Show THE ININI PRICE by BV william Bla eLeod eod praline VW tr 4 bihum malj RA by nine you say phil murmured sleepily his bead all lowed on the roost most comfortable spot of his saddle 1 I reckon it if WO we get an early start they were up before daybreak tte the sun was just peeping over the ridge when aben mccann threw the diamond hitch with the lash rope it wits was possible though not probable that at any time they might jump up the rustlers driving stolen cattle wherefore they rode warily following ridges where they could so that they could sweep with their eyes as much territory as was feasible guadaloupe Guada loup canyon opened before them after an hour or two of travel precipitous walls shut them into a defile narrow and tortuous up which they moved in single file the soil was a red clay formation loose rocks acks strewed the doorway ot of the gorge flung down ages ago from the heights above the trailers dismounted and studied the ground sure enough there had bad been cattle hero here and recently prints of horses hoofs showed that they had been driven and had not strayed there by chance this they already knew by the testimony of the cowpuncher red bed they followed the gulch tor for several miles the walls opened out so that the sun beat down upon the riders and baked them there was no shade the only vegetation showing was the creosote clinging to the rocks even this was scarce and stunted A bend in the canyon brought them to a clump ot of small pines A spring emerged from a fissure in the red stone strata wilson stopped the other rider hold on I 1 lets have a look before we mesa up any tracks that may be here they swung down and grounded the reins of the horses ahr through ough the red sand ran half a dozen tracks of sidi side winders the men moved forward slowly to the damp soil surrounding the spring what wilson was looking for he found ills his finger pointed out a heel mark the boot was evidently much run over on the outside and the heel beel badly worn the print of the same foot was stamped also in another moist spot below the spring it had bad been made by a very large boot some folks are right careless mccann said sure are fellow who stomped that track Is a considerable sized guy he had ought to be careful where he writes his signature if he be knows good for him hell write it in mexico muy pronto looks like hes near the end of his trail here now were oc to him hell not last long id say they must maust be colial up near here not so tar far away wilson spoke apparently without stress gitner knows these mountains pretty well I 1 expect you think its gitner phil was startled though the words voiced a fear that had been la int his own mind looks th ataway you know bitners Git ners big feet an how his boots are always run rum over at the heel beel 11 the boy made no answer A disturbing thought had found lodgment b in ills his mind one so BO full of ill omen that the muscles beneath its hla heart seemed to have given way II if altner was one of the rustlers and he be no longer doubted it for a moment scant as was the evidence at hand band was jasper also one of them tho the thought of it shook his bis courage there was nothing admirable la III his brother nothing that as a boy he could look up to as an example but it was a long step from worthlessness to cattle thieving almost the worst crime on the docket in the border land Is rustling it gave him a shock to face the possibility that his fathers son might be guilty of it it was precisely because of this that wilson had mentioned bitners Git ners name naine if the boy had bad to meet such a facer it was better that he should have time to reflect upon it first this yore job phil the older man said presently you ton alda r I 1 d a home an tell jim yerby an dave stone to meet we me at the mouth of the canyon in two days ill stick around an do some till they come rha phil looked him straight in the tha eye its my job much as it Is yours if you thought it was my job yesterday what makes you say today its not nothing has changed tar far as I 1 can see sea they were both thinking of the tha same thing that one of the men whose trail they were following might be jasper stark but wilson could not refer to his tears fears any more than the boy could except indirectly when they mentioned the name nam of the big texan he evaded this Is liable to be a bigger task than I 1 had figured it we meet up with gitner hell go to kho otla awre I 1 reckon we need nio more re hela help all right agreed phil calmly you go get it an ill scout around an watt wait for you mccanns brown white toothed smile flashed he was not getting very far with the boy feelen Feel ln real cock a doodle do aint you youa 1 im M riot not cl almin to be high low jack and the game but im some