2-Gun Western, November 1955 — page 82: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

82 ruptly Barney Carr was a watchful tiger again arfd his puckered eyes full of ice. Shadrow’s laugh was more like a startled cough than anything else. “You're loco,” he scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh. Charging me with holding up my own stage.” “Of course,” said Vinson. thinly. “You’re senile, Carr. I'd be liable to steal the payroll of my own mine.” “Not your mine, Vinson,” rapped Barney curtly. “You only work there, Now let’s get down to cases. You weren’t in town the day of the rob- bery, were you, Shadrow. You passed out the story that you were at Stone Corral. Well, you went out there all right—in a buckboard. But you didn’t stay there. You got a saddle bronc at Stone Corral and told the folks there you were riding into Baker Valley to look over the road and see where it. needed fixing for stage travel, ell, you rode into Baker Valley all right, but then you cut back down White Horse Creek where you met Vinson. I found out at the mine that Vinson was away during the time of the hold-up. Shut up! I’m talking—and don’t try and make any breaks. Keep an eye on ’em, Ed.” ARNEY CARR stuffed tobacco into his old pipe, puffed out a huge cloud of smoke. His cold eyes stabbed back and forth at Vinson and Shadrow as he tolled out his indictment. “So you pulled that holdup. There was a chance Jim~Dykes or Shove Macklin might have recognized you. So you shot ’em down—cold. You thought you’d left that traveling man dead, too. Then you grabbed the pay- roll money and headed back into the Tut Bank country. “There you split up. Vinson went out over the Hardin Valley trail, which leads right around in back of Rawhide Peak, where the mines are, which made it easy for him to slide back to the mine, soft and cute. Shad- row, you took, to White Horse Creek and headed back for Baker Valley. “You thought riding the creek bed would cover up your tracks, Well, it did as long as you stayed in it. But you had to come out of it finally, and you did, I can show you the exact spot, 2-GUN WESTERN . “From there you cut across Baker Valley and back to Stone Corral, where you got your buckboard and drove home to town here. And were very indignant and surprised to hear _ about the robbery. And then wasted no time steering talk toward Buck Caspian and Milo Studinger, Easy to blame it on them two boys, because of their past records. You and Vinson had that angle all figured, didn’t you. Well, it might have fooled a kid like Ed Dow, who is just learning this law game. But it didn’t fool me. I been too long at the job of sorting out humans skunks from decent folks.” ~ Ed Dow was listening and watch- ing like a man mesmerized. Vinson had a shriveled, hunted look about him. Shadrow had a hard glare in his eyes. He laughed harshly. “T can just see you presenting that kind of hairbrained moonshine in any law court as evidence, Carr. You'd be put in a straight-jacket, and right- ly. You’ll have to think up something better than that. Come on, Vinson— he’s crazy as a coot.” Shadrow started to get up, but Bar- ney Carr lashed a whip-like order, “Stay put! I ain’t through. I got my best cards to lay on the table—yet! Twelve thousand dollars in that pay roll. Pretty nice chunk of cash, split two ways. Six thousand apiece. Enough to make up for any loss of reputation to your precious stage line, eh Shadrow? And a pretty juicy chunk to add to your wages, eh Vin- son? - “And here is the funny part, the first angle that started me thinking. Nobody knew that pay roll money © was coming in. I didn’t, Neither did Ed Dow. And it was a cinch that Buck Caspian and Milo Studinger didn’t. No way they could have learned. But you knew it, Vinson and you, Shadrow. That fact will make a big difference in court, Shadrow. “Couple of other things. That drummer saw one thing worth while before his light went out. He just remembered it and told me about it half an hour ago. The mask of the gent who shot him fluttered aside and he saw a portion of a beard. You're the only man in these parts who wears a beard, Shadrow. And on top of that—there’s this!” oO Conn S 1GO im Giioo 4