Evening star., 1941-06-16

reason for all the shooting. They
were afraid I was getting wise to
their little game. That cook house
that Branson built in his north pas
ture was just blind. It's his base
of operations for your gold mine"
Then they've been stealing gold
from the M. C. all this time?"
Sure they have, Lord only knows
how much. And when I got hurt
had to take Shorty into my conf
dence I didn't want them coming
| to pay me a visit when I was sick
| in bed and I knew that Shorty
could take care of any such callers.
AS soon as I was up again, we
started scoutin' each night to find
the tunnel where they were min
ing"
Yes, I saw you leaving one night,
John. I suppose that was the rea-
son you rode Fleet in the daytime,
to save Glory for night riding"
She moved closer to him. "Oh, John,
I wish that you had told me all
this. I have thought some awful
things about you. yet deep down
inside, I knew that they weren't
true"
Allison, any one who knew of this
was in danger. If they had thought
you knew anything about it they
would have started taking shots at
you. just like they did Ret"
Does Ret know about the gold
mine?"
mo, he still doesn't know why
they were shooting at him. 1t was
just an accident that he happened
up on that side of Rocky Knoll.
He just was wandering around to
see If any cattle were being moved,
but they thought he was shopping
around the mine. That was the
first clue l had as to their where
abouts and then the next day we
found that ore"
Tells of Discovery.
"You were certainly taking lots
of chances, John"
And 1 wouldn't be alive to prove
all this if it hadn't been for your
Punkin Castle. You saved my life
when you showed me this cave. I've
been hiding food and sleeping here
for several days, off and on. We
couldn't do much until it got dark.
They had field glasses at the cook
house that they kept trained on the
other side of the hill, so they could
keep track of any one who might be
around. I didn't find that out until
few days ago, when the sun hap
pened to strike just right on the
lenses. Then one night Shorty and
| investigated and proved what 1
| had suspected for quite some time"
Have you found where the vein
is?"
Yes, we found out where they
have been working early this morn
ing, just before daylight, and that
was when the fireworks started
SHORTY and had been hiding most
OF the night on the other side and
about daylight We saw Branson and
two of his breeds come out of a
tunnel. They had rocks piled over
the entrance and they carefully re-
placed them when they left. AS
| soon as they were inside the cook
mouse Shorty and l worked our Way
down, unblocked the tunnel and
took good look around"
Gould you see any gold?"
We'll, it wasn't lying around in
orlcks, exactly, but it was the same
rock formation that I sent to the
assay office and that means there
is plenty of rich ore there. It's
hard rock and will require lots of
heavy machinery to get into real
| production.
Allison Is RegretfuI.
I'VE got so interested in looking
around John continued. that we
forgot to be on guard and the next
thing we knew we heard footsteps
coming up to the entrance. We
blew out the candle and waited in
side, but they knew something was
wrong and that the rocks had been
moved, so the first thing we heard
was a shout for help.
| There was only one man out
side SO there was nothing for us to
do but make break for it, and we
did. That was the one that plugged
Shorty just as we started around
on the reservoir side, so I strapped
him on Glory and headed him for
the ranch. I figured if there was a
horse in the country that could get
him back safely it would be Glory
What happened to Shorty s
horSe?"
Shorty was on Fleet and turned
him loose at the same time. I hope
he made it in
He did. Richard rode him back" &"
Good. I'm glad they both got
/ in safe. Well, then I headed for
here. I could hear the whole Barb
outfit after me-"
I'm glad l got here when I did,
even if we never do get out alive" +"
Allison said, but she couldn't sup
press sob on the last word.
John hugged her closer. Nov,
now, honey. 1t isn't so bad as all
that. Well get out of here all right -
1T isn't that, John. II just
wish you hadn't found all that gold"
John looked at her incredulously.
| t'But. Allison, don't you realize that
this means your worries are all
over? You can buy the whole valley
if you want to now. It's nothing to
cry about"
There are more important things
than money, John. didn't realize
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