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Show THE BULLETIN WW- S3 - M&&MSw U LI EJ 12J U U xx 11 D. APPl ETON CENTURY CO. By H. -- THE STORY THUS FAR Summoned to tht C C ranch In central Walt Candy la on Nevada, deiert-wihti way to help hia old range partner, Bill Holllster. Hiding through unfamiliar country, Walt la ttopped abort by a girl wno noma a rine in firing position, sue knows him, telle him how to get to the ranch, and tella him that they will meet again. Walt la allowed to ride on. Within a quarter of a mile from hia destination, Walt Is stopped again. This time by a grotesque, misshapen man who tella him to get out and then tella him the CC crew la in Emigrant, the closest town, for an Inquest Someone has been murdered. Riding to the inquest in Emigrant, Walt leaves hia horse at the livery table. CHAPTER III Continued Walt Candy flipped the rclni over Sunspot'i head. "Hay," he directed briefly. "No grain." "Yea, iir," said the attendant. By the limp gray hat, peaked up Mexican fashion, he knew this stranger was from near the border. His eyes slid over the tanned poker face, down the straight hard length of body, back to the face. Somehow, though he did not want to, he had He stretched, turning his head. and saw Bill Holllster on the wit ness bench up front Across less than 20 feet their eyes met Faintly Walt grinned. Holliiter's dark stare fixed upon him, held, swept on without the slightest recognition. For a deeply puzzled moment Walt Candy waited, and then he said. "Sweet Agnes!" Walt looked up again toward Bill Hollister. His lank border partner sat on the bench placed against the room's left partition, and with him were five other figures who seemed to be the main witnesses at this inquest One was the girL By what headlong riding, and by what short cut she had reached here, he could only guess. Every range has its secret trails. While he had gone on to the CC ranch, following her direction and had talked to the deformed man there, she had beaten him into Emigrant by perhaps an hour. Why such riding? And what had she been doing there at the spring? Those questions would have to be answered. Even so early, hardly before arriving in this country, he had stumbled upon something. It came to Walt Gandy with a quickening beat of his blood that the easy living of his past two years was done. As if drawn by the fixed intensity of his gaze the girl lifted her head. It was a slow wondering movement; she turned, and then her lips part ed. She wet them with a quick dart of her tongue, the only visible sign of some sudden emotion, whether of surprise or dismay he could not telL The meeting of their eyes lasted no more than an Instant yet made a contact that to Walt Gandy was Li LI Li SM wnu service C WIRE Gandy, watching narrowly from bis aisle seat that the sheriff of Emigrant County was deliberately driving toward some predetermined point Said Battle: "Now, PauL where had you been, before three o'clock yesterday, and who had you seen?" Until now, Cash Cameron had rested back against the wall shad owed in the thick air and half bid' den by the erect form of Bill Hol lister. His arms were folded across a massive chest; his head was bent He might have been dozing. Abruptly he straightened, and all of this cattleman, who, single-haned, had made himself powerful enough to be bitterly hated on the Emigrant range, shifted into view, d He was Id U big-bone- d and angular. Age WMim "Cameron himself," Battle stated, "said there was an argument Ain't that right Cash?" "I told you that" Cameron agreed. "If you wanted to know the whole of our talk, why didn't you bring Powell in here today?" "Because PowelL" said the sheriff pointedly, "wasn't to be got hold of. That's why." He continued with the boy. "You left them on Pine Knob and then what?" "I rode south looking for steers that we're moving to winter in the sink. Then I swung back clean around the Knob and got home about three and found Chino Drake, like I said." "And then?" Battle prompted, as Paul Champion bent his head and stared at the backs of his brown had stooped him a little. His hair hands. was white, long and unkempt "I yelled and rode to the house." Cash Cameron was smiling, an "Did you see anyone?" oddly gentle tolerance in deep blue one at all till I got around to "No eyes that had looked upon this same where Mr. Cameron's office is and grim struggle for seventy years; as if he had looked upon all this many opened his door. He hadn't heard times before, the deceit and mean me because he was writing at his to look at that face and meet its ness of men, understood it and desk." "Writ- "Uh huh!" said Battle. dark, compelling gaze. Hastily be blamed no one. But his face was in Had been he said again, "Yes, sir." doing anything strong, unyielding, with a stubborn "I'll be back." said Candy. "Keep mouth that moved sparingly under else?" him ready. Slip the cinch but leave For the second time, the cowboy a white mustache. the saddle on." He stepped to the He looked up at the cowboy. "It's turned an imploring gaze to his doorway and glanced along the all right PauL" he said. "Tell them boss; and again Cash Cameron told street. what you know." Then his blue gaze him quietly: "Give them what you Walt crossed the street, moved dropped across the table to Sheriff know, PauL