The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-06-27
CHAPTER IV-Continued

Kentucky?"
1T stands"
"Then-" she spoke with difficulty
you're free to go. Ride out of this, and
try to forget everything that has hap
pened here! Some day l hope to see
you again; swear that truly appre-
ciate what you've done. But there's
nothing more that you can do here
now"
I'm not so sure of that" he an
swered. Tell me this. Who asked
you to try TO get that bullet out of
the evidence, Miss Ragland?"
He had failed to surprise her. She
looked directly at him, and the blue of
her eyes appeared paler, like the color
of clear ice, and as little revealing.
mo One," she answered fatty. 81
wanted it for souvenir"
At this suggestion Kentucky could
not suppress a chuckle. IF by any
chance that were So" he told her
frankly, that would be far and away
the coolest thing 1 ever heard of be-
ing DONE"
He saw her color slowly, and her
gaze fiickered, but she stood her
ground. "You-you don't know what
you're saying. But-of course you're
right. 1t was silly, loco thing to do;
maybe the worst thing I could have
DONE"
"And yet" he said gently, you'd do
it again."
She averted her face abruptly. SIT
seems like" she said, half to him and
half to herself, Il ask too much of peo-
pie, way too much, always"
you've never asked anything of
me-"
Il made you carry the bullet away
for me-"
THAT doesn't count"
She turned to face him. "Then I'll
ask something of you now"
"Bueno."
taking that bullet was fool, crazy
thing to do. You say I'd do it again.
That's as may be. But now l want
you to forget that it ever was done.
Do you understand"
That's all right" he agreed; "as far
as that is in my control"
"As far as-what do you meanY
81 think" he said, "that somebody
saw you take it.
1.-The man that saw it isn't sure of
what he saw; but he's made sharp
guess. He even suspects that you gave
the bullet to me-"
Her question tumbled out Of her.
'How do you know that?"
"He came into the sheriffs office
while / was there, and he accused me
of having received the bullet. He even
said / probably had it with me then
which / did"
"Who?" she demanded. "Who was
that2"
Bob Elliot" he told her.
She turned from him with queer
dull swaying movement, like little
tree turned by the wind. "Oh, dear
God" she whispered. Abruptly she
turned back to him. "What did you
say? What did the sheriff do?"
what could l say? 1 just stepped
into Elliot and cracked him down. He
ducked into my left, and dropped like
a thfown-dOwn rope. The sheriff"
''Stop" she ordered him. Turning
his eyes to her he was astonished to
see that her face had gone white with
anger. 'That was the worst thing you
could possibly have done! / wish-I
wish you'd never set foot on Wolf
Bench!"
He said slowly, Il can't blame you
for that. But"
The intensity of her anger cut him
off. "For heavens sake, shut up!
don't want to talk to you now"
She climbed the fence, swinging
over It easily, like man.
"Wait a minute" said Kentucky; a
her. II just now got an idea, here"
81 don't think anything you can say
can interest me-" she told him.
''This will interest you," he said
gravely, "if happen to be right"
He had been watching Lee Bishop
ride in at walk from the look-over he
had been giving the road to Waterman.
Twenty yards from the place where
Kentucky Jones and Jean Ragland
stood, Bishop struck a match to the
cigarette he had rolled. AS he raised
the cupped fame to the cigarette, his
horse SHE'D with sharp sidelong whip
that put out the match, and they saw
Lee Bishops lips move as he swore.
Kentucky crawled through the fence.
That's happened ten times today" he
said. How is it, Lee, that half the
ponies shy when they pass that rockT
"Cussedness, l guess. Maybe that
rock looks like bear. to them-I
dunno"
Looks like they'd get used to it,
then. Have they always done that
right there?"
We'll, no, come to think of it. Say
/ wonder if there's a dead coyote un-
der that snow?"
Lee Bishop dropped to the ground,
and the two walked back to the rock
which conceiyably, to horses eyes,
looked something like a bear. Lee
Bishop explored the drift with his
boot.
"Uh huh" he exclaimed, that's lust
what it is!' He thrust gloved hands
into the snow.
Then Bishop hesitated, stood up, and
stared at Kentucky Jones blankly. The
blood that had come into his face as he
bent over drained away rapidly and
completely. leaving his face gray, and
-l,,s Ill