The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-12-09

Suddenly Marian Dunn stumbled
forward, against the bars. She
reached through, drew Hors e
Dunn's wrists through the barrier,
and hid her face in his two great
hands. Her voice came to them
choked and smothered.
81 didn't KNOW didn't know"
Horse Dunn's words shuddered as
he cried -''What-what didn't
you know"
THAT you-could love me-so
much -. :"
Wheeler saw the old fighter sway;
but In a moment he was steady
again. He spoke across Marian's
bent head, and his voice had hard
edge. You don't know what you're
talking about Old Man Coffee has
been loading you with Look here:
is he in on this?"
'sTm virtually certain he knows,
though he figured it out different
than I did"
Figured out what? Spit it out,
mani"
Horse" said Wheeler with more
sadness in his voice than he had
ever known in the world before, ''I
can name you every step Of
Horse Dunn's voice blazed UP,
breaking restraint. ''In Gods name,
how did you find out?"
From something Marian said.
After the first shot at her, she said,
I'm glad it happened. I can't tell
you why I know now what she
meant by that. Those shots proved
to her that no one who loved her
was mixed up in the Short Crick
works. And today it suddenly came
to me that just to fix that idea in
her mind might have been reason
enough for dropping those shots
near her. Then I remembered the
night when you tapped up your ankle
where it was skinned, and spoke of
Strengthening your spur. Of course,
a spur doesn't skin a mans ankle
bone. Some boot weapon would have
to do that; and a derringer would
have fitted ina derringer carrying
a shotgun shell. The shot IN the
saddle fooled Coffee, for a while
it looked to him like it came from
farther away than the horses had
stood apart, and made him think
there was a third man. But I just
happened to think that the shot could
have come from a short, weak gun
with the same effect. Well
Wheeler fnished-"Coffee has been
to Pahranagat; he found out that
Flagg came through there like a
bum"
Dear God" Horse Dunn whis-
pered. "It's-the end of the rope. I"
He pulled his hands away, and be-
gan to pace the two strides that the
cell permitted-back and forth,
back and forth.
Marian" Wheeler begged, tell
him you see"
Marian raised her face, surpris-
ingly in command of herself again.
Her voice was steady. 81 do see
it, / see it ALL"
Dunn's pacing stopped; he raised
big shaking hands, pleading hands.
''And yet you-you ain't-you don't
think"
Marian cried out to him-and
there was pain in her voice, but
there was glory IN it, too-sI think
nobody ever loved anybody so much
as you have proved you love mel"
81 II can't hardly believe
Horse Dunn sagged down onto the
bare steel cot within his cell MAR
ian, if you're telling me that you
you know-and yet you're backing
me, still"
The girl was pressed against the
bars that kept her from him. I'm
telling you that I believe in you with
all my heart!"
Horse Dunn stood up slowly, like
man in dream.
He said, How much have you
told her, boy?"
''She knows only what she's
guessed, l think. The rest of the
story has to come from you"
The boss of the "a appeared to
consider for what seemed long
time. IL don't know as I car
make out to do that. Life hasn't
gone easy, or smooth, with me-
Other times, long ago, I've faced
down other men, more men than
these. But / swear I never raised
gun to any man, without he got his
break / stood with empty hands,
always, until their guns showed"
sfShe has to know it ALL Billy
insisted; from the very beginning"
ST can't hardly expect her to un-
derstand how it come up. Those
shots / threw so close to her-that's
the crazy part, that man can't
hardly explain. I couldn't ever have
done it, if I didn't know for certain
that I could put slug into a two
bit piece at hundred yards-ten
out of ten, easy as you'd put your
finger on a nail. It seems a wild
and crazy thing, even to me. But
I tell you, never a man lived that
could throw the fear into me that
this kid has always been able to-
just on the scare that she'd quit
me. And I thought If there was one
thing she'd be sure of on earth, if
was that I'd give my life to save
the least hair of her head from
harm. And / took that way; so that
she'd always &c dead certain, what
ever might happen or be proved
,.eeser, that it couldn't be true ths: II
was me killed Flagg."