Show cc r. r sr r r THE HIGH GRADER By WM M. M MacLEOD RAINE c. c Copyright ht by O. O W. W D m Co J t C C 1 r 1 MII M II THE PRISONER Word that their j S Word distasteful ton toa to nr i bUy frolics cs are Fig n British British- f of ot toned high party a. a a WI ers recently arrived at the tho JT among them an nn army cap cap- J edge Sn t and nd his sister of ot the same name e as himself Is brought to n to his In- In f Jac jock Jack k known tOB as Crumbs and somer some somo Mends friends fe dS camping on the Gunnison r i In Colorado Called to account f for t the uproar by Venn Venn- j dor der er snobbish millionaire member memer mem- mem Jack ber of ot the British part party snubs bs that Individual and has a aI I friendly nl chat with Moya D Dwight wight attractive Irish girl Jack has hns ino no a use for tor his British relatives While While fishing again r again meets Miss DwIght and by byh h her r Is Introduced to the other members m of ot the party chief of ot whom hom are Lord and Lady Farquhar Far- Far as Mr Crumbs Crumb Jack Is ImmenselY Impressed by the loveliness loveliness loveliness love love- liness of ot Joyce Seldon companion ot of Moya Next day at Gunnison on the tho Farquhar party sees Mr Crumbs win the bucking broncho broncho broncho bron- bron cho championship He disappears after after atter the contest Ii CHAPTER CHAPTER III III-Continued III Continued 3 The Thes lank man with the rifle acro across s sIs Is s saddle bow laughed grimly Yes e 1 s not His name Is KI meny Im I'm ic he sheriff of Gunnison county county and and I ant ant t him bad DId you say asked the a sharply That's what I said the said the man that on the busting broncho contest toTo to to- V. V i. i To Aloya Moya looking around upon the lItI lIt lIt- I group of armed men there ther was a tenseness In their manner anner lei lei- er mind was groping for an on 00 on but she understood this much much- l lat t the law was reaching out for the may cull v care youth who had so In- In rested rested her What do you want with him hIrn What as he done she cried quickly iH He and his friend held up the gate gate- of ot the fair association and got gotway way vay with three thousand dollars ow W since w long they passed 1 tween a quarter and half hal an cur our Jur answered Farquhar The Tiie sheriff nodded All AU ready S. S l The clattering hoofs disappeared In cloud of dust down the road rondo The he he rough places of life Ufe had been added for all these young women ever Ver before belore had they come so close juts its Its raw ugly seams The shadow f the law the sacredness of caste ad always guarded them India turned upon her brother bIgi big i lilted dated eyes He uHe said Who l in anthe the man be I 1 I dont don't know He was silent a lament loment In frowning thought struck ylan fan unwelcome Idea Y You u o e er Uncle Archie He had a son named ek ack who lives somewhere in Colot Colo- Colo t ado d D' D Dye e remember he came home i lien hen n you were a little kiddie t tapped topped at granddads Thought I haden had pen en n his face before Hes He's our cousin ad ack That's who he is jAnd And nd now hes he's a highwayman By ode ve he doesn't look It it contributed arquhar jj dont don't believe It Such nonsense amen amed d Moya There must most be a mis- mis ale ile t le e was aS as troubled about something j foya foa ya Lord Farquhar suggested He y and his friend were viere riding fast ad nd d plainly In a hurry he stop to talk tHe lIe He had to do that to avoid susI sus- sus I r could see his mind wasn't hat he was saying The man was DIlous jp I thought thought liked you him Moya barged s scornfully iger er guardian smiled I did but bat at t isn't evidence that will acquit 15 In court of ot being a road agent dies kHe'S India Indias cousin cousIn maybe How d he b n a a criminal Shall we have cut her and Captain ny now be Dwight demanded hotly The captain laughed but there was Q l mirth th in his laughter Youre a leach friend Miss Dwight By Jove dope ho e joure youre right about him Deep Deep in her heart Moya was not at ui sure ure What did she know of ot him uw Ind d why should she car care what he be q as 1 lf The man was a stranger to her eight Y-el Y ht hours ago ft slie e had never een n n him Why was It that every o ng vagabond with a a dash of ofin h devIl in him drew on her 1 She Slie recalled now that he lie had d when she site had mentioned his Q III e. e no doubt making his mind up Ilet her think hIm other than he w w. w S The sheriff sherif must know what hp i Pas talking about when he said th mn i Was flan an outlaw outlaw- But the appear appear- ence n ot of him pleaded potently Surely w. w 2 ore c clear i le unflinching e eyes cs were not S homes r i of ot villainy N Nor r could she sheI it i I possible to think his gallart ce ce of Se bearing Learing the Possession of a e al l i 4 l tore fore the day was out ut her faith In m had sunk sank to zero Captain KII ny 7 Y returned l from Irom the ot of the i camp hers wIth the thc detaIled story tf of the roe Two o masked men on had bed e th treasurer of the Gunnison Fair association as he was to w tk Laic baai to the re re- of the me day T The e men had not been re recognized but the description of the horses corresponded closely to those rl ridden den by and Colter It was recalled that these