The Coolidge examiner., 1934-02-23
CHAPTER Tv-con;inSed

lsiter from Kate. written after re.
ceivinE word that the railroad con
Struciion was blaeked Her despair
had touched him profoundly. xoad-
81 him O. fresh effort Aud yet.
shat 90 do1 No new capital was
forthcoming. no extension of time
could be- anticipated from impa.
tlcnf creditors lie was keeping the
SOB alive foF a Tea we~ks and that
was all 80 FAR
Another canoe rounded q long
point and came toward him and as
the distance narrowed Steve's Up
quirksd Il was Franz whom he
had not se.u OF heard % since their
encounter on the upper river.
lie polBicd his canoe az prake'a
~iIoWdy.~ be said In an odd tone.
trailing bis paddle "llow's Young
Jim FLYNN todayy
A peculiar Inference was IN the
words and De grinned with some
ihlns Ike lnsolence.
Sieves eyes dropped 70 the mans
clojhiug and hls ouint The bottom
- bis canoc wns smearcd with red
clay.
nunt you figure yuu'ye crawiel
about far enough ont on this par.
flcuiar l.mhY' Franz asked
A sharp thrill q apprehension ran
brakes body
Meaning jua whaif- he coun.
tered
Principally. that the original
young Jim Flynn Is on his way In /:
or viii BE- when BE sobers Up" The
man laughed Wout "a Do Inter
csiiug 90 watch McNniiy and the
rest - these dnbs7 And 90 see the
real bass. vel picked. a shaking.
miserable spectacle. comc 20 take
charge ~ q sinking shipl
And won't Il also bc Interesting
FOR you 10 explain to somebody how
you came 10 be spending Polarls
money 81 free and easy1 Why. you
id pTeicnder. he'll hay. licked up
what hoore he's cot ln a few hours
he's out ~ money he'll come 10 try
a. % what he was supposed 20 try
90 do a month ago. And when he
hnds you here. playing his part. even
he'll run you OF 50 fast lt'Il make
your head swim r
Sleeves head did saim then. FOR
an instant
Il vas not theuEhi % what Young
Jim Flynn might Do that caused con
fusion. Steve bad kept the SOB alive
by his ability 10 give men confidence
In bis leadership This was no feel.
ing ~ seif-satlsfaciion. % concclt f:
u WAS simply the fact
Bot Young Jlm's advent would
send the fragile structure 81 Polaris
hopes crumbiins. The important
matter before Drake now was 20
seal FRANKS llTs. 70 prevent spread
81 the news the man bore because.
should the rumur that be was only
a prctender spread. and should he
De questioned. he would be forced
20 admit the truth. That would
BE- enough 10 put everything In a
sorry ianEie.
He studied the other closely. not.
INK the deep pockets IN the breas, Of
his shirt lie raised hand to FUN
bic Ia one of his own pockets. fingers
closing on that which rep0sed there.
~Franz. you're nntidy." he said.
The man looked hard az him aud
laughed
"Nhat're you driving al. now y
he asked. "A 10; Of interest you've
got In how look
NO; a great deal. that's true. But
a man who's careless about where
he leaves buttons from his clothing
is likely to stir up interest In other
folks minds"
The other sneered.
Buttons -
Yes Like this one" Steve opened
biz hand. displaylng-a smooth. brown
button. You see. this one happened
10 belong under the Zap OF your
right-hand shirt pocket No button
there this ones mate Is on the other
pocket
And even II Il weren't for this
button. Drake went on. II have
plenty on you. | took lot OF pains
I'm handling that shotgun ITS
good gun. II had been well cared
for. There's plenty Of gun oil on II
10 keep the rust or and 10 take the
print Of a mans fingersF"
Il don't know what you're talking
about. | tell youl"
Then you're n lot dumber than
I'd figured on, You see. Franz. It's
one of these air-fight cases. You've
a double motive 10 raise the devil
with me. Twenty men saw me knock
you for a row Of something on my
first night here at headquarters II
spilled lot of beans you'd taken n
lot Of pains 70 gather Old Man
Wolf and Mary would be believed In
court II they told what happened up
above the other day. when one man
interferes between another man and
his girl that also establishes motive,
doesn't it7
$50 much for reasons. Added 10
that. I've a witness who heard