Show rimrock R i m r 0 C k T trai rai DADDY SYNOPSIS to the th three br bar ranch arizona owned jointly by sandy bourke mormon peters petera and Sod water sWater sam manning A one fine collie makes its if way in the th last stages dacej of 0 exhaustion inscription on its collar ays says its it name li is grit property of P casey scenting ft a desert tragedy tri Leedy bourke and sam bm mount and let the tb doi dog lend lead them the two flod find a dying min man patrick casey pinned under an overturned wagon kneeling beside the abe wagon to him young daughter molly holly fifteen 1 CHAPTER 11 continued 2 yore tore badr dad 7 he asked kneeling by the girl yes tes she stood up slight blight and straight with limbs and body just curving into womanhood the was tuckered cuvi out she said or iad dad cud have made it they have no strength left phout food or water the d d rowl rora jest slid out from under dad made me lump jump I 1 figg fingered ered he be was eoin to but bat his bad leg must have caught in the brake we slid ud over like water slides glides over a rock he have a h 1 1 chance As the she spoke them the oaths were merely emphasis she talked as had bad her father sandy nodded got an ax with the outfIt rl he be asked then turning to sam as the girl went round to the back ot of the fallen wagon and tumbled about A 0 he aint gone alt she announced through the rear opening of the canvas tilt mans alive sam caught it flirt of the pulse nave hate to pry up the wagon git that busted end of the tongue the girl handed an ax to sandy mutely watching them as sandy pried loose the port part of the tongue still bolted to the wagon getting it clear of the horses think you can drug drag out yore dad by the lalas daigs when we lift the body of the wagon he be asked her may not be able to hold it moraln a few se seconds may slip on us the levers Is short she stooped taking hold of a wrinkled boot in each hand band back of the heel A tear splashed down on one of them and she shook the salt water from her eyes impatiently as it if she had faced tragedy before and knew I 1 it must be looked at calmly the ne two men adjusted the boulders bowl ders they had set tor for fulcrums tul ful crums and shoved down on the stout pieces ot of ash their muscles bunching the veins standing out corded on their arms the wagon bed creaked lifted a little now grunted sandy snake him out the girl tugged stepping backward her pliant strength equal to the dead drag of the body sandy straining down saw a white beard appear stained with blood an aged seamed face hollow at cheek and temple sparse of 0 hair the flesh putty colored despite its tan grit leaped in and licked the quiet features as sam and sandy eased down the wagon whisky sam the girl sat cross legged her fathers head in her lap one hand smoothing his forehead while the other felt under his vest and shirt above his heart beart ne he aint gone alt she announced the old miners teeth were tight clenched but there were gaps in them through which the whisky sandy administered trickled daddy 1 daddy 1 it might have been the tender agony of the cry to which patrick casays dulling brain responded sending the message of his will along ithe the nerves to transmit a final summons iii ills body twit twitched elied he be choked swallowed opened gray eyes filmy with death brightening with intelligence as he saw his daughter bending over him the tace face of sandy above her shoulder the rray my eyes interrogated sandys long and earnestly until the light began to fade out of them and the wrinkled lids shuttered down another swallow ol of the raw spirits and they opened flatteringly again the lips hp moved soundlessly then while one hand groped waveringly upward to rest upon his daughters head bead sandy bandy bending low caught three syllables reputed repeated over and 6 dap a by J ALLAN DUNN of A man jf to 1146 H rate ele WA by 1 amba AH duan da pera tely mere ghosts of words taxing cruelly the last breath of tb the wheezing lungs beneath the battered ribs the final spurt of 0 the spirit molly mines P 1 IU ill look out for that pardner said bald sandy the eyelids fluttered buttered lutt ered the old hands bands fell away the jaw relaxed serenity came to the lined face and no little dignity for the first time the girl gave way lying prone sobbing out her grief while the two cowmen looked aside the bay horse began to groan and writhe got to kill that cavallo said sam in a whisper walt wait a minute the girl had quieted was kneeling with clasped hands lips moving silently prayer such as it was over she rose her fists tight closed striving to control her quivering chin doing it we got to bury him count of them d n buzzards well tend to that sandy ef you all 11 take the daws dawg on up to the not I 1 helped to bury jim clancy out in the desert IM coln to help bury dad its coln to be lonesome out here she twisted her mouth setting teeth into the lower up lip sharply as she gazed at the desolate cliffs the birds swinging their tireless expectant circles in the throat of the gorge see here miss said sandy while sam crawled into the wagon in search of the dead miners pick and shovel that now instead of uncovering riches would dig his grave how old air TOUT fifteen my names margaret molly for short same as my Ms ma ashes been dead twelve