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Show IS g-ANGf QRD OF THE THREEBARS j I 'd By KATE and VT3QIB D BOYIgSj -.-. -Qght. A a Mc01nrg & Oo lflQ7 ( I' II . CHAPTER XX. ' (-'n Tlie' llltlo coimly seal awoke hi- Uio i A morning- lo a -atratwo sfghi. The atonn i ) 1'ad not abated. The, wind was still ; jta hlowlntr ai. blizzard rUe oft the nortli- iS t 11111?, ;iml line, "icy snow wns swltl-:M swltl-:M .j'lG sothlckly tlirouplt the cold nfr that I 'M vision was obsiructcU. Jiulldiitg." were m dIatlnKilshablo only ns shadows sliowlnp ! inintly tbroiish a heavy wliltn veil. The jS Ihonnoniotcr had goic many tlesreos be-W be-W low the ::ero mark. It wa .steadily rcrnw- Just colder. TIu older inhabitants said it, i $ would surely break the rtctird the com-1.1 com-1.1 -Mi Immense lire luid been built In tho ijt ltllntT-room. Thiiluji- Mary and Louise f repaired. Hero- they wero Joined by f Dale. J-aiiRford. and Gordon. Mi "rou should be out ut tho ranch look-I look-I 3 Inir after your poor cuttle, . Jlr. Lans-rord." Lans-rord." siUcl Mary, smillnnly. She oould Ij j bo llnht-liearted now sluco a llttlo soli so-li J crct had been whlspen:-d to her last night UJ at a lea party where no tea had boon m drdnk. Lansford bad uravltatod toward 9; her" as, nam rally as stool to a magnet. Hit Klsvugged bis his shoulders and then 31 "The Scribe will do every thing' that ran 1 done. Honust. now. did von think wjM (pIk trial could be pulled oir without BEKjI a !!'y'1 there :an ha no trial today.'" Bnjj'-j L '.t''i jo''rc;i,n t,UJ courtnollse burned j HfVjt''; "If yon did. wo arc all dreamers alike." KSl "'Then bov can yon hold court?" Wlr; "Wo have sone back to the time when "Faf' church, and state were one and Insepa- bftil ' rablo, and eciirt convenes at 10 o'clock HSUi i shnii? in the mooting bouse," he said. BX 1 all0"'56 Wa lcKlkm;;r w-,,l aml mlser- "Vou are not contemplating' rumilnsr AE. away, aro you?" .vsked Gordon. "Thfa BbC is- unuaual weather really." nlt . r Sho looked at him with a pitiful wmllc Hffltj "I should liko to be strong and brave jPt'-flr and enduring ami c-apable like Marv. M'J "ou doa"t believe it, do you? It's true. K33rl though. But I can't. Tm weak and HBpfH, homesick -and cold, i oughi not to have MRSi,; como. I am not the kind. You said it, BfBliil too,, you know. I am going- home Just sis BMpjl? ifoon as this court Is over. 1 mean It." II,! i iiviu ivit jiu iiusiiiniii liiul. i.?or- 1 flon bowed his bond. Ilia face was whit". I U had como sooner that he had thought. I .All the records of tho work of vester- j t day had boon burned. There was" noth ing to do but begin at tho beginning j Jigklu. It was discouraging, uf.Intercst- Ing. Hut it had to be done. Dale positively posi-tively refused to adjourn. Tho jurvmcn j wero all hero. So tho little framr church , was? bargained for. Jf the firebugs had t thought to postpone events to gniu f' time by lost night s work, they would j i tind thcmselveu very greatly mistaken. The eliurch was Ion? and narrow like a j country sclmolhouse, and rather ioomv, 'i considering the elzc of the town. It had precise windows also like '" a count ry ptrhoolhouse, four on the wost side. A through whicii the line snow was drift ing: four opposite. The storm kept few ; at home with the exception of the peo ple from across the river. There were enough staying In the town to fill tho room to lis utomst limits. Standing room was at si premium. The entry was j crowded. Men- not able to get iir plowed buek through the outtliife' wind and snow only to return presently to sec If tho ' situation had changed nny during their brief absence. s?o all the work of yes- . terday was gone over again. f .Mingled with the howl und bluster of ! the wind, and the swirl and swish of tho V snow drifting outside dujing the small hours or last nigh I, sometimes had been distinguishable the solemn sound of heavy steps running likened somewhat to, the ti-nmp of troops marching on tho , t doublc-fiulck. To some to whom this ' sound was borne was its meaning