Show ROBBERS ROOST by zane grey r W service I 1 M mann a M M SYNOPSIS jim wall young cowpuncher cr from wyoming seeks geek a new field in utah he meets hank hays who tells hint him he Is I 1 working for or an englishman herrick who has ha located a ng big ranch la in the th mountains hays and others other are plotting to steal their employers eat cattle and money with hays and two other rustlers rust lera jim wall goes to herricks ranch hays hay unfolds unfold his plan for or cettina possession of herricks Herr lck head of live stock he and his hi lieutenants ride away to drive on off the first bunch of cattle heeseman hays rival among the cattle rustlers tells wall that hays was once his Ilee heeremans semans partner and double crossed him jim Is sent to meet bliss herrick Herr lck hays betrays unusual interest in the girls coming the rustlers begin driving cattle from the ranch wall finds him staff relt falling in love with helen and tie be fears ears hays flays has designs on an the girl jim coaches her an in riding western tyle and finally kisses her she i Is angry and dla dismisses misses him but relents relent and auks asks him not to leave the ranch hays haye men return from the drive having sold the cattle and brought back the money CHAPTER VI continued 10 ile he then noticed that a roll of bills identical with the one lie he had bad just received lay on the floor you double crossed me burst out hays at length wal taets ac accord cordin ln to how you look at it retorted slocum things came up at grand Jun junction cLion we seen some of Hee heesemann semans outfit onto us or will be pronto so we jest took a vote an every one of us stood for one big drive instead of small drives an we made it it your buyers swore they was short of money an ain would pay twelve dollars a head talk about robbers robber sl I 1 wal I 1 took thet an said I 1 liked it you disobeyed orders put it up to jim ayar what do you jou say jim thus appealed to jim addressed hays flays point blank smokes ys right if you meant to clean out herrick that was the way to do it IL aw shore side with them I 1 1 I do anything of the kind it I 1 thought they were wrong retorted jim angrily here was waa a chance to inflame hays that he jumped at it if the robber could be drawn into a light fight when his own men were against him film the situation for the El derricks erricks be made easier for the present better shet up 10 1 I wont shet up lays hays someone has to tell you and im that fellow theres no hand out against you in this outfit never heard of a bunch of riders work like dogs while the boss was twiddling his bis thumbs and talking mysterious 1 I aint ready to leave star ranch an now ill have to I 1 why aint you ready queried smoky curiously our works all done weve cleaned out the ranch except for a few thousand head weve got the long green you ought to be tickled to death im not through here replied the robber smoky why dont you ask hays what this mysterious deal Is queried jim sarcastically from a cornered lion nays hays degenerated into a cornered rat jim sank a little in his boots while his bis upper muscles corded hank got into you queried smoky smoky the boss Is up a tree said jim caustically ile he means to rob herrick all right but only a blind its the girl thet gold headed gurl we seen you ayar yes herricks sister flail hawl so taets eat IW in you hank hays had reached his limit and probably but tor for smokes mirth would have started hostilities lie ile hesitated but there was a deadly flare in the eyes lie he had fixed on wall smoky got between them see byar hank so the deal an loud joud do ter fer pore jim ayar jest be hes onto you wal if youre taa keen as thet to draw on somebody why make it me I 1 started this I 1 dragged jim into it an I 1 aint goin coin to let you take it out on him then hank iiams allys came back to himself jims right smoky youre right he declared hoarsely im buil bullheaded head an ive lost my bull head bead over herricks sister there spoke up like a man declared smoky heartily relieved why you come thet clean long ago neither jim nor me nor any of u us blame you ter ad admidin mirin thet gurl and it if gone crazy an dragged her away into the brakes with us wed quit you cold calil alays bent to pick up the ru ruil ll 11 of mils hills lall to men mel ive got to do some wv lie in said annd lit left un ham m before they were half finished citi their supper hays entered were shakan the dust of star ra ranch ach tonight lit he said deliberately pack up an leave tit at once pit come later if I 1 dont meet you yon at smoker kyr camp ill meet you shore at midday in thet cedar grove above the head of red canyon no one asked any more questions quentio ns or made any comments whatever they thought about hays peculiar way of leading his band they kept to them selves jim wall was not greatly relieved still he concluded that hays must abandon any plot he have concocted toward herricks sister at any rate whatever was in hays mind J jim im could not further risk alienating him or his men jim would have to ride out with them if lie he stayed behind to spy upon nays flays or frustrate any attempt he ml might ht make to call upon the derricks he would have to kill hays flays dusk was mantling the valley when jim went out under the bench the shadows were dark from the shelter of the pines he looked for hays flays expecting to find him standing guard but the robber was not on the porch he was stalking to and fro along the brook and he be was no more watching for heeseman eseman than was jim his bent form his bis stride his turning at tile the end of his bis beat his hands folded behind his backall back all attested to the mood of a gloomy abstracted passion driven man whereupon jim repaired to his covert rolled his bed and made a pack of his other belongings what to do with the two packages of bills this last of which was large and clumsy for his pockets was a puzzle by dividing the two into four packets he solved it then he carried his effects down to the cabin all was cheery bustle there the men were glad to get away from star ranch they talked of the robbers roost hays had at always ways promised them of idle days to eat and drink and gamble of the long months in hiding will wal you all ready queried hays appearing in the doorway yep tep an bustle to go on second thought id like one of you to stay with me how about you latimer all right declared in a few more alnut ml nut all the men leaving leavin were mounted the pack ant ani ap I 1 al i 1 14 most of the riders inclined to the opinion that it was just haze mals mais with packs gray