years well miss molly suppose you all 1111 come on to the three star to a spell with my two partners pard ners nn an me you do that an debbe we can fix things up and arrange about yore daddy well come back an git him an well make a place to him under our big cottonwoods cotton woods below the big spring molly C casey m sey gazed at him with such a sudden glow of gratitude in her eyes that sandy felt embarrassed ne he had been comforting a girl a boyish girl and here a woman looked at him with understanding yore sore sure a white man she said eald ill git even with you some time if I 1 work the bones of my fingers through the flesh to you thanks dont amount to a d n shout so methin back of em ru ill come through she put out her roughened little hand man fashion and sandy took it as sam emerged from the wagon with the tools the bay mare groaned and gave a shrill cry horribly human sam drew his gun putting down pick and shovel sandy picked up the tools and moved toward sam as the bay collapsed to the merciful bullet the girl washed away as best she could the status stains of blood and travel from the dead face while sandy sounded with the pick tor for soll soil deep enough for a temporary grave the body would have to lie ile on the ledge overnight nothing but burial could save it from ma coyotes though the wagon might have baffled the buzzards the two set to work digging a shallow trench down to bedrock rolling up loose boulders bowl ders for a calm cairn lizards flirted la in and out of the crevices as the miner was laid in hla his temporary grave the girl dry eyed again she had brought a little workbox from the wagon of mahogany studded with disks of pearl in brass mountings out of this she produced a handkerchief of soft china silk brocade its white turned yellow with age this she spread over her fathers features showing strangely distinct in the falling light 1 I dont want the dirt pr essin on his face she said from the dead mans clothes sandy and sam had bad taken the few personal belongings from the inner pocket of the vest nest some papers that sandy knew for location claims want to take some duds derlong to the ranch he asked molly we can bring in the rest of the stuff staff later got to shack derlong its giten gattin dark brought an extry haass with us can you rider ride some I 1 aint had much chance dont know how the marell stand yore skirt if she wont pack you ill fix fir that she sh clambered into the wagon before she came out with her bundle they piled the calm cairn a mask of broken rimrock rim rock heavy enough to foil the scratching of the coyotes it looked to sandy as it the girl had changed into a boy the slender figure figare silhouetted agal against ast the afterglow softly pulsing masses of fiery cloud above the top of the mesa was dressed in jean overalls a wide rimmed hat hiding biding length of hair 1 I reckon I 1 can fool that haass of now she sh said 1 I ge nally dress thi copt when we expect to go nigh the settlements or a ranch where we aim to visit the gray mare made no bother and oon they were riding down toward the strip of bad lands sandy let the collie go afoot for the time it was close to midnight when they reached the home ranch riding past the out buildings the bunkhouse bun khoma of tho th twinkled th the 0 cook men where a light shack the corrals corral up to the main house there they alighted sandy lifted molly from the saddle and carried her up the steps across the porch of the living kicking open the door room where the tha embers of a atre glowed there was wan no other light in but there was sufficient the big room to show the great form of mormon stowed away in a chair asleep and snoring sam struck it a match and lit a lamp ile he struck mormon mightily between hla his shoulders Ga gaail wil gasped the heavy partner 1 I been n sleep hut flat theres a kittle of liot bot wilter sandy Y librea li erea the what in time are you A gel eel or a boyr boy this Is miss molly casey said bald sandy gravely setting getting down the girl miss casey this Is 1 mr peters pete mormon miss molly Is coln to tio up to the three star for a bit mormon a little sheepish at the suddenly developing age of the girl as aa she shook hands with him recovered himself and beamed at her yore tore sure awe welcome he said boss boas hired you cowgirl or cooer cook sandy noticed the girls lip quiver and he slipped an arm ana about her shoulders iio he was not woman shy alth ith this girl who needed help and who seemed a boy dont you yon take no notice of him an his klodin he be said well make ke him rustle some grub to all of us an then we all ill 11 turn in ru ill show you yore room up the stairs an the last door on the right heres some matches theres a lamp on the bureau up there olve give you a call when suppers ready he led her to the door and gave her a friendly little shove guessing that she wanted to be alone the kids lost her father lost most everything icett her dawg he said eald to mormon thought we might adopt her sort of then I 1 thought debbe wed hire her for mascot lost her daddy an me horman in an bryin to kid herl her I 1 I 1 aint got the sense of a drowned gopher sometimes said mormon contritely ashes game plumb through aint she san sam stands right up to trouble 7 you ou bet mormon open up op a can of greengas