clear, but others wondered, until davlight mado i it clear to all. The sorry day predicted or thfj cattle had come. The town was J f" 1 of cattle They hugged tho south Fide or the buildings standing- In stolid patience with drooping heads. Never a j .structure in tho wholo town house or " store or bam or saloon but was wind- j Tircak for some forlorn bunch huddled 1 together, their faces always turned to the southeast, for tho wind went, that J way. It was an odd sight It was also IRIm a. pitiful one. Iltmdrods had run with few. 1 the wind from the higher range altl-tude, altl-tude, seeking the protection of the bluffs. fMl river only stopped the blind, on- MM'S impetus. The. flat where the camps f4L had beou might have been a close cor- IflM ral, so thickly were the animals crowded wm'cA together, thoir faces turnel uncompro- kJm mislngly with the wind. flWfl "But the most pathetic part of the 3it- UM-4 nation mado Itself felt later in the day Flfj - when tho crying need of ' food for this J.3J vast herd began to bo a serious menace. Im ? htan'atlon stared these hundreds of cat- fl . tli in the face. Men felt this grimly. l it was out or tho question "to at- gWU tempt to drive- them back lo the grass Vml lauds in the teeth of the storm. Xoth- ii 9K inS could be done that day at least. Hut r'jfl' duiiner the second night the wind fell IllU away, tho snow ceased. Morning dawned tffr?J cIWir, still, and stlngingly cold, and the Iin 5U" camo"JI with a goodly following of lift ?x,Pa?Fls' Ten such a sight greeted thc- WZ.- inhabitants of tho little town as per- B baps Uioy had never seen before and ft ft- yet thty had seen many things having Lit: J? with cattle. -There. Was ilctfe grass fnii Y1 V town, for them, hut every little Ml1 leaI spear that ha1 Jived and died in the protection of the sidewalk or In out-of- :'- the-way corners liad heon ravenously Ml Spcrt- Vhere snow hud drifted over a 1 Place. It had been pawed aside. , i : Whore there had been some grass, south A ; ' of town and cast, the gTound was as if, f , naketl now as tiiough it had been peeled. ',j I'.vor bit of stiuw had been eaten from W-Hl, manure piles, so that only pawed-ovcr wjm rnonnds oi pulverized dust remained. C' n(Fj Garbage heaps looked as if tlicre hud K a. ??cu u general spring cleaning- up. And n.-M cre was nothing more now. Evcrv N VCt i -,,CUP .f refuse, every grass plot had been IT fS.'" rnnsackc-d thero was nothing left for llSHrJ those hundreds of stan-ing brutes. Many I i'Sl Jurors, held in waiting, begged permis- n :t won to leave, to drive their cattle home J heiicver practicable, tbego rcuuests f 3 wore gnuitcd. The aggregate loss to the i county would be enormous if the cattlo i were allowed to remain hore many more ; 1 days. Individual loss would - go hard :i Willi many of the small owners. The A p-M'f1 stupidly mode no move to return p.. tho grass lands of their own voll- . ' 'J tion. ; S Xator in the day. Uie number were .. ,. 4-omowhat Ihbinod. but things were hap- 1 ponlng In. the-littlo church room that IB.lff'5 mado men forget so concentrated w.ls the Interest within those four walls So close was the pack of people that' tlie rile of the room was allowed to sink In sinolderlng fjuict. The heavy air hi d been unbearable else. The snow that had been brought in cm tramping feet lav In Ittlc melted pools on tho rough tlbor- -" mij-. iuen lo.rgot to eat peanuts and wo men loifot Mo chow their gtim-Wonl one or two extremely nervous ones whose Jaws moved tho faster under the LKiiSl7.iBU??r,,u Jcu. "Along toward the 1st of last July i took a hike out tu the Indian eounti-y to buy a few head o' cattle. I trade considerable with the half-breeds around Grow creek and Lower Brule. They're always for sellin' and If it comes to I ishowdown never haggle much about the lucre it nil goes for snake-Juice. . any- JA,?!5 . &hany a'fnp- ''bout noon, and found there w-a.7 others ahead o' me. Yellow WoU . always was a popular cuss. There was Charlie Xightbird, Peta Monroe, Mon-roe, .Tessa Dig Cloud, and two