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Show I Cattle Ciitt1 ' BSy P BSyAILAWBLIEM LJ LA6 . . . JLI AILAWBLIEM : H i ilY . y w . J _ ' I n ii _ nd ndJLI .1 1 . 0 in _ inwNtr 0 wNtr Alan s Service Le : htay : " : \m-C m C \ VIII-Contlnued VIII Contlnued yW-Continued yW Continued - . - - inued inued10t . .rfEE rfEE . .rfEEmC B $ VIIIContlnuedIG yWContinuedrhr -IG- IG rhr rhrhiadoWs -10-t 10 t rhri - IGJ - - ' ' shadowed shadovd oitself oitselflshat . . ; : silhou silhou- silhoudoVi - . J i . rlan's rlans arian's arians lshat- lshat lshat0itbad hiadoWs hiadoWslass lass lassoitself . doVi do ' ; glass itself shat- shat shatee sha ; - ee 0itbad had exploded inward ; JJ brush sounded the ringing ringingt ringingd ; t ft ! Then there was siwd si- si sid s . - ' r/ r / rrifle . rifle r1He We d a ' : nhe Je the window against agamst whici whIch whIchJ whichhad wd J had stood was empty exccpfcl except exceptlamp exceptlatap t lamp latap pu llt ht . gleam of its shaterked shat shat- shatsi - [ si ! s . js breath hisbreath j jbe Jerked erked m in hi his hishe ; ; Hie he be dropped to the grounc ground groundied . ! , for ( or the house . fi'darJ fidarJ ied ' beside be.ide beide the shatterec shattered shatterecJ shatteredte ethe etheDouSlas . : . , .dark dark . d kithholdingshattered te teDouglas J Douglas DouSlas ttas ssas ssashis \ 3S hol holdlng ung thc the thcha thebJJ 1 1d , arms , and though she sheIbto sheJI sheWhir Ibto JI JIhIn Whir ha bJJ his hIn ! Wheeler saw that the thehxs the1 the1Kes holding holdmg her up He HepD.sI3S Hepo Hepouel3S Kes was wss hxs OS5 ? pD\.sI3S pD.sI3S pD .sI3S sI3S po \ . glas say S3Y . , "Arc Arc "Are Are " Are y ou hurt ? ' pleeler feeler , feelercried " : eler cried out , "In In " God'sfns God's Gods God'sllanaa ' [ Iarlan- Iarlan fns fnsn ) llanaa - "lenj lenj n " llanaa"lenj fnsS IarlanS S voice said shakily , "I'm Im "I'mhit " I ' , m mLit Lit Litbit bit hit ' I ' "a a , " - , . gWl gun ' " s said lId Val Douglas Douglas'We DouglasA ' "We We 'We " We was standing standmg here , , atepedy ebody ebod1 took tOOh . a shot atrtWDed atter at- at ati - " rtWDed turned and ran tor for the theboUSe thehmise theitoise i ter er boUSe hmise , Half way he almostlot almostinto almost lot into 0 Tulare Callahanis Callahana's CaUahan Callahan CaUahanrjUP is a's as : r/jUP r jUP / ' uplctthe up1/t up1 t uplc / ylSiboys tthe lhe boys out out , , " Wheeler told toldTo 'l'o lo " ' " ! o hell with saddles , but butand butand butgia and guns Somebody fired firedb firedhbyout b hyout-we've hyout we've weve byout-we've byout - we've weve ' ' got to try tooer tooser to o\er o er oser 01 \ er him rom In the brush "QJ QJ " t the 81 94 layout the buck- buck - buckstood buckstood buck-Fstood buck Fstood - stood ragged , , much of It ithigh itsir . high lubh to a mounted man ; inded inxked In -xked xked - ried -ded ded - : brakes the hard sandy sandyshowed sandyibowed sandyailhowed showed ibowed barren in the light of ofU ofsr ofarriars ofarriarsB U sr % stars stars'o'ne B ome 'o'ne one ' < ' e difficulty Billy Wheeler Wheelered Wheelernsed -ed ed . - .ed ed . G Gil Gd Baker and Steve Hur's'pirring HurIm Hur- Hur Hura - 's'pirring spirring ' Im ; < -a a - < ' pjrrmg pJITmg their ponies pomes head headthe headS'o headSo [ ' o the brush , , as if l ! they ViereIQ wereto were Viere to IQ jump a bunch of steers steerstogether steerstogether steers64 together , move slow , and andIIDpplDg andstopping andiltoppmg IIDpplDg stopping to listen hsten , " Wheeler1nat WheelerTeats Wheeler WheelerTnats 1nat Tnats Teats 5 our only chance " 7 Ira trailed traded ed Into the bush slowly slowly'tis slowlytis , , ' oe it ! Wheeler in the lead He HeII'C Heitcdentally HeKt II'C IIC itcdentally . ' dentally mounted a horse horselel.eved horseeLeved horseleLeved lel.eved leleved eLeved . in ghosts and it moved movedstretclung movedstretching movedic & stretching stretclung its nose warIly warIlyblsh warilyhsh warilysl-ush warilysl ush blsh hsh - shadows sbado\\ sbado sbados sbadostis \ \ s , blowing long long"hoofs longhoofs long7 " thoofs "hoofs hoofs Repeatedly theyi theyto they toclt to clt tit < it listening listerung llstening listeninga listerungc llsteninguhour uhour a c hour they combed the darkalternately darkalternately dark alternately walking their theirand theirand their3 ind and hsterungetil listeningatil listening hsterung listeninglota lota atil etil they came out at the theitbarren theIt 11 itbarren barren rise me rase did dad they reahze realize realizexy realizeay :1.1 1.1 11 xy ' : . had wandered almost a a"rn a'ern a'va ava "rn rn 'ern ern " ' ' their starting startmg point pomt When When2fe Whenare Whenw 2fe are seen one thicket thlckct of buck buckby buckty bucksly by ty starlight starlJght you have seenil seenit seen H il it They had pushed throughtluckets throughtluckets through throughred red thickets tluckets , , mhlch in m , which \hlch hlch \ a man manlave manlave manliare lave hidden ludden under the very f < 2ir ipr ! very2ir veryf ' " ! ! ! horses-yet horses yet rhorses-yet rhorses horses - yet m in that mile male maletry mileeiry 11 try , there were a thousandmore thousand thgusand thgusandmore thousandmore more The riders were grim grimt grim'mouthed t ' 'mouthed mouthed t mouthed mouthedEI 'mouthedDunn EI Dunnmet Dunn met them at the cor- cor - cor-Es cor Es corhad corhbadbeen hbadbeen had been pro\\ pro prowling prohng \ hng all over overK ,1J.ee 1J.ee 1Jee over,1J.ee overace ace , . , K , , riHe rUle rifle on his lus arm He r ! Her Hela la ft . voiced , , but no one of themt themR them t R i iI I i ir il l , r 1\ 1 1y \ , , y 4 f Ot l BeUevc Beliese lie Re Knows a ah aK , Track aTrack " " From ' ' h a hound'slive Hound's Hounds Hound'sfc ta Crta taossed fc bVt live n ' . Cr crossed ossed sed him then anyII any anyB anyy II they y would wou1d have fooled fooledjp tithandsilvertrp B tithand and fooledand wordsas andsilvertIp silvertip silvertrp His words wordsnard as hard hardas as pieces of rockand rockand rock and tUrn " In in . . ' " ' he 010 told them 0 themiio't , iio't iiot ' t t likely all for tonight tomght " . bey lonv o : were erc insldc inside , . Horse de do deO'd dci dciheeler , olWhceler heeler O'd Od 0'd 0d devil"a devila devil0'd " ' . Ctcler . , What the devIl devIlIo Io ! Man an Coffee CoITee ? " bete betes i 'tYer tYer ' 11 It Was 8 eot got t into him ham , . it'stbelteye it's its ' ' t Us " s ' plenty pleat pleatt P10 " . " > l tbelteye bell elIeve > ( v e h ho he ' bent < Olh Olhe a e knows a horse3n horse hound unds s car ear , " DunD Dunn 3n 3na , > aegnly DunDy gnl ' ' 9 \ ( 9aegnly lon1e tome 5 intome y ) 'He He He puts me in 111 5ie ie old moss horn-he horn he hornheI hornheik horn-he\r horn he r - \ I ik ikblows ht butknow blows 0\\ 0 0sand \ sand and holkrs hllcrs butrJJ'ow but Itn know W butW high rJJ'ow rJJow ' , "eNothing about u it when whl ( " he hen.t "e e " " . Nothing n.t nt 14 n.tNothing 14ao . Eo So ao sure Eure , . " Billy Bally WheelerI Wheelerea Wheeler . : Ol1c Ol1c'L ne eao o 'L L ' Iqlng " " "g g " he found out ' ' " ea t tthat the ntd of murderedof : ly "lagOon lagOon Magoon " Ut goon that , " . . the " murdered"lagOon murdered murderedton : oore ton ' h i11 . disgust " , ' d dofklen f eust "I I don't dont don'te Ofl\.c Ofl.c Ofl .c c don'tOfl.c ofklen ofklenthought " \ . ' -e e - thought hehadnto he had to say something somethlDg , , so he said the first t firthing firstthmg firstthing Everysign thmg thing come into his head Every Evci 7 . thatLon sign we got points to the fact that th t Lon Magoon was killed . , in Jils his own oy i ownsaddle SJI ' - - saddle , - and on hIS " " own -"IOTSl- "IOTSl IOTSl - " "IOTSlxm11 " horse , nnd and " nndat andat - at Short Crick Crick- Crick Crick"IOTSl . : - " " ' ' ' "I'm Im ' " thmkm8 U1mkmg thinking "ow ow now " " , . said Billy xm11 , " . Wheeler ; , "that that .that we can prove that tha t one way or the other-rIght other rIght other - right here hereand