Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-05-21
W.Nu. RELEASE

walton looked up and said sharply,
"You stay right where you are!"
And an instant later he exclaimed
triumphantly,
Here it isl"
He reached down, scratched in the
loose soil with both hands and I'M
earthed small iron box. He tossed
it up to them, to Cody and Ann both,
and said, you'll see this one opens
with two keys just like the other.
You two better open it! Old Early
Bill amt here at all; me and
Gaucho moved him the night after
he was planted here"
With trembling fingers they did
get it open. There were folded pa
pers within. The top one said brief
ly, "This is my Ace in the Hole;
me, l always figured to hold one in
any game like this!" Then there was
letter addressed to Ann Lee. There
was one for William Cole Cody.
There was a lone, sealed envelope,
and it was addressed to them to-
gether.
And next was a picture, a fine
likeness of an old, lean, devil-may-
care man with humorous CLEAN in
his eye. And it was inscribed, "To
Ann Lee and Cole Cody from an
old friend, Early Bill"
And Ann came close to shrieking
out, why, knew him! Aunt Jen-
ny, look! Don't you remember that
old man who came to our house,
and he was broke and sick and
sad-looking, and we took him in
and"
And Cole Cody, a queer catch in
his voice, was muttering, $50 that's
Early Bill, huh? The darned old ras-
cal! l played poker with him; he
let me skin him out of his eye teeth;
he stuck around and let me stake
him; he even asked to borrow mon
ey from me-if I'd have known who
he was I'd have chased him off the
ranch!"
They read their letters hastily;
Ann was crying softly and Cody was
making rough noises in his throat.
"Open the big envelope" said Cal.
"Thats Bills Ace in the Hole"
Again they found brief note for
them both:
give had me my fun l reckon. l
thought as how, knowing the two of
you pups, you might fight while,
then fall in love and get married;
I'd like that fine. But maybe things
will go some other way, and may
be that darned sneaky varmint name
Of Rance Waldron might throw a
monkey wrench in the machine; I've
bunch he's the bozo hired some
body to shoot me down, him being
too foxy and maybe scared. And
now here's my third will and, by
gravy, my last: And you'll find it
leaves everything I've got to you
two kids, fight or don't fight, marry
or don't marry. And honest kids, I
did have good time-and I'm still
having it right now. So long"
And there was the will
And there was Doc Joe.
"Grab that Waldron hombre," he
shouted. Hes going to hang; and
me, I'm going to see that he does"
Waldron Whirled. His face went
as dead white as AIMS had been.
He COulu lldNG lldu III lIlOuPnL LOT
that first instant save that he was
looking on a dead man, one he HIM
self had murdered. Then he was
quick to know he had been tricked,
and he was quick to snatch out from
his belt gun that no one had seen,
that no one dreamed he had, that
no one ever knew where he had
come by it. He swung it, murder in
his eyes, upon Doc joe
Very neatly Porfrio, as watchful
as a cat; shot Rance Waldron
through the back of the head.
And Bill Cole Cody very gently
put his arm about little Ann Lee and
led her away, led her clinging to
him, back to the patio into which
the early sun was just entering.
THE ENID