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Show The Settling of the Sage By HAL G. EVARTS Copyright by Hal O. Evnrts 3 WNU Service 9 rr11rM WTlTV li tmm III INKHTtfmillu lnF lllll li CHAPTER VIII Continued 16 But Carlos Dearie .conld not soe. !l was his last evening alone with her nnd after the men) they mile across the hills through the moonlight. In that hour she was very near to doing as he wished. If only he had sussest-ed sussest-ed that she come fco him as ;soon as the Three Har was ouce more a prosperous pros-perous brand; had only pointed out how she could spend months of each year on the old home ranch Mien he might have won. his point without waiting. Hut that Is Dot the way of man toward woman. Ills plea was that she leave all this behind for him. And hfs. hold was not quire strong enough tb Induce her to give up every link of the life she had loved for long years before Carlos Deane had been even a part of It "I can't tell voy now," she said as they rode back to the corrals. "Not now. It would take something out of me the vital part If I had to leave the old Three Har In the shape It's In today. It's sort of like deserting a txlpplcd child." The next day her stand was unaltered unal-tered and In the evening, when the whole Three tfar personnel swunp-to their saddles and hended for the frolic at Brill's Deane had been unable un-able to gain ber promise. There were but few horses at the hitch rails when they readied the post. As the Three liar girl entered at the head of her men she sw Bentley and Carpenter leaning against the bar, well toward the rear of the room. Within the last week she had heard that Carp, after being let off by Oarris, had started up a brand of his own down In Slade's range. Harris' Har-ris' remarks about Slade's mode of acquiring ac-quiring new brands recurred to her that he fostered some small outfit for a few seasous, then bought It out As the men scattered she commented on this to Ilarris. The Three Bar foreman fore-man Boded. "Likely the same old move," he said. "Like 1 told you, there's no way to check Slade up on the number of our , rebrands. If Carp gets caught It's his own hard luck." A dozen men from the llallmoon D swarmed In the door. Mrs. McVey, the owner's wife, stationed herself In one corner with the Three Bar girl while, the men gravitated to the bar. Harper's men came In, the albino standing half a head taller than uny other on the iloor, and they mingled wllh the rest as If their records were the most Immaculate of the loL Two of Slude's foremen arrived with their families. ' . ndrt Epperson, a trapper from far . back In the hills, had brought' his family to the frolic Mrs. Epperson was a tiny meek woman who had but little to say. Her two daughters, In their late teens. La glossy black hair, high cheek bine and faint olive tinge of -skin which betrayed a trace of In dian ancestry. Lafe Brandob came at the head ol tils tribe. Two ol lis sons were mar,-ried mar,-ried ad living nt the home ranch They came to the dance with the rest of the family. Lou Brandon's wife. Dolly, was a former dance-hall girl of Coldriver, and Al Brandon's better half, Belle, was the daughtei of a Utah, cowman. An extra stageload rolled In from Coldriver and four couples Joined tut' throng. ...... . "E:schuol ; teachers." Harris . In formed. "They marry them so fast that It's hard to keep one on the Job Instructing the rising generation . in (he Coldriver school." . . .. Deane shrank from the thought ot the Three Bar girl In such a mixture. Some way she sepmed many shades; finer than the .rest. "It couldn't be . otherwise," Harris said when. Deane .expressed , tills thought. "Shy was raised at the knee of one ol the finest women the world, f remember her mother my-6elf my-6elf a little; and I've' heard my own , mother sing the praises of Elizabeth Warren a t' ousand times.''. The ulblno Interrupted them. - "Cal how come?" he greeted. The three men conversed In the most cas oal. friendly fashion as If there had never been a hint of friction between Harris and Harper In the past. A great voice rose above the buzz ot conversation, tilling the big room to the very rnfters "Choose your pardners ' for the dnncel" Waddles bellowed from the makeshift platforp at one end of the mom. "Gr get jout gn-n -nisi" Deane moved across to the Ihree Jinr girl Thcvn was a general rush for the side i opposite the ! ai here the ladle? had 'galnered Couples squared oft fur the Virginia reel, the shortage of i.'.dlcs rectified i a mind ken-hie? tied on the nrw of many h chap-chid youfi to signify thai he was for the moment. i ilrl U'imIi1Ih picked hi gulrar wo iMdle ;irnk r,to "Turkey In b Si taw," nrnl ih dance w& with WacMIe calling the tarns. All through the room they shuffled shuf-fled and bowed, whirled partners, locked elbows and swung. Uie shriek of fiddles and scrape of feet punctuated punctu-ated the caller's boom. Slade came in alone as the first dane was ended. A croupier and lookout, imported from Coldriver for the event, opened Brill's roulette layout In one corner, the rattle of chips, the whir of the Ivory ball and the professional chant of lookout and croupier sound ed between dances. The full enjoyment of a nove. scene was spoiled for Deane by the 'sickening 'sicken-ing realization, that the ..Three Bar girl ' was part of "It," rubbing elbo3 with the nondescript throng. He looked again at Harper, the rustler chief; at Slade, with his peculiar tur-ticlike tur-ticlike .ace, Slade the cattle king the killer. Willie Warren stood between the two Epperson girls whose faces betrayed the taint of Indian .blood, an arm about the shoulders of each of them. 