hereand her and now " "How How " ? " "We've Weve " ' ' still got his saddle , , saddlehaven't saddlehavent ' " haven't havent we ? "It's Its .It's .Its " . ' ' still under my bunk " "Let Let " me see it " Horse Dunn Dwm stared.nt starednt staredat stared , . at him IrrIta- IrrIta | - lrntabiy IrrItably bly for a moment moment , , , then picked up n a . lamp nlamp alamp with svith a jerk , , and led the way to tithe tothe the clean bare room in which he ' hilived hellved helived llved lived Bi By B : ; the yellow light l1ght of the ' thilamp thelamp lamp the fine old saddles on on theIr theIrracks theirracks thei ; racks against agamst the , wall .all all ssall . glinted gl1nted clean- clean - ly cleanly from sIlverworkand silversvorkand silverwork silversvork and steeL Dunn Dunnst Dunnsit Dumsit st sit , down on a bo\ bo box boc boand \ and hooked hIS hISelbows hiselbosvs hrelbows elbows elbosvs him"Horse on the table behind behlI1d him"Horse him"Horse him thISLon "Horse Horse " , , how big a man is thIS thi ; Lon Magoon ? ' " About my size " ? " inchesLittle "Hell Hell " . , q.ol qol 019 . no ! Not by eight Inches Little short wiry feller-put feller put feller - put you m in mmmd inmind umind mmd mind of a grasshopper , , or a flea fiea " ' saddie saddle Wheeler hauled out Magoon's Magoons ' ' sad- sad - dle Billy measured the length of ofthe ofthe o : the stirrup leather with svith his arm- arm armstIrrup armstirrup arm-stirrup arm stirrup - - stIrrup in armpit , , fingers upon the thetree thetree thetree thetree"I tree tree"I "I I " stand five eleven , " Wheeler WheelersaId Wheelersaid Wheeleisaid saId "Yet Yet " these stirrups are too toolong toolong toelong long for me to ride Horse , , the theman theman theman man that rode this saddle was over overSIX oversix oveisix SIX feet talL " Horse came across the room in intwo intwo irtwo two studes sbtdes staides and dropped to one knee kneebeSIde kneebeside kneebeside beSIde Billy . "Damn Damn " it it , , I 1 know knowthat's knowthat's knowthat's knowthats that's thats ' Magoon's Magoons ' hull " ' " "You You " mean it was Magoon's Magoons ' ' hull hullYou hullYou hullYou You can see the short rig bends bendsworn bendsworn bendsworn worn into the stirrup leathers But Butsmce Butsince Bu"smce Busmce " smce since then the leathers have been beenlet beenlet beerlet let down long , , and laced there With WithrawhIde withrawhide withrawhide rawhIde v/hang v hang whang / " Horse Dunn mpasured measured the stIrrup stIrrupleathers stirrupleathers stirrupleathers leathers against agamst his own arm Then Thenhe Thenhe Thenie he forked the saddle where it lay layjamming , , jammmg his feet into the stirrups ' ' Tall as me , " he breathed , unbeLeving unbe- unbe unbel1evmg unbe'Ueving unbeUeving - ' l1evmg Leving He stared at the saddle in- in incredulously incredulously in incredulously - credulously for several moments moments"lo moments"Do momentsDo "lo lo " Qo : : you reckon , , " he said at last last"that lastthat , , .that that "that " . infernal old lion hon hunter would wouldlet wouldlet wouldlet let down those stirrups shrrups , , just to get getus getus getus us balled up ? " "Look Look " at the , wear , ear on the stIrrup stIrrupleather stirrupleather stirrupleather leather . , The saddle has been rid rId- rIdden ridden ridden - den since smce the stirrups were let letdown letdown letdown down " Horse Dunn got up slowly slo\\ly slo ly slossly \ and andwent andwent andwent went back to his seat on the box box.For boxFor . . For a long time he sat staring starmg at atthe atthe atthe the floor . , . When at last he drew a adeep adeep adeep deep breath and got up , his move move- movements movements movements - ments were those of a man pre pre- preoccupied pre- pre preoccupied preoccupied - - occupied . . . He got out a roll of adhesive adhcslve tJpe tape tapepulled : , , pulled off 01I a boot and woolen sock sockand , , and began to tape up the outside of ofhis ofhis olhis his ankle