The Washington times., 1938-01-26
CHAPTER VII
PACKING THE GOLD

eSS -
POGO.
But his times near up, ma'am
Well get him" He smiled cum
ningly now. This company work
for, ma'am, never forgets. Anc
when we get him"-he snapped hi
fingers swiftly-"there won't be
any trial, ma'am."
Kate said slowly: "You near
you'd kill him-right there, with
out justice?"
Hes killed a dozen men, miss
shot them in the back, tortured
them, broken them, doublecrosseo
them, too. He's hated by outlaws
as much as he is by the law"
POGO showed his plate away. "But
he's a queer one, Miss Kate" he
began, gently. First thing in his
favor is he's got brains. Now, this
st. Vrain; I remember one story
about him that just shows you.
He looked up at Cardowan. "You
may have heard this story, Herb
If you have, let me tell it, any
way"
He addressed Shayne and Kate
now, and most of the men were
listening. There's a dumb ranny
of a Texas outlaw down in oul
country by the name of ESpey Car
dowan. Ever heard of him?"
IT have" said Kate, quickly
1--WE heard Of st. Vrain, too"
OUTLAWS HUMOR
"Well, this Cardowan made the
mistake of cold-decking St. Vrair
in a card game one night below
the border, and then pulling out OF
the game behind guns of his own
men. st. Vrain didn't forget that
Word came to him that a troop
of soldiers who'd been campaign
ing against the ApacheS for three
months would be paid off in the
town of White Bend. st. Vrair
knew that meant money in the
town, and lot of it. He figured
the word would get to Cardowan
too, because Cardowan was riding
that country with his bunch.
"Well, a bunch of rangers had
been working on this same Apache
hunt, and they teamed up with
the Army now and then. They
were at a town about is miles
away that night-Seven Troughs.
He looked at Cardowan. Ever
hear of it, Herb?"
Cardowan nodded curtly.
"The army paid off on Saturday
and left Sunday. The minute
they'd left town, Cardowan's gane
drifted in and kind of took ovel
the town, waiting for Monday
when the banks doors would bt
open. st. Vrain had a man there
in town. AS soon as he saw Cardo
vans bunch drift in, the man got
word to st. Vrain.
st. Vrain forged a note from tht
captain of the troopers asking the
rangers to drift over to White
Bend and stay there till further
notice. The army employed civil
ian scouts then, and st. Vrair
took the note to the ranger captain
himself and claimed to be an army
scout"
what happened?" shaynt
asked.
POGO smiled slowly. "Why. JUS
after sunrise, the rangers came
pounding into White Bend anc
camped at the only hotel in town
When the bank opened that morn
ing there was six Of them sitting
on the hotel porch making joke!
with the niger that swept out thu
bank across the street"
Before Poco's last word had died
the table was laughing uproarious
ly, Kate and Shayne along with
the men.
When the laughter had quieted
Kate said: "I had no ides these
outlaws had a sense of humor
They generally look pretty grim.
"St. Vrain has" POGO drawled
watching Cardowan. Maybe
that's why he'll live longer thar
that dumb Texan of a Cardovan.
The meal broke up then anc
Cardowan and POGO were called
into Shayne's place, which wa!
double locked and shuttered. There
POGO showed his credentials, hac
them accepted. IN then the rea
business of weighing the gold go
under way. Shayne had it stored
in an ironbound chest which wa!
double locked and holted to the
floor under his bunk. When it wa!
finally freed and dragge|, into the
middle Of the room, the scales
brought out and tested for accu
racy, it was opened. A tin con
tainer had been fitted inside tht
oak chest and the gold lay loose
in it. filling it almost to the tor
with its dull yellow sheen.
Shayne pointed to it and said
Ever see so much?"
POGO, sitting on the edge Of the