The Ely miner., 1943-04-01

| flew under the strongly welded
shovels; the soil was light and loose !;
very swiftly the excavation took
form, some seven feet long, half as
wide, two or three feet deep
I'm going to the house." muir
INJURED Ann. IL can't stand it"
Cal Roundtree, down in the exca-
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 un-
earthed a 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, I 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 lone, sealed envelope,
and it was addressed to them to-
gether.
And next was picture, a fine
likeness of an old, lean, devil-may-
care man with a humorous gleam 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, I 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, queer catch in
his voice, was muttering, $50 that's
Early Bill, huh? The darned old ras.
cal! I 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
ranchi"
They read their letters hastily;
Ann was crying softly and Cody was
making rough noises in his throat.
"Open the big envelope" said Cal.
'sThat's Bill's Ace in the Hole"
Again they found brief note for
them both:
"I've had me my fun I reckon.
thought as how, knowing the two OF
you pups, you might fight a 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 varnint name
of Rance Waldrons might throw a
monkey wrench in the machine; I've
a hunch 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 il
leaves everything I've got to you
two kids, fight or don't fight, marry
or don't marry. And honest, kids,
did have a 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" I"
Waldron whirled. His face went
as dead white as AIMS had been.
He could have had no thought for
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 a 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 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.
TTHE END1