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P *5*^; M ^ i P Y When Dale returned to John Moreland*! cabin from having seen Babe Llttleford safely to her father's door, he found Major Bradley and By Heck waiting at the gate. Heck had some ' Important, bad news, he said. HBetter not tell me about it iuntil jitter supper," replied Dale. "I'm as hungry as you ever were. By." They went In to sit down to one of the best meals Addle Moreland had ever prepared. When they liad ftn lahed eating, John Moreland led the Way Into the best room, where they took chairs. The major produced ' cigars. By Heck, swollen with a feeling of greatness, . lighted the wrong ' end of his weed, faced Dale, and began to unburden his mind of Its weight i of Information. ' '"Well, Bill, old boy," he began?and then stopped to wonder why his cigar wouldn't smoke as well as the major's. "Well, Bill, old boy," he went on, finally. "Henderson Goff, he's shore been as busy as a ong-armed man Id a bumblebee's nest I caln't see, Igod, what's wrong with this here seegyar. He's Went and brung about twenty-five Tofreys from two places knowed as Jerus'lera cove and Hatton's hell, to help work his mine when he gits It They're all a-puttln' up with them Balls. The ToitkTi U T.I... ? mm * AUJUU, V/UCT UIktTC 111* Jun, and I'vs heered tt said 'at they wan as bad or wuss'n rattlesnake broth." Major Bradley blew a little cloud of smoke upward. "More of the game of bluff, perhaps," he suggested. "I'm Inclined ts think so," thoughtfully said Dale. "Well, we'll avoid trouble as long as we decently cun; and when we can no longer get around tt, we'll call In as much of the law as we cau get, and meet It half-wny. Kh. Hayes?" "Sure," nodded the mining expert. Dale was on bis way to the new siding the following morning, when he met Henderson Ooff. Again Dale was forcibly reminded of stories he had beard and rend of Mississippi river steamboat gamblers of the long ago. Ooff steppod out of the trail, smiled and spoke with apparent good humor. Dale passed blm without a word. Then the shyster coal man called out, "Ready to sell yet?" The Moreland Coal company's manager halted and faced about with a puckering of hi* brows. "For a fair price, yes." "Just what would you call a fair priceV "Oh, somewhere between two and three hundred thousand," promptly. Ooff sniffed, and the corners of his mouth came down. MV All rton'f uruni mnoh ^ /v.* wwm ?. *? Uiifc iuuv.il. ?UU WUII I get It from me!" "I don't want It from you." Hale turned and went on. lie wai sorry that he had stopped to talk with the fellow. That Afternoon he attain -net (loft in the tmll. The here sight of the shyster made him very angry now, and his right hand fell upon the butt of the big revolver on bis hip. (loft was about to sidestep In the laurels, when Dale caught him roughly by the arm. "Hee here," he said sharply, "you've about cut your little swath. We've hud enough of you. You can't get this coal at any price, and the sooner you get youre&lf out of this country the belier and safer it will be for you to he plain. I'm pretty apt bo thrash )?o tne vary next One 1 see you. No* move onl" Goff went off laughing wickedly "Oh. all right, Dale; go ahead and build the little reed for me 1" he said Late that night every sleeper In the valley ef the Doe was awakened by a great, rumbling explosion, which wat ' followed almost Immediately by tut other great, rumbling explosion, lie fore the reverberations had died away. Bill Dale had dressed hlmsel! and was standing on the vlne-hunj front porch, and he was only a fen seconds ahead of John lloreland. Then there came the tearing sound of a heavy explosion miles to the east ward. "Do ye know what It la?" Inquired the mountaineer. "They've stolen our dynamite frou tho tAhdPPA.Kara and Klnmn mw flee iind supplies building and the cow nlHRiiry building; also they've blowi up the big trestle near the siding,' Dale answered. M 'At's my