The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1925-03-05

make short work of Pierre and Shorty.
and Estelle too. His confidence was
coming back.
'1They sent me and Pierre to see If
you'd gone to sleep here"
well, / aint," Railway returned
laughing again. He knew his non
chalance at once discounted and
bound them to him through fear. "I've
gone to the hut across the neck to say
good night to the girl, and maybe, II
she presses me, l won't be hurryine
away. Get that?' he asked, as they
guffawed self consciously.
you'll go back and tell EN- I'm
gone, Pierre. You got your gun
Shorty? All right. You and mel
have a quiet little session in the
swamp, waitin' for EN- to come along
the trail one by one-eh, Shortly"
He clapped each one on the shoulder
'"There's gold enough in that sack tc
make us three ~millionaires, and thereI
be a d-n sight less sharing" he said
And listen, boys. I've cached it, so
if I'm croaked, nobodyTl get it. Seer
The men were fools anyway, bu;
trebly so when their cupidity wal
aroused. Railway imagined the greed
leaping into their eyes, and laughed,
He was reckless now. The hooch devil
rode him at last. And in his minds
eye he say the picture.
And, what a holocaust for Joyce
No one could prove anything, either,
even If they caught him. And the
bodies of Lee and Pelly would never
be found. There was Estelle, of course,
but whatever happened, she would
never give him away.
Curiously, Estelle, who had loomed
so prominently as his chief difficulty,
now assumed an insignificant part in
the problem. He didn't even consider
what disposition he was going to make
of her.
"You get back, Pierre, and say you
met me going over to the neck he
said. "And hold 'em twenty minutes"
Pierre departed. Railway and
Shorty went softly out of the hut
among the pines. Railway felt sure
enough of his companion to walk in
front of him.
They heard the voices of the men
about the fire rise into loud declama-
ton as Pierre returned; then the
sounds were cut off as they turned
along the track through the morass.
Presently the stables came into sight
above the reeds, and the hut beyond,
with a light in it.
Railway could see the ~silhouetted
figures of the two women, Joyce in a
chair, m~otionless, and Estelle upon the
bed beside her. He swore through his
teeth as he watched them.
81 guess this place will do" he said
to Shorty.
They squatted among the reeds,
their pistols in their hands. 1t had
been showing internationally through
the night, and it was an eerie watch,
ever for the unimaginative, in the
bitter cold and b~lackness. The night
wind rustled the dead stalks of the
reeds; the muskeg, more t~reacherous
for the surface ice that concealed,
but could never bind it, stirred and
heaved imperceptibly, like a vast sea.
Across the neck of land the flames of
the camp fire fickered against the
rocks.
Suddenly, after what seemed like
an eternity of time, Shorty whispered
hoarsely in Railways ear, pulled at
sleeve of his mackinaW, and
pointed.
From where they lurked they could
see figures moving against the back
ground of fire in the direction of the
neck.
Gripping their pistols they crouched
motionless, tense with excitement.
But of a sudden other figures APP
peared, moving toward the m%utineers.
They heard a sharp Hands upT