Arizona state miner., 1926-10-16
CHAPTER X-Continued

perings from this group and murmurs,
terrifying in the implication of their
sound, from the huddled prisoners
within the corral, noisy, optimistic,
Cottonwood now lay under the moon
light as silent as death Occasional
ty, indeed, distant footballs resounded
from the board sidewalks. They beat
no longer with cheerful staccato, but
with the determined, concerted thump
OF marching troops Yet everywhere
I'm the moonlight stood the b,Otted, in
distinct forms of men-waitinC {.
the night seemed full of devils. {.
The slight, nervous form of Mr.. Or
cut, walking beside the guard, slashed
into the lantern-light. The guard re-
ported casually to the central commit
tee, received a nod, vanished with the
clergyman-and now out from the cor
raj drifted his voice, resonant, rhyth-
mic-praying. Into his prayer broke
the hysterical squalling of Red
Nell.
l do not know by what curiosity Of
the human soul these sounds Of COM
fort and despair tore away within me
the last of those barriers which civili-
cation, cultivation, education had built
round the natural, primitive, killing
savage. Something burst in my head;
and l became at one with the best
and worst of this orderly mob. They
were going to kill-hideously, I'M
pIacably And l. whose wrong was most
of ALL wanted to kill with them.
At one moment, l seemed to myself
an angel OF justice, rebirth of my
Puritan fOrefathers who smote and
spared not in the name of the Lord;
at another, merely the cheated, tricked
lover burning for revenge on him
whose touch had polluted the unwor-
thy beloved Life and life's normal
desires were over for me if /
died valiantly before another moon,
better so =. if only l got him.
. I strode back and forth between
the wagons; the one moving figure in
that tense. static. moonlit landscape
And then came opportunity.
The circle about the wagon had
risen. 1 stepped up to Marcus. He
was bending beside a lantern to con-
suit his bull's-eye watch
"An hour or so before daybreak," he
said Better start the cavalry" A
Jerk of Taylor's head brought one of
the guards to attention. There was a
whispered order, a nod and the guard
vanished. Marcus stood a little aside
from the rest. And so when l asked
q question drawn from me by my emo
tions, none else heard
"What's nextT' I inquired
Marcus hesitated, and then:
"Startin' the boys out for the main
rerfo 'mers," he replied.
''The bandits?"
Marcus gave a slow, meaning nod.
"I want to go, tOo," 1 said.~ My
tongue filed dry mouth. heard my
@oice as though someone else were
speaking, and it was thick
Marcus hesitated.
"Well, it will be the story Of the
day." he said, as though finding an
excuse. Then, "Shorty" he called.
''I'm sufsding ellison along-to report
1T, yoT know"
SEarty, inspecting his side-arm. ar
ranging the cartridges in his belt,
k3Oked up.
"No you don't!" he growled
I blazed. I found myself standing
over Shorty, cursing him with round
naan-oaths, challenging him, if he had
anything against me, to fight it out
here and now.
Whatever doubt Shorty had of me
this blast of genuine emotion seemed
to dissipate. He ignored my insults
and my challenge; only regarded me
critically from the shade of his hat
gnd then, addressing Marcus, re-
eponded:
''All right, old boss! Well taAe him
along. But he's got to be q 1--n good
bCyw
Five minutes froTa move alley be-
hind the Courier buildng-keep your
mouth shut if anybody asks you what
you're doing. Here, Joe-give this
pIdl a i-JAlS llI dlA u D6lI-S6I your
horse. and rustle!~ directed Marcus.
We sat, our horses in the shadows,
waiting; SO still that now and then
long BREATH drawn involuntariIy from
the labOring lungs of excitement,
would pull my spine up stiff as though
! had heard a pistOl-shOt The moon
light had begun to pale and the in
spiratiOa of death that announces the
dawn blew from the peaks. Must we
wait there for ever?
The rattling lOpe Of a horse sound
ed from the roadway beyond. The rid
eT came into sight from the sickly
shadows, pulled up, fell in beside
Shorty at the head of the column He
was talking-in a low tone but stead
fly, emphaticalIy.
l began to catch his words.
'I says to him, You can't bluff me-
] says. I know what you're doin','
says. I'm just watchin' yOu,' 1 says.
NO. you don't dare put me off the
force l says 4 suspect too much p"
Emphatic, Over-emphatic to the point