White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1926-03-26

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places.
"This here letter." he began ner-
vously, "was stickin' in the back o.
the fireplace. Looked as if the fire
was most out, and the letterd been
thrown in it and had bounced back
too far to be burnt altogether. I'll
read it to you, as the sheriff orders
me to-least-ways, as much as l can
make out"
Clark's evident reluctance puzzled
the crowd. Neither crooks nor hon
est men could have suspected him OF
anything but eagerness in such a
case.
1.-The letter was in the envelope"
said Clark. There's Salt Lake City
postmark can be made out in the en-
velope and part of the address. There
is enough so l can remember givln'
Washburn the letter a week ago. The
express messenger left it at my store.
About half the first page is burned
out, and then there's this:
"'Still grubbin' for gold, Ell, old
timer? Well, I'll tell you Of an
easier -. (Four lines are burnt out
here.) Arnett's the man, right
enough. l hear they've /. II. 4. for
sheriff That's good joke. He
played the same game down here,
law-abidin' as . He'll get plenty
as sheriff. If he don't come through,
ask him who killed Bert Dutton.
Or about that holdup out O. Lewis
ton last May. Or tell him you know
where Cherokee Bob is. Bob knows
lots O. things he wants to tell about
Arnett. (There's more gone here.)
Hit him up for plenty, Washburn, and
remember ;. partner
That's ALL The signature and the
rest of it's burnt out" finished Clark,
his pale blue eyes drifting uneasily
over the astonished crowd, which
broke instantly into mixture of
oaths, threats, exultant yells and con-
Trajectory CALCULATIONS.
"Arnett! 1 don't believe it," said
Jack Ryder, who was classified in
Cougars varied population as an
honest gambler.
wonder what these holy hypo-
critics II say now, eh?" questioned the
loafers, sycophants of the lawless ele-
ment.
"Whoever wrote that letter had the
correct dope, all right. allus thought
Arnett's ranching was a STALL"
ut amt proof, that letter; it amt
proof" said gray-bearded old miner
| fiercely.; Evidence, maybe, but
proof! What more dye want?" a
hard-faced, soft-handed ruffian caught
him up. "Washburn tries to ply
money out of Arnett with that letter
an gets killed like fool. Why would
Arnett let him live after he learnt
that Washburn knowed all that?
Lucky Arnett bungled burnin' the let
ter"
"Darned is this amt hell" mutter-
/ ed slim and cadaverous individual
known as "Old Tex" Don't seem
we can be sure o. anybody, at all.
Here we pick a man for sheriff as
everybody agrees is honest, even if
/ L, n;,,S4 ~ fionc-
and now this! Wish old Uncle Sam
would extend his helpin hand out
this-away. Cougar runnin itself is
sure a picture o. distress. Much ac-
ton an no progress, like two balky
mules heels on"
Standing near was smallish, drap-
per-looking man whom no one remem-
bered having seen before. He glanced
around at the tall Texans last SEN
fences and smiled peculiarly.
But Old Tex had really expressed
a very general sentiment. AS far as
any outside government was con
cerned, Cougar and the country
AROUND IL WAS DIS INDEPENDENT DIS d
colony in the moon. Geographically
the camp was lost. Men argued
whether it lay in Washington or
Dakota, but it was improbable "a,
gument. In either case, the nearest
seat Of government would have been
more than a thousand miles away
j Olympia on the Pacific or Yankton on
the Missouri. Between in those early
/ sixties, lay vast territory largely
unknown, peopled by men drawn from
everywhere by the lure of gold-men
whose one common attribute was
strength. ALI law must be locally man
ufactured, all officials locally elected
True, the infrequent month-old mails
had brought Cougar rumors of q
change in this respect, but these ru
mors were little credited After six
months in Cougar Washington seem
ed Just a little less distant than the
stars.
(To Be Continued)