Show r n i = = t j + IB5Pir IBANK HSPEABM AN I I 1 ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDRE BOWIES ci t j 11 COPYRCHT lY CyASSCONERS ci0N5 M U i SYNOPSIS I i Murray Sinclair mid his gang or wreck ors wore culled nut to clear tno rnllroiul tracks nt Hinoky Creek McCI Hid noun young rond ailpcrlntendent caught Sin j chair mid his men In the net of looting tlm wrecked train Slnelalr pleaded In noconcc declnrlns It only nmnuntcil to n 1 rnmll RUIIIn treat for tho men McCloud i dlsclmrgcd the wholo outllt mill ordered till wreckiiK burned McClniil liccnmo nequnlntcd with Dlcksle Dunning n girl of tho west who cnnia to look nt the wreck Hlie gave him n message for Bln rliilr WhlsperlnB Uordon Smith told 1 resident llucks of tho rnllroiul of Me c Clouds brave tlRht ngaln a gnng of crazed miners nnd that wns tho ictvson for the superintendents appointment to J Ills high oHlcc MrOloud arruiged to Imnrd at the boarding IIOIIHO of tire Bin I clnlr tho exforemans deserted wlfo JJIcltslo Dunning wan tho daughter of tho I into Richard Dunning who hud tiled l of u i hrokon heart shortly after his wifes nn nfttr nr demle0 occurred demise which occurred after on < > your of married l life Sinclair visited Marion Blti I clnlrs shop nnd u light between him and l r McCloud was narrowly averted Pmnlcy l I Creek bridge was mysteriously burned l McCloud prepared l to taco tho situation President KticKs notified m Iwor that hoI ho-I Jind work abend l McCloud worked for i days and l finally got the division running I In fairly good order Ito overheard Dirk she orlilclslng his methods to Mnrlnn I Sinclair A stock trnln was wrecked l by I nn open switch Later a passenger trnln i wns held up and the express car robbed Two men of a posso pursuing the bandits were killed l McCloud I was notified that 1 Whispering Smith wns to hunt tho desperadoes des-peradoes Hill Dancing u rOll < l lineman + proposed that Sinclair andrlds 1 gang bo cent to hunt tho bandits A stranger apparently ap-parently wltl authority told him to go nhend Dancing wns told tho stranger was Whispering Smith Smith an prouched Sinclair Ho tried to buy hip off but failed l CHAPTER XI Continued Vell you know now haw to got Into trouble Every ono knows that few know bow to keep out You cant lay your finger on mo at any turn of the road Not If you behavo yourself And you cant bully mo Surely not No hard feelings Mur i ray I came for a friendly talk nnd if Its all tho same to you Ill watch this wheel awhile and then go over to tho Wickiup I leave first thats un idorslood I hope and If your pink eyed frlond Is waiting outside toll him there Is nothing doing will you Murray Mur-ray Who Is tho albino by the way You dont know him I think I do Fort City if I remember Well good might Murray It was after 12 oclock and the room had filled up Roulette balls wore dropping and above tho faro table tho extra lights wore on Tho dealers fresh from supper were putting things in order for the long trick At the Wickiup Whispering Smith found McCloud In tho office signing I letters I can do nothing with ltitti said Smith drawing down a window shade before ho seated himself to detail de-tail his talk with Sinclair lie wants a light McCloud put down his pen If I nm the disturber It would be bettor for mo to got out That would bo hauling down the flag across tho whole division It Is too lato for that If ho didnt center i tho fight on you ho would center It somewhero olso Tho whole question is who Is going to run this division Sinclair and his gang or tho company com-pany and It Is as easy to meet them on ono point as another I know of uo way of making this kind of an affair af-fair pleasant 1 am going to do somo riding as I told you Kennedy la working up through the Deep Creek country and has three men with him I shall ride toward tho Cacho nnd meet him somowhero near South Mission pass Gordon would it do any good to oak a few questions Ask as many as you llko my dear boy but dont be disappointed if I cant answer them I can look wise but I dont know anything You know what wo are up against This fellow has grown a tiger among tho wolves and he has turned tho pack loose onus on-us Ono thing I ask you to do Dont expose yourself at night Your lift Jsnt worth a couplfngpin If you do McCloud raised his hand Take care of yourself If you are murdered in this tight I shall know I got you In and that I am to blame And suppose you wore Smith had I risen from his chair Ho had few mannerisms man-nerisms and recalling the man the 1 few times I have seen him the only impression he has left on mo Is that 1 of quiet and gentleness Suppose you wore Ho was resting one arm on top of McClouds desk What of it You have done for mo up horo 1twhat what I couldnt do George You have been kind to Marlon when she hadnt a friend near You have stood between 3 be-tween him and her when I couldnt be here to do It and when she didnt want me to helped her when I Imdnt the privilege of doing it McCloud put up his hand In protest but It wan I unheeded How many times It has been In my heart to kill that man She knows it she prays It may never