It's all right" A fighting look crossed the young quickly on into the next block and Battle. "Seems to me, Ed," he of. reached a press of men that overfered, "that you are almighty ribbed face. The boy pivoted to Sheriff flowed from the audience Inside up over the killing of a ranch cook. Battle. "He had been cleaning a Gospel Hall. The Hall was a store You're sort of pushing this inquest gun. I smelled oil, and a rifle was building with sales counters rearen't you?" standing near the desk, and Mr. moved, and through the glass front Ed Battle bristled. "You're dang Cameron said to me, 'At last I got he could look upon the pack within. that coyote, PauL' Then right I ami" A drifting haze of cigarette smoke "Sure you know what you're driv I told him that Chino Drake was filled the room. There was nothing ing at?" the ranchman asked in his dead." definite to be made out over the During a minute that seemed to low quiet voice. heads of those seated upon the gos Walt Gandy as long as an hour, ana mothink "You know what next don't I I'm cnargea electric, pel benches. For a time he stood ment she turned her brown head driving at Cameron?" Battle coun- the room hung in heavy silence. He hading bis face with both hands, and look did at not him away again. tered. "WelL I do! And I'll state could have heard his heart beat peering in, yet only vaguely saw but every sense was focused up The coroner had just called a new the principal figures up front front where each figure on the plat smooth-faceand a witness, young, behind a where, long table, the cor was caught and fixed as moform was oner was putting his questions. cowboy standing now at the tionless as stone Sheriff Battle He thrust farther In among the front of the room. There was no hunched forward on the edge of his watchers at the doorway; asked as witness box. A long table had been chair, Coroner Daggett halfway a ranchman turned to look at him. pushed out from the rear wall. Bealong the table from him, scowling sat decided hind a it thin a person with "Inquest anything yet?1 impatiently, young Paul Champion The man spat down between his sour face who plainly wished to boot toes. "Nothin to decide, mis give his verdict and be done. But standing at the table end and be hind him on the witness bench. Cash ter. Cash Cameron has got himself on his left, a big man with heavy Cameron, his brown haired girL and In a hole!" jowls tipped his chair back against Bill Hollister. Grim satisfaction rang in the the partition, scowled importantly voice, and Walt Candy shifted his and rumbled questions in a voice Ponderously Ed Battle rose. He gaze away, brown eyes narrowing. that came from his stomach. He pointed to the table top near the What was this now? Cash Cameron wore the badge of sheriff. The cowC C cowboy. "Is that the gun?" was In a hole. The fellow here was boy looked scared. He was less A creaking of benches sounded In glad of it! than twenty, a likeable kid. 111 at the room. With others around him, - His mind flicked over what Bill ease before the hard glare of the Walt stretched to look. An assort Holllster had written about Camer law. ment of objects lay on the table. on, the cattleman who had made The sheriff aimed a thick finger evidence In the killing. But largest himself king of this range not by the at him. "Now among them was a rifle, lever-a- c remember, Paul," old method of gunplay, but by the he admonished, "where the kind that tion, you are. power of the ready dollar. "Cash' means jalL You tell the cowmen, the range over, carry in a Perjury was his byword and had become scabbard slung beneath the stirrup truth, exactly what you seen and his name. He avoided credit as if it when. The of their saddles. law ain't asking you to might be something that crawled go against your boss, but the law "Is It?" Battle repeated. and had rattles on its taiL Owed wants facts. You understand?" "Yes." no one; let no one owe him. "Cash The boy's face red sir." "Yes, With startling suddenness Coroner on the " was his expres- dened. Too many eyes were fo Daggett leaped to his feet He sion. "Cash, I'm offering." "How cused upon him. swung out a thin arm. "Battle, much, for cash?" 'All right then," the sheriff rum you're wasting the county's time! Banks and bankers he had no use X won't listen to any more! You for. Where he kept his hoard was bled. "Daggett So ahead." The coroner a down laid told me you had a case worked up, cigarette. a frequent matter of lonely camp-fir- e He stir on the far edge of the and you've got nothing. You have put his questions as a matter of speculation. No one knew; but crowd tamed him. his face thin a rifle, but this bullet that came routine, impatient he had it and many a small ranch"Your from the body didn't come from name Paul is Champion? for cathad sold er, pinched money, right here before this roomful, that that gun! We tested it This hear"Yes. the said sir," boy. tle and land to Cameron because of if what I know ain't brought out can be reopened when you have "You work for Cash Cameron? ing dollars ready on the spot Naturally uncover I'll of it myself now, proof facts. Now it's closed." "Yes, sir." within twenty-fou- r hours!" they sold cheap, and Cash Cameron "How Ed Battle swayed. Helplessly he long?" took the profit He turned toward his voters to "Four, no, five