TENTH INSTALMENT
SYNOPSIS: Slim Loyale is pa
roled from prison after serving 18
months for a crime he did not
commit. He returns to his Circle
L ranch to find his father dead
and sinister forces at work, trying
to make him violate his parole so
that he can again be railroaded to
prison.
The Brockwells and their gang
are plotting to gain possession of
Circle L ranch and the property
of Mona Hall, a neighbor and
life-long friend of Slim Loyale.
Slim discovers that Sheriff
Starbuck has joined the plot
against him. With the help of Da
kota Blue and his cowboys, Slim
Loyale defies the landgrabbers to
do their worst.
"I say yes," exploded Tisdale.
"I got money in my poke an' the
boys down in Jericho Valley have
authorized me to act for the
whole crowd. Let's go and see the
young lady right away."
That night, behind locked door
and shuttered windows, three
men met in heated argument in
George Arthur's office. Arthur
himself was again nervously pac
ing back and forth, while Sarg
Brockwell and Jigger Starbuck oc
cupied chairs.
"I tell you," snapped Arthur,
"we've got to act quick, without
a minute of delay. If we don't, we
lose everything. Those herds are
nearly to the north end of Jeri
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cho Valley right now. Tisdale, the
Big Bend representative, raved
like a wild man when I told him it
would cost him and the others a
dollar a head to cross the range,
but they'll pay in the end. They'll
have to, and they know it.
"But now Loyale is going to
loan Miss Hall money" enough to
pay me. We've got to stop that
move somehow, and there is only
one way to do it. I've told you
how. We'd be better off if we had
the Circle L too, but we simply
gotta get the Dot H Dot to get
any money outa this deal."
"It's a pretty stiff deal yo're
handin' me an' my gang, Arthur,"
growled Brockwell, his big teeth
showing in a snarl of anger. "Rob
bin' a bank is apt to start some
thin' we cain't stop. Folks in this
neck of the woods are beginning
to get kinda on edge."
"Why shouldn't they?" broke in
Starbuck. "Yuh've messed things
up from the first, Sarg. Yuh won't
leave that Vasco stage alone. Yo're
so danged greedy yuh cain't see
the end of yore own nose, if a
dollar is in the way.
"I'm about ready to chuck the
whole thing an' pull my freight.
Time was when I was a square
shooter. Yuh jaspers dangled a
lot of promises an' false bait in
front of me, an* I turned coyote.
I'm sick of the whole deal."
"This is no time to quarrel
among ourselves or quit," snapped
Arthur. "We can still win out—
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big. Brockwell, that bank has got
to be robbed, ana Loyale and Blue
have got to be rubbed out. Fur
thermore, we've got to act to
night."
Silence fell. Every one of these
three realized that they were
gambling madly beyond all rea
son. Yet so deeply were they In
the fire already, they could not
stop. A wild, reckless light flamed
in Starbuck's eyes.
"Gimme enough men for a
posse, an' I'll go out to the Circle
L. an' arrest both Loyale an' Blue.
If they resist an* I hope they will
we'll rock 'em off. If they don't
well, I can alius swear they made
a getaway attempt along the trail
to town an' rock 'em off anyway.
Gimme five men an' I'll make my
play. Like Arthur says, it's whole
hawg or none."
Brockwell licked his thick lips.
"Keno! I'll split my crew. Jigger
yuh can take half; I'll take the
rest. While yore outa town, I'll
spear that bank. It'll be a good
alibi for yuh anyhow.
"But we don't take all the risk.
Arthur, at daybreak tomorrow
mornin' yo're due at the Dot H
Dot. Clamp that foreclosure on,
an' make it stick. I don't care
how much time of notice yuh've
give that Hall woman. Take it
back. Slap that foreclosure on
without another day of grace.
Savvy?"
"Oh, I'll do it," promised Ar
thur. "We've got to pyramid now
—push our luck for all we've got.
That's decided. Let's drink on it."
From the lower drawer of his
desk, the renegade lawyer pro
duced a whiskey bottle and three
glasses. And -with him drank a
renegade sheriff and a renegade
cattleman. Without further words,
Starbuck and Brockwell went out
into the night.