bone , , which appeared to toI tobe tobe tcbe I be skinned "I've Ive " ' ' ' got to take a ahammer ahammer ahammer hammer to those spurs , " he said saidhis , I IhIs hIs mind mmd on other things thmgs ' Seems Seemsl1ke Seemslike Seemslike l1ke like they- they they"HorseCoffee they"HorseCoffee they - " "Horse-Coffee "Horse Horse Coffee "Horse Horse " - Coffee was right ' ' The Theman Theman Theman man that died in this saddle saddleas " \\as as "as ssas \ \ not notLon notLon no1Lon Lon Magoon " Suddenly Dunn stood up , , a shag shaggy shaggy shaggy gy towering towermg tosverrng figure , , staring starmg redly at atBilly atBilly atBilly Billy Wheeler/ Wheeler Wheeler"Then / . "Then Then " , m 1D in God Godsname s sname sname name , , who's whos ' dead ? " Wheeler regarded him v/ithout v ithout without / e ee eepressien e\pressien e pressien \ , < presslEm pressien Within Wlth1l1 the hour , , a shad shadowy shadowy owy 0557 hunch had come over him blm He Heknew Heknew Heknew knew that he had no proof for the thethmg thething thething thmg thing that was m his mind , , yet yetsomehow yetsomehosv yetsomehow somehow somehosv it stood clear and plain plam He Hess Hewent ss , . ent to the fireplace , and picked up upan upan upan an old branding brandmg iron that had been beenm beenin beenin m in use as a fire poker He squatted squattedon on his heels , , and with this sooty Iron Ironbegan ironbegan ironbegan began to make marks on Dunn's Dunns Dunn'sclean Dunn'sclean Dunn'sclean Dunnsclean ' clean swept floor fioor . "Saying Saying "Saymg Saymg " that the 94 is here , , " he hesaid hesaid hesaid said , marking a cross , "and and " Short ShortCrick ShortCrick ShortCrick Crick over here bere , then her her2 = lies l1es that thatbroken thatbroken thatbroken broken badlands called the Red RedSleep RedSleep RedSleep Sleep Seems to me there used to tobe tobe tobe be a trail across the Red Sleep Sleepleading , leadmg leading over to Pahranagat . . " "Yes Yes " , , sure But- But ButHorse ButHorse But - " Horse Dunn waited , . Billy Wheeler Wheelerstudied Wheelerstudied Wheelerstudied studied the floor "Where Where " would a aman aman aman man be coming commg from , passing passmg over overShort overShort overShort Short Crick Cnck to\ to toward toard \ " ard the 94 04 ? ' Maybe- Maybe MaybePahranaga MaybePahranagat Maybe MaybePahranagat - Pahranagat Pahranaga t ? " ' Could , " Horse admitted dubiously dubiously dubious ly ' That little httle railroad spur pur endsthere endsthere ends endsthere there " Sometimes 'Sometimes ' . , " Horse Dunn made madea a sudden Eudden contribution contnbution , . ' Lon Ma- Ma Magoon Magoon Ma Magoon - beef beefC3reasses beefcarcasses beetcarcasses goon has shipped a few stolen " C3reasses carcasses out of Pahranagat Wheeler nodded "From From " Pahran PahranagJt Pahranagat Pahranagat agJt agat : the spur runs down the Llttle Little LlttleMmto LittleMtnto LittleMinto Mmto Mtnto to Plumas , . thcn-Iet thcn Iet then-let then let then - let mesee mesee me mesee " see- see seeCheat see - see'Cheat Sikes SikesCrossing SikesCrossing SikesCrossing Cheat 'Cheat ' Creek , Monitor MOnltor , Crossing , , " ? Dunn supplied supphed ; "and and " so soto soto soto to the main stem " "And And " so to the main mam stem stemWheeler , , " Wheeler repeated "And And " ? And maybe m an : anold : anold mold to tow tosvard toward saddle man . , working worlung old timer , , . a w svard 1rd < the 94 by train , , would figure figureit it " was "as as stas better to come by Pahrana Pahranagt.md Pahranagetand Pahranagit gt-.md gt.md gt .md md get-and get and , - . and . there pick up a horse horse7 ? " " They were silent , and the back backglound backgiound backgiound seemed seemeduncommonly seemeduncommonly seemeduncommonly glound giound of the outer night uncommonly still-perhaps still perhaps shll-perhaps shll stall-perhaps stall - because becauseOld becauseOld becauseOld Old Man Coffee CoITee s & : . hounds were gone " . Wheeler Wheelerrepeated |