THURSDAY, 0CT0I1EU 7. 1920
THE SPRINGFIELD NEWS
jj Crooked ii
1 rails
and
4
I Straight
By
William MacLeod Raine t
SYNOPSIS.
Part I.
CHAPTKR I Adxanturous and rye-
laa, rather Itian criminal, and cllt by
liquor. Curly Flandrau and Ma chum.
Uac, both aracllcalljr mare boy, boooma
Involved In a horaa-ateallna adventura.
Dlsposiac of tha atoien Block la tha town
of iMutcht, Aria., tha band separataa.
Curly and hla partner Maying- In town.
They ana awakened and told a poaaa la
In town In pursuit of them. They aluda
thear eurauera. Overtaken next day, MM
la killed by tha poaaa and Curly made
captive, after he ha shot one and hlm
aelf been wounded. The man abot U
Luck Cullison.
CHAPTER Il.-Culllson's friends, all
cattlemen, determine to lynch Curly aa
aa example, to cattle thievee. With the
rope around hla neck be la eaved by tha
Intervention of kata CuUleon. Luck's
daughter.
CHAPTER III. Hla wound drened.
and further violence not apprehended.
Curly la aent for by CuUleon. He quee
tlona the boy concerning a notorious out
law. Soapy Stone, real leader of tha rua
tlera who had been Curly'a undoing.
Flandrau Jearna that Soapy Stone la Cul.
llaon'a bitter enemy and exercleee a bale
ful Influence over the ei-eherUTa eon
Sam. who haa quarreled with hla father.
CulUaon goei bail for Curly.
CHAPTER IV.Curly reacuea Soapy
Stone from a bear trap Into which ha haa
atumbled. and dlecovere that the outlaw
la young Sara's rival for the hand of Lau
ra London. She givea Curly a note to
deliver to Sam, and Flandrau and Stone
aat out for the lattar'a ranch.
CHAPTER V. There Curly meeta hie
companion! of tha rustling expedition and
dellvera Laura a note to fun. Young
Culllaon believes Stone la his friend and
aaya he will stick by him. Flandrau aeea
some move Is being planned and becomea
convinced It la train robbery. Sum leaves
the ranch to ko to Saguache. Curly ac
companies him.
CHAPTER ITI.-Kate g"-s to Saguache
for a consultation with Mackenzie. Ale
Flandrau and Curly. All are convinced
of Luck's Innocence. The sheriff reveals
that besides the finding of Cullison'a hat.
and his payment of his debts. Cass Fen
drlck had seen the robber and Is almost
certain It was Luck. Cillison is about to
enter a homestead claim which will prac
tically put Fendrick out of business.
CHAPTER VI. - Eavesdropping at a
meeting place. Curly hears Stone and his
lieutenant. Lute Blackwell. arrange to
hold up the train at a crossing known as
Tin Cup. and after the rol.-bery shoot
young Culllaon and leave his tJy on the
scene. Ftone thus er'nC.irg his rvenire on
the ex-sheriff through his son's d-ithand
oisjrrace Curly is acci!S!l by Stone. of
being a spy of Luck Cullison'a. T! ev are
separated, but part wfth t) un-lerstand-lni
that their next meetlnjf will n.ean a
fifht to the death. Curiy makes a con
fidant of Dick Shlnnty, cattleman, and
they Inform Lucie Cullison of Stone s plot
against his son.
Part II.
CHAPTER I. After an a!l-n!elit ses
slon at tile Rojn-Jup club. In which Culll
son has lost ! .cv ily ti.-re is an exrhaiiKS
of sharp wrds between Luc: and a
shopman. Cass Fendrick. with whom
Cu'.lison has afeud
CHAPTER fl. S:ig:;ahe Is electrified
bv tie news of the holdup of exnress
nisr-irrsers. the b.rditj securing t.'lviO. j
C'eliis'm puvs his nol er debts, and shortly
afttrwaul Mac'-t-iizie and A!ex Flandrau. i
his closest friend3, learn he is ausrected j
of the txprtus rubbery, his r;at having
been found on the scene and ha being
missing.
CHAPTER IV Kate's hrewdness re
veals how Cullison had taken Fendrlck's
hat when he left the Roundup club, and
suspicion points strongly to a frame. ip on
Fendrlck's part and to his buini; rcsj.on-
for Lu k'i "s-.pr'C-8r;ince. The ei.er
Irf receives a pe.-i-i, of notes turning on
the "Jck of I!arts" Curly flvds a cl
jrtr store by that name and . ure" exl
oer.ee t!ist the proprietress. Mrs VYyiia,
knows .what happened to Luck.
