St. Tammany farmer., 1922-06-24

| lOO many VI uiSCo O1l AAo oAuCS dlu tut'
on hiy face to be, accounted for In an,
way except by hard toe-to-toe fight
"Mo'nin', Mr.. Collins. I left you IL
a hurry last night and forgot to pa!
my bill. What's the dnmage?" asked
Clay in his gently ironic draWl
'Slim" Jim growled something thu
meaning of which was drowned in al
| oath.
t'You say 1t was free rider Muel
| obliged That's sure fair enough,
| Clay went on easily well, l didn'
come to talk to you about that, Tvt
got other business with you this mon
In"
The chauffeur looked at him sullen
ly and silently.
Suppose we get inside the cab
where we cnn talk comfortably" Clay
proposed.
Slim Jim stepped into the cab anl
sat down. Clay followed him, closing
the door
"Have you seen Jerry Durand this
sunny mo'nin'f' asked Lindsay, with
surface amiability.
"Wot's 1t to your demanded Col.
Inns. 81
mot thing. Nothin' a-tall," agreed
Clay. "Bnt IT. may be somethin' to you
I'm kinda wondcrin' whether I'll have
to do to you What did to him.
"slim" Jim reached for the door
hastily
A strong, sinewy hand fell on his
arm and frightened, slightly twisting
the flesh as the fingers sank deeper.
Collins let out yell. "Gawd Don't
do that. You're killin' me-"
BEG yore pardon. An accident. II
get annoyed I'm liable to hurt with
out meanin' to-" apologized Clay,
suavely. "I'll come right down to brass
tacks, Mr.. Collins. You're through
with Annie Mlllikan. Understan17'
"Say, wot tells this stuff you're pip
in? Who d. you t'ink youse areT'
Never you mind who am. You'll
keep away from Annie from now on-
absolutely. II you bother herIf any
thing happens to her-well, you 80
and take good long look at Durand
before you make any mistakes"
"You touch me an I'll croak you
See!" hissed Collins.
IA gun-play7'' asked Clay pleasant
ly. Say, there's a shootin'- gallery
round the corner Come along. ]
wantta show you somethin'."
saw, go to h-l!"
The sinewy hand moved again to
ward the aching muscles Of the gun
man. Collins changed his mind hur-
riedly.
"All right. I'll COME" he growled.
Clay tossed a dollar down on the
counter, took 20 and aimed at the
row of ducks sailing across the gal
lery pool. Each duck went down as 1t
appeared. He picked up second rifle
and knocked over seven OF. eight mice
as they scampered across the target
screen. With third gun he snuffed
the flaming eye from the right to the
left side of the face that grinned at
him, then with another shot sent It
back again. He smashed a few clay
pipes by way Of variety. To finish OF
with, he scored six center shots In
target and rang a. bell each time. Not
one single bullet had failed to reach
Its mark.
The New York gunman had never
seen such speed and accuracy. He was
impressed In spite Of the insolent
sneer that still curled his lip.
"Got a six-shooter-a fohty-f1veT
asked Clay OF the owner Of the gal
lery.
mo"
"sorry. Tn not much with rifle,
but I'm good average shot with q
six-gun. kinda take to it natural"
They turned and walked back to the
cab. Collins fell into the Bowery
strut.
.Tryin' to throw a scare into me"
he argued feebly.
ME? Oh, no. You mentioned soft
music and the preacher. Mebbeso.
But It's liable to be for you If you
monkey with the buzz-saw. I'm no gun
sharp, but no man who can't empty q
revolver in shade better than two
seconds and put every bullet inside the
rim of cup at fifteen yards wants to
throw lead at me. You see, hang up
my hat In Arizona. grew up with a
six-gun by my side.'
II should worry This Is little old
New York, not Arizona" the gangman
answered
THAT'S what yore boss Durnnd
thought. What has 1t brought him
but trouble? Lemme give you some
thing to chew on. New York's the big
gest city of the biggest, freest country
ON Gods green footstooa. You little
sewer rats pull wires and think you
run it. Get wise, you poor locoed
gink. You run It about as much as
that fly ON the wheel Of yore tan
drives the engine. Durand's the whole
works by his way of it, but when some
one calls his bluff see where he gets
or
"He amt through with you YET"
growled "Slim" Jim, sulkily.
"Mebbe not, but you-you're through
with Annie" Clay caught him by the
shoulder and swung him round His
eyes bored chilly into the other man.