The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1942-04-16

snarled in his ear and caught the
girls sleeve.
'Es MIC! She is mine! You take
another"
"You are his girl?" Con asked in
hating Spanish, holding her wrist.
81 am yours, if you want me-and
you can keep mel" she said.
Con whirled her deity away from
Gonzales and out among the dane
ers. She pressed close against him
and looked wisely into his face.
Dance after dance Con kept her.
Then Gonzales disappeared. He sat
with her after the eighth or ninth
dance, beyond the little bar. jeff
and his girl joined them for drink
and cigarette. The two girls chat
tered-chief1y about Gonzales fury.
Then shabby Mexican appeared at
Cons side out of the crowd. Con
found his face vaguely familiar and
tried to place him.
81 am your friend" the man whis-
pered. "You gave back my money.
Now, I pay: Gonzales will kill you!
He is outside in the darkness. He
will kill you, he has said to men at
the door. So I slipped away to give
you this word"
''I'n fix hirn!" he grunted. "I'n
give him all the trouble he can
pack!"
He shook his head at Jeff, who
was getting up from between the
two girls.
''Stay out of it," he said grinly.
"This is my war;"
He went with jeff trailing across
the end of the big room and to the
side door. Someone muttered out
there-a nervous sound. Then, from
the right, away from the lounging
group, there was the roar of a shot
and a blast of flame. A bullet
twitched Cons hair like finger.
Automatically he drew his Colt,
just as he had done a thousand times
in practice. AS it came level, point
ing at the spot where that flame had
blossomed, he let down the hammer,
thumbed it back and loosed a Sec
ond shot. Then he twisted inside
the room.
The music stopped. The dancers
cried out excitedly.
Then someone outside yelled that
Gonzales was dead.
Con watched them carry Gonzales
in. There was something about the
sagging figure that reminded him
of dead rattler. A hand tugged at
his sleeve. He turned to face jeff
and take the tin cup jeff held out.
He lifted it and gulped down the
drink, coughed and wiped his eyes.
"Thanks!" he gasped. "Well-
Well, 1 feel better!"
"You hit him both times" jeff
said admiringly.
bud shrugged; shook his head.
Nothing to stop our dancing!" he
cried, and Con could not tell, from
his high singsong, what he really
felt. Lets go!"
Amelia took his arm and looked
up at him with kind of savage
alteration. He shook his head.
'No more for tonight, querida. l
will sit by the bar for time. You
60 with jeff or another"
She nodded and left him. He found
himself a place in dusky corner
and watched almost without seeing
while the dance continued as if Con
zales had not died. Then, about mid
night, boy came yelling for bud
and the music and stamping stopped
short.
eft is Nevil Lowe and a posse!"
the boy reported shrilly. ''They come
quietly"
Con followed bud outside. The
intermittent moonlight presently
showed two men supporting a third,
helping him onto horse. This,
Con learned by the talk, was the bat
tered Quill Hogan. bud yelled for
the others.
"Come on, you nitwits! First thing
you know that shooting posse'll be
making red dollrags out of you-all!"
Catfish Coyle reappeared and
mounted. But Big wager and Kinky
Odom were missing.
"Hightail!" bud commanded
shrilly. 'Hear them horses? That's
Nevil Lowe and his damn posse!
We can't wait for 'em! They'll just
get us all killed. Hightail!"
"Come on, Conf" jeff urged him.
"We can't buck that many!"
Gus snarl, snatching at his car
bine. He hooked the sorrel into