Show D 1 0 5 E R T LT AD by ZANE author of riders of the purple sae wildfire etc copyright by harper Brot herSL fc CHAPTER XIII continued 1 14 N 1 I jerked on the bridle and told him to let go lie he held on and rolled his aies eyes at roe me ile he seemed suro soro of e conquest on one thing was certain he know the least bit about ho hersca roes it scored me the tha way he got I 1 in front of jose I 1 thanked my stars I 1 up on blanco anco diable well dad im i a little ashamed now nov but I 1 woe was mad I 1 slashed him across the face with my quirt joso jose lumped jumped and knocked sir mr chase into tho the sand bond I 1 get the horse under control till I 1 was out of tight might of those surveyors and then I 1 let him run home nell I 1 guess you punished the fel tow enough maybe lies hes only a conceited softy dotty nut but I 1 dont like that sort ot of thing it western im sorry now dad perhaps the fellow ow was hurt hut but what could I 1 do leta forget all about it and ill be careful chero I 1 ride in the future dad what does docs it mean this surveying around forlorn river Il lver 1 I dont know nell replied holding thoughtfully olt it worries rae mo it looks good for forlorn river but bad for dicks plan to irrigate the valley lord id hate to have some one forstall tore dick dickon on thail no no we wont let anybody have leavo dicks rights declared nell where have I 1 been keeping myself not to know about these thesa surveyor sr muttered belding they roust must have in just st come holding belding discovered that lie he was indeed the last man lunn of consequence in forlorn river to learn of the arrival of don ben chase and son BOB mine owners owner and operators in sonora they with a force of miners lied been besieged by rebels and finally driven oil off their property this property was not dost destroyed st royed but held for ransom and the chases pending developments had packed outfits and struck for the border castle had been their objective point for some reason which belding did not learn they had arrived instead fit at forlorn river niver it had taken ren ben chose just one day to see ee the possibilities of altar valley and in three days ho he lind had benat menat men at work helping returned homo without going to see the chases and their oper Llo alla ranted to think over the th situ fit abd next he went out to lie file valay to tco co for himself alex leans were hastily erecting adobe houses upon ladds one hundred und and saty acres upon licit dick atiles jalaa upon jim laahs and Th ornea there were men tubing the valley floor and the river bed that was wn tor for belding ito he turned back toward town and headed tor for the camp of these intruders to a big tent with a huge calv canvas t ts fly stretched in front under which h sat several men Int in their beIr shirt ol ieves they wire were talking and sacking sly names bolding I 1 want to see this mr chase gelding belding gru illy slow witted as holding belding was and ab orbed in n hla his own feelings he yet saw mr chose chaw tile t wet west would fare far better and last longer it if men like YOU were driven out plainly that his advent was disturbing to these men one of them a tall ruf rued ed man with sharp face aco an and if thread lewd eyes and white dalr got up a and offered hn hond hand nm lia chase senior he be bald uy my foa Radford chase Is here somewhere homr youre 0 Bel dlag the ha una line I 1 take it I 1 meant mc ant to call on you he flo a rough awl ready loud load spoken roan man withal cordial enough yes tea im the inspector replied d ding ignoring toe proffered hand id like to enow what in tile the li b bl l I you mean by taking up land art ground und that hel hellofs logs H inird claim lowly gloway dechod aft fin hla his plan nun were tuk tak iio hi OF jr only ly land 1 YOU fou tilot nian tp i wall ily 34 belding nt lillne ps as to that hut 1 hint ept rpt mm did of ker le arron 1 I 11 n i ri 1 l alli ll wiltz li f N only squatters it if your rangers think got cot property jut just because they drove a few stakes in the ground much mistaken A squatter has to build a house and live lire on his land so BO long ions according to law before lie ho owns it ii this argument was ft as unanswerable lad belding knew it Acco according iding to I exclaimed bcd holding belding then you own up youve youly a jumped our claims sir mr holding belding im a plain business man I 1 como come clong I 1 oleo aea a good opening nobody seems to levi have tenable grants I 1 stake out claims locate squatters start to build it seems to me your rangers have overlooked certain precautions thata unfortunate tor for them im prepared to hold my claim and to back all the squatters who work tor for me it you dont like it you can carry tho lie matter tk t tucson the law will uphold me tho rho law ina say on this southwest border wo we any law except a mans word and a gun then had united states law has como along with lien iten chase replied the other snapping tile his fingers youre not a westerner queried holding belding no im from illinois 1 I thought tile the west bred you I 1 know your kind last a long time on tho the texas border now youl youre one of the land and water hogs that hits has come to root in the west mr air chase the west would tare fare better and last longer if men