Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1921-11-10

Ateht sAti' 70 NAfft " We EOt
youl" he shouted. You were too eau
tious to put n OF your own men In
he field, SO you sent outside for your
brfber. He was a stranger, and he
had to have help In finding the right
men to buy. Dedmon. here. was out
Of a job-fhanks to you and your
meddling-and the steering stunt of
fered good pay. Do you want anS
more?"
The boss shook his head.
ut is a matter of complete Indiffer.
ence to me. | don't know In the least
what you are talking about. and you1l
pardon me, | hope. II / say that II
doesn't greatly interest me-"
by heavens-Iii make It Interest
YOU The easy-mark candidates were
found and bought and paid for-and
maybe they'll stay bought. and maybe
they won't. But that isn't the point.
For a little more money-my money.
this time-each of these men has made
an affidavit to the fact that railroad
money was offered him. They don't
say whether or not they accepted II,
mind u, and that doesn't cut any
figure. They have sworn that the
money was rendered. That let's them
out and lets you in. You don't believe
itf I'll show you" and Hatch whipped
a list of names from his pocket and
slapped 1t upon the boss desk. go
to those men and ask them IL you
want TO carry II that far. They'll tell
you"
l could see that the boss barely
glanced at the list. The glib story
OF the bribery was IKE the bite OF
a slipping crane-hitch-stow to-take
hold. SO far as we were concerned.
OF course. the charge fell fiat and
upon any other hypothesis 1t was
blankly Incredible. unbelievable, alb
surd.
The affidavits themselves would be
much more convincing" l heard the
boss say, Though even then / should
wish to have reasonable proof that
they were genuine"
Hatch was sitting down again and
his grin showed his teeth %unpleas-
DO you think for a minute that I'd
bring the papers here and trust them
In your hands?" he raped out INSULT
ingly. mot much. But we've got
them all right. as you'll find out IL you
balk and force us to use them"
At this point | could see that some
thing In the persistent assurance of
the man was getting under the boss
kin and giving him a cold chill. What
II II were not the colossal bluff II had
looked like In the beginning? What
Z Like a blaze OF lightning Out
" n clear sky a possible explanation
lit me under the fifth rib. and | guess
I hit the boss ut about the same In
'tant. What II President Bunton and
he New York STOCKHOLDERS. belley-
ng as they did that nothing but legis-
favor would give them their
rading capital I'm the depressed stock,
md cut In and done this thing with
consulting usf
The boss stirred uneaslly In his
hair anu picked up the paper-knife-
little unconscious trick Of his when
wanted time to gather himself.
.perhap4FaHA Mauld-be-sflt to
i've me the. name of this briber, Mr..
2" he said. after a little pause.
'.As If you didn't know 1t was the
cufirE refnrt Therp meretwo of
hem who ri hired to do the
alklng while the real wire-puller
TODD aside and held the coin bag.
Ven skip the hired nan Then he
urned to the e~x-sheriff Write out
be name Of the bag holder for him,
)edmon." he commanded. tearing a
eaf from his pocket notebook and
Trusting it. with a stubby pencil. into
)edmonis hands.
The man from Arrowhead county
eBE over HIS knee aud nrutn n uHule
the slip of paper, laying the slip
the drawn-out slide of the boss desk
when he had finished the slow pencil
ne. The effect of the thing was all
hat any plotter could have desired.
saw the boss face go gray. saw him
tHre at the slip and heard him say,
Iulf to himself, Howard coiffng-
Hatch followed up his advantage
promptly. He was afoot and strug-
ding into his ~overcoat when he said:
You've got what you were after. Nor
ross, and Il has got your goat. We've
all along that you were only
and spnrrlng TO gain time.
We've nailed you to the cross. You
ct This deal with Marshall and his
stand ns It's made. or Wen
how you up for what you are. That's
he plain English OF II"
You mean that xouZ viii go TO the
newspapers with thlsg' said the boss, L
md IT was no wonder that bis voice
vas q bit husky.
Just that. Wen give you plenty
II time TO think II over. The joint
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