The Washington times., 1938-01-21

then his voice trailed off. He said,
you say you rammed 1t down his
throat? The communicative"
YES"
CHAPTER III
TwoWay said, staring at POGO.
did you shoot?"
It didn't have to-"
There's no harm done, then,
except they're sore"
Just a little touchy."
Two-Way threw back his head
and laughed loud.
Here's to your CUTS, POGO. God,
but I'm glad there's only one Of
you"
He drank while POGO leaned
against the wall and watched
him.
well. Poco," TwoWay began.
1--WE got something. II it goes
through, we'll drown in gravy. You
can buy and do and say what
you want"
Il do anyway" POGO said.
TWo-Way looked at him leveIly.
you do, don't you? Well, I don't.
I want money. I need it. You =
could use some, couldn't you?
EpeScially if 1t was money taken
from Abe McCandless, huh?"
A tiny light Of interest leaped
into Poco's eyes, but he said
nothing.
you've always wondered who
fixed it up so that when you rode
into Socorro after that big Wells
Fargo holdup, you were arrested
and identified as the robber." He
paused and watched Poco'S face.
Did you know that Abe Nc
Candless was the only passenger
on that stage, and that the driver
and the guard were killed so they
couldn't have identified you?"
II heard it," POGO said.
OWNS A MINE
Two-Way tongued his cigar with
relish. then said, "Well, Abe Nc
Candies, besides owning a dozen
ranches, a couple of towns, a pack
Of tough gunmen and three sher.
lifts, owns a mine. It's up in the
San JonS-way up on top Of the
highest peak. Know anything
about mining?"
mo"
Neither do I. Only know that
you generally don't find gold on
top Of mountain range, because
it washes down over a hundred
miles of ground, is caught in some
pockets, is found along creek beds
and such. There's a dozen pros
pectors working that slope and
they make good wages. But Abe
McCandless is on top. Don't that
tell you anything?"
"You mean the mother lode OF
that field is up there?"
That's Just what mean," TWO
Way said. II know It'll"
"How?"
'Last summer Abe McCandless
hired a dozen men and the best
mining man money could buy. He
had tons Of grub and tools
freighted up to timber line. Then
he set a crew to cutting timber
They built their acks and
started in and they stayed there
all winter. Every one around here
laughed at them, but they found
gold. They found a hell Of q lot.
Roughly, it's worth more than a
quarter million dollars"
That's a lot Of money" POGO
said gently. Il don't believe it.
If they did, all of Christian City
and the whole army would move
up and stake claims"
''They don't know it."
"How do you?"
TWo-Way grinned. "a couple of
weeks ago." he began slowly, It
had to leave Tombstone. thought
I'd come up here, so I took the
stage. On the way we picked up
a passenger, young fella dressed
in good clothes. Crossing the
Mogollons, a storm hit us. 1t
rained for three days. When we
got down out of the mountains it
was still raining. We couldn't
make five miles day, so when
we came to the stage station at
Apache Crossing, our driver gave
up. We had to hole up in that
single log shack and drink rotgut
booze and play poker. When
you're penned up with people like
that, they begin to talk. This
Jasper did. I found out that he
was field agent for a big in
surance company. He told me he
was on his way to job up in this
country"
LAUNDERING KNOCK
POGO raised a hand and Two
Way stopped talking. There was
a laundering knock on the door
Of the next room. then silence.
POGO lounged erect and strobe
across the room to a door which
let onto the next room. He
palmed the knob and the door
opened. Turning to TWo-Way still
on the bed. he put finger to his
mouth, then fisted his hand and
pretended to drink from the
thumb. Two-Way understood the
pantomime. He reached over for
the second glass. tucked it under
his pillow and lay back. Just as
the same brand of knock racketed
on his room door. POGO vanished
into the next room and closed the
door behind him.
Il Ito Be Continued)