The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1924-03-05
THE RED LOCK

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missed, as his next words half star
tlingly disclosed
what did y'u make O. them tracks
y'u foIlerd yisterd'y-fom them
bushes On the edge O. the cliff back o
y'ur cabin an past the OF log7 seed
y'u'd ben foller'n' 'em as crossed the
trail m'sef this mornin'."
The young man bent an amazed
look upon his aged friend. lost In won
der at his marvellous woodcraft.
II got a look at the man that made
EN-" was his slow answer, while he
laid blind that log a-watchin' me
| straighten up the fence. l don't think
he knows 1 saw I'm, but 1 did-lt was
the Teller that stirred up all that rum
pus at the schoolhouse night b'fore
| last
The I'd man threw away his sassa-
fras SCOT; an eager seriousness
crossed his face.
That wus Black Bogus"
The younger man stared
Nor
Hit were"
The woodsman fell suddenly
thoughtful; glanced away across the
hollow toward where the double trail
led through the woods. The old man
studied him curiously. 1t may be each
was thinking the same thought-that
strange resemblance that had SO puz-
zled them both-but neither let fall
any inkling Of it to the other.
AL knows Im," Uncle Nick went On
after a moment. Hes a friend OF
Loge Belden's-an' he thinks mebbe
he's harborin' up thar with i'm"
He jerked his thumb up the hollow
toward where a section of the warped
roof Of Loge Belden's squalid cabin
barely protruded above the bushes;
seemed to weigh his next words be-
fore letting them fall.
Anyhow, thought I'd pint m nose
up the crick an kinda throw an eye
on Loge's cabin t see II e Is"
AN II e is-Y' the other ques-
toned, having caught the curious look
The caution Of a lifetime In the
woods prompted the old hunter to
look guardedly In every direction be-
fore answering.
Don't let on y'u know it"-he came
a step nearer-"but Al says Belden
bTongs Z the sane gang O. cutthroats
down Vincennes way that Black Bo-
gus does, an he thinks more n likely
they're plottin' Z crack OIL Sine Col
ms safe"
The hardness that had come at the
mountain girls warning crept again
into the woodsman's eyes, but he
made no comment.
81 low y'u nee'n' t be told they
amt neither one got much time fr
you. after what happened at the post
office an at the schoolhouse-an'
licked. an the kind that strikes in the
dark"
Jack picked up the heavy shotgun
from where he had laid it aside. when
about TO rush upon his old friend,
blew a dead grass blade
out from between the hammer and the
lock. but offered no word. The old
man again bent his furtive look upon
him and went on
BLACK Bogus-they's fifty sheriffs
a-lookin' f'r him, an standin' reward |
of five thousan' dollars, dead r
alive"
The young man finched. looked |
keenly at the other.
Uncle Nick-y'u wouldn't"
mo, / wouldn't" the old man re-
piled with instant readiness TO the |
imputation. I've shot
men in my time. l never sold one"
He stepped around the great sugar
maple, motioned for the other TO fol-
ow, and stole away along the brow of
he bluff. quite obviously In serious
The young woodsman fell into the /
rail. STEPPED in the caution that
anne from much living alone, he said
nothing. but il was the one thing that
lad brought him 10 the woods that
have a look at Loge Bel
lens cabin.
Reaching a point. at length. short
distance below where the suspected
abin squatted. they crept down the
'ed Of dry wash-out and through
ONE thickets of brier and hazel until
hey lay within less than a hundred
ards OF Its crude and mud daubed
rails.
There seemed to be no one about
kept the comedy mountain girl, who
anne to the open door a time or two
o look out. as If she expected some
one that she would rather
OF see. TO judge by the troubled ex-
resSion of her face-a face whose
ragic sadness had So impressed the
'oousman at that strained and hur-
led interview.
1t was late in the forenoon when.
bove them on the hillside, they heard
ne swish OF a brush swinging back ,
Ito place after having been dragged
side. Uncle Nick held up cautious ,
niger. and they crouched lower in the !
over
There came the snap Of dry stick; ,
man emerged from the swaying