The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-05-19
CHAPTER X-Continued.

But Luke had said nothing about
Spearman. 1t had been COrvet, and
COrvet alone, Of whom Luke had
spoken; it was COrvet whom he had
accused it was COrvet who had given
him money. Was it conceivable, then,
that there had been two such events in
Carvet's life? That one Of these
events concerned the Miwaka and
Spearman and some One-sOme one
with a bullet hole above the eye
who had got" Corvet; and that the
other event had concerned Luke and
something else? 1t was not cOnceiva-
BILE, Alan was sure; it was all n
thing. If Corvet had to do with the
Miwaka, then Luke bad had to do with
1t too. And Spearman? But If Spear
man had been involved in that guilty
thing, had not Luke known it? Then
why had not Luke mentioned Spear
man? Or had Spearman not been real
3y involved? Had it been, perhaps,
only evidence Of knowledge Of what
COrvet had done that Spearman had
tried to discover and destroy?
Alan went to the door and opened
1t, as he heard Spearman upon the
steps again. Spearman waited only
until the door had been reclosed be-
hind him.
"Well, Conrad, what was the idea Of
bringing Miss Sheriff. into this?"
II didn't bring her in; l tried the
best l could to keep her out"
"Out of what-exactly?"
"YOu know better than l do. You
know exactly what 1t is. You know
that man, Spearman you know what
he came here for. l don't mean money;
! near YOU know why he came here
for money, and why he got it. l tried,
as well as l could, to make him tell
me; but he wouldn't do it. There's
disgrace Of some sort here, of course
disgrace that involves my father and,
l think, you too. If you're not guilty
with my father, you'll help me now if
YOU are guilty, then, at least, your re-
fusal to help will let me know that"
81 don't know what you're talking
about. l told you this man may have
been a wheelsman on the Corvet; l
don't know more about him than that
1 don't eve know that certainly. OF
course, / knew Ben COrvet was paying
blackmail I've known for years that
he vas giving up money to some one.
/ don't know who he paid it to; or for
what"
The strain of the last few hours was
aoIl;.. ,,,oo AIcn. h;e .l,;~ a,.Iol 49,
and cold by turns. He paced up and
down while he controlled himself.
"That's not enough, Spearman," he
said finally. 'I-I've felt you, some
how, underneath all these things. The
first time l saw you, you were in this
house doing something you ought not
to have been doing; you fought me
then you would have killed me rather
than not get away. Two weeks ago,
some n attacked me on the street
for robbery, they said but l know K
wasn't robbery"
you're not so crazy as to be trying
to involve me In that"
There came a sound to them from
the hall, a sound Enthusiastically denot-
ing some presence. Spearman jerked
suddenly up; Alan, going to the door
and looking into the hall, saw Wassa-
guam. The Indian evidently had re-
turned TO the house some time before;
he had been bringing to Alan now the
accounts which he had settled. He
seemed to have been standing in the
hall for some time, listening; but he
same in now, looking inquiringly from
sas TO the other Of them.
"Not friends?" he inquired. "You
rod HenryT