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Show f SOUTH CACHE COURIER rH By FRANK H. SPEARMAN Frank H. Spearman CHAPTER XVII Continued 2-0Bowie tried to laugh: his throat had gone dry. Never fear, he managed to say, those wretches are miles away before this. It is a walk, but we must try. I will carry you, vida mia. Not so. I am drag enough on you as it is. Vamos, querido. The rising moon began to shed a ghostly light over the desolate landscape. The shock of the night of terrors keyed Carmen up to making the long walk back without feeling it. Nearing the mission, a confronted phenomenon strange them. Their eyes were closely bent on discovering hidden guerillas before they themselves should be discovered. Every clump of shrubs was skirted gingerly; every tree, prostrate or standing, was a possible hiding place for a skulker. But only when their fears had proven groundless, when it became evident that not a living soul was within sight or hearing, did Bowie and Carmen realize that a fountain of water close to the plaza was gushing with a roar into the air and running like a river over the po-trer- o. at the church but did not recognize it. It dawned on them that the tower was gone. They hurried to the house. Their knocking brought no response. They turned to the door of the church; it was still barred. With the earth shuddering every few moments under their feet, they shouted together, called the names of the two padres and their own names. Slowly and cautiously the church door was unbarred. Padre Martinez opened to them. Every soul men, women and children of those at the mission were on their knees, sending supplications up to heaven for help. Carmen, breaking into tears, joined them. They looked CHAPTER XVIII ' s It was days before Santa, Clara Valley recovered from the shock of its mighty earthquake. Gradually news from the neighboring ranchos reached Rancho Guadalupe, and the excitement died when it was learned there had been no human casualties. The earthquake was past; but Bowies most troublesome problem still confronted him the squatters. He resolved to act at once. Theres nothing to be gained by temporizing much may be lost, he said to Don Ramon energeticalThe quake has demoralized ly. them couldnt help but do it. Anyway, Im going after them in the morning. As you think best, senor. Take care of yourself. To lose you would be to lose the whole battle for the rancho. Carmen listened to the decision with uneasiness and anxiety, but there seemed no alternative. She, too, only begged Bowie to be careful. Scouting about among the squatters the day before, Simmie had learned that some half dozen of them, chastened by the fright of the temblor, had decided to seek other regions for their abode. But these were the milder mannered of the invaders. The hard cases remained. At daybreak the next morning Bowie took Pardaloe, Simmie and Pedro with him. Crossing the river, he directed his men to ask the squatters to come out for a talk. When six of them had straggled from their shacks Bowie, on his horse, explained his mission. Ive called you together for a plain talk, boys, explained Bowie, addressing the six squatters and their following of twice as many You are scraggly-lookinmen. claiming land here that doesnt belong to you. Hold on! Dont all try to talk at once. Wait till I get through and you can have your say. Youve squatted here on a rancho without leave from the owner, without asking leave. You are killing the rancho cattle about as you please. You claim its to feed yourselves; you claim that the owners got more cattle than he needs and you havent got any. But you dont say a word about his cattle that youve killed and sold in Monterey, do you? Not a word about his beef quarters and hides that youve traded for whisky there. You dont say a word about g WNU Servicn raiding the rancho storehouse and helping yourselves to flour and grain and wine. That has happened twice. Now, all thats going to stop. I say nothing more about old scores; about your trying to bum the mission night before last and your demanding that the Indian women be sent out to you. But take notice: Youre headed, one and all, to get off Guadalupe Rancho and off the mission lands in twenty-fou- r hours or to stand your ground with rifles and shotguns. For tomorrow morning Ill be here to clean this whole mess up and itll be done. Thats my