Show jim th can Q u ea B r re te r rie arl L 7 N CHAPTER VII continued it 11 not answer she we ras thinking t h of a remark that crooked bill lill had once made in her prea pres ence when children and dog dogs love a it man 1 woman la Is usually safe with him she wondered now if glenn hackett loved children hll dren and doge dogs and decided presently that he would love 1 hill hi own children if and when he had then them but that he would not be labere t A in dogs or aluman mugs b him in the soot I 1 biale state he ile la Is astrande a trance man mrs oan by elie she aid said at last hist I 1 have never met lila ills kind before now flow long have you known him mrs ganay I 1 since three days after be he killed your uncle I 1 am a trained nurse and I 1 cattle down here to tend hie his wounds although be he would have recovered without my aid for he la to as an healthy aa as a horse liter he naked asked nie me to be hia his housekeeper but since he be doea does not to regard me an a n servant I 1 imagine I 1 am a sort of paid hostess I 1 think he had a hope that you might visit the ranch some day and of course you would never nover have been invited unless be he had a duenna her here he ile Is very punctilio ili oua ous in bitters of social propriety and hobble when he discovered I 1 had a i little crippled son be he sent bis his gen eral cral manager to el paso to brine bring the boy here he ile knew I 1 d sant him with me of course I 1 understand innocence and helplessness of course his heart ent out to further Furt lier were inter tater erupted hy by the return of the host lie called something eom ething in spanish to the singer and she came and hand cd ed hica him her guitar rec receive elred the thanks of her und depart cd ed cohered with embarrassment now then don jaime we 11 have a little old anglo saxon minstrelsy from the boss boas himself he lie smote the strings with a firm assured hand land and in a perfectly thunderous basso began the yellow hose nose of areias to his great delight roberta oberta ll joined in to the SOUK song he ile cocked one lazy eye at her in quirin gly at a half halt rest in the mu sic he demanded how flow come cornel uncle bill I 1 she replied and ho he nodded comprehension I 1 yes es of course uncle oil bill would know that one out but don jaime played now while roberta oberta ll sang gang the rong ended and don jaime looked up a fleeting gleam of sud sd desp of resignation in the eyes I 1 I 1 or a moment I 1 had forgotten I 1 had killed your uncle he murmur murmured pd oh please mr oh please jaime he corrected 1 I had forgotten too jaime I 1 isow now that you have made up your mind not to dislike me or the task of try trying ing to like me I 1 have hato a confession to make I 1 I 1 try to bear up under it A few days after I 1 shot it out with your uncle his man bill dingle and fire others came over here with the intention of doing me great bodily me to one of the crosspieces in to that heavy trellis in the grape arbor yonder as a matter of fact I 1 cap captured dingle and his idiots and con fined filed them in my private bartlie here for thirty days before tarn torn ing them loose I 1 bad my foreman flog them all 1 oh jaime Jal roel I 1 I 1 that a the sort of bad egg I 1 am senorita why I 1 was wearing two guns today oy by the way can you sing gounod a ave aye ua ala ria 1 why by yes I 1 she ansite answered red a it little breathlessly oh grand wonder wonderful full I 1 lets go inside and practice it with piano accompaniment I 1 want yol to sing ong it at mass tomorrow for my people yon yet will of course I 1 know you will wilt poor devils they 11 lore love it sol nut but first send your telegrams 71 tie e in los algodones Alg will booi o 0 bo be closing CHAPTER VIII vill M it WILLIAM al rl LATHAM smiled fatuously and rubbed his old hands together in pleased antic nation pation as he be noticed the telegram beside bis his plate at nt break fast he ile read the man who first arst called you crooked bill knew bis big onions stop I 1 have y your 0 T texas record a stop you perell t e tym me e to walk into a situa lion choit Is perfectly and mo monstrously rr tytis iqual and I 1 am horribly em bar barrossee barra rosset wied elop stop jims father you rou in the foot with a forty ahre caliber revolver and the impulse im pulst to be arela with deadly weapons till still runs in the family only the I 1 c present representative uses a bow and arrow and shoots tor for the heart atop stop nor ti Is the Con Conner oara half halt blood bred out of tho the tribe stop believe it or not he has lm erected a headstone over uncle tom top stop it Is in an angel weeping and on the base of the monument he baa has worked in a bas relief of a it shepherd and a sheep presumably tho the one that wn was lost stop spanish art and irish dev dey latry stop when I 1 compare him with glenn I 1 am torn between a desire to weep and to laugh top stop glenn Is I 1 so respectable so proper so adful of all tho the things we have been raised to admire and respect while this fellow stops stop at nothing and con suits only hie his own desires stop mv my plan Is to secure the court a e per mission to get rid of the sheep promptly and return to hillcrest so I 1 can bite you on the ear I 1 BOBBY harms the butler in the net act of 0 dropping the