The Raymer enterprise., 1923-06-07
mebbe they knew about the money

"Wal, when arrived with the cat.
tie / was some put to It to make ends
meet. An today wasn't In no angelic
huraof. When he'd my business all
done / went around pokin' my nose
heah an there. tryln' to get scent Of
thet mo1ey. An I happened In at a
hall We hev thet does duty fer jail
an hospital an election.post an what
not. Wal, Just then It was dom duty
as 4 hospital. Last night was fiesta
night-these Greasers hev a fiesta ev-
cry week or so-an' one Greaser who
had been bad hurt was layin' in the
hall. where be he'd been fetched from
the station.
The hall was full Of cowboys, ranch
ers. Greasers, miners, an town folks,
along with some strangers. I was
about to get started up this way when
Pat HAVE come In.
"Pat, he's the sheriff. He come into
the hall, an he was roarin' about
things. He was goin' to arrest Danny
Mains on sight. Wal, I Jest pollte-like
told Pat thet the money was mine an
he needn't get riled about It. An
II wanted to trail the thief reckon
I could do 1t as well as anybody.
"Then he cooled down a bit am was
askin' questions about the wounded
Greaser when Gene Stewart comes in.
Whenever Pat an Gene come together
1t reminds me Of the early days back
In the seventies. Jest naturally ev-
erybody shut up. Fer Pat hates Gene,
an I reckon Gene amt very sweet on
Pat.
"'Hello Stewartl You're the feller
I'm lookin' fer said Pat. There was
some queer goings-on last night tibet
you know somethin' about. Danny
Mains robbed-Stillwell money gone
your roam horse gone-an' this
Greaser gone. too. Now, seein' thet
you was up late an prowlin' round
the station where this Greaser was
found. It amt unreasonable to think
you might know how he got plugged
lis it?'
Stewart laughed kind Of cold. an
he rolled cigarette, all the time eyeIn'
Pat, an then he said II he'd plugged
the Greaser It'd never hev been sich a
bunglin' job.
IT can arrest you on suspicion,
Stewart, but before ! 60 thet far l
want some evidence. l want to find
out what's become Of your hoss. You've
never lent him since you he'd him. an
there amt enough raiders across the
border to steal him from you. It's got
queer look-thet boss beln' gone.
You was drunk last nightr
Stewart never batted an eye.
"'You met some woman on Number
Eight, didn't your shouted Have.
~ met q lady, replied Stewart,
quiet an menacin' like.
"'You met Al Hammond's sister, an
you took her up to Kingsley'a An
cinch this, my cowboy cavalier, I'm
goln' up there an ask this grand dame
some questions, an II she's as close
mouthed as you are I'll arrest herr
Gene Stewart turned white. fer
one expected to zee him Jump like
lightnin, as he does when he's riled
sudden. But he was calm an he was
thinkin' hard. Presently he said:
Pat, thet's fool idee, an II You
do the trick It'll hurt you all the rest
Of your life. There's absolutely no rea-
son to frighten Miss Hammond. An
tryin' to arrest her would be such q
id outrage as won't be stood fer In
Ell Cajon. II you're sore on me send
me to jail. I'll go. II you want to
hurt al Hammond, 60 an do It some
man kind Of way. Don't take your
spite out on US by insultin' a lady who
has come hyar to hev a little visit.
We're bad enough without beln' low
down as Greasers.'
ut was long talk for Gene, an /
was as surprised as the rest Of the fel-
lers. It was plain to me an others
who spoke Of 1t afterward thet Pat
Have he'd forgotten the law an the
officer In the man an his hate.
I'm a-goln', an I'm a-goln' right
nowp he shouted.
"Stewart seemed kind Of chokIn',
an he seemed to hev been bewildered
by the idee Of Hawe's confrontin' you.
"An' finally he burst out: But
man, think who 1t Is! It's Miss Ham
mond! II you seen her. even II you
was lGcoed or drunk, you-you couldn't
do IT,
s'Couldn't II Wal, I'll show you
d-n quick. What do l care who she
is7 Them swell eastern women-I've
heerd Of them. They're not so much.
This Hammond woman
Suddenly Have shut up, an with
his red mug turnin' green he went for
his gun"
Stillwell paused In his narrative to
get breath, and he wiped his moist
brow. And now his face began to lose
its cragginess. It changed, It softened.
It rlppled and wrlnkled, and all that
strange mobility focused and shone In
a wonderful smile.
"An' then. Miss Majesty. then there
was somethln' happened. Stewart took
Pats gun away from him and throwed
II on the door. An what followed was
beautiful. Sure It was the beautiful.