Arthur remained and drank
and drank until he was dead
drunk. At least, the other two
were fighting men, who, in the
final showdown, were game to
sniff smoke. But he was the rat,
drinking to stifle his innate cow
ardice, to try and whip his shak
ing nerves to face the big show
down.
Out at the Dot H Dot, Mona
Hall was radiant. Sam Tisdale had
just laid a pile of bills on the ta
ble before her. "There's five thou
sand dollars, Miss Hall," he said.
"There'll probably be a thousand
or fifteen hundred more due yuh.
We'll make a good count as the
herds go through the pass at the
north end of Jericho. Yuh can rest
happy that we'll shoot square
with you."
"Oh, I know you will, Mr. Tis
dale," she cried. "You don't know
what this means! You cant
guess—"
Tisdale grinned. "Mebbe I can
better than yuh think, miss," he
broke In. "Qlve all the credit to
Loyale here. He figgered it out
for the both of us."
As the three men were leaving,
Mona caught Slim by the arte.
Hen eyes were starry. "You're the
best, dearest friend ever, Slim,"
she told him.
Slim smiled and chucked her
under the chin. "Me, I'm begin
nin' to get tired of that word
'friend.' It's okay for some cases,
but in others it's pretty darned
empty soundin'. When things are
squared away on this range again,
we'll argue that out. Adios! It's
plumb good to see yuh smilin'
again an' with roses in yore
cheeks, Mona."
Outside, Slim paused for a mo
ment beside the Dot H Dot bunk
house and called Abe Fornachon.
"Abe," he said, "Mona's got quite
a lump of money there in the
house —enough to squelch that
mortgage. Kinda keep yore eye on
things, will yuh? An' if Arthur
shows up tomorrow to try an*
foreclose, yuh be present an* see
that he takes the money an* re
ceipts the note an' turns it over
to Mona."
"I'll wring his damned neck if
he don't," promised Abe.
At the Circle L, a heavy argu-
Owens and Charley Quinn were
ment was in progress. Steve
sprawled flat on the ground be
hind a substantial pile of spare
corral rails, their cheeks pressed
to the stocks of a pair of Win
chesters, the muzzles of which
bore steadily upon a dark clump
of riders.
"Yuh jaspers stay put!" yelped
Steve. "Yuh start anythin' an'
we'll shore finish it."
"But I've got warrants, I tell
yuh," came back Jigger Starbuck's
voice. "This is the law. Put down
them guns an' get some sense."
"Yore kind of law has got a
busted back around this ranch,
Starbuck," retorted Steve. "Best
thing yuh can do is pull yore
freight. Won't be no warrants
served around here."
There came a mutter of argu
ment from the posse, then Leo
Brockwell's venomous tones
sounded. "Aw, hell! This blah
makes me sick. Let's rush 'em. We
cain't stand here all night arguin'.
Let's spread out an* circle that
pile of rails an' show them jas
pers they're draggin' a short
rope."
During the renewed argument
over this plan, Steve and Charley
got busy immediately. Not unlike
a pair of awkward land crabs,
they spraddled backwards, locat
ed the corral fence with their feet
and slid under it. Then, rising to
a crouch, they stole along it.
"Yuh git behind the feed shed,
Charley," whispered Steve. I'll
hole up around the bunk shack.
If they start murderin' that pile
of rails, give it to 'em."
The bulk of the posse split and
circled. "Last chance," came
Starbuck's voice. "Come outa
there or we start shootin."
There was no answer. Starbuck
cursed in sudden fury and rolled
a gun, the others of the posse fol
lowing suit. The night shook with
the rumbling reports and was
splashed with gouts of crimson
flame from searching gun muz
zles.
Without any more hesitation,
Steve and Charley went to work.
They laced the night with lead,
their rifles sounding flatly. The
posse was torn with confusion.
"Spread out!" yelled Starbuck.
"Git around the whole damned
place, an' grab cover.