greengages gre engages will ye I 1 reckon recko n ashes got a sweet tooth same as me molly casey was not through standing up to trouble they coaxed her to eat and she managed to make a meal that satisfied them then she got up to go to her room with grit nuzzling close to her her fingers in his ruff twisting nervously at the strands of hair do you reckon she asked the three partners that dad knows be h fooled roe me when he told me to jump if id known he eudna git clear rd id have stuck same as he would if I 1 was caught do you reckon he knows that now nowr r rd id be surprised it if he 11 said sandy sandr gravely you did wint what he wonted wanted anyway she looked at them gravely and went lent out Do dotherine therin about playful square in jumpie jum pin said sandy that gel Is square on all twelve eidnes 11 howd you come to know so much about gels asked mormon me I 1 dont know the first thing about em prot protested ested sandy no moren any man put in sam apt its mormon hes sure had bad the ermi lence 11 experience said bald mormon with a yawn may teach a man wheres where the what in time tim 0 are you tota a gel or a boy boya about mules but not no I 1 air that fetter feller in the who says 1 I learned about wim in en fro from in er was braggin brag gin now this gel of ca beya pears like abat her dad ud call a good prospect but you cant tell fools gold la Is bright enough but you cant change it to tho the real tuft stuff no matter how you polish it mormon you calculated to handle wl namen this all gel Is game as they make lem em an I 1 reckon shea right sweet if she ony gits gite a chance leastwise I 1 see several signs of pay dirt this afternoon ark an evenow as I 1 reckon sandy done the same shea ashes been trall ln her dad all over h i 1 on an creation like him shearin sw earin lika ilka him acta atla ima uk h hint never a M kotbin different AU she needs Is chance the idee in on mer iney asked mormon shea sh she e Is welcome as a grams la in th aint no na one sot got a bircer heart hean abs tbs tha me m fo kids no one got a bigger heart said sam caustically nor ton non sala sni aller lier brain all engine aw an no gas gaio une line in the tank tanar I 1 shea an orphan went on bandy she aint got a cent that I 1 ka know 0 of the claims her old dad mentioned aint no good because in the tin place have to be worked it they was second place over to dynamite an the sharps say gay tn mites a lawor all she ahe has in ill glim Is 13 the dawg some daggi comes la in from the desert an takes takei us ua out to her nn an pat casey bim ayin ef E it been to the dawg shed have stayed there to my notion got some gome sort ot of idee itlie shed deserted ship et ef she bh stuck till it was too late to her bar to crawl out ot of that slit silt in the laeal shea fifteen an ashes got tenie sense ten ie figger we better tam in right now an hold bold a powwow pow wow with the gel ter second the motion said sam third IV it said mormon and the three musketeer of ills th range went off to bed CHAPTER ill III M molly ol 01 ly molly came down next morning la in the faded blue gingham sandy marked how worn it was and marked an item in his mind clothes Us H smiled at her with the sudden show ho ing of his sound white teeth that made many friends she was muck macli too young too frank too like a boy to affect him with a any of his woman shyness molly had bad a nose a wide mouth irish eyes of blue that were tar far apart and crystal clear freckles and a lot of brown hair that she wore won in a long braid wound twice about hw her well shaped bead she was a combination of curves and angles of 0 well rounded neck and arms and legs with collar bones and hips over apparent immature but not awkward grit entering with her divided his attentions among the men shoving i a moist nose at last into sandys palm pain and lying down obed obedient lent hla his tall thumping amicably fo a sheep dawg said mormon he sure shapes fine hollys eyes flashed me he dont know hes a she protested hes never even seen one leu less it was a mountain sheep way up op against the skyline dont dola you like ui him hemr 1 I like him fine mormon answered hurriedly elnel fin el et ef you all we cud shack on I 1 cud git work down to the settle settlements mints I 1 reckon I 1 dont aim to put you out any ive been tb Inkin that less you yon should happen to want a woman to run the tt house bouse I 1 dont know much about house housekeeping keepin but I 1 cud ram its i a womans comans job chasan dirt I 1 can call cook some dad used to say my camp bread an biscuits was fine I 1 cud earn what I 1 est eat I 1 reckon an what grit ud eat we dont aim to stay unless we pay someway there was a touch of fire to her independence a chip on the shoulder of her pride the three partners recognized and respected see here molly casey sandy u used sed exactly the same tone and manner he be would have taken with a boy yore way of lookin at it then thea theres our side you figger yore dal dad was a good miner I 1 reckons the last two words he says wai wa molly and mines I 1 give him my word then and there like hire he be would have to me to watch atch out for yore interests my word Is my pard nere word rm fm to gamble those claims of pan out some day until they do et ef you all ill 11 wy stay on at a the three star stop mormon |