guess, too," said Mors land. Within the next half hour Dale an< Hayes, Major Bradley, and the men folk of the Morelands and the Little fords had gathered around the wreti of the two big, unt*nished frame build logs. Dale blamed blmaelf much fo having left dynamite unguarded In tlx tobacco barn?but nobody else blame* hlai for It , "It's time to let the law In," he salt when he had viewed the Jumbled uiuhi of broken planks and timbers by tlx light of lanterns. He turned to stni wart Luke Moreland. "You get on my horse and ride t* Oarterevllle for the sheriff. Tell hln he can get the bevf posse In the worl* light here. If he needs one. It's th< proper tiding. Isn't It, major?" "Yea." sold Major Bradley, 'it's th< proper fhlng. You've got a real grlev ance tuny But I fancy Go AT had notli tug to do with this; he Is shrew* rV1- enough in know that a thing like thli ; ' would e*M)k his goose. Uoff has beei - pluyloa a tnuff game all along, yo* . know. Home Balls er tome Torreyi perhaps n mixture Of both, have doo ' -v. * , . . - - ? *;. / ?jfcwt L Illustrations by by Doubliday , Pogc (, Into turning state's evidence to save themselves." The mujor finished tn n low tone, because of the probability for eavesdroppers, and In this he was wise, j "We'll do that," Dale decided. 1 He faced Hayes, hjs right-hand man, ' and began to give orders like a veteran general manager. The men were to take their rifles with them to work In the morning, but they were ttf Ore no shot unless It was In defense of life or property. In the morning every available wagon In the valley was to be sent to the little sawmill that was In operation tetf*miles toward the lowland for more building material. By Heek Joined them then. He guessed just what had happened, plucked at Dale's sleeve and whispered : "Sposen I takes a sneak or two toward them lowdown, walnut-eyed, knock-kneed, dadblamed Balls and Torreys and finds out what I can find ont; hey, Bill?" The answer oume readily: "Sure, you be detective. But be careful that you don't lose anything for us, y' know, If you don't gain anything." i By Heck and his rifle disappeared i In the darkness of the mountain night, i A little after work-time that dny. Bill Dale started alone on the way of the narrow-gauge railroad for the sldIng.lHe wished to see for himself Just j what the damage had been to the trestle, and he hoped to meet Goff, or a Ball, or a Torrey, and learn something that would be to his advantage. Before he had covered two miles, he had seen two of the enemy skulking through the woods, and he recognised I them for Torreys from Jerusalem , Cove and Hatton's Itell; he knew It by their very swarthy skin, their high cheekbones and their coarse hlaek hair, the outcropplngs of the Cherokee Indian' blood In them. They looked cunning and wicked. Dale loosened i In Its holster the big revolver that Major Bradley had persuaded him to carry for his own protection. John Moreland had taught him how to use firearms. At a point near where the little stream that flowed past the Halfway switch emptied Into Doe river, where Doe river turned almost squarely to the left, Dale halted abruptly. He had moraine stillness. It had been flre< r from a point some little dlstana 15 away, and Dale's condition of mind a J the moment was such that he dldn' even note the direction from whlel I the sound had come. He was unhuri * and he had not heard the whine of t t bullet or the pattering of shot en th< leaves. When he looked about hlrr he saw no one; neither did he see an; ? telltale smoke. Perhaps, he though ? dimly, It had been a squlrrel-hunte 1 that had Ared that shot. He forgo > about It very quickly for the time he log, and went on toward Adam Ball * who now was lying perfectly still. b There was a bullet-hole through ant 1 through the great, shaggy head. Thi i face behind the short, curly hlacl beard was of the colorless hue o i sotipstone. The giant hlllman wai a dead. ? ' k . ,Blll Dels knelt