The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-06-12
20
o FROM A TOMB

What of the man who had Slashcd
my tires? Dillon, undoubtedly
Knowing that Jerry wa In Torridity
he had come to plant the flannels
The children, I decided, didn't know
he was here and he may not have
seen them. He certainly knew I was
here. Why in the name Of common
sense hadn't I brought a pistol?
don't know what made me Think
of Furie Just then. MacNair had as
sumed that Furie knew something
about the Two Brothers mine: per-
haps, indeed, had brought Ogden the
bit of quartz. Moreover, Hubbard's
description of him strongly suggested
the old deseft-rat type. Mightn't
Furie be a relic Of Torridity's van
ished prosperity? Was 1t Furie's
presence I had sensed in the town
instead of Dillon's? Was 1t, indeed
Furie who had slashed my tires? And
had Dillon, after planting" the flan-
nels, taken himself off? I began to
wonder about the Two Brothers mine
MacNair had connected Furie and the
quartz specimens with it and ! had
concluded Lucy had found Jerry
there. After swallowing q sandwich
I set off up the street towards the
flank of mountain behind the town,
On the outskirts my feet found an In
distinct trail of sorts and I let them
carry me along 1t.
The sun was declining towards the
Skeletons, but the wind blew hot as
a dragons breath and in its teeth
whistled that sound I had heard as
I drove towards Torridity. I thought
it Missed at me, Go back, you fool!'
| A thin sand haze hung in the air. A
!'windstorm impended, I felt sure, and
| common sense urged me to go back;
but just then I saw the buildings Of
! an abandoned mining property
Heading into the bite Of the wind
l quickly identified the property a
! the Two Brothers by the huge mass
! of splintered rock in front OF the ell
trance to the main bore.
It took me half an hour to explore
the property. In ruin and a-creak II
the burning wind, the buildings were
a sorry mess. but the machinery wa:
in fair condition. From the "tailings'
dump I followed the orecart rails ur
to the great pile of debris which
f, blocked the entrance. To remove !
would be a stable job.
In a barn-like structure was the po'
lice car Lucy had Communicated. I
chcered me nightly. Leaving tn
car where it was. for the time being
I started back along the flank of thu
mountain.
The sun was lower. The wind hat
quickcned; its cerie note shrilled
little. After l had gone 100 yards be
You'd the limits of the Two Brother
property I came upon a narrow gaSl
slashed deep into the flinty noun
tainside which I hadn't seen as
came up. A vague trail led into tn
cash and the imprint of shoes showes
in a sprinkling of sand at my feet.
Striking into the cash, I found my
self between towering walls of reddisl
rock which gradually widened into
stable canyon that cut into tn
heart of the Skeletons. I had gon
some 200 yards when I noticed a w"
shaped joint in the south slope of tn
canyon. AS I approached the joint
saw it was really a cavern-like slasl
in the rock wall.
I had come within 30 feet Of tn
slash when a rifle cracked and a bull
let flattencd against the rock !
inches above my head!
My eyes sprang up the opposit
slope which assembled gradually and
saw not far above me a small woodel
shanty from which, ! concluded, ha,
come the shot. / wondered If ! wer
to be dropped dead as / stood.
The slash offered sanctuary. Onl
30 feet away! Could I make it?
hurled myself towards it. Before