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back of it which told her irrevocably that love and
hope were dead for him, forever. This is what he
had written: ‘ I I
Merely a reminder of the dead past; a
pretty face that must pass from my memory.
The Jim Wellington you once knew is dead.
;' The man who returns this photo is "Woli"
Wellington and henceforth he lives that
name. Forget me as l have forgotten you.
WHEN Wellington entered the prison he was a
repentant young man of 22 years.‘ The law,
however,‘ had said that repentance was not enough.
The attorneys of the Southern Triangle Railway
Company had relentlessly hemmed him in and stub-
bornly demanded that he be given not lessxthan ten
‘years in prison. They had been paid their due, and,
like chaste Society, sighed, shook their heads sadly
and dismissed Wellington's case from their milids as
a duty well done. Not so with young Wellington.
Where youth and hope once reigned, hate and a de-
sire for revenge crept in until, with but seven days
left to serve, he had forgotten Justice and dreamed
of a life of crime. The Southern Triangle must pay
and pay big. lie had '
reasoned, and rightly
too, that to be a
really bad man one
must reject every
mellowing influence;
must think, dream,
plan, nourish and
live 3 life of hate.
This he had done
methodically, delib-
erately and thoroly.
Hence the bare walls
of his cell; hence
the ‘prison record
for incorrigihllity;
hence the hard gilt-.
ter in blue eyes
where once was a
, merry twinkle, the
' hard lines on a. once
frank face; hence
the name of Wolf
Wellington; h e n c e
the dedication of n
sp 1 en did physique
and a keen mind to
a career of crime.
What was it all
about? ‘Veil, Well-
ington was once a’
homesteader in his
native Western State”
He had, upon illing
on his choice of 160
acres of soil, com- - , V
plied with all the requirements of the
homestead law. lie toiled and he tilled
and he sang the song of youth and hope,
as his cayuse team pulled the plow and ,
broke the land. Tho city bred he .
loved the open stretches, solitude, and
experienced the joy of a real son of the
soil when he looked out upon his fields
of.gra.in,‘the green truck garden and
his lone cow lowing in the small
meadow. Then came representatives
of the Southern Triangle Railway Com-
pany end jumped his claim. They had
known of the rich deposits of coal heneath the land
and had intended tiling on it. During their delay
young Wellington, knowing nothing of the coal, beat
them to it. The railroad people wisely said nothing
and waited. ' ' ,
During the second year of his lone farm life Well-
ington concluded to take advantage of the home-
steader's right to leave his claim for six months to
earn money with which to make necessary improve-
ments on the claim. -lie had obtained 2: lucrative
position in the city, and, feeling that it would bc
sale to do so, remained away from his Itomestearl
twenty days longer than the six months allowed by
the Government. lie iltti: knew at the time that
his employer had been paid handsomely by the
Southern Triangle Railway Company to raise his,
Wellington's, pay and urge him to remain twenty
‘ days longer. When he returned to his homestead he
found 9. representatlveci the S.‘ T. people in pos-
session. Ills claim had been Jumped! lie was home-
less. He had pleaded, reasoned. argued, but the
"Jumper" was there to stay.
, Several weeks later a. lone highwayman held up
K I .1
the immaculately
Secured Table
Top.”
CHICAGO LEDGER '
and robbed a paymaster of the Southern Triangle
Railway Company as the latter was enroute in -an
automobile with the monthly pay envelopes for a
construction gang working near the former Welling-
ton claim. In an exchange of shots with the pay-
master’s driver the bandit was wounded in-the leg
and was later captured in the timber near the scene
of the robbery. The wounded “stick-up" ma.n,was'
young James Wellington.
SO AT last came the day that Wolf Wellington
passed thru the prison gate to blink his eyes in
the morning sunshine and once more breathe the air
of freedom. The wnrden's kindly Words of advice to
him had fallen on barren soil. He ignored the prof-
fered hand of the deputy warden at‘the ga.te.' ..A
pretty time forpfatherly advice and empty hand-
clasps after they, as hired servants of justice,.had,.
wrung ten years’ of youth and freedom from him!
He was a criminal now; a man physically, but one
in whose heart, was stowed ten years’ of hate for
all things pertaining to law. Law! Bah! Wolves
had no respect for law or the makers of it. Law
was henceforth his mortal enemy.
