Adventure, August 3, 1919 — page 52: what you’re looking at

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

42 breezed away three years ago? Come on; drop that gun. Quit 7 “Take me!” challenged Black, backing away slowly. Men were getting behind chairs, tables, walls, the bar and everything else handy. The sheriff was flattening himself against the picture of a prize-fighter. His deputies had forgotten their errand and were scat- tered all\over the place. Carlton was a little to one side of Van Dorn, standing his ground and wondering just what to do. He did not want to produce a pistol and perhaps start something; neither did he trust Black and his weapon. He therefore kept his hands near his sides and awaited developments. Black looked like a crouch- ing panther. And yet the bald-headed Van Dorn, palpably unarmed, started to walk forward while holding his empty hands out. He had made his decision. He was a Government man and knew the power and weight of the great, relentless moral forces behind him. He figured that, as Black had been a Gov- ernment man, he fully realized the useless- ness of opposing those forces, thus being amenable to a peaceful arrest. For Black the jig,was up. Even he could seeit. Van Dorn had not been fed full of Black’s repu- tation as a gunman; neither did he believe that any man could kill an unarmed one in cold blood. Therefore, part in earnest and part as a bluff, he laid his human fears aside and advanced. “Look out!’ came a yell from the back of the room. Black had backed to the threshold. The Government man still walked forward, a little overconfident, a little overeager to make the arrest, with his hand stretched out persuasively for Black’s gun. For a moment the silent crowd wondered if the arrest were not to be made afterall. Black had a hunted look on his.face. Then his expression changed. Van Dorn took an- other step, “Hey!” yelled an awed man. him!” But it was too late. Even though Black could not kill an unarmed man who walked forward publicly with hands up, Black could stop this Federal agent long enough to get away, and he did. Black’s pistol blazed a stream of fire right into Van Dorn’s shoulder, The roar of the shot galvanized the room. The Government “Stop Adventure man, wounded purposely, bee and 5 gered, Then Black scone vard, ae Instantly Carlton jerked out his pistol and fired madly. The gun kicked in his hand. Black half turned and brought the muzzle of that deadly pistol toward him. One instant, one quiver of Black’s muscles, and the engineer might be in eternity. Suddenly a blast of heat and lead roared across Carlton's face, stunning him and making his ears ting, The gust of fire blew away part of the doorway and hurled Black straight backward like a piece of paper in a heavy wind, A stream of acrid smoke blurred the entrance, and, when it cleared away, the boss, behind the bar, was taking an empty shell from a shotgun, Black, lying queerly on the porch, was a dead man. Carlton took one look and then turned away, shuddering, to where Van Dorn was nursing his shoulder. The sheriff was ap- proaching the bar with his hands up. The boss jerked his thumb to somebody, and that man took the sheriff's armament away; after which Dolan came from his trenches and approached the suffering Van Dorn. “Say!” he asked. “I want to know somethin’. This feller, Black, went into pardnership with Finch, usin’ stolen money. That’s clear enough. But did Black ever have a sister?” The suffering man looked reproachful,” but he gave answer. “Never had a sister or any other rela- tives.” “|? said the boss ruefully. I swallowed that yarn! old!” “And I guess I’m gittin’ ONE year later. Again the boss was preparing for an evening's festivity in his enlarged dance-hall. Again a knot of men congregated about the bar or wandered around the lighted street amid the sounds of tinkling music. It was the same old settlement, and yet it had changed a bit. Freight-teams were stream- ing in with supplies for the new dam in the hills to the northward. Two hotels, a barber-shop, a hardware store, a feed store and a telephone exchange had added to the number of buildings. The population had grown enormously, and Government engineers, construction laborers and rail- road right-of-way men were big elements in it, comicbooks.com ie i ard ‘. - ° ¢ “~ » — ee |S ee —a