CHAPTER V In the cellar of the ci
gar store Flandrau finds a cipher mn
sage left by CulHson. and follows the
S'.ent. Luck Is hu.d prisoner by Fendrick
and Blackwell in a sheep herder's cabin
in the mountains Fendrlclt wants him to
iCT a re '.n"'!'"'ment of I'1" i-cmestead
rights, conditional to his release.
CHAPTER VI. Cneasv over tre oos-
sible res!'.s of his kidnaping of tiie rat- j
tman. Fendrick tells Kate Cull son !
tough of the story to Induce her to ac
company hirn to her fSliier Cullison. !
fearing for his daughter's safety ai.bi.id .
see be left at the mercy of Blackwell. !
mirrs the relinquishment and accompanies i
Kate home.
CHAPTER VH.-Rur-ky O'Connor, of '
tl;a Texas Rangers, lifelong friend of Cul- I
lison. take' a hand in the game, he and I
Curly making a search for the mlsftlng
man O'Connor arresis Fendrick. cl.jrg
ln? him with the abduction. Cullison
seeks Fendrick with the object of punish
ing the e-heepman personally, but O'Con
nor forbids, holding Fendrick under ar
rest. CHAPTER VIII. O'Connor apprehends
Dluckwell on his way to fcoapy B'onea
ranch and brings him to Saguache. Klaak
"aell admits the e.pre.-.s robbery, claiming
Fendrick took the money from him. He
-Also explains the ciicumaUinces of Culli
son'a abduction.
CHAPTER IX. Blackwell escapes from
prison and Joins Boapy Stone. 8am Cnl
Jlson receive notice from Stone of the
approaching train holdup. Curly and
Mackenzie drug the boy'a coffee, r,j
Curly In Sam's clothes, takes his place
'On thi train. Tha robbery takes place ac
cording to schedule, and Stone believes
alum to have been killed. Curly over
comes fctona's'man. left with tha horses,
und nets away with them. He meeta Luck
Cullison and tha posse. They Intercept
Bni Blackwell and "Bad Bill" Cran
si on Black well surrenders, but escape,
btone and Cranston ar killed
The sight of the mask hal
Curly W. " w" b0ttt tb
build a 8am. Why not go Id
5!Sl would be worth do.ur
to catch f:ht of Soapy'a fare when tie
took the mask oft after the robber
had bft'o captured.
"Whafa the ueTM Datla proteated.
It's au uniipwasary risk. They might
ahoot you Id place of. Stun."
Til loo out for myself. Dont wor
ry nboul that. Uefore the time for
get his rid of Sam comes Mr. Soapy
and ht tmnrh will be prisoners."
They nrtued It out. but Curly wna
et and could not be moved, lie,
dressed In young Cullison' clothe and
wlih Maloney took the express at
0:07 lavl remnltied to gunrtl Sam.
" Curly watch showed 10:17 when
the wheel began vo grind from the set
turn of the air brakes, lie wa In the
hist sleeper. Dick lu the day coach
near the front. They had agreed thnt
Dick was to drop off a soon as the
trnlo slowed down enough to make It
safe, whereas Curly would go oo nod
play Snm'a part until the proper time.
The train almost slid to halt from
the pressure of the hard-Jamiued
brakes. A volley of shot rang ouL
Curly slipped the mask over hla faee
and rose with revolver In each hand,
lie had heen sitting at the eud ot the
car, so that nobody noticed ulm until
hi voire rang out with i crisp order.
"Hands up I Don't anybody move!"
An earthquake shock could not have
alarmed the passenger more. The
color was washed completely from the
faces of most of them.
"Reach for the roof. Come, punch
a hole In the sky t" To do It thorough
ly. Curly" flung a couple of shots
through the celling. That wa enough
Hands went up without any arguiueui.
most of them quivering as from an
Arkansas chill.
Presently Crnosfon herded the pas
sengers In from the forward coaches.
With thetn were most of the train
crew.
"We're cutting off the express car
and going forward to THbe Well with
It Thece we can blow open the afe
uninterrupted," Bad BUI explained
"You nerd on the passenger here
from the outside till you hear two
shots, then hump yourself forward and
hop on the express ear."
Fine! Curly was to stand out there
in the moonlight and let anybody in
the car that had the nerve pepper
away at him. If they d:d not attend
to the Job of riddling him. his false
friends would do II while he was run
n!ng forward to ft a board. NothiiiS
could have been simpler If he had not
happened to have had inside Informa
tion of their Intent.
lie had to think quickly, for the
plans of him and his friend.- h:id been
deranged. They hnd reckoned on the ex
press car being r!lb d on the spot. This
would have given Cullison time to
reach the scene of action. Now they
would be too late. Cn'ess Curly could
stop It. the holdup would go through
according to the program of Soapy
and not of his enemies.