tbere beside ttlaci ? Adam. Again he clutched acblwthroa t with his two shaking hands and thi seen a man dart behind a scrubby oak some thirty yards ah?ad of him; quite naturally, he concluded that the fellow menDt to wayiny him, aod he, too. stepped behind a tree, a big hemlock. A silent minute went by. Then Dale put his hat out on one side of the tree 1 anu peeped from the other side; It was an old trick that Grandpnp Moreland had told him about A rifle cracked promptly and sharpy, and a bullethole appeared In the rim of bis > hat 1 1 Following it, there came the coarse, bass voice of Black Adam Ball, the mountaineer Golluth: "Yeu caln't fool me. I Jest shot to put a hole In yore new hat and to show ye 'at I ain't bad shot You 1 caln't hit my hat 1" Dale's temper, the temper that had always been so hard to keep under > control, rose quickly. He tried to reai sou with himself, and couldn't; his i passion mastered him. He snatched I the big revolver from Its holster and t cocked It With as steady a hand as ever held a weapon trained, he began to take aim at Ball's slouch hat, the 1 half of which was In plain view at one aide of the scrubby oak. "1 fooled you once, back there in I the middle of the river," he cried hot ly, "and now I'm going to fool yc*i again r There was In his voice that eld, oh primitive rage, which frightened him and puzzled him too, In his better mo menta. 1 He let down the bead until It wai ' barely visible In the notch, and easet I off the trigger. The revolver roaref ' and spat forth a tiny tongue of flam* and a little cloud of white smoke. Bal I sprang erect, wheeled, and fell crash Ing to the leaves 1 Dale dropped his weapon. He wen 1 as white as death, and his two handi clutched uncertainly at bis throat. H< > was a murderer I No, be wasn't?hii bullet had gone wild; It had struct Ball's head on the other side of th? 1 tree, by accident. But how could h< prove that It had been an accident Would any Jury believe hlm7 It wai far from probable. He stepped from behind the hem 1 lock and went toward the writhlni Goliath, whose legs only were ylslbh now. 1 Then a third shot rang out on tht .-v. . ' * i ; ? . i J"1 V1 1 1 !' 1 Do you know Wi oon roll cigarettes for lOcts from -j ont bag of -1 - / / ^ GENUINE Bull Durham TOBACCO <w < Id his heart. Never before had he aeon death. Its grim presence terrified him. That the deplorable thing had been an accident, due to his faulty inurksmanshlp, mattered little. He had killed a man, and the blood-red brand of Cain was burning away on 1 is brow; he was a man In a hell of his own making. And kneeling there Bill Dale sobbed a great sob that shook his broad shoulders as a violent . ague would have shaken them, j lie tried to look at the blue-edged hole In the shaggy head; at the cruel, brutish face that was of the colorless hue of soapstone. Merciful tears blinded him, and he couldn't see. It was a compensation, a pitifully beautiful compensation. . . . I Five minutes passed, five minutes ' that were as five years to this man | who had never been In the presence of death before. Then he realized that | he was being surrounded by kinsmen , of the dead mountaldber. He looked ' lip Into their ashen, angry faces, and I ihey cursed hlra. Big and gripping brown hands were placed upon him; several rifles were turned upon him. He arose and spread out his arms, and offered his breast to the frowning muzzles. They could give him, at least, oblivion. "Shoot, If you like," he said bitterly. sfPb ..WIasTK ? | "Shoot, If You Like!" He Said Bitterly. j "It was an accident, y'know, but? 1 shoot, if you like." "No," conimnnded Adam Ball's ' fattier, a nlender and angular old man I with n struggling Iron-gray beard?? 1 | "No, don't shoot Shootln's too quick, j by gonnles. And 'en, It ain't accordin" to law." (Queer how suddenly he re1 spected the majesty of the law I) "We'd a dinned sight rather see him fiung by the neck ontel dead In the Jnll.vnrd at Cartersvllle. Ye'uns put 1 | down them thur guns. Put down all I o' them thar guns right now; hear 1 i nie?" 