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Show MLLS pF bESTINY 1l ' AlSS LAU15E PR4V45T fih 13(3 oiH Toev obstinately. I danger, said Jey jes thought I'd come up an tell ye about the fire, that s all. He stumped off, S?" himself and cross to the depths of his loyal soul because Lee would n't let him tell Virginia from whom the reassuring message had come. But Virginia knew. In favor or disgrace, Lee was watching and guarding her. As the day wore on the acrid odor of smoke was less noticable or perhaps they were more ac-culstomed ac-culstomed to it but there was a saffron haze in the air. Night brought darkness, but little lit-tle sleep. A little after midnight Virginia slipped out to saddle Black Lightning. (To be continued) 8ynojsls I,co Holllslcr, returning unox-IMWtxxlly unox-IMWtxxlly from a trip abroad to the (Srclo V ranch, his home from childhood, is troubled by sltrns of neftloct. Joey, an old prospector prospec-tor friend of Matt Blair, Lee's fotttor father and owner of the ranch, tells Ieo that Matt has killod himself, probably discour-a(Oil discour-a(Oil by hard times. The rancli is going to ruin and Virginia, Matt's daughter, Is visiting the Archers, her aunt and uncle, in Now York. Hor undo want.s. lior to sell the place to Milton Itrndlsh, old associate asso-ciate of Matt's. Leo persuades Virginia to return to the ranch. Mrs. Arclior follows her, accom-imnied accom-imnied by Stanley, son of Milton Itradish. Stanley thinks he may be able to discredit Lee in Virginia's eyes, and encourages Josefa Ramirez Ram-irez in her liking for Lee. CHAPTER VIII The next morning Virginia heard from Curly that Lawler had abruptly left her employment during dur-ing the night. "But why did he leave so suddenly? sud-denly? Did anything happen?" "W-e-e-11 " Curly hesitated. "I reckon mebbe he did have a kind of disagreement." "With whom?" "Well now, he didn't say." "Thank you Curly." She had mercy on him, but two bright spots burned in her cheeks. "And I'd like you to take his place, please." "Why I reckon I'd be pleased to." Curly ducked his head in embarrassed em-barrassed thanks. "I'll shore do all I can for you, Miss V'ginia," he added earnestly. "I'll get on the job right now." He was off, grinning and happy, hap-py, but glad to escape. Another step was approaching, and Virginia Vir-ginia did not need to be told that this was Lee. There was a quick warming of Lee's eyes as he saw her, but her own flashed angrily. "So you have taken the liberty of discharging my manager or terrorizing him out of my employ!" em-ploy!" The warmth vanished. "If you want to put it that way," he said briefly. "Lawler was dishonest and deliberately worked against your interests, and he was drunk half the time. If you had been on the job yourself you'd have known it." "I am glad that you at least recognize that it is my job, and not yours," she replied coldly. "I have appreciated your good intentions, in-tentions, but I don't care for your methods. Do I make myself clear?" "Absolutely." He smiled wryly. "But perhaps '' "You have taken my affairs out of my hands." She swept on without with-out heeding him, and he checked himself with unusual patience. "You've belittled and humilated me before my own men and my friends. I hate you!" Her voice choked a little. The warm look came back to his eyes as he looked down at her standing by Matt's old desk, so small and lovely, so bitterly angry at him. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Not about Lawler. That had to come. But we always seem to hit things off the wrong way. I came up to tell you about it, but I don't believe you want to hear it now. Good-bye Virginia." He went out without further ado. Virginia sat there for some minutes longer, flushed and stormy. stor-my. She was still angry, but there was a hurt in it. How could he, and why had she said what she did? The most exasperating thing of all was her enormous relief that Lawler had gone. There was a somber look in Lee's eyes as he sat in the gathering gather-ing dusk by his cabin door. Some-1 Some-1 thing of friendly youth had gone from his face,, somethiug hard and dangerous had come. Few would have guessed from the signs, that Lee was close to the rock bottom of discouragement. Mrom time to time he looked down at somthing in his hand. It was the little triangular, sharp-edged sharp-edged scrap of thin metal that he had salvaged from the flotsam in the drawer of Matt's old desk. Much good it had done him thus far! And Virginia, wilful and petted, loved and spoiled, was still as remote re-mote as the stars. . . . He stiffened into attention