or three others whose mugs I did not happen to ie onto., After our feed, we all strolled out to tho corral. Yellow "Wolf said he had bought a likely bunch from some English roller who was 'skipping the count ry-iarved out and homesick and hadn't put 'em on the range yet. Ilts said. J K wi3 the KngHuh feller's brand. I didn't biicpicion no underhand tleallu's Telinw Volfs always treated nio white before, eo I bargained for this hero ehnp and three or four others, and Ihen pulled out for homo driving the bunch. They fed at home lor a spell and then I decided to put 'em on the range. On the way I fell In with Ullh-Brown Ullh-Brown here. He was dead sot on bavin' Hie Jot to fill In the chinks of the two carloads ho was lihlppln', so I up mid lets hint Jiavo 'em. I showed hhn this here blll-o'-salc from Yellow "Wolf ami made him out one from me, and that' was all there was to It- fie rode on lo Volpen. and I turned on my trail" It. was n sttaight story, and opparentlv damaging for tho prosecution. It corroborated corrob-orated the attestations of other witnesses many others. It had a plausible nag to II. Two bills of sale radiated atmospheric atmos-pheric legality. If there had been dirty work, it must have originated with that renegade half-breed. Yellow Volf. And Yellow Wolf was dead. Ho had died while serving a term In tho penitentiary for cattle-rustling. Uncle Sam himself had sot tho scul upon him and now he. was dead. This insinuated charge ho could not answer. Tho finality of It seemed to set Us stamp upon tho pvoplo gathered there upon the twelve good men and true, as well as upon otliD'rs. Yellow Wolf was dead. Gee Wllllston war. dead. Their secrets, had died with them. Ab Inscrutable fate had lowored the veil. Who could pierce It? One might boh'e-vc. but who could know? And the law rorpiircd knowledge. "Wo will call Charlie Xlchtblrd." said Small, complacently. There was a little waiting silence a breathless, palpitating silence. "Is Charlie XI girth I rd present?" asked 1 Small, casting rather anxious eyes over the packed. Intent face..". Charlie Nlght-' Nlght-' bird was not present. At least, be made no sign of coming forward. The face of the young counsel for tho State was immobile during the brief time they waited Tor Charlie N'ightblrd whovo dark, rro7.en face was at that moment turned toward the cold, spurJtling sky. ami who would never come, not- If they waited for him till the last dread trump of the last dread day. There was some mistake. Counsel had been misinformed. Nlghtblrd was an important witness, l.le had been reported report-ed present. . Never mbid. He- was probably prob-ably unavoidably detained by the storm. They would call .lesse Illg Cloud ami others oth-ers to corroborate the defendant's slnle-ments slnle-ments which they did. and th's story was sustained in all Its parts, mujor and minor. Then tho defense, rested. Richard Gordon arose lrom his chair. Ills (am while. I Tin tenn i:iivs were sot. Ills eyes were steel. Ho was anything any-thing hut a lover now. this man Gordon. Yet the slim little court reporter with dark circles of homesickness under her eyes had never loved him half so well as ut this moment. His voice was clear and deliberate. "Your honor, I ask permission of tho court to call a witness In direct testimony, testi-mony, r assure your honor that the .late had used all efforts In its power to obtain the presenco of this witness before restinj? its case, but had failed, and believed at the lime that he could not bo produced." Tho witness la now here and I consider his testimony of tho utmost Importance in this case." Counsel for the defendant objected strenuously, but the court granted tho petition. ITo wanted to hear every tiling that might throw some light, on the dark places In the evidence. "I call Mr. George Wllllston," said Gordon. Had the strain erased him? Louise covered her eyes with her hands. .Men sat as if dazed. And thus, tho cynosure cyno-sure of all eyes stupelied eyes Wll-Iiston Wll-Iiston of the ravaged Lazy S, thin and