Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-03

one OF the original nau dozen lay on the
ground grooming. Three had judiciously with
drawn, nursing sundry swellings and Commissions.
The remaining pair were craftier
While one engaged Rodeo in front, the other
warily circled the angular, fist-swinging cow
puncher The man facing Rodeo made quick
movement feinting with his right and moving
as though to rush the puncher.
Rodeo's long arm stretched to his knee.
Rodeos keen gray eyes, bit blurred perhaps
by a 4S-hour go with Platinum Creeks mule
kicking bootleg concentrated on his immediate
opponent.
He started the swing. The man who had
circled him dashed in, his arms enfolding Ro-
deos neck. Taken by surprise, the puncher was
yanked backwards Selling the advantage, the
in front of him let him have an uppercut
that landed somewhere in the vicinity of his
left ear.
Rodeo staggered groggily, but he wasn't out
Bringing the whipcord muscles of his lanky back
into bunch, he catapulted the man hanging
on his neck clear over his head. This brought
his two assailants into violent collision and both
went to the ground.
BY this time the crowd numbered among its
members Big Tim Callahan, Tn-Ear Kelly and
Soup Simpson. Their pleased expression indi-
Gated that Rodeo's treatment of Platinum
Creeks leading reformistS had found high favor
with them.
So. when one of the badly Mttered six by
strategic move snatched Rodeo's sixshooter from
Its holster, Big Tim interposed.
H,
bellies git movin'i'
The half dozen leaders of Platinum Greek re-
form turned appealingly to the spectators. But,
observing the menace in Big Tins move and
the obvious threat of his henchmen's pocketed
hands, the crowd suddenly seemed to lose in
terest.
The leader of Rodeos assailants showed a
fash of spunk.
I'VE have every right to drive this rowdy out
of camp" he declared Hes trouble maker.
Raoya hi tn fiYYap
We're going to clean up this town."
"Yeh?" drawled Big Tim. "Yeh? You WIZ
gttin' away t. fine start wuzin't ya?"
The six defeated gentlemen departed, still
muttering of the dire things that would soon
happen to Big Tim and his crowd
RoDEo RIGGS, late. of the sun-Up outfit.
had for 48 hours been spectacular person
in Platinum Creeks hell-roaring affairs. He
had been the central figure of several incidents
connected with his delivery of a dozen head OF
steer beef from Sun-Up. He had collected
$4,000 in gold nugget form for the steers, am
enormous figure. He had spent his last months
wages along the one riotous street of the new
boom town. And he had lost the sack contain
ing the payment for the cattle. The fights he
had engaged in had been merely incidental to
his investigation of this loss
All of the happenings had converged IN the
fnhospitable effort on the part of Platinum
Creeks reform element to escort the Grant
cowpuncher from their midst
While the puzzled cowboy collected his wits
and assembled parts of his torn raiment, Big
Tim and his companions held short, low
voiced conference. At the moment Rodeo
was idly wondering what in Sam Hill a
racketeer. It was the first time he had me up
with the word.
For that matter the word was new to all of
the sagebrush desert in that lost end of Ne
Vada.
Where Platinum Greek now stood wild any
time gold camp this desert county had two
weeks previously boosted only rather negligible
population of coyotes, cougars, ancient desert
rats. prairie dogs and several hundred thousand
assorted rattlesnakes.
A desert rat struck a gold pocket 1t de-
veloped into series of dry creek bed placers.
Against the tradition of his kind, the desert rat
talked too much. Modern transportation ac-
complished the rest.
Five thousand or more sanguine gold-seekers
gold-diggers, racketeers and bootleggers arrived
with ready-cut cabins, tents, mule-kick liquor
and numerous devices that would aid this new
game of racketeering in general.
IN the past few days few of the mixed popu-
Iation had arisen their collective ear and
sent a petition to the State capital for some
form of government
To counteract this movement, Big Tim and
his crowd had set up their own made-to-order
administration. BY this arrangement, Big Tim
was established as justice of the peace. Soup
Simpson experienced mostly in springing his
pals when trips to the big house were imminent,
was named prosecuting attorney, while Tin-Ear
Kelly kept his court records for Justice Big Tim,
according to his lights.
Rodeo, thinking Big Tim and the others had
forgotten him started to move away. AT some
time during his hectic 48 hours in the town. too
friendly strangers had separated him from the
pay for the Sun-Up steers.
Rodeo knew old man Randall would skin him