say. Now you talk. Deaf Peterson did talk, and he We stand on talked loud and long. our rights as bony fidey settlers and citizens of the United States of America, he shouted finally. You cant scare us n we dont surrender our homesteads for you nor for all the greasers in Californy. Captn Bloodll be here tomorrow, boss. Talk to him if you want to. N if youre looking for a fight you can get one right here now where youre horsin around. Youve had your warning, boys," retorted Bowie evenly; and without further parley he and his companions rode away. After supper that night there was a council at the quarters of the Guadalupe vaqueros. Bowie had assembled Pardaloe, Simmie, Pedro, Felipe and three of the hardiest of the cowboys for a conference. The plan of an attack on the squatter stronghold was discussed. The suggestion of a daylight assault was abandoned since it was almost certain to result in .more casualties than would be likely in a night raid. It was no part of Bowies plan to shoot any squatters, but the rancho must be rid of their trespassing and their increasing depredations. No fixed plan was arrived at that night. The men chosen were only told to look to their arms, their ammunition, their mounts, and to hunt up a few knots for torches. Bowie understood the value of suspense to worry defenders of a post and made no move to leave the rancho until the next day had passed. It was after midnight when he called together his men and rode quietly away for the river. Carmen had refused to go to her room until he started. She was unnerved by the situation and the danger, and she stood with him at midnight in the patio until the last moment. Tears glistened in the moonlight as she lifted her face to the stars in prayer when he rode away. The raiding party made a wide detour in their approach to the squatter quarter. They forded the river well above it and came slowly down through the hills on the farther end of the settlement. The moon was high but the chapa arral along the river near the afforded some protection as the horsemen wound their way through it. In the silence after the next half-hoone man, Bowie, emerging from the shadows, stepped to the ramshackle door of the nearest shack. It was built with a patch-wor- k of boards picked up wherever found and dragged by lariat, behind a horse, to the camp site; willow poles chopped from the Melena swamp had been added, together with strips of condemned sails picked up from the water front of Me-len- A tall, gaunt and dirty specimen his own abode. With the airy assurance of a squatter he had reof the American outlaw frontiersman of his day slowly emerged solved to take all he wanted for from the interior darkness into the himself and had sworn he would declear moonlight that shone into the fend himself. Profiting by the absence of redoorway. He was rigged in a loose during ragged shirt and loose ragged trou- sistance from Don Ramon He cursed and growled; his long illness. Blood had built upon sers. swore he knew nothing of any sum- his claim a rough attempt at a mons, had been in Yerba Buena for stockade. It stood on the brow of for three days, and ordered the mid- rise that overlooked the river chowell been The had miles. spot his premises. night trespassers off Bowie made no effort to appease sen for defense ,and would prove, Get Bowie realized, a troublesome obhim. He repeated bluntly, if stacle to the cleanup. shack of this your belongings out When they rode up in the moonyou dont want em burned up. to Bloods place Bowie gave light a into rage The squatter flew orders to his scouts and vaqueros. apparently a planned one, for he Take no chances here. This man ended it suddenly by pulling a pisis tough. He will shoot to kill; dont band trouser tol, hidden under his him beat you to it. Scatter now. let firwhere his shirt hung loose, and Work around by the Melena. Dont face. Bowies it into ing straight expose yourselves any more than It was not quite fast enough. Bow- you have to. ie knocked the barrel aside and laid He had hardly spoken when the own the butt of his pistol heavily scream of a woman surprised evacross the squatters head as the A second scream followed; man sprang to clinch him. He eryone. as then a succession of moans, growing aside slammed the squatter just a second man sprang like a panther through the doorway, knife in hand. It was a knife with a long