The Border Legion

Dizzily Joan arose, and with Cleve half supporting her she backed

off the road to a seat on the bank. She saw the bandits now at

business-like action. Blicky and Smith were cutting the horses out

of their harness: Beady Jones, like a ghoul, searched the dead men;

the three bandits whom Joan knew only by sight were making up a

pack; Budd was standing beside the stage with his, expectant grin;

and Gulden, with the agility of the gorilla he resembled, was

clambering over the top of the stage. Suddenly from under the

driver's seat he hauled a buckskin sack. It was small, but heavy. He

threw it down to Budd, almost knocking over that bandit. Budd hugged

the sack and yelled like an Indian. The other men whooped and ran

toward him. Gulden hauled out another sack. Hands to the number of a

dozen stretched clutchingly. When he threw the sack there was a mad

scramble. They fought, but it was only play. They were gleeful.

Blicky secured the prize and he held it aloft in triumph. Assuredly

he would have waved it had it not been so heavy. Gulden drew out

several small sacks, which he provokingly placed on the seat in

front of him. The bandits below howled in protest. Then the giant,

with his arm under the seat, his huge frame bowed, heaved powerfully

upon something, and his face turned red. He halted in his tugging to

glare at his bandit comrades below. If his great cavernous eyes

expressed any feeling it was analogous to the reluctance manifest in

his posture--he regretted the presence of his gang. He would rather

have been alone. Then with deep-muttered curse and mighty heave he

lifted out a huge buckskin sack, tied and placarded and marked.

"ONE HUNDRED POUNDS!" he boomed.

It seemed to Joan then that a band of devils surrounded the stage,

all roaring at the huge, bristling demon above, who glared and

bellowed down at them.

Finally Gulden stilled the tumult, which, after all, was one of

frenzied joy.

"Share and share alike!" he thundered, now black in the face. "Do

you fools want to waste time here on the road, dividing up this

gold?"

"What you say goes," shouted Budd.

There was no dissenting voice.

"What a stake!" ejaculated Blicky. "Gul, the boss had it figgered.

Strange, though, he hasn't showed up!"

"Where'll we go?" queried Gulden. "Speak up, you men."

The unanimous selection was Cabin Gulch. Plainly Gulden did not like

this, but he was just.

"All right. Cabin Gulch it is. But nobody outside of Kells and us

gets a share in this stake."