against the darkness straggled up the trall trail walt wait at your camp till sunup said hays flays conclusively an if im not there ill meet you about noon shore at head of red ked canyon without more words or ado smoky led off of behind the pack horses and the five riders followed once across the brook all horses took a brisk trot jim wall looked back then he saw a bright light on the bench that was from herricks house bouse an unfamiliar illar sensation like a weight of cold lead in his breast baffled jim ile he knew he was glad never to see helen herrick again about midnight smoky turned the pack animals up the slope into the woods and after a mile of rough going emerged into an open canyon head blyar we air said smoky throw things an git to sleep ill stand first guard jim unrolled his bed beside a rock and pulling off his boots and un buckling his gun belt he crawled under the blanket crack of ax and happy jack jacka s voice pierced his slumber both recognized before he opened his eyes jim sat up stretched and reaching for his boots he gazed around the men were stirring two around the camp fire and others among the horses wal long past sunup said slocum as jim approached the fire who was it bet brad thet hank show up nobody replied lincoln jim ajla suppose you take your rifle an sneak down an knock over a deer I 1 suggested smoky three hundred yards down the slope jim emerged into the open opeal there were no riders on the winding white trail stealthily working back into the timber he boon espied two deer about sixty paces distant long ears erect ile he killed the buck standing upon his return to camp smoky greeted him with a grin 1 I low how far to lied cannou can you asked jim 1 I dont know about fifteen miles dont you remember thet heavy grove of cedars leadin down into a red colel I reckon I 1 do if nays flays joins OF there mean lie he comes by another crall itt it ial if I 1 so you figger he might not course hed come around the mountain or debbe over another pass he shore knows trails thet we dont 11 aw show up on time yonder wonder if he stayed back to plug hueseman Hc eseman ue he hates thet rustler rustier in less than an hour the riders were on the move down the mountain packing on the deer jim had slain occasioned a little delay for all because smoky kept them close together at the edge of the timber belt he halted them again while he peeped out to re con then he called come ayar a couple of you long iong sighted fellers they pit all rode out to join him where he be sat his horse pointing to a faint blue on the purple valley floor Is thet dust most of the riders inclined to the opinion that it was just haze ten miles or more back and hard to make out spoke up jim it if this was my range id say it haze or smoke wish I 1 had franks glasses sly my eyes are no good any more fer long shots wal lets mosey when they reached another turn from which it was possible to look back for five miles or moi me smoky halted while the others caught up jeff you hang ban right ayar he said an keep your eyes peeled on the back trail I 1 aint so shore thet gray patch back on the valley was haze it sort of moved to me an there a lick of wind wal from round this corner you can easy see the cedar grove where well hang bang up fer tho the boss an if you ketch sight of any moren a couple riders on the back stretch you come aldin h I 1 bent fer election dont stay long after noon perhaps another five miles down the slope lay their objective to which they headed the hour was still some time before noon smoky scanned the slope to the south and east it would not n ot have been possible to see riders at any distance as the rocks brush ridges and washes intervened profusely What ll we do smoky throw the packs or not queried one of the riders doggone dog gone it if I 1 know replied slocum peevishly its a rummy deal hot as h I 1 now an gettin hotter I 1 f fergot ergot to ask hank reckon better herd the bosses an well wait ill keep a lookout fer the boss jim tied his horse in the shade of a cedar and climbed a jumble of rocks so he could command a better view almost at once he sighted riders coming down a wash about a mile away and he be had opened his mouth to shout the good tidings when something checked him ile he rubbed his eyes and looked again three riders 1 assuming that two of them were hays and latimer who could the third be they behind a corner of bank jim sank down in a cold sweat perhaps these men were indians or strangers from hanoville Han kville or prospectors but he had not seen any pack animals after a long anxious watch he saw the three reappear in the wash considerably sider ably closer the one in the middle rode a gray horse and otherwise contrasted sharply with the dark mounts and dark clothes of the other two A second time the trio disappeared smoky was peering about to in a desultory manner but he was as too low down to sight the riders jim was now shaking an awful premonition attacked him tie ile had met it and almost overcome it as another unaccountable attack ot of nerves when the foremost horseman emerged from behind a bank ile he recognized the stalwart figure the wide black sombrero the poise in the saddle that was lank hank hays jim scarcely dared shift his gaze back to the second rider but he was irresistibly forced to A slight figure in tan drooping in the saddle 1 so help me met I 1 he whispered and sank down on the stone that center rider was helen berriel Herr lck for a moment a hell rioted in jim walls breast how flow he cursed himself tor for a vacillating idiot I 1 ills his intuition had been right ile he had bad seen through this robber leaders behavior at star ranch but like a fool he had not trusted h himself lm jim grew cold to his very marrow yet his intelligence did not wholly succumb to his fury ile he strove to think this hound had gotten helen just how it was useless to conjecture but to kill him then right on the spot that gave jim wall pause lays hays men would roar at this deal involving them in the abduction abduct iou of a woman still they would hardly go so far as to resist him with arms jim crushed down his deadly impulse he would walt wait well indeed had it been for jim to espy this trio long iong before they reached him ile he had bad time to recover to think what was best if hank hays had come upon jim suddenly it would have been his bis doom one of the pack animals weighed neighed shrilly and then all the horses stuck up their ears say I 1 heerd a hoss boss shoe ring on a stone called mae mac who had ears as keen as a horse that queried smoky sharply ile he leaped up TO BE BB CONTINUED |