Adventure, August 3, 1919 — page 39: what you’re looking at

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

j = ae 2, se neglected to speak of the other angles, acting on advice from Dolan. The sheriff finally scratched his head. __ “But why did the feller kill Snow?” he asked. ‘‘What was the motive?” “Maybe it was robbery.” “Huh! All a freighter has is a whip an’ a chaw of terbacker! Fat chance! I guess Dolan’s fell down. Gotta have better motives than that to work on!” The engineer moved a bit so the light from the window would fall squarely on the sheriff’s face. He was about to “spring something,” and he wanted to observe every move of the man’s expression. “Snow's murder was ordered by Jim Black!’ he announced very quietly. “Hey?” The sheriff's face underwent a trans- formation for only a fraction of an instant, but in that time Carlton learned what he sought. There was some connection be- tween this member of the ‘“‘county gang” and the mysterious gunman of Mirage! “Them’s strong words, young man!” snapped the shenff. “It might be hard to prove! ’Course, I don’t know this Black very well, but still he’s a citizen, and such remarks might land you in a peck o’ trouble!”’ Carlton shrugged his shoulders. “T didn’t charge it,” he retorted. prisoner confessed it himself.” “Who tor” “Dan Dolan.” “Yeh. But how many witnesses?” “Three.” “Humph.” The sheriff seemed to cogi- tate for some time, looking at the floor. “The _“T guess we'll have to ‘vestigate this. You're stayin’ at the hotel? All right. You’ll be on hand if we want you. See you later.” And with this easy dismissal the sheriff went through the door into the cells, and Carlton and his companion, feeling as if something were wrong somewhere, walked out of the place thoughtfully. FACING the court-house was a little one-story red-painted office, and a sign over the door bore the legend: “William J. Campbell, Attorney at Law.” Carlton headed for this place _ alone but found it locked. He learned _ that Campbell would return later; so the saa) -* i * 3 Ls —_ oo 2 ~ > 4m Pye ts * <4 th? » ’ which was off the main street. He turned a corner. He passed a cottage and then a big hay-barn. Suddenly a man came around the barn and almost bumped into him. It was Jim Black! They halted in surprize. The two men appraised each other for a second; then Black decided to speak. “Howdy!” he said. “What brings you I’m just looking around the country. ‘Huh. How far have you looked?” “Far enough.” The gray, calculating eyes of the killer seemed to flash, but there was no overt act. Black merely changed the subject a little. “Heard you brought in a prisoner,” he commented. “That’s correct.” “‘Who was it?” ““Axel Yager.”’ Though Carlton watched Black closely, the man did not seem as surprized as he should be.- He merely nodded his head: “Dolan sent you?”’ he asked. “Yes.” “I see. Dolan sent youin. Well! Are you aimin’ to mix into local politics any?” The question brought the engineer’s quick temper boiling to the surface. Carlton took it for a sneer and resented it. He was sick of this Jim Black person, anyhow. He had lived under a mental strain because of the Jim Black myth that seemed to hold a whole population in awe, and now he had a fascination to reach into that myth and see what it was made of. “What's it to you?” he flared. as I ——- please!” The outburst had an opposite effect to the one expected. Black put his hands in his pockets and seemed to cogitate. With- out Carlton knowing it, the other was con- sidering whether to discommode his impor- tant affairs just then and entangle with this pesky engineer, with possible embarrass- ments up-country, or wait till all his present absorbing business affairs were disposed of. “It’s nothing to me,” he replied mildly at length. “I was just wonderin’. I thought it’d be better for all hands if you didn’t.” “T will be the judge of that!” _“Sure;sure. Go toit. Right to the end of the road. Go to it. Just so!” And, Waving an ironic hand, he turned and “T'll do walked away, leaving the bewildered € r Fg ae