Adventure, August 3, 1919 — page 33: what you’re looking at

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

7 +s afi a4 x < . rete ek | si ie Se ‘, ae a. The Boss the boss showed quizzical wrinkles about his eyes. “T might,” he ruminated, ‘but how about that county gang? Think I want them comin’ up here? Nix!” : “Well, why not take the prisoner down there?” suggested the engineer. The faces of the other men showed queer smiles. Dolan also began to gin. The thought of himself descending from his high rookery in the foot-hills to parade a prisoner into the county-seat, before the astonished and nervous gaze of the enemy politicians, struck the boss’s sense of humor so that his grin became broad. Carlton did not realize how deep was the line of demarcation between the county’s office- holders and the lord of this foot-hill settle- ment. The engineer could not know of all the tricks started by the politicians down below with the purpose of “getting” Dolan for past disfavors; neither did he ken of certain crafty efforts to compel a willing but timor- ous Board of Supervisors to cancel Dolan’s county liquor license. Carlton was blithely stepping into the history of fifteen years of red feud between Dolan, with his axes to grind, and the politicians, with their axes to grind—but he did not know it. Dolan did. “No,” said the boss. “Better leave well enough alone. I'll arrest this man and let some one else take him into town.” He turned to the prisoner. “Hey, you— you're rested! Git that? You make a move, and I'll ram your heels into the back | of your throat!” The sight of the lout seemed to make Dolan’s temper rise again. “What did Black give you for the job?” he roared suddenly. ‘The other shuffled his feet. “Nawthin’,” he muttered. “What? Nothin’?” The boss reached out his hand again. “Quit that lyin’, or I'll strangle you again!” The other flinched. ~ “Nol” he cried, anxious to appease and now hasty with explanations. “Black didn’t give me nothin’. It was Finch. A long time ago, Finch grub-staked me four times. He gits his supplies from the Yampa mine-freighters; so nobody knew about it. Then he cglled the debt. He sez he didn’t want my mine. Sez he wanted pers’nal service. Later on he sez fer me to join Black when Black wanted es : * ” “Tee “Ne. of Mirage 23 -¥ me. Then Black wanted me.” The man gulped. “I didn’t intend to do it, but Black sez it was easy. An’ then Snow started scrappin’, and—things happened!” “Veh,” said Dolan bitterly. “I git you. I’m gettin’ a lot of things! How long ago did Finch call the loan?” ; “Oh, six months ago.”’ The boss seemed to ponder for some time, looking at the floor. Suddenly he grabbed the man, searched him, swept him into a little bare cubby-hole in the back of the store, locked the padlock, stormed through the door into the dance-hall, took a sawed-off shotgun from behind the bar, examined it and then strode outside. It all happened so quickly that it left no time for remarks from the others, and Dolan seemed to invite none. When it was over, the two men looked at Carlton and grinned. ‘ “Phew!” said the bow-legged Lange. . “‘He’s started now!” “Veh,” agreed the other. “Goin’ after Lige Hackett, the pal—or mebbe Jim Black.” “Think we’d better follow him?” sug- gested Carlton. “Not on your life! Don’t butt in!” The - man mopped his face with a bandanna. “Let’s have a drink,” he offered. The engineer felt he needed something : just then; so they ambled up to the scarred ~~ old mahogany bar. + MIKE, the bartender, served them offhandedly. He was telling some = history to a few cattlemen and z could not stop his talk even when the boss ; came for a shotgun. Mike was trained not to interfere with the affairs of others, and thus he had lived happily and gained “A fat for many years. : “Yessir,” said Mike, “thisheremahogany bar was once the finest licker-chute in the > whole Southwest, bar none. Yessir! She’s Ss —_— old and scarred and busted now, but time he was when folks used to cross the hull State oy jest to drink here. That was after Dan - Dolan first got known in the country. But __ he earned it; yessir, he earned it) Why, | the things that feller went through to git ">, that forty-foot piece of mahogany here BY would drive a hull regiment plum starin? __ crazy! Yessir! Dan Dolan nursed that bar through three hundred an’ eighty miles of — the dog-gonedest country the devil ever _ built! Yessir! 3 a= ~ Comicbooks.com