Part 22 (2/2)
The faces that appeared were ludicrous in their expressions of diss froe One of the and he hobbled uneasily in his socks
”Take along yore booze,” said Sandy
The bootless one looked furtively at the demijohn, still like a wary cur who snatches at and bolts with a stray bone Then the pair set off at a jog trot after the rest
”I wonder,” said Saood whisky?”
Sandy looked at him reproachfully ”Sody-Water,” he said, ”I'm plumb disappointed in you an' yore cravin' Sun exploded The ave a curious hop, skip and jump The demijohn jerked in his hand but seeh the wickerwork, had shattered the container but the tough igs preserved the shape Two lass The last bullet had clipped the neck It was too close shooting for the sockless one and the whisky was dripping fast through the weave, bringing a reek of crude liquor to Sa nostrils The clai on, acquiring stone bruises with every leap
”Scattered like a bunch of coyotes,” said Sareed Sandy ”Minute they stahted talkin', 'stead of shootin', I knew they was ready to stampede They'll beat it to Pliot in his craw”
”Not enough to keep hirade,” said Mormon
”Sandy, that's cruelty to animals, sendin' that hombre off 'thout his boots after you took away his licker I've got tender feet myse'f as well as a soft heart Help ether they raised the fallen canvas enough to discover the boots, which Mor one, as far in the rear of his companions He turned at Mormon's shout and he stopped, fearful at the act of kindness, crawled up the slope and retrieved his footwear, pulled them on and scurried off
A distant shout reached theulch By position, rather than actual recognition, Sandy guessed the figure that of Westlake The firing s, but evidently the engineer had sized up the retreating men and the collapsed tent Sandy waved to him in assurance that all ell and the other waved back in understanding
”Think Plim'll show?” asked Sam
”Got to--or quit,” said Sandy ”That bunch of juether'll spill the beans unless he makes some play It's plumb evident he wants these partickler claims I don't believe he's hirin' men just to make us peevish 'Sides, he didn't know fo' sure ere coered we'd trail the news of the rush, but I'll bet a sack of Durhaainst a pinch o' dirt that he's fairly sure that old man Patrick Casey picked hiot one card that'll upset hiuardeen of Molly”
”A heap he cares fo' legal or not legal,” said Sam
”That's jest what he _will_ do, now he ain't standin' in with the crowd that hands out the law, Saht here an' drive us out of the camp or leave us tucked away stiff in some prospect hole But there's a lot of decent material drifted in an' it w'udn't be hard to beat hiulation of law an' order till such ti capital gits stahted in here the law'll be workin' right along hand in hand with the develops”
Patrick Casey had run in a tunnel from the face of his discovery
Weathered porphyry float showed on the dureater depth to the tunnel than they had expected Itsclosely into the fra, not so much a door, as a barricade, that had been firmly spiked to heavy timbers This had been recently dismantled and then replaced, as recent marks on the weathered lu as he gave his verdict
”Some one monkeyin' with this inside of the last month,” he announced
”The nails ain't rusted like the old ones an' the chips are fresh Like as not it was that bunch of easterners They'd figger the camp was abandoned an' consider themselves justified as philanthropists into bu'stin' open anything that looked good--like this tunnel A o to the trouble of timberin' up if he didn't think he had soh cahd some day 'Course the capitalist, if he found soistry an' make him an offer But it w'udn't be a half interest in the mine He'd say he was thinkin' of developin' half a htto his own theory, ”it w'udn't surprise me if this warn't the mine they sampled which Plimsoll finds out is the real stuff an' clamps on”
”Well,” said Mormon, ”we'll have a chance to ask hiin' erlong an' their ha'r liftin'
Thar's that ungrateful skunk I chucked the boots at Plis are breakin' Looks as amiable as a timber ith his tail in a b'ar trap”
The three partners met the jumpers, now headed by Pliambler's face was livid He had boasted and lashed hi confidence that he kneas inadequate to meet the situation he could not avoid Hatred of the men who had balked hiet off this ground,” he blustered ”You're claihts after you've kidnaped the girl and sent her out of the state It won't get you anywhere or anything I've got a half interest in these claims and I've plenty of witnesses to prove it”
”I don't believe yore witnesses are half as vallyble as they ht have been before politics shi+fted in Herefo'd County,” said Sandy ”You ain't got a written contract an' it w'udn't do you a ood if you had, fur as I'uardeen to Casey's daughter Molly an' I'ot ht with me”