older than you seems to roe me its my say so A afraid I 1 wont keep my end up so 0 o you want me to turn tern in my string ot of horses phil naked asked using the figure of speech of 0 the puncher on the trail iao no sir not a bit afraid of that ive a notion go through from h 4 1 to breakfast but like I 1 said bald this bitners GIt ners a lead hell have tour four uve fellows with him all of eta elm tough nuts to crack my notion Is tor for you to go back an pick up some of the boys boy say y curt quinn an stone an yerby an my brother lyn be back in two days it if youre so h l ident on abeln in this and well sure round up these birds an tell em cm what for that yore notion when we w started this was to be a scout ln party to cut the trail ot of these rustlers an report what we found out sure enough but were hot on the trail of these gents were it able to catch em with the goods gooda it if so we had ought to make our gather right then otherwise probably hive off to parts unknown av I 1 afraid I 1 wont keep my and U p so you want me to turn im my string of horses were wee not enough to handle this job you aw aa me I 1 wits was fl fi gurin gurlia 0 on u run m lain down two three mexicans mexican 3 maybe ay ginters another proposition an hombre of quite a different color ile he packs his guns low an cornea comes a foggan someone has already mentioned that to me the boy said quietly tell miss julia that we think gitner Is the man were after phil read his mind as though h it had been a one syllable primer mccann believed that it if he be mentioned altner as the probable chief of the rustlers to julia she would contrive some excuse to prevent her broth er from returning with the posse you can tell her that phil said rold T tro st ilyIn right here mccann rumpled his hair and grinned youre some oma stubborn it if anyone asks me boy why dont you act like you ha had horse horsa sense the upshot of it was waa that they both stayed they decided to find out if they could where the outlaws were camped circumstances circumstance would have to decide whether they would attempt an arrest or go tor for help to round up the thieves they took a diagonal trail up the mountain side after they came to the end of guadaloupe Guada loup canyon for the hoof prints sharp edged and clean cut led that way it came on to rala rain a gentle mist that blurred the hills they put on their slickers and followed tho the dim trail until it lost itself la in the rubble of a stony precipitous shoulder hunched up above a deep gulch As the rain increased the plaes pines and the scrub oaks began to shower them with baths of moisture when they pushed too close the tracks of the cattle were blotted out our lucks not standing up wilson sold said 1 I wonder which way they drove those brush splitters from here phil cast back into his memory Y when I 1 was a kid dad brought us up here hunting we stayed a week the four of us nick rafferty an jule were the other two our camp was in a wooded park back of a gulch never know was there unless you stumbled on it just for tun fan jule called it horse thief park because it would be such a dandy place for rustlers to hole up it I 1 could find it I 1 recollect its over to the southwest from this end ot of guadaloupe Guada loup six or seven miles may be or more or less they may not be camped there of course courm nut but there was an old cabla cabin some prospectors built an the grass was good plenty of water too looks like a good bet whichever way we go its a gamble might as well try yore horse thief park if we could work around an sup slip in the back way we could probably ho hid while we look around how about that the boy shook his head you Y oil can caia sear h pg me we q always went want in by the gulch an am came out the same wily point Is can I 1 find the entrance to it Fin findig FInd din ln our way in la is one thing gettin gettan out Is another wilson cautioned id hate to ner had shoved a cork in the neck of the bottle while we were inside im not lookin tor for a snowdown showdown with the odds against us im hotl not crazy about bumph into him myself phil admitted through the drizzle they plodded moving toward the southwest it was ft a land of innumerable bills gulches draws drawe wooded slopes and mountain passes to find in this maze the concealed entrance to one small canyon was no easy task for phil could recall no details detail of the count country rys contour nor any landmarks that reminded him of the way they had approached they wandered rather alm aimlessly lessly for hours houn trying first one defile and then another riding ap draws that proved to be blind alleys and circling hills patiently the night tell fell still wet with difficulty they lit a fire the sodden s wood sputtered ap uttered and smoked