The posse needed no second
command. Like startled quail they
all scattered, seizing upon any
thing, to get away from that sur
prising crossfire. One individual
of the crowd, who had had his
horse shot from under him, had
the bad judgment to duck behind
a corner of the big ranch house.
Here he halted beneath an open
window, peering back into the
darkness.
Oscar, the big Swede cook,
startled by this outburst of sud
den gunfire, stuck his head out
of the window. The posseman did
not see him, but Oscar saw the
crouching figure. By the snarling
curses echoing upward, he knew
it was neither Steve or Charley.
Therefore Oscar leaned well out,
one huge fist clubbed. It fell like
a post maul, and the posseman
subsided in a silent heap.
Oscar chuckled and heaved his
big bulk out of the window. He
found the fellow's guns and heft
ed them. "I guess this bane good
time to start fightin'," rumbled
Oscar to himself. So with a queer
Swedish war cry, he waded in.
Slim and his two companions
were about a quarter of a mile
from home when that first burst
of gunfire echoed. Instantly Slim
spurred his mount to a scudding
run.
"Our flght, Tisdale," he flung
over his shoulder. "No call for
yuh to take chances. Yuh can
drop out." "Like hell I will!"
snapped Tisdale, spurring up even
with Slim and Dakota Blue. "Yuh
shot square with me. I'm returnin'
the favor."
Just as they reached the ranch
they heard Oscar's war cry and
saw, by the gun flames that an
swered it, the approximate posi
tion of the attackers. Slim left his
saddle while his horse was still
in movement, and ran, crouching,
down one corner of the central
corral.
Tlsdale followed Slim, but Da
kota cut around the other way.
By the steady spanging of the
Winchesters, Slim got Steve and
Charley located. So he turned his
own guns loose on the hostile po
sitions.
Almost opposite him from the
other side of the corral came an
swering lead. Slim, a wild ferocity
upon him, stalked straight to
wards that place, shooting stead
ily. His hat left his head and
swirled to one side, torn and drag
ged. Invisible fingers plucked at
on el flaring wing of his chaps. He
heard Tisdale curse in sudden
paln, N but he kept on, shooting
low and center.
The hostile guns went quiet and
a choking curse echoed. A man
tottered out of the blackness to
wards him. "Reach high," snap
ped Slim, "Reach high, quick!"
"Loyale!" gasped the other.
"Yuh had all the luck. Yuh got
me—yuh got me, yuh damned
jailbird!"
The voice broke off and the fig
ure slumped forward silently.
Slim knew by the voice, that he
had killed Leo Brockwell.
As Dakota Blue cut in from the
opposite side, he found himself
barging right through the scat
tered and disorganized forces of
Starbuck's dishonored law. Star
buck, wildly furious at the way
things were going against him,
was trying by word and action to
rally his men. By the renegade
sheriff's cursing and shooting,
Dakota was able to locate him,
and with grim purposefulness he
made his way towards him.
Momentarily, no one questioned
Dakota's presence. He was right
among the remaining numbers of
the posse, and in the dark they
had no way to distinguish him
from any other of their crowd,
Dakota wisely held his fire, work
ing always towards his objective.
He knew that he was taking a
long chance of Intercepting a slug
from the gun of some ranch de
fender, but he was willing to take
the gamble, providing he could get
at Starbuck.
Long since, the last atom of
doubt had been wiped from Da
kota's mind regarding just how
and where Jigger Starbuck stood
in relation to the decent interests
of the country. Too much damn
ing evidence had been uncovered
in the past week or two for him
to be mistaken.
The remnants of the posse were
Dr. Chas. W. Moseley
Diseases of the Stomch
Office over Brame's Drug Store
North Wilkesboro
Mondays only beginning
June 14th
Hours 9 A. M. to 5 P. M.
Tggg
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beginning to break and give back
despite Starbuck's infuriated or
ders and cursing wrath. They had
come with him in the first place
believing that there would be little
resistance to their plans. But here
deadly lead was lashing them
from several angles at once. They
were being outfought by men
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Thursday, Jane 24. 1087
they could hardly locate, men
who held the advantage of con
cealment and protection.
Continued Next lame
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