Show ick d its LD CHAN N I 1 N 0 wa LEW BURNET tiding riding back to southern texas in 1875 meets WILLY ILE an 01 old trapper willy tells lew the news new that the bank at ox dow bow has b been robbed that TOM ARNOLD owner tn of the cross cron T plans to move to wy wyoming oming that STEVE may be involved alved I 1 in n the robbery and that JOY all NOLD ll is not yet married to CLAY MANNING cross T foreman later lew encounters encounter four men they offer hi him m the job as trail how boss when he telu refuses lu ses they capture him and keep him saner at their camp during the lew recognizes C clay i ay mannings v voice ice nickle shou ng irn im th through rough 11 willy releases rele aies lew and be arri v to at the ranch just as t the he C cross r as T herd berd Is stampeding CHAPTER III the longhorns longhorn were still in a cosely packed formation but beginning to string out wedge shaped with a small bunch of leaders at the point coming abreast of these ie ae threw his horse against their nard aard ribbed bodies firing his gun gull lose to the long gaunt faces they were running like frightened lack rabbits but they edged away from his blazing gun that broke their galloping stride for a moment slowly the black wedge began to urve until in time the point was bent in and joining to the base the cattle were still running but in an endless merry go round now getting nowhere their run slackened un ler jer the pressure of men closing in they made at last a solid milling P pool lie he turned his horse off to one side where a little group of riders had halted in the dust and dark he had rec no one and had not been recognized himself then their talk began to reach him someone said were lucky all they get a good start luck either another put in who was it got up to the point so fast that was tom arnolds rough low voice they were aware of his horse then coming out of the dark and their talk broke off he rode in grinning hello tom he said lew arnolds low voice lifted boys its lew burnett Burn etl the group moved and they were suddenly around him their horses crowding his legs and ho he was shaking hands and grinning in the warmth of friendly faces tom arnold and joe wheat and old rebel john who had taught him all he knew about cattle ile he was aware afterward ol of one rider who had remained apart from these others and lie called out I hello fello clay clay manning brought his horse around how allow are you lew ills his big shape leaned across the saddle horn with all expression on a wide mouth closely guarded ile he was a high square built man young and blond and strikingly good looking one who could be forgiven lew often thought for watching his shadow on the ground there had been some reason for his wait off there in the daik but now casually enough he said guess you got here just in in time howd clowd you come down the valley lew said and added from dripping spring today at that lie he saw the brief direct stare clay gave him sit in we faint light lie he could read nothing more one by one nt at spaced intervals the guard riders had come past and as their dim figures loomed out of the dark tom arnold had kept close watch ile he swung back now asking suddenly clay wheres steve you ou were together ill look clay said and started off him joe wheat straightened up ills his thin slat frame offering better take someone ill go with you but clay refused with a quick impatience stay with the guard nothings happened tom you going back to the house well get no more trouble now theres too many of us someone ought to be with joy 1 I im M going A arnold rn old said send steve in when anen you find him lew come on with me they loped into the black valley mouth side by side but aware of toni tom arnolds strict silence he held down the questions that crowded hi his s mind wit ys dust scrubbed from his dav his long hair watered back slick he went out into the hall and nd turned to the cross Ts family aaning daning room owl head jackson the cook came into the dining room from the kitchen carrying a heaped platter of food lewt he grinned you broom tailed mav maverick maverc erck lc its good to see that ugly face of yours agai agail nill from the front room joy called pour a cup of coffee for me and come came on back tell me about wyoming she said a lot of country he smiled what do you want to kno w 11 what its like and what you iou do there well I 1 lived in a dugout he said in m the bank of a creek and spent most of my time little fighting rats no she laughed 1 I 1 dont nean mean that arent there some mountains a ins oh sure mountains high ones some of them with snow all le year in summer the streams dont go dry there I 1 guess its sort of a pretty place he admitted 1 I liked the pines then its beautiful im going to love it I 1 know I 1 willi that stopped him ile he put down his fork joy what do you mean her cheeks were hushed flushed the su suppressed P excitement had turned her breathless 1 I wanted to be the first to tell you u I 1 asked dad to let me by you d dont t know do you no he said 1 I dont know anything it burst from her then wildly im going north were all going were moving up there for good you dont mean with the herd gesl ile he could only store stare at her there had been nothing of this in toms letter either no more than that he was sending his longhorns on a drive north yet it his thought of the long trail up which few women had ever gone that held him silent but the three ot of them clay and joy and himself riding that trail together ills silence brought a little scowl across her dark eyes wha t s the matter joy he asked when are you and clay getting married her lips parted and closed the high color drained from her cheeks when she spoke her voice was very quiet 1 I dont know lew why she paused and looked away from him and then wait for his answer hes been wanting it before we started but I 1 cant and perhaps im not being fair im just afraid I 1 guess afraid of what she brought her eyes back to his hi li face and he could feel them trace the crescent mark on his forehead 1 I dont know she said weve waited