blade. Bowie, taken somewhat by surprise, confessed next day it looked a yard long. He ducked to one side, but the second squatter, a smaller and quicker man, got the knife point into Bowies left forearm before the latter could escape it. The stab served only to enrage the Texan, and the wiry squatter took a fast beating from the pistol butt while Pardaloe and Simmie threw and bound the tall fellow. exThis buck is a wildcat, claimed Bowie, turning his smaller called. and louder sumnyms brought a tardy and profane response. Get up, said Bowie sharply. I want to talk to you. There was some moving and fumbling about inside with more profane questions. Were friends, said Bowie, answering a question, provided you behave yourself. Open the door. Open it yourself, came the truculent challenge from within. Bowie kicked the door open and sprang to one side. At the same moment a pistol shot rang from within the shack. What are you shooting at? asked Bowie casually. Why waste your ammunition? There are twenty men out here. If you hit one youll be shot or hanged in ten minutes. Were going to fire your shack. If you want quarter, come out now, while youve got a chance. A second voted admirer. Now, at he had collected up long ia 1 f , ' courage to ask her the momentous of all questions i There are quite a lot of aii vantages in being a bachelor"?! but there comes atim begah, when one longs for the panionship of another being- -a ? t ing who will regard one as dm feet, as an idol; whom one treat as ones absolute property. who will be kind and faithful-.To his delight he saw a symm thetic gleam in her eyes. j Vat" s 1 : So youre thinking of buying , ! dog? she said. Do let me hehi you choose one! j va-quer- o. I quick-foote- Bowie was chasing Blood. captive over to Pedro. Look for his knife, Pedro. Its here somewhere on the ground. Felipe, fire this shack. longings. No matter about the dont These fellows bede- serve any consideration. But first make sure there isnt someone drunk and asleep inside. Felipe, with lighted pitch pine, hurried into and out of the empty cabin. The next minute it was ablaze. The two squatters were dragged away and left bound in the chaparral to work themselves free. Move fast, boys, counseled Bowie as he galloped with his men down The whole nest will be the river. awake after that shot. A quarter of a mile brought them to the second cabin. It was sounded, searched, found empty, and burned. Guess some of the boys skedaddled, suggested Pardaloe. Hows your arm, Henry? ur Monterey. Bowie knocked with the butt of his pistol on the flimsy door. Hello! Inside there, boys! Hello! he fainter. Bowies mind worked fast. He passed his rifle to the nearest Spread out and charge em, boys. A fight inside is our only chance, he shouted. Scatter. Spreading into a fan, they dashed forward. A second surprise greeted them at the stockade a burst of A vaquero was knocked gunfire. from his saddle ; a horse went down. Bowie and his two Texans galloped through the flimsy stockade to find themselves facing five fighting men. They emptied their pistols, sprang from their saddles and rushed the squatters, who, clubbing their rifles, laid hotly about them. But they were dealing with men familiar with every trick of frontier fighting, and d Texthe knives of the ans turned the tide. , One of the squatters went down, out. Two of them ran for the cabin, and the remaining two threw up their hands. Pricking them significantly, the Texan pushed them as unwilling shields toward the shack. A gunshot flashed from the cabin. The squatter hostages yelled to the defenders not to shoot and, leaping to the shack door, Pardaloe crashed it in and jumped aside. There was no further fire from within. The vaqueros came up with loaded rifles, torches were lighted, and the men followed their leaders Suitor Found the Girl of That Understanding Typt on. All right. Bleeding? Not much. Got it tied pretty well? Good enough for tonight. Come Theres another shack, said Look out! Pardaloe suddenly. A burst of gunfire flashed from the chaparral next the river. Slugs whistled through the air. Felipe was hit but not badly. Charge em! shouted Bowie, and he spurred at the thicket. They rode down the ambush before the three men within it could reload. Short work was made. Two of the men were stopped and bound. The third, dodging rapidly through the brush, was pursued