two men had iad disappeared as soon as the buckIng buck buck- lag Ing ng broncho contest was as over ver not half an hour before the tho robbery This would aU allow ow them Just time to return to o the corral on the outskirts of the town where they had left their mounts and to saddle so EO as to meet the he treasurer on his way to the bank It t happened that the corral was deserted deserted de de- at the time the boy In charge having left to see th the finals of the tile contest Cumulative evidence of guilt lay ay In the disappearance from the fishIng camp not only of the two men suspected but also of their companions companions compan- compan ions ons Curly and Mosby Think he really did It It Ned India asked hr brother Cant say sis Looks like Uke it he answered gloomily Of the party at the Lodge only one member was pleased at the turn events had taken Verinder's manner was as openly triumphant as he he dared allow It to become It cried offensively offensive offensive- ly Iy y I uI told you so sol I 1 CH CHAPTER PTER IV Im Here Her Neighbor Moya Mo a still rode afternoons with her friends shed fished occasionally and tos took k her regular hand at bridge But But it it was unaccountably true true that her zest In h these amusements was gone She could give no satisfactory reason for forIt It iI but she felt as If It something had passed out of her life forever It was wasas wasas wasas as If the bubbling youth In her were quenched The outstanding note of her had been the eagerness with which she had run run out to meet new news experiences Now she found herself shrinking from them Whenever she could the girl was glad to slip away by herself To the charge that she was vas In love with this young vagabond she would have given a prompt denial Nevertheless Lady Farquhar recognized recognized the symptoms as dangerous On the fifth day after the Gunnison trIp the young people at at the Lodge made a party to fish Sunbeam creek They followed the stream far Into the hills riding along the trail which bordered bordered bor bar dered it and imd Verinder carried carried currIed car cur ried lunch baskets for they were tomake to tomake tomake make a day of It and return only In time for a late dinner Moya l I a amade made her brave pretense of ga gayety gayety ety With alacrity she responded to 0 Verinder's challenge of ofa a bet on the he relative sizes of their catches But as soon as the rest were out of sight she sat down in a shady spot and fell feU to musing The voice of ot a grizzled rider startled her from her dreams Her lifted e eyes es took ook In the grim look of the man garnished with weapons ready to his lands hands han s. s b Mornin miss he nodded amiably Good And swift on the heels he ls of it You ar are a deputy sheriff are you not noti Rung the bell maam You belong to o the English outfit I reckon Funny about some members of your crowd havIng laving the same name as as the man were we're looking f for l' l Mr you mean Jack Yes maam Came from the old country his father did did- did son of some big gun over there Likely Likely Likely Like Like- ly hes he's some kin to your friends He put the last observation as a question with a sharp glance from under his heavy gray eyebrows Moya chase to regard It as a statement Are you still searching for him she asked You bet we are The sheriffs sherIff's got gota a notion notion hes he's hes up In these hills hUls some some- wheres But If you ou ask me Id I'd say he was busy losing himself way of oft off In Routt county clear off of the map He used td tel punch cows up there and he knows all kinds of ot holes to hide In Yes o Moya assented assented listlessly He ha had his getaway all pla planned ned before ever he came down here That's a cinch The fishing was all a bluff The four of lof them had the holdup holdup holdup hold hold- up arranged weeks ago ngo D Dont nt you think theres there's a chance he be didn't do it she asked in a forlorn forlorn forlorn for for- lorn way Not a chance Jack Jacl an and Colter pulled off orr the pi play y What the others had to do with It I dont don't know v. The deputy passed to the fishing In his conversation hoped she would would ha have ve luck stroked his white goatee and presently departed The ml man n had scarcely disappeared around a bend in the thc gulch u ch before a sound startled her 1 Moya turned quickly to see a n man drop rop down the face of a large rock to the ground Even before he turned turne she recognized that grace and and her heart lost a beat bent He came carne straight toward her with the smile In his blue eyes that claimed comradeship as a matter of course coarse You You here here she gasped Im here neighbor Where ought I 1 to be In be-In In Routt butt county losing myself my my- self selU Her little hand was lost In his big brown fist her gaze locked In his You heard beard him help belp It I was working AC- AC down clown through that grove of pines to the river when I saw him lim He may come back I reckon not Lets Let's sit down and talk Her first thought had been of his dang danger r. r but she remembered something else now No I think not Mr Kil- Kil menz The deep eyes that met his steadily had In them the rapier flash He smiled Because I am a miscreant I reckon he drawled You say It It not I. I Now youre you're dodging neighbor You think