happen t ° hap-pen That Is why she stays hero and j has kept me out of tho mountains She says they would talk about her If I lived in tho same town and I have stayed away Ho throw himself back Into the chair Its going beyond both of us now Ive kept tho promise I mado to her today to do all In my t power to settle this thing without bloodshed It will not bo settled in that way George Was he at Sugar Buttes If not his gang was there 10 wo f quick getaway the short turn on Van Horn killing two men to rattle Uio Ilossoll all bears Sinclairs earmarks ear-marks Ho has gone too far Ho has piled up plunder till he Is reckless Ho Is crazy with greed anti Insano with revenge Ho thinks he can gallop gal-lop over this division and scare Bucks till ho gets down on his knees to him Mucks will never do It I know him mill I tell you Bucks will never do it Ho Is like that man In Washington ho will fight It to tho death lie would fight Sinclair If ho had to coma up hero and meet him singlehanded but ho will never have to do It Ho put you here Georgo to round that man up This la the prlco for your advancement advance-ment and you must pay It It Is all right for mo to pay It but I dont want you to pay It Will you have a caro for yourself Gordon Will you Yes You need never ask mo to bo careful care-ful Smith went on That Is my business I asked you to watch your window shades at night and when I cnmo In just now I found ono up It Is you who are likely to forget and In this kind of a gamo a man never forgets for-gets but once Ill lie down on tho Lincoln lounge George Get Into the bed No I llko tho lounge and Im off early In tho private room of the superintendent superin-tendent provided as a Blteplng apartment apart-ment In tho old headquarters building many years before hotel facilities reached Medicine Bend stood tho only curio tho Wickiup possessed tho Lincoln lounge When tho car that carried tho remains of Abraham Lincoln Lin-coln from Washington to Springfield was dismantled the Wickiup fell heir to ono piece oflts elaborate furnishings furnish-ings the lounge and tho lounge still remains ns an earlyday relic Whispering Whis-pering Smith walked Into tho bedroom and disposed himself In nn incredibly Incredi-bly short time Ive borrowed ono of your pillows George ho called out presently Take both Onos enough I hope ho wont on rolling himself like a hen Into tho double blanket tho horse Kennedy has left me will be all right ho got three from Bill Dancing Bill Dancing Dan-cing ho snorted driving his nose Into tho pillow ns If In final memorandum for tho night ho will got himself killed If ho fools around Sinclair too much now McCloud under a light shaded above his desk opened a roll of blueprints Ho was going to follow a construction gang up the Crawling Stono In tho morning and wanted to look over tho I surveys Whispering Smith breathing breath-ing regularly lay not far away It was late when McCloud put away his maps entered the Inner room und looked at his friend Ho lay like a boy asleep On tho chair beside his head ho had placed his oldfashioned huntingcase watch as big as an alarm clock tho kind a railroad man would wind up with a spikemaul Beside the watch he had laid his huge revolver In Its worn leather scabbard Breathing peacefully peace-fully he lay quite at his companions mercy and McCloud looking down on this mnn who never mndo a mlstako never forgot a danger and never took an unnecessary chance thought of what between men confidence may sometimes mean He sat a moment with folded arms on the tilde of his boil studying the tired faco defense less In the slumber of fatigue When ho turned out tho light and lay down ho wondered whether somowhero In the valley of tho great river to which ho was to take his men in the mornIng morn-Ing ho should encounter the slight and reckless horsewoman who had blazed so In anger when ho stood before be-fore her at Marlons Ho had struggled strug-gled against her charm too long She had become how or when he could not tell not alone a pretty woman but a fascinating one tho creature of his constant thought Already she meant more to him than nil else In the world He well knew that If called on to choose between Dlckslo anti all else he could only I choose her Hut as ho drew together the curtains of thought and sleep stole In upon him ho was resolved re-solved first to have Dlckslo to havo all else if ho 1 could but In any case Dlckslo Dunning When ho awoke day was breaking In the mountains Tho huge silver watch the lowvoiced man and the formidable sixshooter had disappeared dis-appeared It was time to get up and Marlon Sinclair had promised an early breakfast CHAPTER XII The Quarrel The beginning of the Crawling Stone lo I marked the first determined effort under President Bucks while undertaking under-taking the reconstruction of the system sys-tem for through traffic to develop the rich local territory tributary to tho mountain division New policies in construction dated from the same period Glover with an enormous capital staked for the now undertakings undertak-ings gave orders to push tho building every month in the