to bust the bank at Bronsons. I've got forty plunks burn ing my jeans. I've got to separate myself from it or make my roll thousand"
 The end of it was that both sam and Curly went down to the corral and saddled their ponies, To the last he conspirators played up to their parts.
 According to program, Sam sulked for the first few miles of their jour hey. But before they reached the Bar 99 he grew sunny again.
 "Tm going to have talk with Laura while Pm so near" he eX- plained. "You drift in just hap pen along you know. rll stay in the scrub pines up here. If the old man is absent scenery you wave your ban