The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-05-18
Treasure for Two
By FLORENCE B. JACOBS
G. by Mcclure Newspaper syndicate.
WNU Service

The cowboy famed himself with
his sombrero. then finally wiped his
face with a bandanna whose color
seemed to give the mercury fresh i'm
petus. Gosh, amt il hot"
III say. Les go swimmin'."
Later, maybe afterwards"
afterwards The sheriff seemed
bit slow on the uptake, due perhaps
to the heat, perhaps TO recent sur
felt of BURBERRY pie. The sheriff
loved good things TO eat. and in con-
sequence his shining badge rode on
the topmost curve of series which
made his stomach.
"Sure. Afterwards. You know after
we check up on the map and decide
about things"
"Oh, yeah" the sheriff knew now !;
and knowing, forgot about the second
helping of pie, forgot even few de
grees of the sultry August heat. Gee.
yes . You got the map?'
II should say so. Right here, boy"
slapping greasy pocket; then, with
careful glance up at the overhanging
branches and down the railroad tracks
to the far horizon. bringing from the
same pocket worn scrap of paper.
Together they pored over ii, eyes
and hands twitching with eagerness.
'You see the mark-kind of dag
ger, like? That's where the stuff's
buried. You follow this trail,' grimy
forefinger showed the way, through
Devil Mans Hollow. past Skeleton
Rocks, I'll you come to a pine 'thout
branches. shaped like a cross They
hung a niger there once :"
cold wind blew through the Au-
gust heat. "Gee," said the sheriff,
''what'd he do?"
He was after the gold. too. That's
why they hung him. But they did
other things TO him first" The long
look which passed between them was
too heavy with terror for the COM
fort of words. $50 you can see how
careful we got TO be-
"S'pose they should get after us"
A sheriff's badge is evidently no guar
antee as to the stoutness of heart be-
meath IL
let EN-" The cowboy patted both
pockets suggestively. "They don't call
me Two-Gun Riley for nothin'l
"We'l meet here tomorrow night"
he went on-'It's the dark o. the moon
now-and start out And when we come
back, with the doubloons and the gold
caskets an them long strings o. pearls
big as marbles boy"
''BoyI' echoed the sheriff, who saw
no sense in straining after originality.
The cowboys face became gravely
calculating. "Now we're goin' to need
money for this. Bill. There's things
| TO be bought-grub an tools and such.
Well pool what we got and then bet
ter take charge of ii. You know what
happened last time, when you had the
money"
The sheriff looked doubtful; but his
slower wits were no match for the
others keen gray eyes. Besides. a
certain crimson memory brought his
cheeks almost TO the boiling point He
turned his pockets inside out and put
their specie yield into the cowboys
hand.
"Okay :. And it's settled that
when we get to Spaniards' Rest, we
pick our spots, and the one that finds
the chest first, keeps it? The other
one has to help him bring it back, but
he can't claim nothin'!"
That's what we said"
"Then there's JUS one more thing,
Bill"
What is it?" asked Bill. in a care
fully toneless voice which promised
nothing.
"Why, about Milly. You know that
the guy who gets the gold oughtta get
the girl. It'd be Just like Milly to
stick by the man that loses-she's that
way. But you and me know that VIM
min need clothes and jewels n things.
So l think we ought to protect Milly
from herself; fix it up so the one who
finds the treasure gets Milly, and the
other one fades outta the picture"
''Mmm." said the sheriff. but sup
pose / get it? Would you be wilIin'
TO clear out and leave me MflIy?"
"Sure!'' the other assured him, with
a large. free gesture which indicated
how far he was prepared to go. You
bet l viii. Why. Bill I won't never
see Milly again. if you get the treas
ure"
But the stress which he put on the
last words overreached itself. The
! sheriff was pricked TO suspicion.
yeah" he sneered, eff | get the
treasure And prob'ly you got it fixed
some way so there's no chance o. my
gettin' It. know you, Jim Riley.
You're too darned smart I amt gon-
IA promise nothin'."
"An right" said the cowboy, "an
right for you, Billy Thomas. The ex-
petitions off. ! was lettin' you in on
this because you was my pal-but you
amt any more. I'll just go alone and
have all the treasure for myself"
In a single decisive move the cow
boy returned the map to his pocket
and fastened the flap. Then he took
a sucker from another pocket and ap-
piled his tongue TO its gummy brown
surface.
The sheriff began TO cry. I'm sick
of this game" he walled, 81 want my
penny back and my head aches and"
"Aw, be your age" the other sneered
ar him. "Ain't you most nine? Well,
here's your penny then. crybabyl Now
scram!"
Clutching his penny, the sheriff
scrammed. t. !. Should you have
stayed TO shoot it out with Two-Gun
Riley, almost eleven and known as a
daSDorafa boy1h-o2