It it If so so do I think more than the truth Your actions convict you So you think Isn't It Just possible you dont don't understand them There was the faintest hint of derision n In his polite Inquiry A light flashed In her dusky eyes a shining hope newborn born In her eager eager heart Are you ou telling me that you are innocent Youve been thinking me guilty then he countered swiftly What else could I think You might have waited to too hear the defense If you ou had stayed to make one but you ran away How do you do-you you know I did You Yoa were gone when the officers reached your camp HIs Ilis smile was grim and land his voice defiant There was a man up In the hills I wanted to see In a hurry By the look In her eyes It was as If he had struck her With fine contempt her answer came Was Vas there another ma man up there In the rocks rocks' Just now that you had to see until the deputy left 0 v r Anyhow nY V lo there was a young woman oWn 1 by the banks of Sunbeam I wanted to see after he was gone the I fugitive claimed boldly I A faint angry flush glowed delicate delicate- delicately ly beneath the olive of of her cheeks Evasions nothing EvasIons nothing but evasions She turned away sick at heart He had treated with flippancy the chance she had given him Would an Innocent innocent Inno inno- cent ent man have done that Swift as an arrow his hand shot out caught leer her shoulder and held her firm firm- ly Iy The eyes that lifted to his flamed with proud resentment Im not going to let you co go like this Don't Dont think It it Sir do me Justice first His hand dropped from her bier shoulder but the masterful look of him stayed her steps tell me what evidence youve you've got against me me Again an nn Insurgent hope warmed her heart Wild he might be but surely no criminal criminal If if there was any truth In faces What she had heard against him she told The uThe robbers were riding horses like yours You left the fair grounds early When you passed us on the road you were anxious about something You looked back two or three times Both you and Mr Colter showed you were In a hurry Then you ran away before the sheriff reached your camp Does an Innocent man do that thaU She put her question as an accusation but butIn butIn butIn In the voice was a little tremble that asked to be refuted Sometimes he does Now listen to tome me The horses ridden by the robbers robbers rob rob- bers were Colter's Colter and mine We Ve certainly certainly were worried about the time we met you And we did break camp campIn In a hurry so as to miss the sheriff sherIf Does this prove me guilty She brushed away the soft waves of dark hair that had fallen over her forehead forehead fore tore head In little escaping tendrils The fearless level eyes of the outdoors west were looking straight at herI herI her I I dont don't know Does It Well say this evidence had piled up against Captain Instead of against me Would you have believed believed believed be be- him hloi guilty No He lIe couldn't have done It On the same evidence you would acquit him and condemn me Is th that t fair I have known him for years years his his standards his ways of thinking All his life Ufe he has schooled himself to torun torun torun run a straight course Whereas I L- L He Ile waited the sardonic sardonic sar sar- donic frosty smile on OD his lean stron strong face Moya 1 knew that the flutter of her pulses was WIlS telling tales In the pink of her cheeks I UI dont don't know you Im I'm only a workingman an and an on American at that that that-so so it follows that I must be a n criminal he answered with a touch of bitterness bitterness No No no But youre you're youre you're different Theres There's something untamed about you I dont don't quite know how to put It It-as It as asIf If you had been brought up without restraints as If you didn't care much for law Why should I n Law Is a n weapon to bolster up th the thc rich and keep down the poor he flung back with an acid smile But theres there's law and law Even Liven In to our class we have our standards stand ards such as they are arc are Now Its It's you that Isn't fair she told him quietly You know I meant nothing like that The point Is that I 1 dont don't know what your standards are Law La doesn't mean menn BO so much to people or l liora Your blood runs freer less evenly than ours You dont don't let the conventions hamper you The convention of honesty for In in- stance Thanks Miss bliss Dwight I didn't want to believe bellev It 14 but but but- The penitence In her vivid face plea pleaded for her He lie could not refuse the lie outstretched hand hand- of this slen slender er straight lance-straight girl whose sweet vItalIty vitality vital vItal- ity was at once so delicate and so gallant gal gal- lant Reluctantly his palm met hers Youre quite sure now that I dI didn't nt do It Quite sure Even Een though I Im I'm m wll wild and lawless lawless law law- less Arent you 1 she flashed back with witha a smile that took from the wor words s any sting they might otherwise have had Mirth overflowed In his eyes from which now many little creases radi radl Youre a good one neighbor But since you will have It I am tam I Ire re reckon kon my standards standards' even to honesty wouldn't square with yours I live In Ina Inn ina a n rough mining camp |