‘I
"The Canine or
This Profane out.’
hm-ct. Sim]: Dio-
covered. xv-n the
He looked down upon the
cheap ‘discharge suit, too
small and oLa very cheap
grade. ‘The coat was uncom-
10113171! light across his
broad shoulders and pinched
under his arms. Four inches
of his large boned wrists
were exposed on account of
the too short sleeves. He
sneered. A 6-toot, 200-pound
K), criminal squeezed into a
suit made for a runtl He re-
moved the cheap felt hat and ran his fingers thru
his short black hair. Then he replaced the hat. on
his head and put his hand in his pocket to caress
the neat roll'ot bank notesthere; 3420, all he had in
the world and the remains of what had been taken
from him and deposited in the prison oillce to his
credit at the time of his conviction. He raised his
head and threw his shoulders back disclaindfully.
lie was ready for the game. Where were those hard-
boiled cons who in the bygone days had fallen before
his mighty fists? They were not in sight as they
promised to be. Cowards, every one of them. Why,
even Six-Shooter lllunson, the one time devil of the
prison, wasgnot in evidence. Wolf pweiiington was
spoiling for trouble. -
The discharged "con" was aware, however, as he
strode toward the railway station that a tall, thin.’
faced man with all the actions of a'hounding.de.
tecti.ve, was shadowing him. Probably one orthe
special agent's force of the Southern Triangle Rail.
vvly. Wellington guessed. lie smiled. The game
was on. Well, he would fight them all to the finish
’ ache whole world it necessary! .
’-‘X
CHAPTER II.
mm WARNING.
IT WAS,two weeks after Wolf Wellington's release
from Maiden Prison that President Hallworthy
Douval of the Southern Triangle Railway sat in his
private oilice and frowned portentously at a letter
he had just finished reading. ‘ He read it again, a
letter written with a lead pencil on‘a very cheap
, grade'of paper and hearing the Hickson, California
postmark. It was written in‘ a bold, dashing hand
and every word of it displayed the iron will, absolute
fearlessness and unfaltering determination of the
writer. After the second reading of the ominous
epistle, Douval summoned Chief Special Agent Max-
well Stonewell. ' . '
“Well, Stoneweil," Douval began as the big, keen-
eyed C..P. A. entered the ofdce, “I guess the ‘wolf’ is
on the job. Read this.”
Stonewell merely grunted as was his wont as he
accepted the letter and sank into a chair. The mis-
sive was headed “Hickson, California, March 10th.
It was addressed to "Hallworthy Douval, President
of the S. T. Ry. Co., San Francisco." It said: ,
“Sir:
“At the time of
my trial and convic-
tion for robbing your
paymaster little
more than ten years
ago, I threatened,
when my time had
expired, to ‘collect’
‘from your company
the sum of $54,750,
which, it my tigures
are correct, is $15
ml ‘
ill I
day I served in pris-
on. in addition to
this compensation I
will collect $150,000.
This latter sum will
be payment'in full
for my homestead
and the deposits of
coal over which if
lay. Two hundred
four thousand seven
hundred dfty dollars
is ‘the amount due
me from the South-
ern Triangle ‘Rail-
way Company.
“Ridiculous y 0 I1
say’! It certainly is
-a ridiculously low
price for my home
and ten years oi’ my
, life.
“J”? ‘V5911 1 begin to collect, I regret, sir, I can-
not teil you. It would likewise be very indiscreet of
"39 W inform You as to what point on your thou-
sands of miles of railroad in the west that my oper-
"“‘i0“5 Will begin. Your road traverses‘ much wild
and “settled country whicn‘is [admirably suited to
UJY Dl11'Dbse.
"Tell Mr. Stonewell that hisllong sleuth is still
011 my trial and sticking close. Hope this long
sleuth has no wife or children, as along the scenic
route of the S. T. are many places where a. dead
mall Would never be foundp For the ‘dick's’ sake.
You had better call him home.
“I "10 1109 P18)’ in the dark, nor will I play unfair.
Am therefore sending copies of this lettery to a num-
ber ot the larger daily papers in the West.
“G904-by for the present.
“Yours for a square deal,
V "James-'Wolf'+Wellington."
Swneweu again emitted his characteristic grunt
as he passed the letter back to Douval. "All bluff,
M15 Douval," he said as be lit his cigar, "all bluff.
Mere]? 3 desire on Wellington's part to throw a scare
into the traveling public and incidentally gain notor-"
iety as Jesse James II."
“Nevertheless? Douval replied, "I notice you have
0'19 0! Your best men on Weil‘Lngton's.’trail. Why
that precaution?" 3
"Well," Stonewell explained, "Wellington's actions
10 llrison, which have been widely advertised by
newspapers that ‘chose to believe what ex.convjctg
told them regarding him, and his standing threat
to ‘collect’ from us when his time had expired, neces.
sarily demands action on our part it only to satisfy
3 UETVNIS Dubllc. Tim Slade is'on the ‘wolf's’ trail
(Continued ‘on Page 14,)
per day for every‘
a
but.
443,:
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