year and for tho first time In mountain railroad building build-ing winter was to ho Ignored The older mountain men met the Innova tlon as they mot any departure from their traditions with curiosity and distrust dis-trust On time other hand the new and younger blood took hold with confidence con-fidence and when Glover called Yo heavo ho at headquarters they bent themselves clear across tho system for a hard pull together McCloud resting tho operating on the shoulders of his assistant Anderson Ander-son devoted himself wholly to forwarding for-warding the construction plans and his first clash over winter roadbuild Ins In tho llocklcs came with his own righthand man Mourn McCloud put In a switch below Piedmont opened n material yard and began track laying toward the lower Crawling Stono valley val-ley when Mears said It was time to stop work till spring When McCloud told him ho wanted track across the divide and Into the lower valley by spring Mcnrs throw up his hands But there was metal In the old man and ho was for orders all tho time Ho kept up a running fire of protests and forebodings about the danger of exposing ex-posing men during the winter season but stuck to his post Spring found the construction of tho valley line well advanced and tho grades nearing the lands of the Dun lug ranch Itight of way men had been working for mouths with Lanco Dunning Dun-ning over tho line and McCloud had been called frequently Into consultation consulta-tion to adjust the surveys to objections objec-tions raised by Dickslos cousin to the crossing of the ranch lands Even when the proceedings had been closed a strong current of discontent set from tho managing head of the Stone ranch Humors of Lance Dunnings dissatisfaction often reached the railroad rail-road people Vague talk of an extensive exten-sive Irrigation scheme plnnned by Sin clair for the Crawling Stono valley crept Into the newspapers and It was generally understood that Lance Dunning Dun-ning had expressed himself favorably to the enterprise Dlckslo gave slight teed to matters as weighty us these She spent much of her time on horseback with Jim under the saddle and In Medicine Bend whore she rode with frequency Marlons shop became her favorite abiding place Dlcksle ordered hats until Marlons conscience rose and she 1 practically refused to supply anymore any-more But the spirited controversy on this point as on many others DlcksIaK haughtiness and Marlons restraint re-straint quite unmoved by any show of I displeasure ended always In drawing the two closer to each other I One March afternoon coming homo from Medicine Bend she saw at some distance before her a party of man on horseback She was riding a trail I leading from tho pass road that followed fol-lowed tho hills and the party was coming up the bridge road from the I lower ranch Dlckslo had good eyes and something unusual In the riding of the men was soon apparent to her Losing and regaining sight of them at different turns In time trail she made I out as she rode among the trees that they were cowboys of her own ranch I and riding under evident excitement about a strange horseman She recognized rec-ognized In the escort Stoimy Gorman the ferocious foreman of tho ranch and Denlson and Jim Buugh two of the most reckless of tho men These three carried rifles slung across their pommels and In front of them rode the stranger Fragments of the breakfasttable talk of the morning came back to Dlckslos mind The railroad graders were In tho valley below the ranch and she had heard her cousin say a good deal on a point she cared little about as to where the railroad should cross the Stone ranch Approaching tho fork of the two roads toward which she and tho cowboys were riding rid-ing silo checked her horso In the shade of a cottonwood tree and as the party rode up the draw she saw tho horseman under surveillance It was Georgo McCloud Unluckily as she caught a glimpse of him she was conscious that he was looking at her She bent forward to hide a momentary confusion spoke briskly to her horse and rode out of sight At Marlons she had carefully I avoided him Her precipitancy at their last meeting had seemed on reflection reflec-tion unfortunate Situ felt that she must have appeared to him shockingly rude and there was In her recalling of tho sceno an unconfcssed Impression that she had been to blame Often when Marlon spoke of him which she did without the slightest reserve and with no reference as to whether Dlck slo liked It or not It had been in Dick slos mind to bring up the subject of the disagreeable scene hoping that Marlon would suggest a way for making ma-king somo kind of unomburrasslng e r I t + 4 t c I j Cu I u i 0 J O I c o t o kt m l 0 0 ± U l t o l t t I I 0 0 V B I I r D e j 4 o J ° C u u 1 r i 6n oR Cousin Lane I amends But such opportunities had slipped away unimproved and hero was the now railroad superintendent whom their bluff neighbor Sinclair never referred to other than as tho college guy being brought apparently as n prisoner to tho Stone ranch Busied with her thoughts Dlcksle rode slowly along tho upper trails until