The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1920-10-14
CHAPTER K.
The Rock In the Stream.

WeStCOtt was sensible now of n feel
ing of intense exhaustion. The fierce
fighting In the room behind the saloon
the excitement of the attempt To eS-
cape; the chase, ending with the
plunge through the stream had left
him pitifully weak. The marshal no.
tlced it, and cast a swift glance into
the others face.
About all In, Jim?" he inquired I'm.
derstandingly. Little out Of your line,
l reckon. Take a bit O. rest thar, an
yell be all right. It's safe 'nough fer
the present whar we are, fer as thet
bunch o. chicken thieves Is concerned.
/ reckon we're in fer a siege, jim"
Westcott extended his hand.
ITS mighty white of you, Dan. to
stay by me-" he said gravely. "It's
liable to cost you your job"
"Ter HI with the job. / kin earn
more In the mines eny day. I'm not
doin' eny more for you than l would
fer any other galoot In bad. wouldn't
let 'em lynch a hoss-thief without CIV
in ZEN a fight first. Don't be givin'
any sympathy ter me-"
"But we haven't any chance"
swell, / don't know about that, now"
and the marshal looked up and down
the stream thoughtfully. at might be
worse. Look a here, Jim. This yere
fuss amt your fault. an yer lever
shot the man, either"
"No. l didn't, Dan. / never fired
a gun"
II know 1t; that's why all HI
can't pry ne loose. / saw most ov the
row, an / reckon l amt so dumb that
I can't catch onto the game what Lacy
is trying ter play"
"You saw what ~happenedT"
Sure; 1t didn't look good ter me,
his gittin' yer ter come ter his place,
specially when l knew he wasn't there
alone; so, after ye'd gone In through
the saloon, l ~sasshayed down the
alley IN took a peek In through
that rear window. Through that peep
hole | got sight o. you, Lacy, an that
fat feller-what's his name?"
"Enright, a New York lawyer"
ihul " we'll, Il NOulu hdht Ouk
the three Of yer, but | never got sight
of the other buck-his name was Bea-
ton, wasn't it?-till he came out from
behind the curtain and gripped yer.
1t was a put-up job all right, an may
be / ought to have hustled round to
the door an took a hand. But | don't
aim to mix up in nc scrimmage as long
as both sides has got a fair show.
Course thar was three ag'in' one, but
arter you kicked the wind out O. the
lawyer, the odds wasn't so bad an
sorter hated TO lose out seeing how
the scrap came out. Holy smoke! Dut
you sure put up some dandy hght
Jim. You had them two guys liC'ird
to a FRAGILE, when that Enright came
back to life agin, an crawled out on
the floor an picked up your gun. IN
fust thing | knew he had ii, an tn,
next thing l knew he'd pulled the trig
ger. He meant 1t fer you, but Beator
got It,"
at was Enright. then, who fred the
shot2'
"Sure, 1t was Enright; l saw him
but that didn't cut any Ice after 1 got
inside. Do you see? The whole crowd
was Lacy's gang; they'd do whatever
he said. 1t was your gun that had the
discharged cartridge; Bill was yellin'
hat you fired 1t, and Enright, o.
course, would have backed him up to
save his own neck. What was the row
about-your miner
"Partly, but mostly another affair.
The best thing / car do is tell you
about 1t. What's going on up there?'
He pointed up the stream, and Bren-
nan shaded his eyes to look, although
careful to keep well under cover, conf
dent that any movement would be
observed from the shore. He gazed
for some time before he seemed en-
tirely satisfied.
"A bunch of the boys crossin' the
old fork" he said quietly. "Goin' to
picket the other bank, / reckon.
There's likely to be some more comm
down the opposite way from the
bridge. That's Lacy's idea--to starve
us out"
SThey seem quiet enough"
'aThere won't be any more fightin'
unless we try to get away, l reckon.
They know we are armed n can
shoot. You better keep down. though,
Jim, for they're sure a watchin us all
right, an all Lacy cares about is TO
put you out o. the way. He'd just as