The derision of Flandrau was In
stantaneous. He slid down beside the
track Into the Ioiit crass. Whipping
up one of his guns. I: fired. As If in
anwer to the first shot his revolver
cracked twice. Simultaneously, he lei
out a cry of ptiln. vvrlgtrled back for a
dozi'n yards through the grass, ami
crossed the trncl; In the dnr':nes. Ai
he crouched down close to the v. heels
of the sleeper some one came running
haek on the other side.
"What's tip. Sum? You hit?" he could
hear Blackwell v.hNoer.
No answer cmne. The paroled con
vict wris standing close to the cur for
fear of being hit himself und he dared
not move
"Siitn." he called again; then, "lie's
sure sol his."
That was nil Curly wanted to know
Softly he padded forward, heeplng as
low as he could till he reached the
empty rb-epers. A braketiiiin was lusi
uneoiipllng the express car when Cnrlv
dived underneath and nestled close to
the tnu-l:s.
From where he lay he could almost
have readied out and touched Soap.
standing by the cnr.
"What about the kid?" Stone asked
Blrekv.ell as the latter came tip.
"They got him. Didn't you hear him
yelp?"
"Yes. but did they put hirn out of
business? See his body?"
Blaekwcll had no Intention of going
back Into the tire zone and making
sure. For hU part he was satisfied. So
he lied.
"Yep. Blew the top of his head on.'
"Ootid," Soapy nodded. "That's a
receipt la full for Mr, Luck Cullison."
PEARL OIL
(KEROSENE)
o7T
HEAT
lASUAMD Otl GOsmtNT
itireaaiAi
mi p
Pefore many minute the engine be
gan to alow down. The wheel had
hardly stopped moving when Curly
crept our. plowed through the nd. up
the nibble of a little hill, and Into a
draw where a bunch of scrub onka of
fered cover,
A voice from In front called to hlin.
Just then the moon appeared from be
hind drifting clouds,
"Oh. If you, Sam. Everything all
right?"
"Ulght as the wheat. We're blow
ing open the safe now," Flandrau au
.swered. Moving closer, he saw thnt his ques
tioner was the man In charge of the
horses. Though he knew the voice, he
could not put a name, to Its owner.
But this was not the point that flrst
occupied his mind. There were only
four horse for five riders. Curly knew
now that he had not been mistaken.
Soapy had expected one of his allies
to stay on the Meld of battle, had pre
pared for It from the beginning. The
knowledge of this froze any remorse
the young vaquero might li'ive felL
lie pushed his revolver against the
teeth of the horse wrangler.
"Don't move, yon bandy-legged
maverick, or I'll nil yonr hide full of
holes. And If you want to keep on
living padlock that mouth of yours,"
In spite of his surprise the .man
caught the point at once, lie fumed
over his weapons without word.
Curly unwound a rope from one of
the saddles and dropped a loop round
the neck of his prisoner. The two men
mounted and rode out of the draw, the
outlaw lea d I ii i! the other two horse
As soon as they reached the bluff
above Flandrau outlined the next step
In the program.
"We'll stsy here In the tornllla and
see what happens, my friend. I'nless
"you've a fancy to get lead poisoning
keep still."
"Who In Mexico are you?" the cap
tured man asked.
"It's your showdown. Skin off that
mask."
The man hesitated. Ills own re
volver moved a few Inches toward bis
head, nastily he took off the mak.
The moon shone on 'the faee of the
mnn called Dutch. Flandrau laughed.
Iisf.tlme hey had tuel Curly had a
roe around his neck. Now the sll na
tion a revet seil.
An explosion hrlow fold them tt.nl
the robbers h id blown open the :ife
Presently Soupy' vol.-e cutne falntlv
to. them
"Bring up the horses."
He cuMed a.'ii'n nod a third time
The dwnrfeii tignies of the ei:'i
stm.d out clear lei the mooiiHg-hf One
tit Ihelii ran up the truck toutird lb
ttrnw. lie !:ippeniei In'o the sent I
cuks. from whence his alarmed voice
came in a ml'iule.
"Dutch: Oh Dutch!"
The revolver rim pres-ovt s little
harder against the brid-e of the imr"
wrangler's nose.
"He ain't here" Blackwell culled
la k to Ills neeoliililiei's.