customary two tylo lump lumps of sugar into crooked bill bills a coffee cup froze in the net act and regarded reffard ed his mastor with amazement and concern it appeared to llama harms that the old gentleman was about to hare have some sort of seizure sel 1 zure for he hoi bad had closed bis his eyes thrown back hn hl I 1 head opened hie his mouth and gasped anything wrong sir abr harmadi diarma demanded clarl yelled crooked bill I 1 liar I 1 I 1 two bursts of maniac laugh ter I 1 good news sir air I 1 harms suggest ed politely harms said crooked bia dill 1 I did you ever hear 0 of pandora 7 oh yes air sirl I 1 you are referring refer I 1 nr 40 the lady of mythology who un locked tie tl e box of troubles exactly well miss roberta has unlocked a similar box harms get mr air hackett on the tile telephone lie he read hackett robertas message and waited for a hearty laugh it did not come I 1 dog your cats olenn glenn he protested where your sense of humor 1 I seo beo A rumor tumor in the situation air Lat buiu I 1 can only sympathize with roberta there she K ie the guest of the man who ho killed her uncle and who has bad the bardi bardl hood to make a jest nt at the expense of his victim not satisfied with that exhibition of bad taste he has apparently commenced to pay his curt to roberta immediately which Is most embarrassing and distressing to her she will be forced to leave his house of course and decline to amit him to continue to serve her in the matter of condery btag those damnable sheep you tarn atlon monkey monley you isn t that exactly what I 1 planned happen noberta practically admits it already she ashes a anxious to clean up on those sheep and return and when she does boy certainly loob look good to her I 1 wish I 1 could be as confident as you mr air latham roberta has one weakness and that Is s her sense of humor like yours ito it s a alt biter er diabolical I 1 wish I 1 had never joined inthis in this conspiracy with yon you faint heart never won fair lady my boy don t you realize you have a chance to be a heror hero 1 I do not you ro re singularly dull my stock ie Is still climbing and you need more money to protect me so youve do aided that those sheep should be sold to get ready ranh consequent ly youve you ve had two important cases continued which will enable you to go to texas and arrange thestle the sale of the who will I 1 sell them tor to roe fool to me I 1 ll 11 give you more mcney for them than anybody else and the more money you real ise on them the stronger you 11 be with roberta 1 also you 11 arrive on the job in time to put a crimp in the sentimental aspirations of don jaime miguel you better jump to axas muy pronto well in order to make gnad on in your deceit youve rented so why not go to texas with me shave share your whiskers itna dress III B a ril rancher licher and play tho the part of the the cheep beep buyer by colly golly ill III do it ole glenn nn alte it a a good idea wh wb n can you start star it in one week fine blean meanwhile while keep you advised if it anything new turns op up hey ley don t bang up yet harms has just handed me another telegram it may be from bob robby no it its 19 from Hi Ruenes C lord ON oh I 1 biord ord oh lord I 1 11 1 I A win will on OU listen to this and he read over th tb telephone finhen hen you see ee your ward al aaen 10 I 1 should be a rand man to hear hear you address her as mrs IlIg iines or higgins whichever suite suits you best top stop to that end I 1 your permission to pay my court curt top I 1 know the doln win vill be hard but I 1 have never been i accustomed to getting any anywhere whee without a battle BO 80 1 I will take a chance stop you know BOW my people BO so I 1 do not nave have to furnish social top stop can furnish financial credential credentials to please uny any save most exacting what are you going to eay say la in reply mr latham lei im going to encourage the boy of course why do chati to inake make bim him work ber ler olenn glenn there Is 1 ona on thins thing ilo ito berta erta will never forgive and that bad taste you cant kill a girls girl uncle and then expect to rusti her off her feet even though you killed in self defense and in iq BO so doing performed a public service I 1 tell you this man Illga ene doe tint know any better than to walk into straight left lefts and rights crooked dill bill hung up and imme abely dispatched the tile fOllO followill WILC telegram to don jaime miguel benea 1 you have hate the nerve of a lion tamer atop stop bhatka for the comell mant m nt implied in n your telegram ram hut hilt I 1 bare nothing to any about it stop however you bare iny my beet best wishes and I 1 will even give you some good advice stop I 1 he ile on the tho high romance and found sound the old castilian Castl llan note your rout good old father knew so well top stop if there la Is in mendel law you should be dark darl hatred and dark eyed like bilke and with these assets P fair singing voice and a guitar some moonlight and a hide I 1 should any that you stand slightly more chance than a celluloid dog chas ing an asbestos cat through the infernal regions rt LATHAM 11 nd now he murmured bay irr done my full christian duty by all concerned I 1 think I 1 should return to my breakfast well had he been nicknamed crooked bill I 1 0 0 0 0 mignon