dion 1110 alho you were driven out you cant drive me out im not so BO sure of that walt wait till my rangers come back CHAPTER XIV A lott lost son time passed tho the population of forlorn river grew apace belding who had once been the head bead of the community found himself a person of little consequence kven even had he do i tired ired it lie he would not have had any voice in tho the selection of postmaster sheriff rind and n few anther officials the chases divided their labors between forlorn river luver and their mexican gold mine which had been restored to them the desert trips between these two places were taken in automobiles A months time made the motor cars almost as familiar a eight in forlorn river re as they lied had been in casita before tho the revolution Bel holdings dIngs wrath at the usurping chases increased ns as lie ho slowly realized ills his powerlessness to cope with such men they wre were promoters promo tem men of big interests and wide influence in the the more inora they did forc forlorn river the less reason there teemed seemed to bo be for his hl own grievance iio had to admit that tt it was pers personal that hat ho and galo gale and the rangers would never have been allo able to develop the resources of the valley as these men were we redoing doing it april arrived with no now news of the rn rangers figers from casita came vague reports of raiders in the sonoyta country reports impossible to verity verify until his mexican rangers returned when these men rode of them oon gon balem tin an intelligent and rel belloli reliable loli le halt half breed said lie he had met prospectors at the oasis they lind led just come in on tho the camino del dal diablo deablo reported a terrible trip ohp of heat and drought and not a trace of the party that settles it declared belding raqul never went to sonoyta Son oyta lies circled round to tho the devils road and the rangers A mercedas Merced cs the horses they im afraid they ime have been lost tn in the desert its an old story on camino 11 lie he had to tell nell that and it was an ordeal which left him weak mrs holding listened to him and was wai silent for a long time while she held tho the stricken nell to her breast then she eh opposed his convictions with that quiet strength so BO characteristic of her arguments hut mother gone seven weeks seven weeks I 1 at the most I 1 gave them six air weeks seven weeks in the desert 1 I 1 how flow do the live she asked belding could not reply to that but bat hope revived in him no ile had faith in his vian though lie he could not in the least understand stat he imag lma ined was something mystic in her years ago when I 1 wits was searching for my father I 1 learned many things about thle country said bali mrs beld holding you can never tell jell how hoi long a man may live in tho the desert the fiercest most terrible and inaccessible places often have their hidden oasis in hla his later inter years my lath father r bacomo a prospector that was vas strange to mo ina for he ha never cared for gold or money I 1 learned that to lie win was often gone in the desert for weeks once for months then the time camo came when he never came back that woe was years year s before I 1 reached the southwest border borde r and heard of him even then I 1 did not for lonn long give up hop hopa a of 0 his core com fair liaa lack I 1 know now something tolls tells me indeed it teclos alj ahli spirit tells mo roelie be was lost but I 1 dont have that feeling for yaqui rind and his ht party yaqui has bag ghea rojas nolas the slip or has ambushed him in some ernp probably that took ti time m e and along journey IDO 4 knorn the indian Is too ton clo to start back now over dry trall hell curb tho the hell wait I 1 win seem to know this dear nell so be oraye patient dick gale will adir fo bic r hack back to tn you yon that alk allt with the strong tron mother a chanke in nell and tn in helding all who h bed doue dome little but annd anil and thi the west and tatu tait i rides 1 aeme to settle mettle into a ira that wt was sad ad at serene holding belding who had been breaking und under r the strain of worry recovered himself so ID that to outward appearance pe arance he be was his hi old oil self belt its he alone knew however that hat t ids his humor b U mor was forced and tant the aw burning wrath w rath ho he felt for the chases was waa flaming into hate bate belding argued with himself that tf it des cea chase and his son radford had turned out oat to be big men in other ways than in the power to carry on great enterpriser he ha might have become reconciled to them but the father was wag greedy grasping hard cold th the son eon added to those traits an overbearing disposition to rule nilo and he showed a fondness for drink and cards carda these men were developing the valley to be sure and a horde of poor mexicans and many americans americana were benefiting from that development nevertheless these there chases were operating in a way which proved they cared only tor for themselves holding belding went to casalta with a number of 0 hla his white thoroughbreds and shipped them to ranchers and horse breeders bleeders bre eders in texas then being near tho the railroad and having time he went up lip to tucson there he learned some interesting particulars