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TRAGEDY ON SWEETWATER Ain'tleavin' no whelps in this coyote den." ing his father's stock of whiskey and gulp-
(Continued from paRe 13) At this Tom's mother let out a piercing ing down the stuff as they packed as mud
scream. of the other merchandise as they could in-
"Pull that critter up an' let 'er swing," to their saddle bags. And then he saw
them to a gully where he found the eighty Black Mike commanded. them set fire to the store and the barn.
of them shot dead. The man who had tied the rope to his Th~ crowd moved off, Tom on his pony
saddle spurred his horse, while another dragged along by a rope which one of the
Jim kept his horses close to the barn af- man struck the horse on which Ella had riders held. All he knew now was that they
ter that, feeding them the hay that should been seated. The rope horse swung side- were headed for Dakota where they
have been kept for the winter. He never ways and braced all four feet just as Ella would throw him to the Indians. He was
let himself sleep at night but roamed was unseated. beyond fear for the time being, almost
about with his rifle, doing all he could to She hung, her face swollen and black, crazy with grief and horror. The blows he
protect his place. But the rumors contin- her legs jerking spasmodically, while had received were so painful that several
ued, and the thing Jim Averill suffered young Tom looked on in frenzy. times he blacked out.
most about was the spreading tale that his While they lowered the dead body one But he was being dragged along, and
wife was Cattle Kate, a rustler and a of the men removed the hobbles from Jim the men made camp twice before they
bawdy woman. There was no way he Averill's feet in preparation for swinging spotted a dugout with a rotted log roof.
could fight back. him, too. Jim made a dash to escape. "Here's a good place to leave the runt!"
Finally a dust cloud in the distance turn- But he was tumbled by the crowd and cried one of them.
ed out to be fifteen riders booted and beaten with gun barrels, so that his bro- They talked about the nearby Indian
spurred, wearing leather chaps and flat- ken jaw hung bleeding when young Tom tracks and decided that the boy might be
crowned hats with thongs under their got his next sight of him through the found sooner or later if they left him here.
chins. These were no ordinary cowboys melee. . Black Mike, however, insisted on tying
but strangers brought to the prairie on sal- Tom cried frantically, "Dad, Dad! I'm Tom inside the dugout with a piece of
ary from the cattle barons. And today here!" But he was completely helpless. chain and some wire to make it impos-
their leader was Black Mike, the most no- Black Mike heaved a fist at him and he sible for him to escape by himself. When
torious of all the hi.red thugs. landed against a tree trunk yards away. Tom was secured and the riders had left,
They came raging into the store, and When he was able to open his eyes, he he was trying to muster up the strength to
Black Mike said, "We give you warning saw his father swinging. The rope horse call for help-when he saw Black Mike
enough, Averill. So now we've come to ar- again plunged and blocked with stiffly sneak back to the dugout and grin at him.
rest you for rustling and for blotching braced legs. Jim Averill's legs jerked wild- Black Mike aimed his gun and fired.
brands and running other people's stock ly at first, then more and more slowly, un- In the dugout the explosion r0ared like
into the Dakotas. We're the law." til there was only a rigid twitching. doomsday, and Tom felt hot pain in his
"Law nothing!" said Averill. Black Mike watched the hanging man throat. He blacked out for many hours.
But the men trussed him up, and they as if he were in a trance. But when he was When he regained consciousness his
did the same to his wife. When young sure that Averill was dead he turned to feet and legs were stiff and he was shiver-
Tom tried to defend his parents by kick- young Tom. In spite of Tom's kicking and ing in the dark and the cold. He tried to
ing and biting at the men, he was knocked screaming, Black Mike got him by the stir. At the rattle of the chain he sudden-
aside. Through dirt and tears he saw shoulders, then swung him upside down, ly remembered the whole terror, while
Black Mike reach for him and grab him seizing his ankles. He swung the boy like pangs shot through his body and the pain
by the collar. Kicking and screaming, a pendulum, and Tom was no longer able in his jaw and throat seemed unbearable.
Tom was tossed across Black Mike's sad- even to scream. He felt himself giddying In spite of the pain he tried to shout. He
dle and pressed against the horn, the wind back, aimed at a tree trunk, and he knew shouted at intervals, every time he could
jolted out ·of him. He was roped and his head was about to be bashed. make himself brave enough to stand the
forced to ride along with the marauders But suddenly two hands caught at pain which was caused when he used his
after they clattered out of the store, drag- Tom's shoulders in the middle of the final throat.
ging Jim and Ella Averill whose hands swing. After daylight had seeped into the dug-
were tied behind their backs and whose "Let go, Mike. I don't go for kid kill- out he heard what may have been a foot-
legs were hobbled. ing," cried one of the men. step, or it may have been only the snap-
The riders got their three victim's into Tom was almost out of his mind. He ping of a twig. He was afraid it meant the
the shadow of a cottonwood grove, and had given himself up and by now had lost approach of some wild animal, arid a new
then for the first time the boy knew exact- all sense of hope. But he heard what the terror overtook him.
ly what had been planned for his parents. men were saying about his parents: But in the full flood of sunlight he made
He saw his mother lifted to the back of a "Leave 'em for the buzzards." out the head and shoulders of a human
horse and the thongs cast from her ankles. Black Mike was still arguing about being slowly crouching down to look at
Black Mike said with a sneer, "Ladies Tom: "He's a witness. What you gonna do him. Evidently his weak shouts had been
first." with 'im?" heard.
One of the horsemen drove alongside "We'll ditch 'im when we get to the Da- At last he saw that the head had a rag-
Ella and placed a noose over her head. He kotas," said the other man. "Let the In- ged scalp lock from which hung a single
coiled the long rope and tossed it over a juns find him. It's their funeral what they eagle's feather. The face beneath it was
limb of a cottonwood tree. Another man do to 'im." streaked with white and vermilion paint.
seized the dangling end of the rope and Tom was then hoisted to the saddle in Tom's terror mounted.
dropped two half hitches over the horn of front of the man who had saved him, and Without realizing what he was doing,
his saddle. he was almost too numb from pain and he felt that he ought to run, unreasonable
Jim Averill cried out, "There's no good anger to think straight. He was frozen si- though that was. And the slightest move-
swinging a woman. Let 'er go-swing me lent, but he was shivering so that he could ment of his limbs made the chain rattle.
if that's what you want." hardly sit on the front of the saddle. Evidently that frightened the Indian. At
Black Mike answered, "She's in this as The men took him back to his parents' any rate, the head and shoulders disap-
deep as you. And after you two we'll take home and held him roped while they loot- peared. Tom lay in rigid silence, and min-
your young whelp and swing him by the ed the place. In the barn they caught his utes later the Indian returned.
fetlocks and bash his head on a wagon own pony and tied him to the saddle. In Tom saw the Indian creeping toward
hub. That'll get rid o' the whole layout. the meantime he watched the men open- him and he held his breath in the worst
42 GOLDEN WEST