Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1921-12-22

E suddenly leaped to thunder. None OF
r you have got the brains OF Carlson,
becOz he had to put this scheme .nter
, yOre noodles. Deming, y0y know d-n
well you play better rotSeF than the
rest, an you agreed to this becoz you
tgger you'll win most OF the gold
afOre the wage Is over. The rest of
J you suckers listened becOz some one
tells you you are goIn' to get more
than what's rightly comm to you.
''This gold is mine by right Of dis
covery. lose my ship through bad
luck, an / make a deal whereby the
skipper gets the same as / do, an the
ship, which is the same as his daugh-
ter, gets almost as much. You men
were offered a share on top Of yore
wages II you wanted to take the
chance-twO shares to the hunters. 1t
was id liberal, an you grabbed ut
1t. | got left on the Ice, blind on a
breakin' foe, an you sailed off an
enough to set you crazy.
"What In blazes would you know
what to do with 1t, emmy of you? Spill
1t all along the Barb'ry coast, or
| gamble it off to Deming. Is there
one Of you 'ud have got off tibet foe
an, blind as J was, turned up ag'in?
Not one of ye An when l did show
you got sore becoz you'd fggered
there nd be more with me away.
"a fine lot of skunks. You can take
yore id bit of paper an light yOre
pipes with it, for all of me. To HI
with it.
"Shut upw His voice topped the
murmurs at the table. Carlson sat
quiet, sometimes licking his lips gent
ly, listening to Lund as he might have
listened TO the rantings of a melOdra-
matte actor. But Rainey sensed that
he was making a mistake. He was
letting Lund go too far. The men were
listening to Lund, and he knew that
the giant was talking for a specific
purpose. Just to what end he could
not guess. The big booming voice
held them, while Ii dashed them.
Equal TO me? BAIL I'm a man. |
Yo're lot of fools. Talk about me |
bein' blind. It was ice-bIink got me-
Then ophthalmy matterin' up my
eyes. It's gold-blink's got you. Yo're
cave-fish, lot of blind suckers"
"Carlsens a fakel He's got you
hipped. He thinks he's boss, becoz
he's the only navigator of yore crowd.
| amt overlooked that card, Carlson.
That amt the only string he's got on
We. Nor the three shares he expects
to pull down. He made you pore suck
ers fire off all your shells; he found
out you amt got a gun left among you
that's emmy more use than club. He's
got a gun an he showed you how he
could use 1t. He's sittin' back larfin'
at the bunch of your
The men stirred. Rainey saw Carl
sens grin disappear. He dropped the
paper. His face paled, the veins
showed suddenly like purple veins in
dirty marble.
'I've got that gun yet, Lund,' he
snarled.
"Yo're a fake, Carlson" he said.
And I've got yore numberl To hi
with you an yore pop-gun. You amt
even a doctor. / saw real doctors
ashore about my eyes. Niphablepsia,
hey call snow-blindness. I'll bet you
never heard of it. Yo're only wom-
IN coming dope-shooter Else you'd
have known that niphablepsia amt =
I've bin gettin' my sight
Jack ever since / left Seattle. An
low, d-n you for a moldy-hearted,
fakir, stand up an say
ore my equal !"
He stood up himself, towering above
he rest as they rose from their chairs,
caring the black glasses from his
yes and hinging them at Carlson, who
yas forced to- throw up a hand to /
Yard them off. Rainey got one glimpse
f the giants eyes. They were gray
lue, the color of agateware, hard as
teel implacable. &
Carlson swept aside the spectacles E
nd they shattered on the floor as he Z
,aped up and the automatic shone In =
Is hand. Lund had folded his arms
bove his great chest. He laughed
gain, and his arms opened.
In an instant Rainey caught the OBJ
,ct of Lund's speechmaking. He had
one 1t to enrage Carlson beyond en-
urance, to make him draw his gun.
liant as he was, he moved with the
race of q panther, with a swiftness
70 fast for the eye to register. Some
ling flashed In his right hand, a gun,
lat he had drawn from holster
ung over his left breast.
The shots blended. Lund stood
ere erect, uninjured. red blotch