The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1941-07-03
CHAPTER TX

Reverse B for dinner another visitor
arrived in blackboard.
Hello, Clint" said Terry. "Just
in time for dinner. If you had been
a little earlier you might have met
the law here"
ST met it down the road bit,
said the superintendent of the No,
BY Joe. what did Hart want?"
Wanted to arrest me for killing
Jim Tetlow, but he was afraid his
evidence was a little too thin even
for rustler's court"
Ellison was busy getting his cigar
started. He said, between puffs:
''Tell him to look nearer home. Tell
him to check up on which of the
thieves have quarreled with his
brother and Tetlow."
SCI wish this could be cleared up,
Clint" his companion replied. 1--WE
can't afford to have people think we
are shooting down men on suspicion.
! grant you both of these men were
dyed-in-the-wool thieves. We were
sure of it. wouldn't have objected
to stringing them to tree openly.
But I don't want Wyoming to think
we approve of drygulching men we
don't like"
Ellison walked to the door, looked
around to make sure nobody was
near, and decided not to risk speak
ing Of what was on his mind just
now.
after dinner We'll stroll out into
the open where there can't be any
eavesdroppers and do our talking
there" he said.
The midday dinner finished, Ter
ny and his guest stroIled out to a
corral and leaned against the fence.
"Cal, unless we take the law in
our own hands the big ranches are
through" Ellison began abruptly.
We've all lost money this year,
and Wen lose more next. You know
the reasons, well as I do. Short
feed, hard winter, and too many
rustlers who call themselves ranch
men preying on our stock"
YES" agreed Terry. "And you
named the worst last"
ST did. We're through, unless we
can wipe them out"
How" asked the Diamond Re-
verse B foreman. eve range over
so big territory and the thieves
are so slick we hardly ever catch
them"
1--WE know pretty well who they
are, don't WEI"
"a good many of them. That is,
we're pretty sure, even when we
haven't proof"
What I propose is to bring in
little army of warriors, round up
the known rustlers, and hang them
as we sweep through the country.
Those we are not sure of we could
give orders to leave"
Calhoun Terry drummed with his
fingertips on the top rail of the
fence. There must be several thou
sand settlers in this district where
we operate" he mentioned, ''the big
majority of them on the side of the
little fellow. How big an army are
you thinking of bringing in?"
Maybe a hundred men. We
would have to keep our plans alb
solutely secret. My idea is to drop
off the train at Jim Creek, where
we would arrange to have horses to
meet US, then come up through Box
Canyon"
If we were seen-and eventually
somebody would be bound to meet
us-word would be rushed to Round
Top and to every hester within sew
enty-five miles. They would be down
on us like swarms of bees"
81 would hold prisoner every trav-
eler we met, no matter who he
might be, until we had done the job.
The friends of the rustlers would
not know until too late. BY that
time the fear of our vengeance
would be In all their hearts. They
would accept the situation as fact
accomplished"
"We couldn't ask our own riders
to go with us. They would be
marked men the rest of their lives.
Besides, they would not join us to
destroy men with whom they have
ridden the range and gone to dances.
Fact IS, as you know, though we no
longer employ riders who have stock
of their own, good many of our
boys are related to the small ranch
ers or are friends of some of them"
'We would leave them out of it.
My idea is to bring in men who
have been United States deputy
marshals IN Texas and Oklahoma.
They are tough fighting men, crack
shots, and used to running down out
laws" Ellison flung out an impa-
tient gesture of protest. ''I don't
like this any better than you do, Cal.
But it's neck meat or nothing.
Things have come to such pass
that we have to make our own law.
It's forced on us, unless we want to
move out and let the thieves control
the country"
The plan proposed by the man
ager of the No, By Joe meant war.
The neSters and the small cattlemen
would throw in with the thieves,
not because they liked them but as
choice of evils. They felt that
the big outfits were their chief enc
my. A great many men would lose
their lives, and he was not sure a
cleanup would solve the range trou-
bles. He doubted whether the large
cattle companies with absentee own
ership were any longer feasible.
He shook his head slowly. ST don't
believe it can be done, Clint. You
can't keep a secret with that many
men in on It Before we had trav-
eled forty miles there would be hell
to pay. Besides, we're not ready
yet for anything as drastic as that.
We NAV win the elections this fall %