a long detour brought her around the corrals and in at the buck of tho house Throwing her lines to the ground she alighted and through the back porch door made her way unobserved unob-served to her room From the office across the big hall she heard mens voices in dispute and she slipped Into the dining room where she could hear and might see without being seen Tho office was filled with cowboys Lance Dunning standing with a cigar In his hand and ono log thrown over n corner of the table was facing Mc Cloud who stood before him with his hand on a chair Lance was speaking as Dlckslo looked Into the room and In curt tones My men were acting under my orders You have no right to give such orders t or-ders McCloud said distinctly nor to detain me nor to obstruct our free passage along the right of way you I have agreed to convey to us under our survey Damn your survey I never had a plat of any such survey I dont recognize any such survey And If your right ofway men had over said a word about crossing tho creek above the flume I never would have given you a right of way at all There were nover but two lines run below the creek after you raised objection I ran them both and both were above the flume Well you cant put n grade there I I and some of my neighbors are golug to dam up that basin nnd tho Irrigation Irriga-tion laws will protect our rights I certainly cant put a grade In below be-low the flume and you refuse to talk about our crossing above It I certainly do Why not let us cross whore we are and run a new level for your ditch that will put the flume higher up You will have to cross below the flume where it stands or you wont cross 1 tho ranch at all McCloud was silent for a moment I am using a supported grade there for eight miles to got over the hill within a threetenths limit I cant drop back there We might as well not build at nil If wo cant hold our grade whereas It would be very simple sim-ple to run a now Hue for your ditch and my engineers will do it for you without a dollar of expense to you Mr Dunning Lanco Dunning waved his hand as an ultimatum Cross where I tell you to cross or keep off the Stono ranch Is that English It certainly Is But In matter of fact wo must cross on tho survey agreed on In the contract for a right ofway deed I dont recognize any contract obtained ob-tained under false representations Do you accuse me of false representations repre-sentations Lance Dunning flipped the ash from his cigar Who are you I am just a plain everydny civil engineer but you must not talk false representations In any contract drawn under my hand I am talking facts Whispering Smith may havo rigged tho joleerI dont know Whoever rigged It It has been rigged all right Any charge against Whispering Smith Is a charge against me He Is not hero to defend himself but he needs no defense You have charged mo already with misleading surveys I was telephoned for this morning to come over to see why you had held up our work and your men cover me with rifles while I am riding on a public road You have been warned or your men have to keep off this ranch Your man Stevens cut our wires this morn InK As he had a perfect right to do on our right of way If you think so granger go ahead again Oh no We wont have civil war not right away at least And If you and your men have threatened and browbeaten me enough for today 1 will go Dont set foot on tho Stone ranch again and dont send any men hereto ito i-to trespass mark you I mark you perfectly I did net PI 1 foot willingly on your ranch today I was dragged on It Where the men are grading now they will finish their work workNo No they wont What would you drive us off land you have already deeded Tho first man that cuts our wires or orders them cut where they were strung yesterday will got Into trouble trou-ble Then dont string any wires on land that belongs to us for they will certainly come down If you do Lance Dunning turned In a passion Ill put a bullet through you If you touch a barb of Stone ranch wire Stormy Gorman jumped forward with his hand covering the grip of his sixshooter Yes damn YOU and Ill put another Cousin Lanco Dlcksle Dunning advanced swiftly into tho loom You aro under our own roof and you are wrong to talk in that way Her cousin stared at her Dlckslo this Is no place for you It Is when my cousin Is in danger of forgetting ho Is a gentleman You are Interfering with what you know nothing about I exclaimed Lance angrily I know what is duo to every ono under this roof Will you bo good enough to leave this room Not If there is to bo any shooting or threats of shooting that Involve my cousin Dicks leave tho room There was a hush The cowboys dropped back Dlckslo stood motionless motion-less Silo gave no sign In her manner that she heard tho words but she looked very steadily at her cousin You forget yourself was all she saidI I am master here Also my cousin murmured Dick slo evenly You dont understand this matter at all declared Lanco Dunning vehemently ve-hemently Nothing could Justify your language lan-guage Do you think I am going to allow this railroad company to ruin this ranch