The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1924-11-14
CHAPTER VIII-Continued


cape. "Quinnion might have let him
loose" he unused as he went slowly tC
the house to tell Judith what had hap
pened. AN then he mightn't. If he
didn't. then who the devil did,"
Judith received the news sleepily
and much more quietly than Carson
had expected.
Well have to keep our eyes open
after this, Carson" was her criticism
We've got to keep an eye on our own
men. Some one of our crowd, taking
my pay, is embarrassing us. Now,
get your men on the jump and we
won't bother about the milk-spilling.
If we are in luck We'll get Shorty yet.
And Quinnion, Carson! Don't forget
QuinniOn. And we've still got Bill
Crowdy; We'll get everything out of
him that he knows"
During the day Emmett Sawyer, the
Rocky Bend sheriff, came, and with
him Doctor Brannan. Sawyer assured
Judith that he would be followed
shortly by a posse led by deputy and
that they would hunt through the
mountains until they got the outlaws.
To all questions put him, Bill Crow
dy answered with stubborn denial of
knowledge or not at all. He had been
alone; he didn't know any man named
Quinnion, he didn't know anything
about Shorty. And he hadn't robbed
Miller. That canvas bag, then, with
the thousand dollars in it? He had
found it; picked it up in gully.
Crowdy, at Doctor Brannan's orders,
was taken to Rocky Bend, where Saw
yer promised him a speedy trial, con-
victiOn and heavy sentence unless he
changed his mind and turned states
evidence. And-to be done with Bill
Crowdy for good and all-he never
came to stand trial. A mad attempt at
escape a week later, another bullet
hole given him in his struggle with his
jailer, and with lips still stubbornly
locked, he died without Switching on
pal.''
Under fire in the dark cabin with
life grown suddenly tense for them
Bud Lee and Judith Sanford had
touched hands lingeringly. No one
who knew them guessed it; certainly
one of them, perhaps both, sought to
forget it. There had been that strange
thrill which comes sometimes when q
mans hand and woman's meet. BUD
Lee grunted at the memory of it; Ju
dith, remembering, blushed scarlet
For, at that moment of deep, sympa
thetic understanding touched with no
nance which young life will draw
even from a dark night fraught with
danger. there had been in Bud Lees
heart but an acceptance, eager as Il
was, of 'pardner." For the time be
ing he thought of her-Or, rather, hi
thought that he thought of her-as 6
man would think Of companion OF
he did not approve of her as a girl, a:
woman.
He had said: There are two kind.
of women" And Judith, knowing tina
his ideal was an impossible but pOeti,
She, rich in subtle feminine graces
STEPPED in that vague charm of her Sc,
like rose in it's own perfume, hat
accepted his friendship during darl
hour, allowing herself to forget tina
upon the morrow, if morrow came t,
them at all, he would hold her in tina
gentle scorn of his.
"a narrow-minded, bigoted fool |!
she cried in the seclusion of her bed
room. I'll show you where you &c
OFF, Mr.. Bud Leei just you watt
In the long, quiet hours which cam
during the few days following the en-,
of fruitless search for Quinnion an
Shorty. he had ample time to analyz
his own emotion. He liked her; fror
the bottom of his heart he liked hel
But she was not the lady of hi
dreams. She rode like a man, sh
shot like a man, she gave her order
like man. She was efficient. Sh
was as square as a die; under fire sh
was pardner for any man. But sh
was not little lady to be thought O
sentimentally. He wondered what sh
would look like # she shed boots an
road hat and riding-habit and al
peared before a man in an evenin
sown-''all lacy and ribbony, yo
know" He couldn't imagine her da
iying, as the Lady of his dreams da