Pagina 41 van 439

"Well, then, it's this way. What with all these boys on Kinney's

trail he's as good as rounded up. Fact is, Kinney's only a weak

sister anyhow. He turned State's witness at the trial, and it was

his testimony that convicted Struve. I know something about this

because I happened to be the man that caught Struve. I had just

joined the rangers. It was my first assignment. The other three

got away. Two of them escaped and the third was not tried for

lack of sufficient evidence. Now, then: Kinney rides the rods

from Yuma to Marfa and is now or had ought to be somewhere in

this valley between Posa Buena and Taylor's ranch. But where is

Struve, the hardier ruffian of the two? He ain't been seen since

they broke out. He sure never reached Ft. Lincoln. My notion is

that he dropped off the train in the darkness about Casa Grande,

then rolled his tail for the Mal Pais country.