at a slight sound. For some time a gay bit of color, col-or, like a brightly plumaged bird, had been flitting along the suoth-east suoth-east trail just out of his immediate view. It moved with less care now, and hurrying feet dislodged a bit of rock. Lee turned swiftly, recognized recog-nized the girl and raised a hand in easy greeting. "Hello, Josefa, you're a lor.g way from home.'' He spoke with a casual friendliness "And all tricked out in fiesta clothes. What's up?" "Nothing up. I come to see you. You not comie to see me no more, you bad one!" Eyes of limpid midnight rolled reproachfully at him; a lip of poppy scarlet pouted. A flicker of amusement came into his eyes. "I've been away," he explained politely. "Does that make it all right?" "You not tell me you goin' away," she reproached. "You not come for so long I theenk you seek, I theenk you hurt, I theenk you mad at me. That made me sad. Anyways I com'e. You glad to see me, Lee?" "Sure I am." He bowed ex-travagently. ex-travagently. "Senorita, my unworthy un-worthy home is at your service." "Ah, that is better! Now sit here by me." There was a low, flat boulder a little to one side of the clearing in front of the cabin. Josefa went lightly toward it and indicated the place she had chosen for him. He crossed over and took it, and she settled beside him with a little nestling movement. Lee looked down at her, still amused, but thoughtful also. Josefa sighed. "I like bein' weeth you, Lee." Amusement was gone now, and a certain grimness came. He was tired and gloomy; it would be easy tonight to, forget a big-brotherly liking and make a little harmless love to Josefa. . . . Too easy. He moved slightly. "That's good, Josefa. We're old friends. But see here " "Oh, now you talk wise, like ol' woman. I not let you talk. I come all thees way to see you, an' we mils' be gay, joyful! Come, I dance for you, frozen one! You never see me dance, hey? I show you something." Taunting, beguiling, she danced away from him to the open space beyond. Smooth rock was Jos-efa's Jos-efa's dancing floor, the hills her amphitheatre, one silently watching watch-ing man her audience. The dark face watched her broodinely. He was stirred, think- Josefa, frozen quiet by that look, was as watchful as a little scared animal. He reached up deliberately de-liberately and drew her arms down. "Sit down," he said briefly. "I want to talk to you." "Now you goin' to scold me," she pouted. "I do notheeng' Jus' dance for you. Jus' "Josefa, you saw those people coming." "Ah, you are 'shamed of me." She flamed into tigerish rage. "You are 'shamed to have the reech girl see you weeth me see you hold me in your arms. I hate her!" Lee looked away, frowning and uncomfortable. Then he looked back at the sobbing figure, and w.ith griml patience went over and stood by her. "So you wanted him to see, Josefa? Jo-sefa? Liked me so much that you double-crossed me?" "I love you," she said sweeping-ly, sweeping-ly, and apparently considered it a sufficient answer to all question and all reproof. Lee made no answer. "I go home," she said sullenly. "I'm taking you. Brimestone can carry double." A new alarm leaped into her face. "You not goin to tell my father, Lee? You wouldn' do that?" She had reason for fear. Fran-cisco Fran-cisco vehement in his friendships and primitively direct in his methods, me-thods, would not hold his hand if he discovered the trick she had played on a man who had befriended be-friended him. Lee knew it as well as she. "You needn't be afraid. I shan't tell anybody." The ride from the ridge to the ranch house took less than half an hour, but it was the longest half hour that Virginia could remember, remem-ber, She didn't want Stanley looking look-ing at her, she didn't want anybody any-body to see how blazingly angry she was, and how ridiculously that scene back there had shaken her. Stanley had tactfully, and wisely, wise-ly, refrained from comment. That had been decent of him, but of course he had seen it. Virginia had caught the turn of his head, the cynical grin, politely suppressed. Hurt pride stung like an angry burn, She turned toward Stanley with an indifferent shrug, dismissing dismiss-ing something which really didn't matter, and began to talk of something some-thing else. Virginia was unusually nice to Stanley all the way home. When they arrived she went straight to her room, locked the door, and dropped on the bed with a strange sound in her throat. "Lee!" there's more to it than that. Maybe May-be I'm old-fashioned, but when I marry I don't want to just experiment. ex-periment. I want it to stick. It's