Thursday, April 4, 1940
CHAPTER XIV
"Lee! Lee! It's Virginia! I'm
coming!"
Her piercing call beat at the
solid barrier as she began to dig
frantically, but a few seconds
showed her helplessness. She
jumped to her feet and ran fleet
ly back to the entrance, remem
bering those riding men.
"Ssst!"
The warning sibilance brought
her up sharply, almost at the
tunnel's moufh. There was a
rustle in the scrub out there, and
Slanty Gano lurched through.
"Shut up!" he said savagely.
She backed hastily away, sick
with a new terror. Slanty Gano
knew that Lee was back there,
and he meant to kill her if she
gave an alarm. Huge paws caught
and dragged her, hot breath was
on her neck as she twisted her
head away for the one sure thing
that would bring those riding
men at top speed, a woman's
frantic screams.
They ripped through the air
like knives, keen with mortal ter
ror, choking out as brutal hands
gripped her throat. But she had
done it—
"Help! Lee! Lee!"
From the far side of the ridge
answering yells came.
Slanty stopped only long
enough to fling her from him as
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he leaped for the shelter of the
scrub.
A little later men were digging
and scooping with anything they
could find. 1
That night a group of men
rode into Turkey Gulch toward
the light of a campfire, carrying
a prisoner with them. On the
other side of the fire a man was
being lifted to his feet. A ghost
ly figure, swathed in bandages,
gaunt and hollow-eyed. A dead
man risen.
"That's the man," said Lee
Hollister. "Lawler didn't have
anything to do with it."
There was a stir toward Slanty,
but Lee had not finished. His
voice was low, but they heard it.
"First I'll take that knife you
were using, back there in the Bo
nanza tunnel."
The knife had been taken
away from Slanty, but someone
produced it and handed it over.
"Open it."
Curly complied, showing two
wicked looking blades. One of
them was broken at the tip.
Francisco was helping Lee take
a bit of folded paper from his
pocket and opening it to show a
triangular bit of metal. Curly
laid the scrap against the broken
blade.
It fitted. Slanty moistened his
lips.
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"Slanty Gano, I accuse you of
the murder of Matt Blair."
A murmur ran through the
group like a low growl, but Lee
went on.
"I never believed that Matt
committed suicide. When I came
back I found that knife point,
nearly hidden in a crack in the
drawer of the desk where Matt
worked."
Lee swayed, fighting weakness,
but his tired voice went on.
"You shot Matt Blair as he lay
asleep in his chair, with every
body gone to the barbecue, and
then you fired a shot from his
own gun and dropped it beside
him.
"Now, Slanty, we'll hear your
confession."
"Confess nothin'! What about
the fella that's been payin' me?
Ye don't dare go after him, Lee
Hollister!"
"I'm going after him now,"
said Lee, and sagged suddenly
between the men who held him.
A little later two processions
left. One, silent and unsmiling,
went toward the county seat.
The other, with strong and gen
tle hands, carried Lee to the
ranch house and Virginia, who
waited for him.
Through the rest of the night,
Lee lay in the heavy sleep of
weakness, barely rousing when
the doctor came or when cups of
strong hot broth were fed to
him.
Others tiptoed in and out. A
little after midnight *Curly and
Francisco came in.
Curly bent down and cautious
ly slid a flat packet under the
pillow. "It's Lee's. Better tell
him about it, Miss V'ginia, as
soon as he wakes up."
Toward morning news came.
Slanty Gano, desperate, had tak
en the desperate way out.
"Pretended he was dozin' off,"
the messenger said, "and then
busted out like a crazy man.
Grabbed a deppity's gun, hand
cuffs and all, and went down
shootin'."
Dawn found Lee awake, insist
ing that he was strong enough to
get up. They let liim sit up in
bed first, and there he read the
closely written sheets in the
packet that Curly had brought
the night before. They had been
taken from Slanty Gano.
For some minutes after he had
finished, he sat there looking bit
ter and tired. Then he roused
himself and called Curly, hover
ing just outside the door.
"I'm ready. Get my clothes on
me. I've got work to do."
They awaited him in Matt's
office, summoned by Curly, one
by one. Milton Bradish was
there, vigilant and squared for
any emergency; Stanley, alertly
nervous but noting with relief
that his car, commandeered the
night before to get the doctor,
was now in front of the door; T.
Ellison Archer, looking flabby
and scared, his vast dignity gone;
Virginia was there as a matter of
course, and also Joey.
Lee came in, hollow-eyed and
bandaged, moving slowly.
"I've asked you all to come
here because there's something
that I want to say to you."
"That's all right, young man,
but you're in no shape to do it
yet." Bradish was briskly solici
tous. "Give yourself a day or
two to recover."
"I'm obliged for your consid
eration, but it comes a little
late."
Bradish reddened. Steady eyes
held him as Lee began.
"Three days ago- a man who
has been acting as your agent
shot me, rifled my pockets of the
deed to this ranch and carried
me into Number One tunnel of
the Bonanza mine, where he had
set a blast to bury me safely un
til he could levy blackmail on you
for a big sum and make his es
cape. He had you where he
wanted you . . . No, you wait un
til I'm through.