wa too long too many things thing 1 1 wap mam efel m M i e im fin just afraid I 1 guess guesse have happened now whether im married or not seem so important any more im sorry joy ile he reached across the table and took look her two folded hands in his big fist pressed them and let them go in front of the big rock fireplace tom arnold had done more than wait lie ile could hear the familiar sound of lew barnets Bur nets talk in the dining room a slow and easy sound and something restful and grateful had corne conic over him with this knowledge that low lew burnet was back thinking of steve tom arnold sat wholly still held by a dead heavy feeling compounded of loneliness and a fathers defeat it was his own fault he guessed for he knew himself for what he was strict and unsparing with a single minded belief that a man was born into this rich new land to make the best use 0 of f his time the talk in the dining room ended ile he heard the chairs scrape back and thought of another ambition hed had once and watched die then the two figures were pacing town toward rd him joy with her hand in lew barnets Bur nels nets arm looking small and so much alive beside his straight high shape her cheeks were flushed and he understood what it was in the man that could make him watch her in an amused but intently steady way and the old hope hed had once rose in him again ile he smiled you get filled up boyt boy 1 1 I 1 did lew grinned its worth a months riding to get one of owl heads joy released his arm and sat down on a halved log with short legs at her fathers knee lie he ranged himself beside the fireplace its blaze warming him and a sense of comfort sweeping over him powerfully this was home here in this room was the peace of family life for more than forty years with his pipe going he looked down and said well tom here I 1 am theres one thing id like to know first joy says youre youie moving north I 1 thought it was only a trail herd arnold nodded ashes right were leaving here for good his head lifted sharply in an old challenging fling of his gray hair ile he said you look so confounded lew A man hns has moved before and I 1 dont own the cross T any longer the cattle ore are mine yes but not this he waved into the room nor the land sold out no arnold turned his head a little joy id like to talk with lew alone daal she sprang up and threw her arm across his shoulders she shook him you cant go on keeping things back from met the use im not a little girl any morel well all right he said to her you know most of happened you might as well hear the rest she sat down again on the halved log with short legs and watched his face we had a bank robbery a month ago lew lie he said at a bad time trail buyers had been here making up their herds for the nor north th the money they paid to a dozen ox bow cattlemen was on deposit in my vaults it was characteristic of lew burnet not to tell that he already knew this he waited arnolds arnold s eyes centered themselves into the smoldering juniper logs he said quietly 1 I took the blame its ita my bank and these cattlemen are my friends got only small outfits and if they lose their money now break them I 1 know by law I 1 dont have to make it but im going to ive already turned the ranch in for assets appointed a new president pre aident and im out you pay a big price for your peace of mind tom its all a mans got worth keeping arnold said he sat back in his chair im making a new start in the north the only reason as far as anyone should know why im leaving the little comanche 11 but theres another the gray head nodded steve A aman man was killed in town the night of the robbery rayburn our sheriff nobody knows who pulled the bank job or killed rayburn but some talk about steve has reached my ears I 1 dont believe it if I 1 did id hang his hide on a fencel fence I 1 I 1 do know he was oil off somewhere all that night he came back late the next day drunk on her low seat joy had made no sound but something brought lews gaze down to her and he saw the tight lines of fear and horror in her face she looked only at her father and then tom arnolds voice dropped all the way to an old mans deep bitterness bitt ive done all I 1 can to help that boy I 1 still wont admit his wildness has taken him as far as this talk says but it brings home to me that hes gone out of my hands theres only one more thing I 1 can d do get him out of this country a away w oay from the friends hes made here the trail north is one job he cant shift out ot of make a man of him or break him im pretty sure it will lew agreed ive seen it work both ways and then in wyoming arnold said its steve that can make a now new start I 1 hope not me im too old now dad you arent joy murmured what a tiling thing to bayl say using a sliver of wood lew e explored X the hearthstone crack for a cricket find him and looked up to say there much in your letter tom and I 1 know less since I 1 got here like that stampede tonight ive been wondering what was vas behind it my beef contract arnold said you know happened to the price of longhorns up north 1 I 1 do six hundred thousand head came up the trail last year therell be a million on the march this spring too many unless trail troubles thin it out a whole lot a man wont get more than ten dollars at the end what does your contract call for three thousand head at thirty I 1 deliver the indian beet beef at ogallala on the fust fu st of september its my own stuff im taking on to wyoming ninety thousand dollars lew figured a jack pot for you I 1 youre lucky tom but arnold shook his head 1 I would be if my contract was direct with t the h 6 government it the indian supply company got a blanket award for the northern reservations this year and I 1 had to take a subcontract delf delivering vering to them you can see the joker in that they handle all the money and pay me only when and if I 1 reach ogallala on september first they signed with me five months ago ag 0 now they want to back out A couple of their men came down here offering five thousand dollars dollar to cancel my deal tn ITO HW ar f |