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Show I r . ICATTLE FCATTLEKINGDOM FCATTLEKINGDOMBy 'CATTLE CATTLE ' KINGDOM KINGDOMK K _ 3 Bv By ALAN LEMAY LEMAYI LE MAY I ' ' s ; s tee : e : t _ _ _ _ _ _ .Ii Ii . CHAPTER IJIAPTER IIAPTER XV-Contmued XV Contmued XVContmued19 XV XV - Continued ontinued ontinuedN ontinuede ' . ; , \ -19- 19 - 19 - N\8 N 8 19N8 N \ e Hurley kept fretting him hun bun ' T 'r r notion actIon . ' Most . likely l11.ely l11ely they ve1tfee yet yeflee ve ye veflee 1tfee t flee and Tulare in the cooleri cooler ! ! ! hould have been back an hour hourifre Jhould . , I ifre , Jre e like two hours Val Doug Dougought DoueSught ' : ' ought ugh t \i i \ ti iwe oughtwe we was to drift dnft into that " ? Steve said either we d dt'em dtt'em dyem t'em tem tt'em ttem ' on the road or they re.g re reg JIg .g g . , . g our cur help by God Godl ! ! I th1tlk think th1tlkJghter think.fighter thinklehter Jghter- Jghter .fighter- .fighter . - ' Jghterre .fighterb t b re plenty close now Wheel Wheel'td Wheeltd d ' d You can see-the see the seethe - * lights of of'Own ofown ofnwn could be- be bebey beiey he-bey he bey - - 'Own Own ' from here-or here or here - - or bey iey all went out If you think thinkomg thinkoing think.omg thinkomg . omg oing to take Marian Manan into townf townII towna townv town f v , r II a shooting shootmg scrape-forget scrape forget scrape - - forget it its its its s Tulare and Coffee get back backmy backmy backmy my car so that she can go on onto onto onto to the ranch-I ranch I ranch - 1 stay here Arid And Arides Andes Andes es the car stay here hereon hereon hereon on t t you bother about me me3n mean mean 3n an spoke I 111 II ll get along : ill :111 111 illvas . ras vas after aner midnight munlght ' ! Their plans planshe planshe plansae he crack out of Horso Horse Dunn DunnIndefimte Dunnindefinite Dunnindefinite Indefimte indefinite because their theu thew inior infor iniorm inforin inforin m in was Indefinite indefimte First Flrst was wassary wassary wassary sary the seizure of Walt Amost Amos t ; was known that he carried carriedeys carriedeys carriedeys eys to the Insp ration lock up uphe uphe uphe he trouble was that they dld did dldnow didnow didnow now : how many deputies deputles were wereed wereed wereed ed with Wlth Amos in his lus house be behe behe belie he ja j a 1 l If more than one or orwere orwere orwere were there they thought that thatuId thatuld thatuld uId uld be a good idea to create a aowder aowder aiwder owder diversion In some other otherer otherer otherer er of the town to draw away awayt t of the sher shcrifl sheriff I s force Tulare Tulare1r1 Tularearisen Tulareinien 1r1\ 1r1 1r1en arisen \ en Old Man Coffee into In Inhon Intion In.ion Inion hon tion . to make a reconnaissance reconnaissanceIlhat reconnaissancechat reconnaissancevhat Ilhat chat they feared now was that thatot thatof thatot ot of temper of Tulare had got gotscouts gotscouts gotscouts scouts in m troublelere troublewere trouble troublelere lere were : am aim t much left lert of theSteve theSteve the theSteve Steve complainedicre complamed1ere complainedzere complamed complained 1ere zere s other mghts nights mghtseave nightssave nightsave eave save ; one man here with Mar MarSteve MarSteve I ISteve Steve suggested and let s sest sest sest est of us go take that town townII town.1 town1 townL II L . ! Or anyway find out what sy s sy y finally agreed upon this but butafter butafter butafter after it v . was as conceded to BI11y Billy BI11yler Billyler Billyler ler that they wait walt a quarter of ofour ofour ofUT our ) moreat moreat more moreit at it last quarter of an hour houred houred houred ed out like a ' \ werk El"k Elk e " ' k and stIll stIlleadl1ghts stilleadlights stilleadlights eadl1ghts eadlights appeared upon the therat therat therat rat on roadmust roadmust road roadmust must be time hme by now Steve Stevey y mSlsted insisted mSlstedlVe insistedive insistedive lVe ive minutes mmutes more moregleam