Adventure, August 3, 1919 — page 37: what you’re looking at

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

- * . ah as a saloon-keeper he had provided for the _ shooting of Ebenezer Finch. . Carlton won- dered what other jobs or positions he held. . “Did you meet up with any one else?” asked the engineer, meaning Jim Black. “No.” The face of the boss skewered into perplexed wrinkles again. ‘‘Come into the store, Carlton; I want to see you.”’ The curious engineer followed him back to the environment of barter and sale, and the boss leaned against a pile of blue overalls. “Black's beatit. What do you make of it all?” asked Dolan, assured of privacy here. “T don’t know,” admitted the engineer. “Tt seems as if one thing has led to another. I know it isn’t all about my little valley, anyhow.” “No. That’s a side issue. Finch got you in; then somethin’ came along bigger than you. Then he wanted you out quick. He tried the old hoss game, but it wouldn’t work. Takes too much time, anyhow. So he got Black on your trail. He wanted to git you out quick. Why? Ill tell you. It’s because there’s somethin’ big doin’ in this county, and he’s got a finger in it. It’s crooked, or he’d be out of it. Black’s in it, too. Now, what is it, and where’s Black gone to?” “Maybe to the county-seat.”’ Dolan nodded. _ “T thinkso. Prob’ly lit out as soon’s he seen my note to Lawyer Campbell, after Snow died. He must have watched me talkin’ to Snow. _I gave the letter to Snow, and he seemed careless about it; so I yelled at him. Black must have thought it was important. Mebbe he wanted to know how much I knew. That’s how Snow got killed.” The boss pondered for a moment. “Funny thing—I didn’t know that letter was important myself!” “What?” “Naw. I jest took a guess. I was gropin’ in the dark. Do you know what was in that note? I jest asked Campbell to look over the county records. Wanted to see how much land Finch or Black owned in this country.” : “What got that idea into your head?” “Because,” said the boss, ‘“‘there’s been some funny doin’s in this county for the past _ year,and I didn’t pay much ’tention to them, because I had my own troubles. I was t the switch. When you came into try, you woke me up. I pulled - ORR Boss _— you along because I wanted to see what was doin’. Then I begun to see there was more goin’ on than I ever dreamed of. I got to rememberin’ backward to certain happenin’s where men took up land around here and then blew away. D’ye begin to see?” Carlton saw. The boss abandoned his choppy language and talked straight, and the engineer was struck between the eyes by the revelation. “'There’s been a big land-grabbing deal here, and Finchisinit. Isee. But what's the purpose of it? And what is there crooked in that?” Dolan answered the last question first. “‘Nothin’—mebbe. Only, there was a couple of people owed Finch money and disappeared. They was friends of mine. Good friends. They blew away sudden. I didn’t know they owed Finch money. I ain’t sure yet. I only got rumors long after they went. But if the county records show that Finch has their property The boss closed his fingers into a mighty fist and looked down upon it. “Savvy? Supposin’ there was other folks like that all over the county? How should I know? People come and go. And sup- posin’ there was a lot of prospectors tradin’ at the Yampa mine store? Finch owns stock in the Yampa, I hear. Suppose them prospectors had hard luck and ran up bills they couldn’t pay? S’pose Finch asked for pers’nal service? Suppose there was 4 lot of dummy homesteaders in these lands around here? What do you think of it?” gece] CARLTON did not know what to fe Sy think. In fact, it was hard to con- “=" ceive that the drooling old slouch of Lost Deer Valley could amount to so much. The thing looked incongruous. And yet, with Finch in combination with the suave Jim Black, money and unscrupulousness were hand %n hand, forming the age-old alliance against which honest men have battled for centuries. “Why did Black go to the county-seat?” blurted Carlton. “That is, if he went there?” “I don’t know. Mebbe that’ll be for you to find out.” “Me?” _ “Yes, you. When Black seen what was in that note to Campbell, he streaked out. > i] & « Ss on et - ; ‘ ee - > * # —- That’s what it looked like, anyhow. So _ a) icomicbooks:com , r ms. = . ' a ? 4