awakened robertn at seven clock next morning it if a sunday she reminded her die cre erectly etly what will you wear sear mise miss roberta had given considerable to that very subject the night previous that sports suit I 1 bought just before leaving new york ehe she answered promptly breakfast was ready on the gal lery when roberta came out look ing for her host boat the table was set for two and don jaime was waiting for her ills lazy dark eyes swept her in one glance glanc efrom fro m her white kid pumps to her titian A bead head lou ilou are as beautiful as its an army with banners miss antrim be he an bounced in the matter cf of fact tone in which one proclaims propel alms that two and two omke make four or that a straight line Is the shortest die tance between two points not so much a compliment or the natural desire of a man to flatter a woman as a deonate statement ot tact fact roberta flushed and hated her self for it because it was not her u habit to exhibit such apparent pleasure at compliments from in ruen en 1 suppose hell he 11 ask me we if I 1 slept ept well she decided the usual banal query he ile did not lie ile tucked her into her scat sent sat down opposite looked at her casually and slid 1 I see fee you had a good night a rest in the gigantic bed of my ancestors you appear much refreshed and I 1 am very glad of it IL and you arrive for breakfast promptly at eight punctuality Is a paramount virtue particularly la in women so just tor for that you win a rose and he leaned anck and plucked one from the vine rine that clambered around a pillar of the gallery lou re to too 0 red for red roses be he rambled on banding handing it to her eo so this lovely mauve rose Is just the shade 1 I im in not red I 1 ira in auburn thanks for the born however how its itin lovely well whatever it Is to it suit suits me flee you and I 1 are going to be the best beat of frienda roberta uberta It well we I 1 like them fast on their foet feet and you re a whiz bang jim ray my I 1 ive ve been trying very hard to dislike you but I 1 must confide its an uphill job of course it its very unethical to like roe me be he admitted demurely let us any it Is unusual and let it go at that his eyes devoured her roberta youre mighty sweet I 1 think if I 1 may III I 1 II 11 call you bobby my aly friends all do chamul fire away old timer she saw him swallow something and it was not food the fire died out of his eyes and the sud bud den wistful littleboy little boy look faded and was replaced by gravity stem stern ness masculinity aie iles nice alm the girl thought lie ile wouldn t take advantage dran tage of the fact that I 1 ro in his guest to appear to rush me 4 oh ob yes roberta knew men she could rend read their faces and con ver tersely sely their minds for bad had not don jaime miguel just assured her she was as beautiful as an army with banne bann cje youre you re a very happy man arent tilt you jimmy it seems to me that with you life must be one glad m meet ee t song oh it 1 Is he assured her the stalled started last nighta again bis his eyes burned into hers fr a split second and again she abe felt her face flut flushing ChIng hotly to cover her confusion she said inanely Inn nely 1 I 1 do wish you knew my uncle 1114 01 not interested in the lie old reprobate although if it tie he hould should take a notion to show op up at alle verde I 1 wouldn t sic ale the dogs on him have some bacon and aca 1 cared cured that bacon myself act anil nia nin personally acquainted with the hens that laid the egg had he noticed her confusion and was this gay frivolous banter merely hie his kind way of halping her cover corer it iff roberta bad had au an idea it was ills tile two setters slouched lou ched apologetically to the table and ho be ppe speared ared to forget roberta Koli erta to be eime absorbed la in the doge dogs feci feeding ling jem om strips of bacon anil and little als 1 cf of bread 1 in bar grease tal talk kitia a affectionately to them the while ac as if it they were hu roan man roberta reminded herself that don lon jaime was the first youn young man who had ever neglected her ber to curry efnor with a pair of kas ent fish setters and was interested to discover that she lie did not resent bis his action what whitt are you golnic to da do about she he inquired presently ob hobble nothing very much wrong with him I 1 suspected the fix he fie was in and in order to vert verl fy roy my I 1 had urs mrs gan by bring him hero here hell been kept in the bouse house became because bin bill mother despite the fact that she Is a trained nurse mother liko ilko conald ered him too delicate to be allowed out very much she bad to make a urine living for the two of them eo so necessarily the he has been forced to neglect the boy I 1 he adores you jimmy well if it children and does dogs do not like a man a aln be he bad had better begin 1 to take stock of ani self I 1 like I 1 like all ahli dren even terrible chIl children drea im godfather to one hundred and eighty seven and after mass this morning III I 1 II 11 take on the one hundred and cleaty eighth why are you so popular jim my for two rea reasons if it rm iod lod father to the child of one of my people then while an lives at voile verde that child will always I 1 dwell under the mantle of the philanthropy |