worn, but calm, natural and scholarly-looking scholarly-looking as of old walke1 from the little ante-room at the side into the light and knowledge of men once more and raised his band for the oath. Xot until t tils was taken and lie hud sat quietly flown In the witness chair did tho tension snap. Even then men found It difficult to focus their attention on the enormous difference this yew witness must make In the case that a few moments before had seemed settled. Mary sat with shining eyes in the front row of wooden chairs. It 'was, no wonder won-der that she had laughed and been so gay all the dreary yesterday and all tho worse today. Loulso shot her a look of pure gladness. Small's face was ludicrous In Its drop-jawed drop-jawed astonishment. The llttlo lawyer's face was a study. A look of defiance had crept Into the dcrendan'ts countenance. The preliminary crucstions wore asked and answered. "Mr. Wllllston. you may state, where you were and what you saw on tho 11th day of July last." Wllllston. the unfortunate gentleman and scholar, the vanquished rovVuan, for a brief while tho most important man In the cow country, perhaps, was about lo uncover to men's understanding tho dark secret hitherto obscured by a cloud of supposition and hearsay. He told the -story or his visit to the Island, and -lie told it well. It was enough. Gordon asked no further questions regarding that event. "And now, Mr. Wllllston, you may tell what happened to you on the night of the 30lh of hist August." Wllllston began to tell the story of the night attack upon the I-azy S. when the galvanic Small Jumped to his feet. Tho little lawyer touched him with a light hand. "Your honor," he said, smoothly, "I object to thai -as Incompetent, irrelevant, and Immaterial, and. not binding' on the defendant." "Your honor," interrupted Gordon, with great calmnoss, "we Intend to show you before we get through that this testimony testi-mony Is competent, and that it is binding bind-ing upon the defendant.1' "Was the defendant there?" "The defendant was there." Tho objection was overruled. So Wllllston told briefly but to tho point tho story "of the night attack upon his home, of flic defense .by himself and his daughter, .and of the burning of his houso and sheds. Then ho proceeded: 1 "Suddenly, some one caught mo from behind, my arms wore pinioned to my sides, something- was clapped over my mouth. I was flung ovor a horse avid strnnped to tho saddle all in less lime than It takes to tell 11, and was borne away in company witii tho man who had overpowered me " ITo pauHed a moment, in his recital. Faces strained with expectancy devoured him his every look and word and action Mary was very pale, carried thus back to the dread roallll es of that night in I Augustt and shuddered, remembering that ghastly galloping. Langford could scarce restrain himself Tie wanted to rip out a blood-curdling Sioux war-whoop war-whoop on the spot. "Who wan this man, Mr. Wllllston?" apked Gordon. "Jesse niack." Small was on his feet again, gesticulating gesticu-lating wildly. "1 object! This is all a fabrication, put in here to prejudice the minds of the jury against this defendant. H is a pack of lies, and I move that it be stricken from tho record. xiic nine lawyer nowcu ills nead lo the storm and shrugged up his shoulders. Perhaps he wished that hd, or his associatesone asso-ciatesone of the unholy alliance, at leaxt, was where the wicked beasc from troubling; on the far-away islands of the deep seas, possibly, or home on tho farm. But his expression told, nothing. "Gentlemen! gentlemen!" expostulated Judge Dale. "Gentlemen! I Insist. This is all out of order." Only one gentleman gentle-man was ouv of order, but that was tho Judge's way. Gordon had remained pro-vokingly pro-vokingly cool under .the tirade. Again tho soft touch. Small fell into hla chair. He poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher standing on the attorneys' table and drank a little of it nervously. "I move," iald the llttlo lawyer, "that all this touching upon