"I came to before he left and
heard the last things he said,
giving away some matters that
you already know and that I
needed to. One of them was that
he had dropped me down beside
Matt Blair's real samples, the
stolen ones that never got to the
Assay Office. When he had gone
I had just sense enough and time
enough to crawl away from the
blast, taking a chunk of that ore
with me."
He held out a rough, pale yel
lowish lump.
"Carnotite," he said briefly. "I
don't need to tell you that."
"Yes," Bradish admitted calm
ly, "I was after the Bonanza, but
you're wrong about my knowledge
of the methods that Lawler and
Gano used. It was purely a bus
iness matter. The gold pocket
that started the rush years ago
was found on Matt's claim, and
we divided according to agree
ment. All that I struck on my
claim was a lot of rubble and
then a vein of stuff that cropped
up all over. But we were looking
for gold and it didn't mean any
thing to us. Years later, look
ing over some samples of radio
active ores, I remembered those
deposits and suspected their val
ue."
Bradish talked crisply and di
rectly now, a man sure of him
self and his methods.
"And it never occurred to you
to go to Matt Blair and offer to
finance him on a partnership
basis?"
"Certainly not!" Bradlsh snap
ped it back Impatiently. "Matt
had lived with the thing under
his nose for twenty-eight years
without waking up to it. It was
his property, but my find. I made
him an offer for the whole ranch
—through an agent, of course—
and got the answer that It Wasn't
for sale. At his death I repeated
my offer to his daughter. In the
meantime, by way of being on
the ground, and because it runs
right up to the Circle V line
along Turkey Gulch, I bought in
the Rancho Ceballos when the
old man died and installed an
agent there."
"Why," Lee's voice demanded,
"when you put in your manager,
did you pick out a crook like
Slanty Gano?"
"We took Gano on," said Bra
dish crisply, "because he knew too
much. He found us in Number
Three tunnel, using picks and
putting samples in our grub
sacks. It couldn't be helped, but
it was a bad move. Gano was a
quarrelsome loafer who turned
out to be a scoundrel and a mur
derer. Nobody regrets that more
than I do, but I'm not responsible
for his actions."
Lee was looking at Stanley and
slowly opening a little sheaf of
papers.
"There is one thing more. A
few days ago you made accusa
tions which no man can over
look. You got your information
from Slanty Gano. There was a
thousand dollar bill in his pocket
when he was caught and we
know where it came from. But
there was also something else
which Slanty had stolen from
Matt Blair's desk the night he
killed him."
"He told me of his own accord,"
said Stanley angrily, "that you
were Blair's son and that he
could prove it."
"If you showed him your mon
ey first, he'd tell you anything
you wanted to hear. I'm not
Blair's son. I'm not Virginia's
brother, and Slanty knew it. I
happen to be—yours. And I'm
not proud of it."
A chair rasped. Bradish leap
ed forward, staring at Lee.
"My mother," said Lee steadily,
looking straight at Bradish this
time, "was Anita Ceballos, Don
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Luis' daughter, the girl you mar
ried secretly when you were down
and out and deserted when you
saw better fortune within your
reach."
"I didn't know," Bradlsh said
heavily. "She never told me that
there was a child. I give you my
word of honor—"
"I'd rather you didn't. Honor
didn't count when you deserted
my mother. You don't have to
explain any circumstances.
They're all there."
He pointed to the papers un
der his hand. They lay in a
time-yellowed drift on the desk.
Bradish arose. It was the slow,
heavy move of a beaten man.
"All right," he said, his voice
expressionless. "I suppose I had
it coming to me."
Joey's voice cut in: "An' now
ye kin go, Milt Bradish, because
Lee lets ye go. There's yore car.
Get in it quick, for if ye stay
here another five minutes I'll
throw a gun on ye myself!"
It was a silent going. Stanley
reached the car first and slip
ped hurriedly into the driver's
ffli
HOLSUM
seat. Bradish followed his son—
the only son he dared own.
The engine throbbed, the car
shot forward.
Silence came, and then the stir
of relaxed tension. Lee raised his
head, bent moodily as he had
watched the fleeting car. Ling
stood before him, looking like a
benevolent old idol in weathered
ivory.
"Bleakfas', Lee?"
"That sounds good to me, Ling.
Breakfast for everybody, the best
you ever got. Maria will help
you."
He waved a friendly hand to
the men outside and walked
slowly back. Virginia was beside
him, wanting him to lean on her
shoulder.
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NOTARY PUBLIC
Building & Loan Office
Main Street
' Joey lingered for a moment,
with a gulp of emotion, and then
he went out on tiptoe.
"It's over," Lee said in a tired
voice. "Thank God. We're start
ing again with a clean slate . . .
Honey—come here!"
She came blindly, shaking un
der the release from days of In
tolerable strain ... "Oh my
dear, my dear!"
The last whisper of the closing
door left them alone.
THE END
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