Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 14, 1928 — page 67: what you’re looking at

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

GUNPLAY ON MOONLOW. to further his own ends; still, this was the only honorable way out. Dad Wil- liams was known as a straightforward man, one who never lied, and above all, one who lived close within the letter of the law. This latter was almost an obsession with him, developed, no doubt, during the ten years when he had served as sheriff of Alton County. Many of his constituents—particularly those who were sort of “on the fence ”’—would be surprised to hear of his fall from grace. It would hurt him, right enough; probably definitely squash his chance of being elected to the office of sheriff in the fall. With his mind made up, Dad Wil- liams acted promptly. “T’m goin’ t’ town, Joe. Be back by night. You stay here, an’ kinda watch out fer Sam. He'll wake up, clear-headed, but a little weak. He oughtta be all hunky-dory by night. Tell him not t? worry, an’ I'll be back— ¢-night.” Shoulders stooped under the weight of his trouble, Dad Williams started out briskly toward Altonville. On the ridge where he had delayed Sam Dodd’s pursuers the day before he came upon a man witha rifle, sprawled out in the sun behind a rock. “ Howdy, son?” Dad greeted. The man, startled out of a half doze, sprang to his feet. As he came erect, Dad glimpsed a small nickel-plated star on the inner side of his vest. “ An officer, eh? An’ who ye lookin’ fer? I know these hills frum A t’ Iz- zard; mebbe I kin help you.” Dad fumbled out his old pipe and stretched his long legs out comfortably on the ground. After a bit, the young deputy sheriff joined the old man, roll- ing a cigarette, while he searched the rocky walls above with squinting eyes. “Vore Dad Williams, ain’t you?” The deputy blew a funnel-shaped cloud of smoke skyward. 205 “Yep. Next sheriff o’ Alton Coun- a As The deputy grinned. “Waal, we’re lookin’ fer a old coot called Sam Dodd. Nearly had him yistiddy. Followed him up t’ this ridge, then he got holt of a gun some place, an’ tore into us. We circled aroun’, figurin’ t? come on him frum the rear, but by the time we’d done it, he was gone. Plumb vanished. *“ Never seen nothin’ like it. Don’t know whar he could hev went. Cain’t be fur away, though; me, I’m as- signed t’ watch this here ridge. Likely Pll nab him afore night.” * Yeah, shore.” Dad°~ Williams's wrinkle-hidden eyes twinkled with re- lief. They didn’t know then that he was the one who had aided Sam Dodd to escape; evidently they didn’t even suspect that a second person had en- tered into the affair. “Ol Sam Dodd, eh? .W’y, shore, I know Sam well—a pore, hard-luck, ol’ feller; but he wouldn’t hurt a mouse. Whut did he do t’ git in wrong with the law?” “{ don’t know the whole story, but, it seems a couple fellers from Denver, { think, bought up that strip o’ land— includin’ Tayo Lake, an’ thet rock pile, too, whar ol’ Sam’s cabin is. They figured on startin’ a dude ranch up thar. “ Waal, Sam, he didn’t have no right t’ thet land; he’d never bothered about no government grant, ’r nothin’ like thet; he jest squatted thar. Them two fellers seem right sociable critters; they swore they never bothered ol’ Sam, jest.told him thet some day he’d hev t’ figure on movin’, becuz his ram- shackle ol’ hut kind of messed up the landscape. “ He got ugly, and started takin’ pot shots at them two fellers frum behin’ trees an’ rocks, an’ sech like. Didn’t do no damage, he didn’t, first off. Gus found out about it an’ warned ol’ Sam. An’ then, finally, Sam plugged one of the fellers; bruk his jaw with a six-gun Go NOOLKS) AMG (E@)