no use, Stan. I can't do it." His face darkened. For a moment mo-ment all his debonair good looks vanished in sullen resentment, a swift revealing glimpse of what Stanley might be if he let himself him-self go. "Well, that's definite." His laugh was brief and brittle. Stanley recovered himself quickly. quick-ly. "I'll give up everything -but hope," he added, caught her hand in a quick squeeze and was gone. Loitering glumly outside, his under lip took on a sullen thrust. So he was thrown over for a flan-nel-shirted cow hand! That was a pleasant thought. Why hadn't he worked something stronger? The next day found Stanley in Saunders. The young paying teller of the First National shot an interested in-terested look from the check to the bored looking young man on the other side of the window, and then went back to the vault. The young man on a bank clerk's salary watched the son of unlimited wealth go out to his car and then edged over to the cashier, cash-ier, confiding something of interest. in-terest. "You might have thought we handled those plasters in carload lots," he finished. "Wonder what he wants it for?" "He's probably going to grease somebody." It had been a dry summer. Grazing Graz-ing land was parched; water holes dried up. Streams were now stone-cluttered stone-cluttered beds of dried mud, seamr ed and cracked in the sun. One morning Virginlt awoke with an acrid smell in her nostrils. She dressed and went outside, to find Stanley already out and Joey regarding him with frosty hostility. hostil-ity. "Oh Joey, isn't there a fire somewhere?" "Shore they's a fire, Honey, but it's thirty mile north and it ain't headin' thes way." Joey's tone was soothing, but he was plainly concerned. con-cerned. "Lee just come in, an' he says it's wiped out four, five ranches already, an' three mile of standin' timber in the hills. He's been doin' fire patrol duty 'round here for the past week;, eighteen hours a day." "Oh is there that much danger, dan-ger, Joey?" Virginia's anxious q u e s -tion brought a reassuring answer. "I jes' told ye they wasn't any ing moodily of another woman. Of Virginia, shining and aloof. Josefa's eyes had scarcely left his face. Once they drifted swiftly swift-ly beyond him, but he did not see. "Now you catch me, Lee!" With a final whirl she flung herself backwards, throwing her lithe young body out of balance. "You reckless little devil!" He swung out an arm and caught her, only to find the whole weight of her body against him, her arms slipping around his neck like golden snakes, her hands caressing car-essing his face, his hair. "I make you love me! I make you! You shall not treat me like those child any more!'' "Why Josefa " he hesitated, touched and uncomfortable. "See here, kid " He stopped. Josefa had locked fleetingly beyond him again, a furtive glance over his shoulder, and this time he caught it. He jerked his head around quickly. Over the ridge which marked the trail to the Circle V were two figures on horseback. One of them ! was Stanley Bradish. The other was Virginia. Virginia's profile, even from this distance, was chisled in ice. Young Bradish was saying something to her. laughing in his irritating way. Lee watched them go. The flat shock of what this ridiculous scene meant for him jarred him like a blow. Anger ran through him; his face stilled and hardened. One dry sob came, but no more. She lay there with her face hidden hid-den in her arm, her shining hair tumbled and one fist clenched. Minutes ticked by unheeded. When she sat up there were tear stains on her face, but the line of her lips had hardened. She could punish Lee Hollister almost as cruelly as he had hurt her. There was one door that she could close in his face forever, and then she need never see him again or his dingy loves. She went to her desk, pulled paper pa-per toward her and began to write. That night Stanley again asked her to marry him. She listened restlessly. "Come on, Vee!" His voice was gay and carressing, with a reckless reck-less note of adventure. "We'll catch the first train out and let the cows go hang. We'll be married mar-ried in Saunders, or Yuma, or New York, get the" parental blessing and be off on a glorious honeymoon." honey-moon." "It sounds exciting." She laughed lau-ghed a little, but the laugh died quickly. She added slowly: "And after that, Stan?" "After that?" Stanley looked surprised and puzzled. She felt his suddenly gripping hands, and slipped away from them with a shiver. "No please .... I thought I could, but I can't. It might be all right for a while, just to play around and amuse ourselves, but |