That brought Stone on the run
"You condemned Idiot, be must hi
there. Ain'l h had two hours to get
here since he left Ttn Cup?"
They shout'-d !"mii'.os iMtir-e
j They wandered up nnd down In a vnln
I search. All the time Curly and his
j prisoner sat In the brush and scarcely
batted an eye.
! At last Soupy cave up the hunt. The
engine and the express car were sen'
hack 10 Join the rest of the train nh!
i'ii
I I:
Thre Shadowy Figure Slipped
Around in Edga of th Corral.
a soon a they were out of alght the
robber set out acrosa country toward
the Flatlron ranch.
Curly guessed their Intentions. They
would rustle horse there and bead for
the border. It wa the only chance
still left them.
After they had gone Curly and hi
prisoner returned to the road and set
out toward Tin Cup. About mile
and a ha'f up the line they met Culli
son and hi riders on the. way down.
Ml
ill in
lift
Maloney wa with them, lie had been
picked up at the station.
Dick gave a shout of Joy when he
heard FlsndrW vole.
"Oh. you Curly I I've been cared
stiff for fear they'd rot you."
Buck caught th boy'a hand and
wrung It hard.
They held a conference while the
Circle O rider handcuffed Dutch and
tied him to a horso. Soon the posse
was off again, having left the prisoner
la charge of one of the men. They
swung round In a wide half circle, not
wishing to stnrtte their game until the
proper time.
When they reached the edge of the
mess that looked down on the Flatlron
the moon was out and the valley wss
swimming In light They followed the
dip of, a mad that led down to the
corral. Bussing the fenced lane lead
ing to the stable, they tied their ponies
Inside and took the places assigned to
them by Cullison.
They had not long to wait. In less
than half an hour three shadowy fig
ures slipped round the edge of the cor
ral nnd up the lane. F.arh of Ihein
carried a rifle In addition to hla hip
guns.
They slid Into the open end of the
table. Cullison'a voice rang out coldly.
"Drop your guns I"
A startled oath, a shot, and before
one could have lifted a hand that silent
moonlit valley of peace hud become a
hattlcnebl.
The outlaws fell back from the
statde. wen pons smoking furiously.
Blnekwcll broke Into a run. never look
ing behind hi in." but Soapy nnd Bad
Bill gave buck foot by foot lighting
every step of the way.
Dlek and Curly rose from behind the
rocks where they had been pi need nnd
rinsed the trap on Blnekwcll. The
paroled convict let nut one yell,
"I give up. aoddlciulghty. don't
shoot I"
Half way down the lane Cranston
wa hit In the darkness his voice
could be heard, for the tiring had mo
mentarily censed.
"They've pot me. Soapy. Hun for It.
I'll hold em back."
"lilt bad. BUI?"
"I'm all In. Vntnos!"
Stone turned to run. nnd for the first
time saw that his retreat was cut tiff.
As fast ns he could pump the lerr Ids
rllle began working agnltt.
The tiring this time did not last
more I ban tHe sc-onils. When the
smoke eleiiri'd tl was nil oxer Sonp
lay oy h! I'tielt. hot thtough nnd
throuv'h. Blac'iwell hud taken ad van
luge of the diversion to crawl ibroiirh
the strand of luirlicd wire and to dls.
appcu'i hi i In- eh.. I -in ..I BUI had
lulled over on Ills faee.
luck was beiiilini: oxer Stene. I!e
looked n' at 'he epproneh .if i:s'7
ind siii i)sf one uoni
"D; ad "
("idliKiiti hud turn open Cranston's
hitt and wis examining hi" wounds.
"No Use l.i:ck I've g"l a plenty
Yon ure fiin'c't lis though Wild II
.i'ii nix e lis u a ?"
"Vo. I'.fll Ctiri.v overheard Soapy
nd Blackwell nl 'Iralliex e place
'f:t d pat. tin tigh yon wer- plan
utnu M murder
"I wasn t In on i hut . Buck didn't
Snow's thing ab'uil It till after the boy
was shot. I wouldn't a-siood fm It."
"lie xxa-n't shot. Cnrlv saved Mm
Me bad to :lve you Bva.v to do II."
"tiood eMHi;-h Servos Soapy rlt'b
for double-crossing Sam. Take can
of that kbl. Buck. He's all r:iii yet."
His eye fell on Flandrau "You're n
game sport, son. You be.it us all. N'
hard feelings."
"Sorry II hud to be ibis way. BUI."
The dying tniin was already Cray to
the lips, but his nerve did not falter
"It bad to come some time. Ami I'
was Buck ought to have done It. too."