'I He turned hack to Dale. "Ye say It " I was a accident?" he sneered. "Yes, It was an accident." " j "Like the old devil I" roared Black ' ! Adam's father. ' He stopped and picked up his son's s black slouch hat and examined It ' I There were two bullet holes close f> pyther In the rim?and one of them had ber.i there for a long time. "John Moreland, lie's been a-l'arnln1 s ye how to shoot," be said, "uud you'vi shore famed pnrty d?d well. It must ha' been yore third uhot 'at got 1 Adam." "I flre^J only once," disagreed Dale. ^ "Your son fined first; I fired second; and somebody else, I haven't ths . slightest Idea who, fired the other ! shot" "Aw, shet up! Ye can tell It at the ' trial," growled old Ball. Then to his I kinsmen. I "We'll hold Dale right here, boye, , ontel the shurlff he's sent atter comes. * And we'll not move Adam, which same Is accordln' to law. 1 reckon Shurlff Tom FlOwers'll find a different Job from what he expected to find; won't he, hoys? Say, I w I slit one o' you fellers'd gP me a good,' big chsw o* tobacker. Ite durned ef I don't. Adam's death, It has made me feel sort e* | bad, by gonnies, and tobacker's alius a consolation? "Hill Dnle. you hain't got a chaw o* . tobacker on ye, have ye?bought tobacker, store tobacker? It's a durned sight better'n home-made, I says. Ye say ye don't chew I Chew?h?11 Whyn't ye say 'chaw,' like a man I I alius knowed ye wasn't no 'count, nohow. Nobody 'at don't chaw tobacker ain't no 'count. ... All trlght, Jim Ike," to his nephew, "I'll t?(ke a chaw o' yores, then. And 1*1) .take a tol'ably big chaw, Jim Ike, 'cause Adam's .death has made me febl sort o' bed, ' c-' ....... ? - . I ,, y'~ ? - . - , . U, r? * % t* * i lfe% listen horn i ( i ^*TOP and 1 you see i fl his car. Ask ] ! Most likely I esting story a I merits?befoi found. Mone unkept. Trou morous to e man who wei Finally U. Tires ever sin * Perhaps it's t Tire buyers thai I phatic in their p year. When these Un Unite MIDDLE LUCAS l \ ECZEMAS Monty back without question / If HUNTS GUARANTEED SKIN DISEASE REMEDIES (Hunt'aSalve and 8oap),fail in f the treatment of Itch. Kc??mn,N;ilT/ JI Rin*worm,Tetter or other itch- (If / /I In* akin dieeueea. Try thie 1 ** ? I treatment at our ritk. D. H LANEY, Druggist R. L. McMANUS Dentist uheraw, a. C. Beginning June 1st, 1921, I will practice at Chesterfield Mondays and on Wednesday evenings; at Pageland Tuesday, at Mt. Croghan, Wednesday morning of each week. At Cheraw Thursday, Friday and Saturday. WEAK, NERVOUS, All RUN-DOWN Missouri Lady Suffered Uitil Sht Tried CairdnL?Says ** Result Was Surprising?Got Along Fine, Became Normal and Healthy. Springfield Mo.?"My back vu m iraak I could hardly stand up, and 1 would have bearing-down pains and was not well at any time,** says Mrs. D. V. Williams, wife of a well-known termer on Route t, this place. MI kept getting headaches and baring to go to bed." continues Mrs. Williams describing the troubles from which she obtained relief through the use of Cardut. "My husband, baring heard of Card si, proposed getting It for me. 1 saw after taking some Cardui ... that I was lmprorlng. The result was surprising. I felt like a different person. "Later I suffered from weakness and weak back, and felt all run-down. I did not rest wen at night, I was so nerrous and eross. My husband said he would get me some Cardui, which he did. It strengthened me ... My doctor said I got along fins. I was In good healthy condition. I cannot ; ay too much, for ft," Thousands of women haw suffered ee Mrs. Williams describes, until they ' - . ' t-'-v ' * : ' 5 - ?. - ' * THE U. S. NOBBY T Where the going is spec with snow, mud or sar country where maximum the road is a factor, no oth yet devised is quite soeffr wholly approved by mot ion, as the U. S. 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