about the chases they had an office in the city influential friends in the capitol they were v ere powerful men iri the rapidly growing finance of the west they had interested the southern va ia cine cefic railroad rall rond and in the near future a branch line was to be constructed from san felipe to forlorn iziver these details of the chase development were insignificant when compared to a 0 matter striking close homo home to belding ills responsibility had 77 I 1 never mind dear im an old bear been subtly attacked A doubt had bad been cast upon his capability of executing the duties of immigration inspector to the bes advantage of the state belding divined that tills this was only nn an entering wedge the chases were bent upon driving him out of forlorn but perhaps to serve better their own ends they were proceeding at le leisure tsuro gelding belding returned home consumed by rage but he controlled it F for or the first time i a his life he was afraid of himself lie ile bad hla his ft wife lo 10 and nell to think of and the old taw law of the west had gone forever dad theres another rojas hojas round these diggings was nells remark after the gre greetings ekings were over and the usual questions and answers passed Bel beddings dings exa matlon was cut short by nells laugh she was serious with a kind of amused contempt mr hadford chasel Clin sol now nell what the roared belding hush dad I 1 dont swear interrupted noll nell 1 I only meant to tease you nell you may ns its well tell him and have hare it over ever said eald mrs gelding belding quietly well if you such a good old blind dad have hare seen boon long ago the way mr hadford adford ll chase ran round after me at first it was only annoying in and I 1 did not want to add to your worries but these two weeks youve been gone ive been more than annoyed after that time I 1 struck sir mr chase avith my quirt he made all possible efforts tu to meet mo me ile he did meet me wherever I 1 beni went ile he sent me letters till I 1 got tired of sending them back ile he followed tto reo until it was lemi IMS embarrassing for me to lot let him walk with me and talk his head off ile he made mada love to me ile he bet bogecik ged me to marry him I 1 told him I 1 wax was ati already in love and engaged to bo be married iia laid bald that make any difference then I 1 called him a fool next time ho he saw me ho he said raid ho he re must explain lie ile meant I 1 was being true to a man who everybody on tho the border know knew had been lost in the desert that that hurt maybe maybe its true sometimes it seems terribly true trao since then 0 of f course I 1 have stayed stared in the house to avoid being balti hurt again I 1 feel like 1 I ke a poor little rabbit holed by a hound and I 1 carent peep out somehow the thing struck belding as funny and he laug laughed heL ho had bad oot not had a laugh tor for so long ion I 1 that it roada made him feel good lie ile stopped only nt sight eight of nells kelts surprise and pairl pain then he put his arms anna around her never mind dear im tin an nell its only the old story the fellow fall in love with ich you its your good looks nell what a price women like you and mercedes mercedea bale to pa pay y for beauty rd fd a d good deal rather be ably as a oud mud fence well veil tte the first ant tims urn I 1 catch this lowood rome round here ill ill dud dad yon promised I 1 confound it nell I 1 promised not to pack a gun thata all ril ill only shoo this fellow off the place gently mind you gently ill leave the rest tor for dick gabol april grew apace and ami soon guys gave way to may one morning belding was called from some garden work by the whirring of an automobile and a hollia I 1 ile he saw an elderly sallow faced rather frail appearing man who was wai an endre stronger stranger to him a handsome dark eyed woman whose hair showed white through her veil and a superbly built girl whose face made holding belding at once think of dick gale Is ig tills this mr tom belding inspector of immigration inquired the gentleman courteously im holding belding and I 1 know who you yoo tire are replied belding in hearty amaze its as ho be stretched tor for hla his big hand youre youra dick gales dad the governor dick used to say ran im sure glad to meet you thank you yes tes rm im dicks governor and here mr sir belding dicks dicka mother and his sister elsie beaming his pleasure belding balding shook hands with the ladles ladies who showed their heir agitation clearly mr gelding belding ive come west to look up nay my lost son bon said mr gale ills sisters Bl stern letters lettera were unanswered wo We bovent heard from him in months la Is he still here with you well now sure im awful sorry began belding his slow mind at work dicks away just now been away for a considerable spell im expecting him back any day wont you come in youre touro all dusty and hot and tired come in and let mother and nell make you comfortable of course stay star weve a big house you tou must silly dick comes back maybe be aw I 1 guess it wont be long let me handle the baggage mr gale come in I 1 sure am glad to meet you all eager excited delighted belding went on talking as ai he ha ushered the gales balei tato into the room presenting them la in hla hist hearty way to the astounded mrs mra |