moregleam moregleam gleam ol of lights l1ghts showed twoI two I ! oft off to in the outskirts of thea the thea a car was coming commg out of In Intion Intion In.ion Inion tion . at last . . So slowly slov.ly slovly . it came camefor came'or cameor for ' or a tune they were convmced convinced convmcedthlS convincedthis convincedthis thlS this could not be the driving dnvmg of ofe ofe ofe e Even . when v.hen vhen Billy Wheeler s ster ster ster ter pulled up oppos te to them on onoad onoad onoad oad they stayed quiet qwet for a moSUSP1Cl0US mosuspicious mo mosuspicious suspicious SUSP1Cl0US that the car was wasnger wasnger wasnger nger driven dnven by their own men menOld menOld menOld Old Man Coffee sung out BII Bil BIIoeeler Bilheeler Biliceler7ere Biliceler7ereilly oeeler heeler ? ' ereIlly ere illy let me talk to you a min minalone minalone minalone minaloneI aloneI alone I 1 I Douglas and Steve Hurley had haded haded baded ed piling out out , , but now they theyd theyd d at each other and reluctantly reluctantlyd d back . . Billy Wheeler trotted trottedis IS to the other car carI carI I Man Coffee dropped his vOice vOicemuffied voicemuffled voicemuffled muffied muffled undertone Its It s all allkid allkid allI kid kidrhat kid'hat kidat rhat /'hat 'hat hat / ' % at i s the- the theorse theorse the - - ' orse Dunn has run his own ja11 jail ja11Ie jailk jailK Ie k : pretty near tour four hours ago agook agook agobit ok us a long time tJrne tune to ge the fullWe fullWe full fullWe We got it now He got clear cleare e ja jail , , all right with that same samemger sameurger samemger mger urger in the sheriffs sheriff shenfI liback , a , back andthe and ! the sheriff shenfJ as a shield snleld But Butiepuhes Butieputies Butleputies iepuhes ieputies mowed him lum down downau downou downou au ou sure ? You sure this tlus isn isa t tof tof tof of Bender s * trlcks- trlcks tricks- tricks trlckssaw trickssaw tricks - saw aw him hlm laid IaJd out out , , . Coffee saId saidr r a moment Wheeler was SlHe siHe si Sl siHe He was laboring labormg under heavy heavyk k but already he was wonder wonderwhat wonderwhat wonderwhat what he was going gomg to say to toe toe : e Dunn Duna s niece mece Did he get getJody getiody getiody7 Jody iody ? ' he asked half hat ! uncon unconI1S unconus unconas I1S us ot of what he saId saIdIe saidfie saidle Ie fie couldn couIdn t get a man He made madeoreak madeoreak madeareak oreak with an empty gun And Andfound Andfound Andfound found his rus ammunit ammUDlt ammumt on lying Iymg on ondoor onfloor onfloor door floor insldeI insideiey inside inslde insideley I iey ley Y ; were silent again for a longs longI long I And to B BUy 11y lly Wheeler the thet thet thet t turned suddenly empty as II if IIlat ifr iftat ifyat r tat and living l1vmg force had gone gonejot f gonef it with Old Man Coffee s ss ss sgs lat s I suppose we may as well wellethng wellettmg wellyetting ranchfeler ethng ettmg back to the ranch ranchler ranchler ler said at last lastWho lastWho lastffho Who s go ng to tell te11 Marian Marian7Ixn ? ' r [ m go cong ng to tell Marian Marlan . . I Illher 11 U 11her Uher her back in my car iffee alree affee and Tulare stepped down downfollowed downfoUowed foUowed ollowed ( , { { htm him reluctantly across acrossforse acrossHorse Horse Dunn s battered touring touringwhere touringyhere Izvhere touringIzvhere | where the others waited waitedT . . or ) a moment Billy B111y Wheeler stood stoodot stoodat stoodit ot otone at , , - one -one toot foot on the runnme runnmg running runnmgI"d runningrd I"d Id rd " . d . The eyes of Marian Marlan andve andve and ve Hurley and Val Douglas were wereu Ilis his wereIlis werehis * face Steve Hurley spun the theI'ter thePier theter I'ter Iter Pier ' and the engine engma began to tohe . , thelown he tat sat waiting waitmg to jump theown theown the lown own the road to Inspiration atst atat at atIrst Irst st at wordell wordell word word'ell 'ell ell ' ell ? Val Douglas demandedo demandedst demanded