from the pines above the gusts of wind shook showers of gathered moisture upon them beneath afi tarp that bound together the pack leack they slept uncomfortably fort ably the ground was wet and cold their blin bla kits damp daybreak found fouad rain still falling from rom a L sky banked with clouds breakfast was a cheerless business to make mattera matters worse the pack horse had pulled its picket pin and wandered away ive rv sure lire got the feel of the rocks la III my bones phil grumbled with a rueful grin looked to me like they would work right through to my spine say what do we do about that foot fool hawse start after it before break breakfast fasti TU 1711 look around while you are fixin up so methin to eat it gelfar from the others wilson picked up his rifle rids and walked out of the draw he could beg se where the picket pin had been drair dragged ged through Magh the wet grass is as the horse had grazed down the slope the trail led hina him over a little rise and sharply to the left writing a clump clomp of willows willow on the shoulder of the bul bill abruptly wilson stopped the pack horse was not a hundred yards la in front of him grazing contentedly on the moist grass la in which it stood to the fetlock but after the th first glance he forgot the horse for he was w looking at a small gateway between two rock faces one rising directly la in front of the other even from where he stood he h could see that the tb opening between led into some s sort 0 r t 0 of f gulch u some gl ich he w walked a 1 k e d down 0 n to the mouth of the ravine and verified his first impression pres slon back of the first rock face was th tha mouth of a hidden canyon up which ran a well defined path by some odd freak of luck the pack horse had bad led him to julias horse thief park wilson picked up one end of the picket rope and led the animal back to their camp A smoky fire was struggling in a depressed fashion for its existence against the handicaps of sodden fuel and a steady rain better put out that fire are phil dont you reckons recko nl lil wilson suggested mr gitner or some of his friends might set se it that blamed lost gulch of yours youra Is right round the tb corner phil stared at him saw he meant it and began to throw dirt on the JIM CHAPTER XIII dooming beaming guns gun PHIL recognized the mouth of the gorge gorg as soon as a he saw it same place he said 1 I recollect that twisted pine there they returned to camp and packed wilson felt an extreme reluctance luc tance at letting the boy go with him farther for he knew that he might be going into a trap from which escape would be very difficult his remonstrance was useless as he knew it would be im going through like I 1 said I 1 W would phil told him stubbornly no use pow about it what do you reckon I 1 came along tor for anyhow they rode up the canyon in single file ale wilson allson leading the WELY way both of them carried their rifles across the saddle in front for neither doubted that they were goins going straight to the stronghold of the outlaws it was possible they might at any bend of the trall trail meet face to face the men they were seeking glad its wilson said twisting for a moment in the saddle to speak back unless got important business toddy today liable to stay indoors indoor an loaf suit me ins fine 11 here too agreed phil he had curious sinking sensation about the muscles of hla his stomach a but he had no intention whatever of turning in c back it was the natural dread that cornea comes to all men when they ar aris moving tor for the first arst time into an n unknown danger out of the defile they emerged into a valley taney of mist that had no BO outline then cabins over to tho the left phil pell whispered we better get in this pine grove up here right away swill be comin out soon by the look of the clouds they deflected climbing to the wooded slope to the right from a break to in th the clouds the sun peeped I 1 out at first with more pi persistence ce flonly the tie inest settled till the upper walls walla ot of the valley showed the rock face opposite was painted yellow and green and ochre achre by the sunshine it was half ao an hour before tile the tog fog was reducer reduced to filmy shreds and a lake ol of mist nestling in a tar far corner ot of the valley vati vali I 1 cy from all directions sheer preci apices rose technically tile the pasture ground was not a park but rather a depression driven down by some freakish trick of nature it was as though borne bome titanic god in the morning of the world had stamped a gigantic foot on the soft plastic mountain mass and driven down with terrific force the crust of the earth the cabin lay laj across from them on the other slope of the saucer shaped valley by the cliffs TO BE CONTINUED |