The Wilmington morning star., 1947-02-21
No pLACEAM
: s=:: * r.. ::: ... 8% TON GILL

I Madison had not been down to
camp since the day his vaquere
had been beaten, and his absence
| was a welcome relief to Cliff; he
had no love for Claribel's dirninu-
tive nephew, and he knew Madi-
| son had even less for him, so when
Cliff found him sitting in the office
late one evening, he was certain
i. was nc social visit. =
Madison's first words proved
that. Visibly excited, he barely
waited until Cliff entered the
room. 81 wonder if you know that
the Blacklanders r getting set to
raid your" he demanded.
Slowly Cliff answered. mo, I
didn't"
"Wel, they are. This afternoon
I heard that they're gathering
their riders from all over the
Blacklands to run you out. One
gang is to jump your crews in the
plantations while the others raid
this camp" Madison looked ex-
pectantly at Cliff, but getting no
response, went on. "You told me
once pretty confidently that your
men could take care Of them
selves. Do you still think they
CAM"
How many men can the Black
landers raise?"
Nobody knows"
Cliff walked the length Of the
office. So his suspicious about a
BOBBY trap had not been idle! By
employing the Blackland rubber
gatherers he had played into their
hands-they knew now Just where
he was most vulnerable. And he
was vulnerable enough - he could
defend his headquarters camp, but
up in the plantations were docks
and bridges, thousands of pounds
Of smoked rubber, and more than
a hundred cabins, all so scattered
they were impossible to protect.
Worse still, Cliff knew that at the
first sign of conflict half his ma.
tive workers would quit, and to be
faced with further delay meant
the end of everything.
He glanced at Madison. After
| all, he had nothing more than this
one mans word for the story.
How sure are you Of this?" he
asked.
"Sure enough to take the trouble
to warn you. If you doubt it, you
only have to wait" MadiSon's
voice sharpened. "Bogard, don't
be a fool! You can't afford to let
those raids come of. I can't af-
ford it either, for in a way you
people are under our protection.
It will be bad for all of us if the
Blacklanders get the idea they're
running this show. There's only
one thing to do-hit them before
they hit you"
ITO hit them, you have to know
where they are"
"And that's just what I happen
to know"
"Is that why you came here?"
Cliff asked. ITO warn me?"
more than that. I came here to
join forces with you. Together we
can give them something to re-
mem ger for a long, long time.
You bring the best of your fight
ing men, and I'll round up my va
queros. Well close in on their
camp tonight"
where is their Campo"
"Near Big Swamp"
Cliff started. If Madison's story
was true, Big Swamp would be
a likely place for the Blacklanders
to gather. And, as Madison said,
there could be no better way to
prevent a raid than by striking
first-always provided the story
was true. Cliff saw clearly enough
that Madison might be lying to
bring him into conflict with the
Blacklanders, but he didn't dare
dismiss the tale and risk an at
tack that might cripple him. It
would be fatal to guess wrong. He
had to know the truth, for in his
present position any more mis-
takes meant disaster.
"I'll give you my answer tomor.
row night" he said at last.
"You're a fool" Madison rose
angrily. to his feet. Tomorrow
may be too late"
stI'Il take that chanceo
And in spite of all Madison's
urging, Cliff could not be moved
from his decision. But the second
his visitor had gone, Cliff called
Casey and told him Of the threat
ened attack.
The foreman swore softly. "Let's
jump 'em right away" he urged.
Cliff shook his head. "That's ex-
actly what Madison wants. If he's
lying, we'd make the mistake Of
our lives to start trouble with the
Blacklanders, and if he's telling
the truth, We'll be making just as
big a mistake by not attacking
them first.
Then whatever we do may be
wrong"
That's the sweet part of it. We
can't wait to see what happens,
for if they're going to raid us. it
may come tomorrow, or ven to-
night. One thing we can do is to
station some of the boys along both
river trails" Cliff gave a long
sigh. II wish we had dozen high
power rifles"
"That don't bother me - the
Blacklanders haven't got rifles
either. They bank on those brush
knives, and at close range our
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