The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-08-03
Chapter II
Licking Flame

Licking Flame
4 NKROM tarew away his ciga-
re-te and yaWnoc You boys
goin' ~ f.e dance ln Peso PintO?"
Might tley heV good lik-
ker~
Ills pardner grunted. 81 don't
Ike that town Too crowded an
loo partial t1h dudes. / get in d
fight ever time ! get within gun
Eh0t n the place:
Ratchford's lips moved family
Eard0ulcally. IN the gloom. One Of
the puncaers said Either Of you
two gents Wanta slt IN on q game
Of studZ"
AnkrOm shook his head Ratch-
ford said. Not me. fella. I've
played cards with you before
The two men got up and
trsmped inside. A moment later
Ankr0m heard the scraping Of a
match. A flicker Of light came
through the window; grew steady
and frightened He heard the men
dragging chairs and. d little later,
the flap # cards.
Funny Trone never wired any
q these buildings but the ranch
house an stable
"Yesh. Where does he get his
3uice2' Ankrom asked.
IIe sent 70 FL Paso for a gen
orator an some other doc hickies
couple years back. Said he nights
well Keep uD to date | reckon it
was Lee put the idee in his head
He'd just about cut his neck off for
that girl an she for him" Ratch-
ford sighed They're pretty close.
them two
Seen Trone YETI"
mo" the sheriff answered.
Reckon its about time | saun-
tered over 20 the house an had my
talk. I been hOpin' them friends
u his would drift off to bed. I'd
prefer 10 see the OF Man alone"
You'll have a long wait If you're
waitin' for them to 20 to bed City
folks SIT up all night They 90 to
bed with the owls" Ankrom said
"Do you think there's anythin' in
this rustllng TALK"
Ratchford fingered his chin.
Don't seem 10 be any other out
fits losin' critters. They might be
keepin Il 10 themselves. of course.
Again. there might really be some
stealth going an Trone be the
only gent that's gettin' hit" With
a Rrunt he rose 70 his feet, peered
down al AnkrOm. you heard
what that puncher said"
The sound Of voices came to
Ankr0m from the card players
Now that RatchfoTd was standing.
radiance from the lamp illumined
his face. WEAKNESS was written
there. IN the creases Of the fowls.
IN the maze Of criss- crossed lines
about the eyes. His gaze was mel
ancholy. broOding you see. il all
ties up with that damn CAB that's
going round bout me bein' out to
break the Rafter T.
Well there would seem to be
some substance for the rumor, "
Ankrom murmured gently
The sheriff stiffened. Yeah
fhat's Why I'd like TO get my hands
around the neck OF the gent that's
backln IT, Because my OF man an
JrOne burnt gunpowder years ago
folks are wllln' 10 sWaller any
kind q hog wash that tends to
picture me lookIn' for revenge
Damn emf / believe in lettIn'
sleeprn' dogs sleep"
Sense OF Evil
4 NKROM watched the sheriff
strike out across the yard 10
where lights revealed the incur
tanned windows OF the ranch
house As he watched Ratchford's
broad back. sharp and black
against those lights, conflicting
thoughts struggled 10 adjust them
selves upon his mind.
There was much about this
sheriff he did not understand, he
told himself A vital. magnetic fig
ure. there was yet something about
hum. some latent force. some indie
Enable sense Of evil. that made a
man hesitate 10 trust him far or
20 put faith IN his words
just why this was. Ankrom could
not say But the feeling fingered
lie could not shake il. Some way.
1lg and magnetic as ne was. Tom
katchford measured short IN An
krom's estimation.
lie wondered II Raichford had
been trying 90 talk him into some
fh.uE. i Raichford IN 5pringlng
BanaeTas name h3d hoped 10 take
h,m by surprise. How much did
tns sheriff suspect How much
a 3 re know Did he really con-
meet Abe Strceter with the Arizona
suckerco. Bla- Arkrom Or was
he
Salcks.~ Ankrou mat;ered
Looks IKE I'w trysu' 20 develop
case OF nerves
Taen So cauckled softly as he
recalled the sheriTS statement
tba' Bandera Vas lined up against
~ Trores Tha; would mean that
bar 3eTa either WAS 81 t.- rrG~--1