while I am responsible hero You have no business Interfering say sayI I think I have These matters aro not of your affair af-fair Not of my affair The listeners stood riveted McCloud felt himself swallowing and took a step forward with an effort as Dlckslo advanced Her hair loosened by her ride spread low upon her head She stood In hot saddlo habit with her quirt still in hand Any affair that may lead mj cousin Into shooting Is my affair 1 make it mine This Is my father J roof I neither know nor caro anything t J any-thing about what led to this quarrel but the quarrel Is mine now I will not allow my cousin to plunge Into anything that may cost him his life or ruin It Sho turned suddenly and her eyes fell on McCloud I am not willing to leave either myself or my cousin In a false position I regret especially es-pecially that Mr McCloud should be t brought Into so unpleasant a sceno because ho has already suffered rudeness rude-ness at my own hands McCloud Unshed Ho raised his hand slightly And I am very sorry for It added Dlcksle before he could speak Then f 1 4 turning she withdrew tom tho room I nm sure said McCloud slowly as ho spoke again to her cousin there need bo no serious controversy over tho rightofway matter Mr Dunning Dun-ning I certainly shall not precipitate any Suppose you give me a chance to ride over tho ground with you again and let us see whether wo cant arrive ar-rive at some conclusion But Lance was angry and nursed his wrath a long time CHAPTER XIII The Shot In the Pass Dlckslo walked hurriedly through the dining room and out upon the rear porch Her horse was standing whero she had left him Her heart beat furiously fu-riously as she caught up the reins but she sprang Into the saddle and rodo rapidly away Tho flood of her temper tem-per had brought a disregard of consequences con-sequences it wall In the glow of her y ° eyes the lines of her Mps and the tremor tre-mor of her nostrils as she breathed long and deeply on her flying horse When she checked Jim she had ridden rid-den miles but not without a courso I nor without a purpose Whore tho roads ahead of her parted to lead down the river and over the Elbow Pass to Medicine Bend she halted within a clump of trees almost where she had first seen McCloud Beyond the Mission mountains the sun was setting in n fire like that which glowed under her eyes She could have counted her heartbeats as tho crimson ball sank below the verge of the horizon hori-zon and tho shadows threw up tho silver sil-ver thread of the big river and deepened deep-ened across the heavy green of tho alfalfa al-falfa fields Whore Dlcksle sat struggling strug-gling with her bounding pulse and > holding Jim tightly In no ono from the ranch or Indeed from tho upcountry up-country could pass her unseen Sho was waiting for a horseman and the 4 sun had set but a few minutes when she heard a sharp gallop coming down the upper road from time hills All her brave plans terrorstricken at the sound of tho hoofbeats fled from her utterly She was stunned by the suddenness of tho crisis She had meant to stop McCloud and speak Ito I-to him but before she could sutnirton her a tall slender of courage man on horseback dashed past within a few feet of her Sho Could almost havo touched him as ho flow by and a horso less steady than Jim would havo shied under her Dlckslo caught her breath Sho did not know this man she had seen only his eyes oddly bright In tho twilight as ho passed but he was not of the ranch He must have como from the hill road she concluded con-cluded down which she herself had Just ridden Ho was somowhero from w tho north for ho sat his horso like a statue and rode like tho wind But tho encounter nerved her to her resolve Some leaden moments passed and McCloud galloping at afar a-far milder pace toward the fork of tho roads checked his speed as ho approached ap-proached He saw a woman on horseback horse-back waiting In his path Mr McCloud Mlns Dunning I could not forgive myself If i waited too long to warn you that threats have been made against your life Not of tho kind you heard today to-day My cousin Is not a murderer and never could be I am sure in splto of his talk but I was frightened at tho thought that if anything dreadful 4 should happen his name would bo brought Into It Thero are enemies of yours In this country to be feared and It Is against these that I warn you Goodnight Surely you wont ride away without with-out giving me a chance to thank you exclaimed McCloud Dlckslo checked her horse I owe you a double debt of gratitude he added and I am tl anxious to assure you that wo desire nothing that will Injure your interests in any way In crossing your lands r I know nothing about those matters fe mat-ters because my cousin manages everything It is growing late and you have a good way to go so goodnight good-night nightBut But you will allow mo to ride back to tho house with you Oh no indeed thank you It will soon ho dark and you are aloneNo No nol I nm quite safe and I have only a short ride It Is you who have f far to go und she spoke again to Jim who started briskly I TO B13 CONTINUED > |