years, ever since let that take effect "A ranch cook stood looking down, concentrating Cameron, Walt Candy knew, was ' on the square. At least Bill Hollls- my dad died, and Cash, Mr. Cam is a human, ain't he?" he asked with a hard scowl as if In the of his mind, two things that process ter had given him no reason to be eron took me" the crowd. "And no human is go'Never mind," Coroner Daggett did not hook up should hook up lieve otherwise. Yet sooner or later killed In to this be even county, ing a man like that made enemies. His cut in. "You were the one who on the C C, without somebody anyway. There was the rifle that found the Cash Cameron had been body?" growth would stick In the craws of Furthermore," he ac- there was the rifle bullet cleaning; scorching. that had "Yes. sir." those who. had been forced by circused, "someone in this inquest is killed a man. That bullet ought to cumstance to sell to him. They 'Tell exactly when." like hell!" lying have come from that gun! would hold on at the fringes of his "About . . ." Cameron was up onto his feet Plainly It hadn't for Coroner Dagincreasing domain, cursing their The sheriff interrupted. "Exact "Look here" his was own luck and hoping for a day when gett ly!" he warned, "I don't mean you. Cash," said Battle closing his portfolio. head. hia would break. swung heavy Coroner Daggett faced along the the sheriff hastily. "You better sit A stir on the far edge of the crowd table to him. "See here. Battle," down and wait till I get through "Hold on!" he thundered. "The law turned him. A ranchman, with two he complained a little angrily. with this ain't satisfied here. You hold on a boy." women In starched white dresses minute. I got one party I want to we've had aU this. Let's finish." Cameron crouched back onto his and a small boy, was pushing into The sheriff turned question again. PauL you sit down. hitched ponderously bench. Ed Battle his chair the outer air from Gospel HalL and stared at the thin man. I'd like for you to come Miss Helen, For a forward. "We'll get along quicker There was a shifting of men to moment the two back here on the stand." answer I county and if departments you question, yes take their places in the room. It traded The girl shifted the scowling looks. Then Sher or no, Paul. We've had Cameron's seemed a chance of forcing an en iff Battle said. "The law ain't satis story; we'll see if yours checks. hat from her lap to the floor, and trance. Walt stepped back and fied." He again confronted the boy. Yesterday noon you were riding then in rising, turned her face out walked around. over the crowd. Her head moved He had to pass halfway across "PauL you tell exactly what time Pine Knob and met Cameron there. slowly; but her eyes darted. In a found Chino Drake!" huh?" the street to skirt the overflow of you glance they found the aisle seat My watch," said the cowboy flat "Yes," the cowboy answered. men, and there in the open the Walt Gandy met them and at once, busted." "was "And Forest Ranger Sam Powell for that instant across the fifteen constant shift of his eye was sud- ly, Snorted laughter broke over the was with him, that right?" denly caught and held farther along room. feet or less that separated him from Boots scuffed and there "Yes." the block. this girL he felt a pull toward her came a babble of talk as tension Unbelieving, he stopped dead still, was Something like the tremor of an as strongly as if she had reached relieved. momentarily for a roan horse stood not fifty his heavy fist on electric current ran through the out her hand. Something of the The law paces from him. There were other the table. banged Silence followed instant- - packed room at Ed Battle's sudden telegraphic bond that years togethroans in town, sure; roans on any flinging into the inquest the name of er had established between himself range were as common as loaded ly.The a United States forest ranger. Walt and Bill Hollister, seemed Instant' young cowboy was talking. dice. But this one was unmistakaGandy felt it even before the low ly alive behind the eyes of Helen In o'clock. was three 'It about ble. buzz of voices rose about him. Cameron. That darting look was an How long it had been standing the morning I had turned water Into said a appeaL "There now!" and the stranger coming vegetable patch, there he couldn't say. Not for very seated at his side. I to about back Gandy edged forward on his the ranch three, and been it had ridden hard. long, Helen Cameron reached the bench. onto to a Walt went the water in stared he shift front Puzzled, yet It was wet Its flanks still heaved A cough shook her slim from running. Then Candy's meas- corn row. Maybe Chino Drake was was beginning to see deeper into platform. she pressed a handkerand men corn us some these the to wanted for cook that warfare body, up going uring eye fixed upon the stirrup, doubled a little, and he saw beyond doubt that it our supper, because he was there to carry, against Cash Cameron. chief to her lips, herself and national row flour an in in against the the the for sack and supported empty Cheap grazing was just long enough for the legs was near him. But I knew he was est was an important and touchy table as if dizzy in the thick, stingof a medium-size- d girL His turn from the horse was dead because his face