New Britain herald., 1924-08-22
NOW GO oN WITH THE STORY

employer.
 NOW GO os WITH THE STORY
 What gets me" he said. 'is wh,
 anybody brought the damn thing here
 al all. What's the ideas And how
 did they get it here on three wheels
 There ain't anything reasonable about
 any part of it. There ain't anything
 yon can get good start on fol
 fgurin'. odd times I've seen thing,
 that surprised me. But this has goi
 me laid sort Of flat out"
 Underwood made restless gesture
 of impatience.
 "I'm sorry the sheriff got away SC
 carly" he said. He might be able
 10 make some sense out of it. IL
 seems that nobody around my ranch
 knows anything at all about any
 thing"
 T reckon VIC all look stupid" con-
 fessed Charley. T ain't denyin'
 you've got grounds for thinkin' so.
 If I was the boss. and anything like
 that happened around my place I'd
 just naturally take a few folks apart
 until got the answer. That's the way I'd feel"
 Underwood finished calculating study Of his foreman, then waved an arm in dismissal.
 Well talk about this again in the morning." he said. T wouldn't like to think there has been anything worse than stupidity"
 'I wouldn't want to think so my self" said Charley. Good night"
 He went out with the lantern, passed through the dining room and pantry and entered the empty witch- en, where he sat down and began filling pipe.
 "Well( I've made high-grade ass | out of myself" he unused. T got started that way and there wasn't anything else to do. How in blazes was I goin' to tell him that I picked up the first stick-up gang that came along and turned 'em into cook and dish washer, without askin' for refer- ences? And me believin' the Provi- dence sent 'em!"
 He tipped the chair against the wall and hooped his heels in the rungs
 T lied the only way that was be- fttin' the occasion. If I'd lied ex- cited and brazen it wouldn't have held good overnight. So I lied calm | and foolish. l ain't 80 sure that I | got by either. I was always brought up believin' that lie well stuck to is as good as the truth. But I ain't sure. It's sort of disconcertin'."
 He fell into long reverie, which came to an end when he 'muttered earnestly:
 "The son of a gun!'
 CHAPTER KY.
 Coaxing-or Coercion
 By morning, after he had snatched q few hours of sleep in the bunk house, Charley McSween had given much thought to the affair of the fivver and the Henry Wiliamses. He could not afford to lost good cook and dish washer. That would make more trouble with the boss than holding him up on the road. And If he let them ride away as they had come, it signified confession that implicated him as deeply as any of he principals.
 The problem of keeping them on he job was really simplified, Charley had a certain allowance of con- science; he was tolerant and good- , hearted. He had admitted to him. , 'elf that the conscription of pair of 1oneymooners was mean trick, even , n the face of dire necessity. But . low he knew something, or believed le did; and t amounted to justif- 'ation It removed scruples, or at r my rate made them slumberous. o ie not only knew it, but he felt that |, 'e could proftably use it. It was :, lelther blackmail nor duress, but : merely persuasion. He could show = hem what the consequences of an . tempted getaway might be. For some reason that probably 6 vent back to instinct, he had never . aken the hold-up of Perome Under- n wood and his family with any deep \ ceiling of shock. It had not serious o v disturbed his moral sense. Now, S with Henry Williams in the picture, le regarded the affair even more h ightly. Besides there was Sally to 'e considered. She was mighty f. inc girl, he had decided almost from 2 he first: he looked upon her as one If his own people. If she had mar f led a bandit, it was unfortunate, of F curse. But had she? He had his . Ioubts about Henry. He could not Q gure him accurately, or even ap- but it was hardest of all i o figure him as a bandit, according 0 the evidence. E.. There was one more consideration i, n the back of his head-the sheriff. c here was nothing personal about it, fl the sense of specific grievance. ie could not have explained it any Ie etter than the versi1ed who did not Ike Dr. Fell. But he did not like Bob Wells, and he did not see any eason for throwing business in his ray. particularly when it did not im- ress him as being of really serious f, ,4a