The Ely miner., 1935-06-06

tie war OH my uduuS WICuln uOnCu
And what can do about it? Nothing
| by Cd! Off in the hills somewhere
three or four cowboys meet three or four
others, and start trading private opin-
ions. Then-wham! The guns come out,
and, one or two, or three go down. No
one bears witness, no one lodges a COM
plaint-there's just those good boys
dead, and that's all And two days
later there's another killing somewhere
else!"
Il know" said Kentucky. "Hell
| afloat and no blotters."
The sheriff grunted. Suddenly a
new grievance seemed to occur to him,
and the explosiveness came back into
his voice again. "rd give hundred
dollars to lay my hands on the son of
a gun who swiped that bullet out of
the inquest. Right out from under
| my d-n nose, by Cd"
"Well," said Kentucky, leads cheap;
| it wasn't worth much"
Sheriff Hopper savagely pulled off
| his hat and slammed it on the edge
| of his desk; it fell unnoticed to the
| floor. It'll do 'em no good" he de-
| clared. 1T isn't as if we didn't have
the" He stopped.
"The other bullet?" Kentucky asked.
The sheriff seemed to go relaxed and
| cold, all of an instant He studied
Kentucky with a questioning eye.
| "Why did you say that?" he said at
| last.
"Well," Kentucky apologized, you
were just remarking you had some
thing on hand that would take the
missing bullets place."
The sheriff's steady stare did not
| drift from Kentucky's face. "We took
a mold" he said at last. "We took a
mold of this bullet that's gone"
"That was a smart thing to do"
| said Kentucky.
Il expect" said the sheriff. He
| dropped his eyes, and his hands fidget-
ed with the miscellany on his desk.
Just the same," he said, returning his
| eyes to Kentucky's face in cold and
smoky gaze, that was very strange
! question, Mister, for you to ask. 1
had hound dog once, that got in
trouble that way"
Trouble, sheriff"
''By sight running"
They looked at each other, two men
who had said more than rested upon
the surface of their words-one of
| them unwillingly. Kentucky Jones be-
gan rolling leisurely cigarette; and
he grinned, the slow infectious grin
that could make dog follow him, or a
woman remember him, or could make
a man forget why he had meant to
paste him couple.
Sheriff Hopper stirred restively, and
| dropped his eyes. 81 was just think
ing of something" the sheriff said.
"What was thatT'
you're a sight runner" said the
sheriff again; "but don't know but
what you're a good one. Sometimes
there's a use for feller like that.
And that was what wanted to see
you for. That was good job of
scouting you did for the Cattle associa-
tion last year; and +"
"Who told you 1 ever did any scout
ing as you call it, for the Cattlemen's
association"
"Old Man Coffee told me, up-country
in the Frying Pan"
Sometimes Old Man Coffee gets too
d-n eloquent" said Kentucky Jones,
exasperated.
swell, anyway" said the sheriff, 81
was hoping I'd find you kind of at loose
ends around here; like as if you might
be able to take and do something diff
ferent from what you'd figured to do"
"As for instance?"
The sheriff fidgeted. There's an end
| hanging loose in this Mason case," he
admitted finally.
$50? I thought it was all decided
that Mason committed suicide By mis-
| take?"
Hopper made an annoyed gesture.
1.-THE case is closed. John Mason died
of the accidental discharge of his own
gun-that's established. But it just
! happens that there's man has come
in with a perjury"
He paused. "Yes?" said Kentucky
Jones after moment. ITO what effect?"
"Well-we questioned him about
Mason's death; and later found out
he wasn't where he said he was"
"You sure you want to tell me this?'
'Tm not telling you anything that
| ties you to anything-yet. Now, this
| feller-maybe he was in sight when
Mason got killed. Or maybe in ear
81 ho
was-tried to make fool of US, by
Cd And 1 mean to hook him for it."
Hardly seems important" Kentucky
said speculatively, "if there's no ques-
| tiOn about how Mason died"
"It isn't that" said the sheriff gloom
lily. There's some awful bad times
| ahead of us here, Kentuck; and we got
TO show that the law has teeth in it
| while we still can. Now, If you don't
| mind taking the time, there's thing
| you could do for me that would be an
almighty favor"
"Come to cases." said Kentucky.
| This man I'm telling you about is
out at the Bar Hook. Now, realize
you're cattle trader; but oftentimes
feller like you will take riding job
| to fill in with, over the winter, or some
thing-especially in times like this.
| Now, If you'll go to Campo Ragland
and get job, you can find out about
| this feller for me in way that
couldn't myself, nor the deputies nei-
ther."
"You want me to hire on at the Bar
Hook and root this feller out for you
| is that it?"
| That's the idea"