The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1935-05-17

pear to hear.
Then unexpectedly, in the smother of
the crowd her fingers closed upon his
In quick, hard grip. She had pressed
small heavy object into his hand.
Turning 1t over In the pocket of his
coat, Kentucky Jones discovered with
a queer slow stir of the blood that
the thing she had left In his hand
could be nothing else but a used bull
let He knew at once that this was
the slug which had killed man.
Campo Ragland said through his
teeth, "Will you let us out, or not?'
and the standing cattlemen fattened
against the wallsto let Campo and his
daughter by. Kentucky Jones lost sight
OF Jean as the crowd closed behind
them.
But for Kentucky Jones the atmos-
phere of that packed room had
changed. He was no longer simply a
cattleman interested in a death which
threatened to shift the economics of a
range. The thing that had pulled him
over four hundred miles of snow
clogged ruts In the last eighteen hours
suddenly took on new aspect, as
acutely personal and definitely sinister
as II he had himself been accused of
numbering the man who was dead.
And now the inevitable sequel broke.
deputy who had stood by the clut-
tered ledge where the exhibits were
sung out sharply, interrupting the sher-
iff.
"Wait a minute! Hold everything |!
There's something missing here!"
In the momentary silence a lower
voice said: "Maybe it's fell on the
floor"
"What is lt?" the coroner demanded.
whats gone"
This here bullets gone, that we had
on the window sill with the other
things"
BULLET? What bullet? You mean"
1.-THE slug that killed Mason!"
There was sudden moment Of
struck silence all over the crowded
room. This was followed Immediately
by rising buzz, as almost every man
of all the great number In that room
turned to speak low-toned his neigh
bor
Watching the stir about the cor
oner's table, Kentucky saw that Bob
Elliot, owner of the SO. was looking al
him curiously. Kentucky grinned faint
ly at Elliot as he worked a hole in
the seam of his pocket with thumb
nail, and pressed the bullet through,
so that it fell deep into the lining of
his coat.
Over the buzz of con. sion he heard
the coroner almost shouting, you sure
it was there?"
ITS been here all the time, but
just how reached back, and"
The sheriff jumped to his feet, and
his chair clattered over backward. His
voice rose in an angry below. 'Lock
that door," he ordered. "By Cd.
Pm not going to have it" An abrupt
silence fell at the impact of his voice
"Some of you fellows are no better
than children. suppose you'd steal
the shirt off your own back If yon
figured it was a souvenir! l."
"Wait minute, Floyd" Tie cor
oner caught the sheriff's arm, and
pulled him down to whisper in his
ear; and there followed an inaudible
but apparently a heated discussion.
1t seemed to take effect upon the
sheriff's plans, for he sat down abrupt
ly, his square face flushed with exas
peration. "All right, let it go, for now
But somebody hasn't heard the last of
this .. Go ahead and give 'em
cause Of DEATH"
Kentucky Jones drew a deep breath.
He had come up into this crowded
room to attend a routine hearing, calcu-
lated to confirm the death of a man
who, however important to these peo-
pie, had only died foolishly, accidental
ly, by his own gun. But now the in
quest as such had lost all meaning,
turning into sham, an apparently un-
conscious fraud.
A sudden incomprehensible anger
overshadowed reason as he wondered
if Campo Ragland knew that the bullet
which killed Mason was not what it
seemed-and had prompted his daugh-
ter to get it out of the sheriff's pos
session. IF her theft of this scrap of
evidence was not in behalf of her ia.
Their, then who? If Jean Ragland was
being used by her father or anyone
else as cat's-paw in dangerous
situation, he meant to find it out. Once
more he worked his way sideways