the personal matter mat-ter of this witness and having to do with bis pr vntc quarrels be stricken out of the evidence oa not bearing on tho case in question." All in vain. The Judge ruled that it d d bear on the case, and Wlstoi again picked up the thread of Ids storv 'Wo rode and rode hard it miist have been hours; dayllgh; --was coming before be-fore we stopped. Ou? horse were spent. E ! I I bad no idea where we were. Kroin the ronnatlon of the land. I Judged wI were not tar from the river1. Wo we a, surrounded sur-rounded by bluffs. I enn hardl make you see how cleverly thin little' ".retreat had been planned. It was In a vallov one of a hundred similar In all essentia respects. The gulch al the bottom of the valley was heavily wooded with oernb oak. Cottonwood, woodbine, aud plum trees, and this tangle of foliage V-xteudcd for some distance up the sides" of the hills. In th0 midst of this underbrush a moat excellent screen was a tiny cabin In this liny cabin I JiaVe lived, a. closely watched prisoner, from that day until I escaped." i. The defendant stirred avllitlo uneasily. Was he thinking of Xigbt.bfrd with the nark irozen face who had not answered to his call? I "Ulack left me soon nfler. No did not unbind me. rather bound me tighter. , niere was no one then to wntch die. lie ' eloigned to inform mo thai he had found i i n..ar,' Inconvenient to kill me after the relief party rode up. as then there 1 was no absolute surety of his making a neci"' .TiV1",''1'', aml '"b' caught in the I nit would ho bound to fte unpleasant, 1 very unpleasant just then, so he hurl al- I orcd his plans a little for the present. ' He gave mb no hint either that time nor oither of the two times 1 saw him Mite.ue"i,iy- ns to what was to bc his ultimate disposal ot me. I could onlv suppose that after this trial was well over in his favor, and fear of indictment for arson and murder had blown over K Wow over it did, he would then quietly put an end to me. Dead men tell no tales. Tho shanty In the uuleb did not seem to be much of a rendezvous for socret meetings. I led a lonely existence. My Jailers were mostly half-breeds usually Charlie- Xlghtblrd. Two or three tniics Jake Sanderson wits my guard." " hni from the doorwny came a loud clear, resonant voice, a Joyful voice a voice whose tones fairly oozed rapture "Molllty damn! Tho Three Har "s i-geltln" i-geltln" busy. Mouse-hair'" Judge Dale started. Ho glared angrilv in that direction. " ."Itomove that, man!" ho ordered curtly. ITo liked Jim. but he could not brook this crying coniempi of court. Jim was removed. re-moved. He went quietly, but shaking bis head reproachfully. "I never would a thought it o' the .ledge. he mum urcd. disconsolately. "1 never would 'a" ihought it-" Thero was a movement In the h.-ick of the room. A man was making his wav oui, supping along, cat-like, Irving lb evade attention. Quietly Gordon motioned mo-tioned the Sheriff and slipped a paper Into his hand. "Look sharp." he whispered, his stedv pyes on the shifty ones of the Sheriff -It you let him get away, just remember the handwiltlng on the wall. It's our turn now." Presently, there was a slight scuffle bv tiio door and two men quietly loft the improvised im-provised courtroom. Day before yesterday, in the afternoon, after-noon, continued Wllllston, "I maiiared to knock Xightblrd down at the threshold thres-hold as he was about to enter. I had secretly worked a crossbeam from lhe low. unfinished celling. There was nothing noth-ing else In the room 1 might use for a weapon. They were very careful. l think I killed him, your honor and gentlemen gen-tlemen of tho jury. I am not sorrv. There was no other way. But I won id rather It had been the maker, not the tool. By (he lime I had made mv wav liack to lhe Lazy S, I was too exhausted to go further; so I crawled over to mv neighbors, the Whites, and Molli.-'r bite made mo a nhakedown. 