.le waved aside Sweeney, who wits
holding a flask to his lips. "What".
the use? I've got mine. Say. there'-
something else, boys Curly has been
accused of thnt Bar Double M horse
tUHlling back In the early summer I
did tlfat Job. He was not one of us
You hear. boys. Curly was not In It."
A quarter of an hour later he died
He had lied to save from the penlten
tlary the lad who had brought about
his death. Curly knew why he had
done It because he felt himself to
blame for the affair. Maybe Bad Bill
had been a desperado, a miscreant ac
cording to the usuuP standard, but
when It came to dying he knew how to
go better than many a respectable citi
zen. Curly stole off Into the darkness
so thnt the boy would not see him
play the baby,
CHAPTER X.
Th Prodigal Son.
They found the prodigal on with
hi sister and Laura London at the Del
Mar. Repentance wa writ large all
over hi face and manner. From Da
vis and from the girl h hod heard
th ttory of how Soapy Stone, had In
tended to destroy him. ilia scheme of
life had been broken Into piece and
he wa a badly shaken young scamp.
When Luck and Curly came Into the
room he jumped op, very whit about
the Jip.
''Father I"
"My boy r
Culllaon had him by the hand, on
arm around the shaking shoulder.
"What what 7"
Sam's question broke down, but hi
fattier guessed It.
"Soapy and Bad BUI were killed.
Dutch Is a prisoner, ami Blackwell es
caped. All Spring Valley I out after
him."
The hoy shuddered and drew a long
sobbing breath, "I've been a fool, fa
ther ami worse." I
"Forget It. sou. We'll wipe the lt
clean. I've been to blame, too."
It was no plate for outsiders. Curly
beat a retreat Into the next room. The
young women followed him. Both of
them were frankly weeping. Arms
twined about each other wslsls, they
Olrappcured Into an adjoining bed
rooiu. .
"Don't go." Kate called to him overf
h. r shoulder.
Curly sat down and waited. Pre
etily Kuto came hack alouo. Her shin.
Ing eye met his,
"1 never was so happy In all my Itf
before. Tell me what happened
everything, please."
A much as was good for her to
knoxv Curly told. Without saying a
word she listened till he ws through.
At last she spoke In a low. wect
voice.
"What can we do for you? First
you save fm her and then Sam. Ytiu
risked ex er thing for my brother to
win him buck to us, to sav hi life and
now his repi iatb n If you had been
killed ieople would always hove be
lieved yon were one of I he gong."
"Shol Tb.H's noiisepae, Ml Kate."
He twisted his hat In his hnnd uneas
ily, "lloiiesi. I enjoyed every bit of
It. Ami fellow has (o pay his debts."
"Was lhai'why you did It?" she
asked softly.
"Yes. I had to make good. I had to
show your father and yon thnt I had
not thrcixxn away all your kindness.
So I quit traveling that downhill road
n which I had goi started."
"I'm glad I m glad." She whis
pered It so low he could hardly hear.
'There was one ay to prove my
self. Thai was to stutid between Sam
.ind trouble. So I butted lu and spoiled
Soupy' game."
"I wish I could tell you hoxv fine fa
ther thinks It was of you. He doesn't
speak of H much, but j knoxv."
"Nothing to what I did nothing at
all." A wave of embarrassment bad
crept to the roots of his curly hair.
"Jii-t because a fellow oh. shucks!"
"Thai all very well for you to say.
but you caul help us thinking what
xxe please."
"Bui that ain't right. I don't want
you ilii.il.mg iliit'K thut ain't so, bo-
Ciinse "
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The Klfses He Had Dreamed About.
"Y'es? Because ?"
She lifted her eyes and met his.
Then Hie knew II had to come out.
that the feeling banked lu him would
overflow In word.
"Because you're the girl I love."
He had not Intended to say It now,
lest he might seem to he urging hi
nervlce as a claim upon her. But the
words had slipped out In spile of him.
She held out her two hands to htm
with a llttla gesture of surrender. The
light of love wa In her starry eyes.
And then
She wa In hi arm, and the kisses
he had dreamed about were oa bis lip.
CHAPTER XK
Cutting Trail.
Rate Cullison bad disappeared, bad
gone out rlillng one morning and at
nightfall had not returned. A the
hour passed anxiety at the Circle U
became greater.
"Mebbe she got lost." Dob suggested.
Her father scouted this a absurd.
"You don't reckon a cougar" be
gan Sweeney, and stopped.
(To be continued.)
New, 1.76 per year In advance.
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