United States or Bouvet Island ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Through the evidence of the outlaw who had survived long enough to make a statement, the Box-S horses were traced to a ranch in the neighborhood of Tucson, identified, and finally returned to their owner.
Then casually: "I hear that Panhandle and his friends are drinking heavy and spending considerable money. They must have made a strike, somewhere." "I see by the paper somebody run off a bunch of the Box-S hosses," remarked Cheyenne, also casually.
"Why, it's in all the papers," declared the bartender conciliatingly. "The Box-S horses was run off a couple of weeks ago." Panhandle turned his back on the group and called for a drink. Shorty was tugging gently at his sleeve. "Posmo's beat it, Pan." "To hell with him! Beat it yourself if you feel like it." "I'll stick Pan," declared Shorty, yet his furtive eyes belied his assertion.
"Didn't see no brand on 'em," declared Lawson. "Nope. They never was branded. I raised 'em both, when I was workin' for Senator Steve, over to the Box-S." "That sounds all right. But you got to show me. I bought them cayuses from a Chola, down in the valley."
He do not give me anything for that I make the deal over there," and Posmo gestured toward the south. "Double-crossed you, eh? And now you're sore and want his scalp." "He talk too much of the Box-S horses in that cantina," stated Posmo deliberately. "He say that you owe him money." This was an afterthought, and an invention. "Who did he say that to?" queried Sneed.
"I'll be around in the morning. If a man called Cheyenne should happen to come in, just tell him that Bartley is stopping at the Grand Central." "I'll tell him, all right," said the stableman. And as soon as Bartley was out of sight, that worthy called up the city marshal and told him that a stranger had ridden in and stabled a horse bearing the Box-S brand.
As for Cheyenne Bartley decided to hunt him up in the morning. Panhandle Sears, in a back room in the Hole-in-the-Wall, was ugly drunk. The Hole-in-the-Wall had the reputation of running a straight game. Whether or not the game was straight, Panhandle had managed to drop his share of the money from the sale of the Box-S horses.
Then, without further comment, he left the marshal wondering if Panhandle's presence in town had any connection with the recent running-off of the Box-S stock. The sheriff of Antelope had wired Colonel Stevenson to be on the lookout for Bill Sneed and his gang, but had not mentioned Panhandle's name in the telegram.
"He's got a runnin' walk that is good for six miles an hour. He's a walkin' fool. And anything you git your rope on, he'll hold it till you're gray-headed and got whiskers. That ole hoss is the best cow-hoss in Antelope County and I'm referrin' you to Steve Brown to back me up. I bought that hoss from Steve. Any time you see the Box-S brand on a hoss, you can figure he's a good one."
She had read the papers, and she surmised that there was more to the affair than the papers printed. For instance, Senator Brown, upon his return to the Box-S, had kindly sent word to Aunt Jane that Cheyenne was all right. Bartley thought that the thoughtful Senator had rather spilled the beans. "Did Cheyenne " and Dorothy hesitated. "Cheyenne didn't kill Sears," stated Bartley.
Word Of The Day