st St . . o action achon tonight , , . ' ' WheelerY WheelerS Wheeler Y S heard himself h1mset ! tell them . . ' "We We 'We " ' U 11 be begoing begoing bSolas going back to the tb ranch . . . Marian- Marian Marianyou Marianyou Marian-you Marian you - - you d better come corn * with me ' ' "What What " the- the theSteve the - - ' ' Steve began . Coffee will give you the dope on onyour onyour onyour your wiy w'ly wly w ' iy back . . . We got to get out of ofhere ofhere olhere here now Come on Marian 'They They 'Theystared ' ' They Theystared Theystared stared at him but presently they theyobeyed theyobeyed theyobeyedBilly 'obeyed obeyed they'obeyed 'obeyedBilly ' obeyed obeyedBilly Billy Wheeler let the others turn turnHorse turnHorse turrHorse Horse Dunn s car in the road and andstart andstart an anstart < start back toward the 94 before he hestarted hestarted histarted started his engine engme Even after he hehad hehad hihad had set his roadster rolling ro11mg he drove droveslowly droveslowly drovislowly slowly half hat ! paralyzed with Wlth the theP2 thi thiiV iV % f ' P2 ' V r if : , < K Ky - . -y y - , > j d $ ' % 3S 3Sf f r rt t 4 / P ( , 4 4c w wMarian c Marian Dunn Sat Perfectly Stilldread Still Stilldread dread of what he had to say He Heknew Heknew Heknew knew that Marian Manan was watchmg watching IDS his IDSface hisface hisface face waiting waJtmg tor for him h1m hum to speak . . Suddenly Suddeniy she grasped his hlS arm in inboth inboth inboth both her hands Billy-what Billy what Billy - what IS ISit isit isit7 isit7He it ? ' He let his car drift dnIt to a long roll rolling rolllag rolling ing lag stop top besde bes de the road and shut shutoff shutoff shutoff off the engine engme engineB engmeB B fly llyl 11yl ! What s the matter ? ' St II 11 he could not speak but sat satwlth satwith satwith wlth with his hlS hands gripped grlpped on the wheel wheeland wheeland wheeland and his IDS eyes on the far off vamsh vanish vamshing vanishing vanishing ing tail ta11 light 11ght of Horse Dunn scar scarwhich s car carwhich carwhich which Horse v . would ould never dnve drive dnveagain driveagain driveagain again 0-ice 0 ice O'1ce O1ce Once ' - more he was seekmg seeking seekmgwords seekingwords seekingwords words and finding no words at hls his hlscommand hiscommand hiscommand hiscommandThen command commandThen Then Marian Manan cried cned out sharply as asII asif asit II if she had read his mind mmd It can t tbe tbe tbe be that-Te11 that Te11 that-Tell Tell that - Tell me it lt isn lsn t sot sotMarianI so I ' IMananI Manan-I Manan I Marian-I Marian Marian - I can t hardly believe belJeve it itmyself itmyself itmyself myself But- But ButMy ButMy But ButMy - My uncle is- is isDead IsDead is isDead - Dead he saldManan saidMarian said sald saidMarian Marian Manan Dunn sat perfectly still so soshll sostill sostill shll still that he could not hear her herbreathe herbreathe herbreathe breathe Still he did not look at ather ather ather her as that incred ble silence set settled settied settied tled tied upon them a s lence so com complete complete cornplete plete that somewl ere many yards yardsfrom yardsfrom yardsfrom from where they sat he presently presentlycould presentlycould presentlycould could hear the faint famt small gnaw ng ngthat ngthat ngthat that a kangaroo rat makes workmg working workingto workmgto to get at the water m in a cactus heartOver heartOver heart heartOver Over all aU that vast range the moon moon1 1 ght shone clear and clean as a a1 1 ght radiated by silver you could couldeven couldeven couldeven even see the distant mountains and andthere andthere andthere there was a color of deep blue in inthe inthe inthe the dark sky This was the range rangethat rangethat rangethat that Horse Dunn had won As far as asthe asthe asthe the eye could reach all that leandusty lean dusty land was under the domina tion bon of the 84 94 brand Somewhere Somewhereoff , oft off in the night mght scattered over the them11es themiles themiles