The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1943-02-11
CHAPTER XII

I Aunt JSD1eT went SLTSlSIlI 70 SOIS
I Cody's outside door and hammered
at il hard with her knuckles. He was
/ asleep but came awake instantly,
and called out,
who's there? What's wanted?"
ITS me, Jenifer Edwards. Dress
quick and come out here. Bring
( your gun, too"
"Wen?" he demanded when he
stepped out close TO Aunt Jeni-
fer's shadowy form.
81 don't know" she said calmly
4 If eagerly. 81 don't trust that Rance
/ Waldron; he's got mean eye. Al
day long he has kept his door locked,
and all day I've known that he had
I somebody he's been hiding. I've
been watching, figuring with al this
4 secrecy he'd be anxious TO get his
friend out of the house when he was
sure everybody was IN bed. Just
now he and another man sneaked
out and went to their horses that
were saddled and hidden IN willow
thicket."
what about it," demanded Cody,
about as amiable as most men rude
" awakened from q deep sleep all
for the sake of q mere trife. What
affair is il of mine? Or OF yours,
either?"
Part OF It is this: Rance Wal
dron has had this man hid IN the
house behind a locked door al day;
that's a mystery, young man, and /
don't Ike mysteries. Then it's shady,
their sneaking out Of the house this
time of night, speaking in whispers.
And someone shot Early Bill a few
days ago; and IN case there was
no will, Rance Waldron would have
inherited ranch, cash, and every
thing. Another thing; the stage was
held up yesterday by someone who
knew that Bucktooth jenkins was
bringing ten thousand dollars IN cash
to Early Bill Cole. And you fired a
few shots at the robbers and thought
you hit one of them. And the man
with Waldron linped so bad that he
could hardly walk. Is that an ear
ful, or just child's chatter?"
Which way did they rider" asked
Cody, grown brisk now.
Straight north, along the creek on
this side"
You'd better get to bed, Aunt
Jenifer. It's dawning On me that
you're q pretty wonderful woman,
but you can't keep going day and
night"
''You bet III 60 to my room, Bill
Cole Cody, and lock my door. Darn
II, I'm scared. And you come back
as soon as you can; III hear you,
and I'll creep out into the living
room to make sure It is you. Now
poke along"
He caught her hand and gave it
q squeeze; he came perilously close
to hugging her.
He hurried. down to the ranch
buildings for word with Cal Round
tree, and q horse.
Cal. Weakened and apprised Of the
situation, was out Of the door still
buttoning his overaIls and drawing
his belt about his lean middle. Cole
Cody was ahead of him at the sta
Bile; they saddIed swiftly and took
the trail Aunt Jenifer had specified,
north along the creek.
IF they want TO hide they can
make themselves hard to find in
this country" said Cal Roundtree.
I know the most likely place to
look for them, since they must have
thought that no one had seen their
getaway, and so no one would be fol-
lowing them so soon. Likely they'll
get under a roof tonight, anyhow,
and maybe poke on tomorrow
night"
As they rode, Cole Cody told Cal
in detail Aunt Jenifer's information,
her suspicious and surmises.
Cal led the way, and the darkness
did not matter to him; moreover,
his horse soon discovered where he
was going and thereafter needed no
touch on the reins. They kept close
to the creek for a mile, and though
they rode swiftly they heard no
sound Of hoofbeats ahead. Then Cal
swung to the right where a small
tributary brook came tumbling
down, and presently they passed
into the mouth Of a steep-walled
ravine. It was about half hour
after entering the ravine that Cal
Roundtree called softly over his
shoulder,
We've run EN- down, pardner.
There's q log cabin up there at the
head of the canyon where an old
prospector used to hang out; no
body's been In it for three-four year,
but there's a light there now"
1T strikes me-" said Cody, that
we've got EN- where we want them,
where they can't run out on u.s.
ct strikes me, Cody" said Cal
Roundtree, taking his time to think
things out to some sort Of logical
conclusion, that II would be fair
play and on the up and up If we
played a dirty trick on them. We
leave our horses before we get too
close, and creep up on EN- Injun
style. And we try our darndest TO
hear what they are talking about
There's lot of fellers I know that
just can't help being blab-mouthed.
If these two are like that, we might
learn something we're hankering to
know"
That sort Of doings don't smell
very sweet when you hear folks
tell about them" said Cal. But
things don't smell very sweet, Ell
Their, around the tracks Rance Wal
dron is making. How come he ar
rived here just at the right time to
see old Early Bill die? How come
he's been hiding somebody IN the
house all day? How come he sneaks
him out after the middle of the
night, goes whispering and heading
up here? How come the man with