Carbon County news., 1937-12-03

"
| breath, ''I'll be eternally damned!'
| Abruptly the old dog turned to lool
at Old Man Coffee, let his tail droI
again, and quit the trail.
whats the matter?"
Everything" !" Coffee said. 81.
never done SO much false figuring il
my life!" He pushed ahead quickly
now, shouting to his hounds, jerking
new life into them with gutteral In
dian words that the others did moi
understand.
Now suddenly the big spotted
leader hound sprang ahead, bawl
ing; and in another moment the rest
of the hounds were with him, run,
ming full cry, outdistancing the
horses.
'"The wolf again." said Coffee, a
new keen edge on his voice. "Chil.
dren, we're near the end Of the
traill"
Yet because the trail Of the vol
was indirect and circling, they spent
another hour in following the dogs.
The ponies were scrambling over
broken rock now, keeping up as best
they could. The dusk was very deep
when Old Man Coffee pulled up al
last and sat waiting.
They did not see what had stopped
him at first; but after a few mo.
ments they saw that the hounds
had made a circle and were COM
ing back. Coffee got down off his
mule, called in his dogs, and tied
up each of them, separately, to rock
or scrub oak. But he had to crack
the long dog whip over them more
than once before they would lie
down, sullzing and moaning in their
throats. Old Rock, the only one un.
tied, lay down under the feet of the
mule, raised his nose to heaven, and
let out long deep-chested wall.
Old Man Coffee frightened his sad
die. Marian" he said, this is as
far as you co." ''You stay with
her, Billy. I don't know how long
this will take.''
. He said something unintelligible
to the dogs, and then moved away
from them, the dainty feet Of his
mule picking its way, and old Rock
Sinking close behind.
+ They sat there for what seemed
like an endless time. Billy Wheeler
tried to talk to break the sad ter
rible stiffness, but this place snoth-
cred the words IN his throat.
The first stars were showing when
Old Man Coffee came back to them
at last, his black mule moving like
a lean tall shadow among shadows.
He came close to them, then for a
moment sat silent, looking back
over his shoulder the way he had
come; and Wheeler knew that he
was futilely seeking words for what
he had to say. r.
Long before the old man spoke
they knew he had found what he
had sought.
"It's Bob Flagg," Old Man Coffee
said.
Horse Dunn accepted the news
that Flagg was dead more quietly,
more steadily, than Wheeler had ex-
pected. i
"How was he killed." Dunn
asked.
"By a shotgun; the same as Cay
use Cayetano."
where's Coffee?"
Coffee, Wheeler had found, could
not be persuaded to return with
them to the "a. It was Coffee's be-
lief that Dunn had made a serious
mistake when he had chosen to hold
Magoon's saddle instead of turning
it in to the sheriff. :
''The sheriff will be out here in
the morning, sure" Wheeler said.
II think Walt Amos means to be
fair. But there's better than hum
dred men in Inspiration, all out Of
outfits that hate the "a. Amos is
sitting on a stove, and it's getting
hotter every minute"
Let him come"
'Any more dope on the Cayetano
killing?"
II sent Gil Baker to, Ace Springs.
But he hasn't come back"
wal Douglas went to Pahranagat,
did he?"
'He left this morning. 1 suppose