m11es miles were the bunches of cattle cattlewhlch cattlewhich cattlewhich whlch which Horse Dunn had branded in inMarIan ! inMarian n nMarian MarIan s name-scattered name scattered name - - scattered and few fewto fewto fewto to the mile mUe but grazing grazmg an area arca so sovast sovast sovast vast that Horse himself had not notknown notknown notknown known how many they were wJthin within withina wJthina a thousand head It seemed astrange astrange a Istrange strange thing thmg almost impossible to tobelieve tobelieve tobelieve believe that the shaggy old tighter fighter tighterwho fighterwho fighterwho who had gained these long miles milesof milesof milesof of desert bu It these tar far flung herds herdswould herdswould herdswould would never ride th s range again againnor againnor againnor nor count the scattered beeves nor norsee norsee norsee see this mooni moonl ght cool and serene sereneand sereneand sereneand and clear flooding floodmg the vast dry land landthat landthat landthat that he lovedWhen lovedWhen loved lovedWhen When the s lence had grown unt 1 1he 1he 1he he lltWheeler could endure it no more B U llt 1IWheeler ( , Wheeler turned his eyes to Manan Marian MananShe MarianShe MarianShe She sat as still shll as a resting kit fox fox foxand , , and her face turned straight ahead aheadwas aheadwas aheadwas was as wh te to as the alkali flats fiats un under under under der the moon Only once he saw sawher sawher sawher her eyes turn sweep ng the unhm unlim unhmHed unlimited unlimited Hed ited land that Horse Dunn had hadfought hadfought hadfought fought tor for in m her nameHe nameHe name nameHe He tr cd ed to say something Mar Marlan1Ianan MarianMarian Marlan lan-1\Ianan- lan 1 Ianan ian-Marian- ian Marian - \ Marian - lan1IananShe ianMarianShe She turned into his arms and hid hidher hidher hidher her face in the hollow ho11ow of his rus throat throatFor throatFor throatFor For a few moments her breathing breathini v/as v as was / irregular but she did not weep'Wecan weepWecan weep 'We-can 'We We can We-can ' We - - can t let the 84 94 go under notnot notnot not -not not - not nowIt nowIt now nowIt It isn t going gomg under ' he saId said.I saidI . . I tell te11 you you and I can show this thiscoyote thiscoyote thiscoyote coyote ring such a fight as they ve ye venever yenever venever never seenMarian seenMarian seen seenMarian Marian said He gave me aU all aUhis allhis allhis his last years yenrs wh while e he was old oldHe oldHe oldHe He had just lust one great lasting dreamhis dreamhis dream -his his - his dream of a cow kingdom But Butsomehow Butsomehow Butsomehow somehow I think he could have havespent havespent havespent spent his last years sitting some somewhere somewhere somewhere where contentedly in the sun ex except except except ' cept that he wanted to do this thine thing thinefor thingforme thinefor for forme me ' ' I r ' I know ' 'Billy Billy ' , , do we have a chance to tov.hip towhip towhip v.hip vhip whip . the th coyote ring ? ' ' 'We We "We "Wecan ' "Wecan Wecan " 'Wecan ' He drew a deep new breath can fight ' 'em em ' to a standstill fight fightem fightem flghtem em till they quit quiti quit ! ! 1 I can clear the the84 94 of Its debts at a stroke The Thenext Thenext Thenext next step may be a little mUe dltferent different dltferentthan differentthan differentthan than what he would have done- done doneHe doneHe done - - ' ' . He d have wanted you to fight fightthe fightthe flghttha the best way you knew-your knew your knew - your own ownway ownway ownway ' way Then-we Then we Then - we can win Next step stepis stepis stepis is to cut down the uncontrolled uncontrolledherds uncontrolledherds uncontrolledherds herds and build better herds in intheir Intheir intheir their place make a 40 mile fenced fencedpasture fencedpasture fencedpastura pasture of that north land you youown youown youown ' own- own - ownWe We own she corrected himand himand him . . -and and - and use the fenced 40 miles as asa asa asa a |