Adventure, December 3, 1920 — page 47: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Law Comes to Singing River sending it to the floor and plunging the room into darkness save for the light from a small lamp behind the bar. Condon fired again futilely, and then the weapon was knocked from his hand as he strug- gled with Frued. Kane picked up Lang’s pistol from the bar and covered the three men in the rear. “We'll stay out of this boys; it ain’t our funeral,” he shouted. But the trio evidently had had no notion of participating in the fray, for they sought refuge behind the low lunch-counter. Condon was hard put to prevent Frued from drawing the gun which his holster contained. Finally the weapon fell out on the floor just be- yond the reach of either of the men. Each struggled, holding and striking, to keep the other from getting the gun, which could barely be seen in the dim light. Bransom’s weapon, which Condon had had in the first place, was nowhere to be seen. * Meanwhile the instant’s respite provided by Condon’s warning to Bransom to “fight fair’ had given Lang an opportunity to recover his senses. Now he fought like a madman, and, gaining the upper hand, he dragged Bransom to his feet. Then he swung his right to Bransom’s jaw; and when thé man reeled and fell he pulled him to his feet again. — | * Kane had run into the storeroom for another light. He knew the danger of semi-darkness i: rough-and-tumble fights like this. Also he had a keen perception of fairness, and he realized that each of the contestants would have a better - chance for his life if he could see what he was doing and what the other man was attempting to do. As he returned, bearing a large lamp, Lang saw Condon and Frued struggling on the floor, and saw Frued’s hand close over the gun which had fallen from his holster. Even as Frued raised the weapon Lang, exerting every iota of his great strength, raised Bransom’s nearly in- sensible body and threw him upon the other two. The impact of Bransom’s body knocked Frued over just as he fired. The bullet bit into the planking as Lang’s fist landed on Frued’s jaw and put him out of the fighting. Condon crawled out from under the two senseless men. “Much obliged,” he panted. Kane, coming around the end of the bar upon which he had set the lamp, surveyed the two prostrate forms. “Y’ve seen worse knockouts but few better,” he remarked. “I guess they’ve had enough.”’ Bransom’s face, ghastly in the weird light of the lamp, was streaked with blood. Lang him- self was covered with blood. He motioned to Kane for his gun. “‘No shooting,” said Kane. Lang grinned as he took the weapon. 37 “That’s what they wanted instead of gun- play,” he said. Condon spied Bransom’s gun on the doar beyind the stove and picked it up. The floor was strewn with broken glass, and both Lang and Condon were cut about the face and arms. Lang drew a limp tobacco-sack from the bosom pocket of his flannel shirt. From the sack he extracted a ten-dollar bill and laid it on the bar. “That’ll help pay for the damage,” he said. “Never mind the damage,” said Kane, look- ing at Lang with respect and admiration. “That lamp’s all right except for a new chimley. I won’t take that bill.” Lang pocketed his money with apparent reluctance. Bransom and Frued were sitting up. Bran- som’s face, bloody and swollen, was nevertheless still distorted with evil passion, and his eyes, puffed and nearly closed, blazed with hate. But he did not offer to renew the battle. Lang rolled a cigaret and lit it with f&ngers that were nearly steady as he held the match. “It wouldn’t be hard to make you cenfess that you lied, Bransom; not now it wouldn’t,” said Lang. “I’m going to wait an’ let you prove it.” He flipped the burned match over his shoul- der and beckoned to Condon as he started to the coor. In the store he noticed that Condon still carried Bransom’s gun. He took it, broke it, spilled out the cartridges, and walking back to the doorway, tossed it upon the bar. When he had returned through the store to the front door he saw Condon sitting his horse waiting for him. Lang paused abruptly on the threshhold, struck by the figure Condon made ‘upon his horse. There was something about that hunched attitude in the saddle which.pricked his memory, something vaguely familiar abeut the peculiar way Condon leaned forward over the neck of his mount as he peered into the store. Horse and rider were silhouetted against the silvery gleam of the moon on the rippling sur- face of the river. With a start that nearly caused him te cry out, Lang remembered. It was the figure of the mounted man whe had been sitting his horse before the doer ef the Blue Front saloon in Muddy when Lang had | dashed out that day after the killing. XXIII CONDON rode ahead on the way back 34 to the draw. Lang walked his horse 2 and bowed thoughtfully in the saddle as he pondered the swift sequence of events that had taken place since his flight from the distant lowlands, and his startling discovery of Con- don’s identity, 0)(0)(6) CONMUCE (E@)