Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1933-02-22
CHAPTER V-Contlnued

9ou uVliSc aug thlhS opNSA"i
In the barn?"
"Smell, you mean?"
The other nodded grimly.
II smelt gasoline" he said.
$50 did II"
"Where was he?" TAFT asked.
fright behind your pile of baled
hay"
prince got him |" be muttered.
"He's the only horse in the lot
that's light behind. He"-gestur-
ing-"touched the place off, the
Old Prince got him !"
Saunders came in, breathless.
sls mining the door.
SCOT her soused down." he said.
"Worst's over. Who's that"
Ever see him?" John asked.
A pause, while the foreman
stared hard at the face.
"Never."
"And what did you smell?" John
demanded.
Mark looked from one to the
other.
do you both get it,"
"Both of us. :"
"a bug irel Cd d-n 'em,
they'll"
John held up a warning hand.
"It's between the three of us, for
now. Keep 1t from the men. This
fellow vas suffocated, as far as
they know. Stranger; drunk; got
In, tried to smoke. And here
we arel
"But the three of us smelt gaso-
line. This mans hair isn't even
singed. See? He didn't die from
fire. 1t was the kick of a horse.
We find out who he Is and where
he came from and why-if we can
and We make things as hot for
other parties as they made them
for us tonight"
Hot for other partiesl And even
as he swore that this thing would
not go unpublished If he could track
IL down q sort Of terror seized him.
Old Tom, his father, behind this?
The thought made his middle go
weak.
Oh, a mans temper can stir him
to bitterness against those for
whom he has had affection. But old
Royalties, old respects are hard to
down. For nearly a month now
John Belknap had thought of his
father as an enemy, but this nights
work killed his temper. replaced 1t
with a profound fear.
Old Tom in a rough-and-tumble
fght2 Yes, that was imaginable !
But old Tom ~resorting to the torch?
That was unthinkable, did not
square with anything In experience.
A hard old bird, men had said Of
his father; a relentless fighter .yhen
driven to 1t when driven to
It'll But a fair fighter, 1t was
agreed, and wen beaten enemies
had admitted that.
He looked at the others and sent
them out to see that the guard
against the last chance of spread
ing fire was safe. He needed to be
alone.
Old Tom in this mess? It could
not be; simply was beyond all rea-
sonl That the responsibility for all
Ellen Richards trouble should rest
on his fathers shoulders seemed to
be reasonable . seemed to be.
But II could not be. His father
was no incendiary; his father was
no wrecker; his father, grufr and
bluff as he was, unjust as he may
have been to his own sOn, would
not hire DULLES to MAIN the men of
other employers, would not take
unfair advantage Of a weaker com.
petitorl
He drew his palms over his face
and shuddered. The whole thing
was a nightmare, some wild, i'm
possible bit of fancyl
o . o
The barn was gone; one horse
was gone; some harness burned.
and the rest in a sorry tangle. Not
a pound of feed was left In camp.
John ordered the strangers body
placed In a box car on the siding,
shut the door and told the men to
keep away. The belief that an I'M
known man had wandered into the
barn and inadvertently set 1t of
was well established.
But in the Office a small group
waited while John repeatedly made
unavailIng efforts to rouse central
1t was four o'clock before bis per
sistent ringing brought an answer
ing sleepy voice. He called Rob
erts, the mill foreman, at his house
not wanting to disturb Ellen.
Rapidly he told what had hap
pened
aWe'u need q car of lumber" he
said, "and saws and hammers ARD
nails. The fire was set by a drunk
who wandered In. He s~uffocated
Send the sheriff out with the train
to take charge of that angle. Guess