Carolina watchman., 1935-06-07

bay horse picked her up and rode
south alone, with his share of the
loot. Dalton believed he had hap
pened on Owens ranch by letting
his horse hunt water.
'The other two struck west for
the mountains. Dalton's horse had
gone lame, and Reeves took all the
gold on his mount to tighten its
weight. But it still Jagged and
when the pose caught their trail,
Reeves was far ahead and kept go
ing. Dalton left the laned horse
on some rocky ground, so he would
seem to have gone on with Reeves,
riding double, and after several days
trailing on foot by roundabout
way, came to Owens ranch.
s'As to the child, Dalton thought
it was bad break to find her there,
y, but he encouraged Mays desire to
keep her-since giving her up
would ruin his hideout. So the
baby had its hair cut, as well as
icing put in overalls.
"Just after May had done this
rash thing, Owens came in that
night with the news. The posse
seemed to have lost the trail of all
three of the fugitives, but the
father of the missing child had been
killed in the hold-up, and-worse
tlan that--was a United States
marshall
"The man in the barn had plenty
of time to take stock Of Owen S
character and of his own position,
Jas the pursuit died away and no
word came ffoa1 Reeve, Dalton
realized that his partner had DESERT
ed him. He had also done some
thinking about the way the posse
had been mistracked.
''Dalton proposed staying at the
ranch as a hired man until the trail
was cold, and callinng himself the
father of the littlls boy The very
daring of the scheme would protect
them.
Though the pol;ce had given up
hope of finding ia, lost child, there
was no Stacking in the hunr for the
three road agents involved in the
killing of the Federal marshal, and
Dalton knew that there would be
none.
''Decid;ng to leave the country,
he demanded a grubstalle from
Owens, to take Inn prospecting in
the North. The rancher grudged
The money. but was anxious to get
rid of him.
"Owen's jealousy got worse after
the man was gone. IT, his BROOD
ing RACES, he spoke of Daltor,'s will
i.ngness to appear as the child's
father as if that were a deeper sign
of understanding between them.
His fury drove him to charges that
may have bordered on a truth he
didn't know.
''IIe gave her such terrible time
J, that finally she left him and her
adopted baby, and went back to her
old life, where l found her, in the
dregs of it.
''Some years later I came into
Carson City, just before the rumor
broke about the big gold sttike in
the North. And there the thing
happened that begins to tie this up
with"
Fallon, twisting is his chair,
caught her eyes now, squarely.
'You don't face dare" he
blurted outw ith a dark menace.
''Do you dare threaten a witness
in Her Majesty's Court?" Judge
Dugas demanded.
Muttering something, Fallon bit
his tongue and waited.
II was crossing a planked side
walk continued Rose, when I
almost bumped into man stepping
down from the porch Of the Neveda
Hotel. His face came back to me
over long gap of time as we'll as
distance. He'd changed some. l
passed him blank.
1--WE met again in place where
I sang, and he invited me to drink
something. I did, because it was
rather funny to talk to man
who'd trickled me with April Fool
candy the way he'd done and not
be remembered.