The Coolidge examiner., 1936-05-01

around so l can take your tOy
away. You won't be harmed, but
neither will 1. Now pas West
hesitated. Face to the wall, or
may have to
Once more he left a threat un-
finished. For an instant longer
West held his ground and then the
hand in that pocket twitched. He
turned at the ominous gesture and
slowly faced the wall.
Quickly, with a light tread, Young
stepped close behind him. A prod
ding projection pressed the small
of the larger mans back. Young's
free hand went over the others
shoulder, inside his shirt, and
dragged out the fiat, ugly auto
matte.
From the doorway a man swore
in surprise. Tod West carrying a
gun? 1t was Incredible!
"Now," the stranger was saying
as he backed away, you may do as
you damned please!"
Tod chose to turn and face Young
who was halted in mid room, syno-
sure for all eyes. The hand which
had covered West was still in his
side pocket; that sharp, menacing
projection still held firmly against
the cloth. And then the hand came
out, slowly, ostentatiously, drag
ging with it the pocket lining. The
lining of the pocket and straight
stemmed pipe!
One explosive guffaw preceded a
wave of incredulOuS murmurS. Then
these subsidized as Kerry withdrew
the clip from Vests pistol, elected
the cartridges from the chamber
and spilled the ammunition into his
palm.
He dropped the pipe into his
pocket and held the unloaded gun
toward it's owner. With a con-
temptuous gesture he sent the cart
ridges scattering across the floor,
plopping and rafting in the still
ness, and then he laughed, rising,
chesty laugh as West, face ashen
and aglisten with sweat, dumbly
accepted the weapon.
There's your toy, Tod West" he
said to the man, a-churn with cha
grin, amazement and, perhaps, a
species of relief, took it from his
hand. You may gather your am
munition later!"
Voices were murmuring, like the
distant sound of a storm. Someone
laughed, another swore and a third
said:
Damned bluff! And as for Tod's
cheatin' at cards"
Regulations die hard!
Yours swept the room with his
eyes.
LAS for his cheating" he said
evenly. "The money on the table
belongs to those who ha6 invested.
You will find that the nine Of
spades, lying there with the money.
is a perfect card. The niee IF spades
in the deck which wa,s ealt the
last time, has bent corner. No
one called for a new deck; no
change in decks was mentioned. 1t
is my guess that on the stein shelf
before the chair occupied recently
by Mr.. Tod West, good citizen, may
be found"
you ratw
At last, West had found voice.
You rat!" he cried again. "Other
decks? Course there are! You
en- find a half dozen on the stein
Shelf"
But his buster was not convinc-
ing. He had not regained his self
possession.
Perhaps" said Kerry with a
shrug. Perhaps, West. You may
be able to alibi yourself neatly, but
SOu huOW anu L hIlOW
He went slowly forward a few
steps.
know me, West? he asked.
"Know me? Never saw me, eh?
>. Maybe, then, it'll refresh your
memory to recall things.
after saw you steal from Jim
here; after l saw you cheat a poor
man for few dollars, Tod West
-. after saw your smallness now,
l say, then I knew that didn't take
the wrong letter-file the day old
Jack Snow went broke! %
Color drained from Tod's face
but into his eyes came a glitter, a
craft, covering and subduing the
gush of insane temper such as had
swept them when he reached for
his gun, yonder at the card table.
lie did not speak at once. He may
have known that this brazen youth
had not convinced all who had
watched of his duplicity; that
whitening gesture had not wholly
wrecked the place he had built for
himself in this country.
Don't you know me?" Kerry
taunted when he did not speak.
Don't you remember me at all? =.
I'm Young; Kerry Young And
1 took out the file you told me to
take, that day old Jack had his
death blow ~
West spoke. then, quickly.
L.