was blue, and factor almost everywhere. Cameron ing air. must control a big slice here, beNoticeably a change had come abrupt and he leaned against the I saw the bullet hole." d as these 'Where?" Sheriff Battle prod ing allotted forest grass in propor- over the room. backs of men, one shoulder edging in among them. ded, taking the inquest into his own tion to the number of cattle he Emigrant ranchers were, and bithands. "Where was that bullet hole, owned. There was a rub. Walt ter against the power of Cash Camand which way was Chino Drake Gandy drew a full breath, exhaled eron, they could not hold back the CiIAFTEB IV slowly, having for the moment a softening of their looks as they lying?" "The hole was in his forehead on vision of how very far this thing watched Cameron's daughter. She HALL was a low. GOSPEL did not draw their pity, but she Benches without the right side, and Chino was lying might go or had already gone. The low buzz died and Ed Battle drew out of them the best of their backs crossed it leaving a narrow up the slope." aisle down the middle. At the far 'Uh huh!" Battle emphasized. continued: "Cameron and Ranger respect They admired her, she was end a platform was raised about 'So the bullet hnd come from those Powell was arguing about grass one of their own; and beyond that six inches. Two small windows gave pine trees to the right of the garden privileges for C C cattle next sum- she was an unforgettably attractive dim light from the right side. The patch." mer, wasn't they?" girl standing there quietly now, left side was solid against the ad'I only heard them talking," said poised, waiting for the law to begin. This was not a question, and as Battle pushed on. it seemed to Walt the bey. joining building. (TO BE COSTAL ED) - calf-killin- g d -- short-barrele- barrel-head,- gruff-voice- d. brown-haire- HOW T9. SEW lr Ruth Wyeth Spears mm. FINISHED RUG 2 CORNFLOWER BLUE 3 BROWN AND GREEN MIXED ONE day a came from snap-sho- t a reader showing a half dozen braided rag rugs spread out on the grass. No two were alike. I thought this one with a scalloped border was particularly interest ing and the maker wrote me that the scallops do stay flat on the floor. She uses wool rags and frequently dyes them the colors she wants. She cuts or tears them into strips an inch or more wide, according to the weight of the material and then braids them The braided strips are tightly. sewn together with double carpet thread and she keeps the work flat on the table all the time she is sewing. For this rug, the center row is IS inches long. Sew around and around this, using the colors indicated. When the oval is 31 inches long and 16 inches wide, divide it evenly around the edge with pins about five inches apart Now, sew a row around with a loop at each pin. Sew the next three rows around these loops easing the braiding in just enough to keep the work flat. e NOTE: "The Rug That Grew Up With the Family" is another idea. Diinteresting rections are in Mrs. Spears' Book 3, which also tells how to make spool shelves; streamlining an old style bed; and many other useful ideas. Write Mrs. Spears today, enclosing 10 cents in coin and book No. 3 will be sent to you by return mail. rug-maki- ng HES. KDTH WYETH SPEAKS Drawer IS Bedford Hills New Terk Enclose 10 cents for Book No. a, Name ..................... Address Items of Interest to the Housewife AROUND .h. HOUSE The cookie cutter will not stick Chopped cooked prunes mixed with peanut butter or cottage and gum up if dipped in flour becheese makes a good sandwich fore cutting the dough. spread. iron beds can easbe ily shades camouflaged by putting atlamp with a clou dampened with olive tractive slipcovers over the ends. oil. It will remove all soil and To keep mashed potatoes hot, will restore the former freshness. place them in a tightly covered kettle The son should not be allowed over set in a pan of hot water a low heat. to shine directly on begonias or have plants that large, rather soft leaves when leaves are wet. If water is left on leaves, they are likely to burn. ed Wipe off parchment Grease spilled on a hardwood kitchen floor may be quickly removed by pouring kerosene over the spot. When the kerosene evaporates, the grease will have disIt, Motfierl appeared. Don't clean and polish, fool Do BOTH at once. Add a tablespoon each of preAn lovely eta ptliib her furniture dim rltMmt (Lb A II U pared horseradish and mustard to ana flnnn Mllady half a cup of whipped cream. she used to do to wtah mud in AND tbtm . i:.k. l i if tnffTSff. Serve with ham, veal or pork. nunnara. . .was SWT puuta iws O-Ce- dar 1 Intfvmd. - naav w ar wwaBBst - PnK.k la VM f vavMSMSl mam MaMAIW Washing machine hints: Always turn off the machine if you are Your utigMtrlmd dealer ulii genuine suddenly called away. The aver age tubful of clothing requires six minutes for ordinary washing iblish and 10 minutes for badly soiled ar CUANEIS AND ticles, such as overalls. Change MOPt, WAX, DUSTflt, AND MOTH I KAY the water twice in laundering soiled articles such as rugs and Better a Jewel play suits. Never overcrowd the Better a diamond with fls washing machine, since the garments in it may be torn. than a pebble withoutConfudus. edar bt ak d Hard-face- i . 24-"X3-9" V .... hiwWJ Ciwr. WO br Krtlan C MADI way IT RIUOOO'S IN |