1 lav thero nearly dead, until this morning." Ho leuned back wearily. Black stood up. He was not lank nor lazy now, nor shuffling. His body was drawn up to Its full height. In the instant in-stant before tho spring, Mary, who was sitting close to the attorneys' rable, m-t us glance squarely. She rend there what he was about to do. Only a moment their oyes held each other's, but it was time enough for u swlfl message of understanding, under-standing, of utter dislike, and of a determined deter-mined will to defeat the man's purpose, to pass from the accusing brown eves to the cruel ones of the defendant. Quick as a flash, niack seized tho chair upon which ho had been sitting, sprang clear of the table and his lawyers, and landed close to Mary's side. With IiIh chair as a weapon, he meant to force his way to the nearest window Mary's eyes dilated. Unhesitatingly she seized the half-emptied glass on tho table and (i.isncu tne contents of It full Into the prisoner's face. Blinded, be halted a moment in his mad rush. Marv's quick maneuver mado Jingford's opportunity. He grappled with Black. The crowd went mad with excitement. The prisoner still retained his chair u hen Langford grapplod with him, he attempted to bring It down upon tho fair head of his antagonist. Mary gasped with dread, bur. I-angford grasped the chair with one muscular hand, wrested it from the desperado's hold, and threw It to the floor. The two men locked in a close embrace. Langford's groat strength waa more than sufficient to hold the outlaw until the dazed officers could do their duty had he been lot alone; but two men, who had been standing near the door when the prisoner made his unexpected un-expected leap for liberty, had succeeded In worming their way through the excited excit-ed crowd, and now suddenly threw themselves, them-selves, upon tho ranchman, dragging him back. "Stand aside or I'll shoot!" It was a girl's voice, clear and firm. Mary had been the first to realize that Black's friends, not Langford's, had now Joined --in the struggle. She snatched her revolver irom her cowboy bell she had not been without either since the Lazy S was burned and cried out her challenge. chal-lenge. Glancing quickly from tho gleaming gleam-ing barrel to the dctcrltnncd face of tho young girl, the men let go their hold of Langford and fell back precipitately. Instantly. Langford sprang forward, but Black had made good use of his moment mo-ment of grace. Swinging his arms lo tho right and left, he had beaten his wav to the window, when Langford again' seized him, but ho had the advantage' this time und he tore himself loose, throwing Langford violently against thtf window casing. With ids bare, clinched fist,, ho shivered the glass and leaped out Into tho arms of Jim Munson Tho officers made gallant phages through the stampeded crowfl In their efforts ef-forts to get clear of the rbom to follow the lugltlvc. But certain men managed to keep themselvcH clumsily, but with mar-voloue mar-voloue adroitness nevertheless", between the deputies and the doors and windows; eo that several moments elapsed before the outside was finally gained. Meanwhile, Jim stniggiqd heroically with tho outlaw. Black was far- superior supe-rior to him in weight and streigth of limb, but. Jim was quick and tough and daring-. Expelled from tho courtroom, he had been watching through the window. win-dow. He had .seen Mary's quick action and his boss's splendid attack. Ho had also seen tho llttlo "gun play" audi his eyes glowod in admiration of "Willis-ton's "Willis-ton's little girl." though his genorouu heart ached for love of the woman who was not ror mm. lie saw Black coming. com-ing. He was ready for him. n0 Krai, pied with him at once. If the boss or the officers would-only come now' When they did come, -they found JUn stretched at length on tne frozen ground. Ho sat up slowly. . "You're loo liite. boys," he -aId- "the' boss thief was too much ror me He' gone- ' ' . ft was true. The llttlo street stretched before them still deserted. IJa'lv twilight twi-light wap coming on. The biting cold struck them broadside, The deputies scattered In vain pursuit. '"-Puucs fTo be Contlnu ed . |