by Simmie out of the jungle, jerked from his feet by a lariat, and finally trussed up with his companions. Their rifles were hunted up in the thicket, found and thrown into the river. Shack after shack of that group was challenged and emptied. Each squatter was allowed to save what he had. The ranch horses they had stolen were claimed by Pedro, but Bowie quickly repaired his tactical error in claiming them. Where cart a man get to on foot in this country, Pedro? We want em to travel fast and far. Give em the horses. At a point where the river, fed by confluents, broadened, and along the slope running up toward, the hills, lay some of the choicest field acres of the Guadalupe rancho. Here Blood, as squatter chief, had fixed m to mr the better. coHsnrnnon PROPER W due to lack of IN THE DIET IS 10 OF CORRECT THE CAUSE TROUBLE WITH A DELICIOUS CEREAL, KBJUOG&'Sry- THE - . ALL'BRAM. . EAT IT EVERY OA y mOF WATER. DRIHK PLENTY Live Now inside. An Indian woman, strapped and gagged, lay on the floor. Pedro cut her bonds. She had been kidnaped from the mission. Two men, she told them, had bound and gagged (her when she had tried to escape. Who were they? Where were they? Bowie tried to learn. He flung open The moonlight the back door. streamed in. A rifle shot rang out and tore into the lintel above his head. It was from the woods and, He who postpones the hour of living as he ought is like the rustic who waits for the river to pass along before he crosses; but it glides on and will glide on fo- low? Needed Opposition A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man; kites ie. rise against, not with, the as Pardaloe shoved a screaming squatter into the doorway, a second shot came from the woods. Hold on, Ben, protested Bowie, pulling the squatter victim away. Do you want to murder the fel- Just want to see how many there is up there shooting, said Pardaloe amiably. And without hesitation he stepped into the doorway himself. No shot greeted him. Juss I thought; jus two uv em there. Look here, he said, shakwhos ing the squatter savagely, up in the woods? Must be Deaf Peterson n the captain, rever. and Peterson, PRODUCTION BRED, rode the fresher horses; they were more familiar with the country. And their pursuers, not able at every moment to keep their eyes on the chase and dodge among the willows and laurels, found their hands full. (TO BE CONTINUED ) BRED, MOUNTAIN . . . It NEW HAMPSHIRE BARRED ROCKS WHITE BOCKS BUFF ORPINGTONS WHITE WYANDOTTI CORNISH GAMES WHITE GIANTS BROWN LEGHORNS LIGHT BRAHMAS Bowie. ing Blood. The squatters - AND ACCLIMATED loe. long-beard- -- - nicciSr-W. . Blood commented Parda- Get to the horses, exclaimed Well see how much fight there is in those fellows. Pedro, look after the woman. Burn the shack and ride after us. That timber is thin; not much chance to hide. Go!" The run, with Pardaloe and the Simmie at Bowies heels, was across an open meadow that exposed the riders to rifle fire. This was held back until the three men were fair moonlight targets. But the beads were drawn on men spurring hard and heading straight at the enemy. The squatter rifles blazed. Blood, especially, was accounted a dead shot, but the odds that night were against marksmanship from the wood. Pardaloes horse stumbled. His knees crumpled, and Pardaloe took a cropper. Man and beast rolled violently along the ground. Simmie took a flesh wound under his right arm. Bowie, riding faster, reached the timber before the squatters could reload. Blood and his companion made no stand. Bowie caught sight of the two dashing through the trees on horseback and gave chase to the one closest. Simmie, more enraged than seriously hurt, took after the other. It chanced that Peterson was Simmies quarry; Bowie was chas- - wind.-Mab- the squatter mumbled. Juss I thought, Henry Horace. Hatched RIGHT. Delivered FRESH. One night delivery ta all intermonntain poll! Poults Mammoth Bronze Turkey Priced Sic to 50e each delivered. Write, Wire or Call for FREE IllnrirtW Circnlar. 1 RAMSHAWS UTAH PIONEER HATCH EM I SALT LAKH CITY. UTAH WNU 2Mj W . Faulty Memory ry one complains of the bad- - VVHEN kidneys function bad y aid Yt you suffer a nagging backache, with dizziness, burning, scanty or loo frequent urination ana getting up night; when you feel tired, nervoi, alt upset , use Doans Pills. 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