'It sheriff who had said that men must humor womenfolks was leaning against the bar. Deane turned to Harris but found him looking across the room. He turned his own eyes that wry and. glimpsed a rtyrk man with an ov?riong, thin face and a set blfak sfire. Morrow had just come In. Five minutes later Harris stepped out the back door and Deane followed him. At the soub-' of a footfall behind be-hind him H.rrls whirled on his heel The Next Day Her Stand Was Unaltered. and when he confronted Deane the dim light from the door glinted on something In his hand. "Sho," Harris deprecated. "I'm getting get-ting spooky. 1 thought it was some one els ." He slipped the gun back in Its holster. "There's one or two that would like right wel' to run across e from behind." "I f( Moved you out to tell' you It was decent of you to Insist that I stay over a few days," Deane said. "It was a white thing to do. .'orisldering that we both want the same thing." "We both want her to have what's host for her," Harris said. "And I don't know as she could do any better than to take up with you." "It may sound rather trite coming after that," Deane said. "But anyway. any-way. I'll have to say that I feel the same way about you." "Then. If we're both right In our es llmates, why she can't go very far wrong, either way she turns," Harris said. "So I reckon we're both con tent." Harris moved on nnd motioned Deane to accompany him. "I thought I glimpsed a man 1 knew a few minutes back." Harris said. "I'd' like right well to have a talk with him." , They wandered completely round Ihe post and looked in the shadows of the outbuildings but could find no trace of life "Likely I was mistaken." Harris said at last. "1 saw a face Just outside the door. He was more or Ies9 on my mind the parly 1 thought It was. Some one else 1 expect, and he's gone Inside." They returned to the hall. Morrow stood with two Halfmoon D r en at the end m the bar. Harris motioned him asid'1 and Morrow wilhdrew from lite others. "This Is pretty far north for you. Morrow," Harris suggested. "Is there any on restricting mj range?" Morrow demanded. If there Is I'd like to know." . "Then I'll tell you," Harris an swered. "The road la open as long as you keep on the road. Any time you stray off the beateD trail you're on the Three Bar range,' 1 don't figure to git gunned up from the brush more than once by the same mux Every Three Bar boy has orders to shoot you. down on sight uny time you heave In view any.where. within twenty miles of the Three Bar; so I wouldn't stray off the main-traveled road any time you're going through." Lanky Evans, had detached himself from a group and Morrow locked up to find the tall'man standing at his shoulder. "So yi.r hrnt In pairs," Morrow remarked. re-marked. "And later In packs." Lanky returned. re-turned. "Wlo don't you ever come up and visit us? Every ime I'm riding norih 1 keep looking back, expecting ex-pecting to see you come cantering up from the south." "What's the object of all this conversation?" con-versation?" Morrow flared. "If you've got anything to say to me, why, get It over with."'. "Nothlne special," Evans said "I Just thought maybe 1 could goad yoa into being Imprudent enough to come up our way which I'm sure hoping to observe you north of the line and somewher within a thousand yards." Evans turned away and Monow rejoined the two men he had left at the bar. ..Deane looked about him. Apparently no one had noticed the little by-play. "Evans- didn't exactly mean quite all of that," Harris explained Of course If Morrow does come up our way Lanky would prefer to see LIm first but he would rather he'd keep away. He staged that little talk as a safeguard safe-guard for me. If Morrow acquires the Idea that several folks are anxious to see hlu. up there, he's apt to be real cautious how he prowls -ound the Three Bar neighborhood looking for me." Deane crossed over to Billie. The music started but she shook ho head as he V7- uld have led her to the floor. "Sit dot.n. I want to talk with you. Long Jnv no see 'ura after tcnight," she said. "It'll be' daylight soon and I've a lonp tale to tell. As the others danced she gave him a dozen messages tc Impart to various friends.' "Tell Judge Colton that Three Bar stock Is rising," she said. "And that as soon as things are all smoothed out, he can expect me for a boarder.' Through ar opening In the dancing throng Deane suddenly had a clear view of the open rear door one brief glimpse before the c owd closed once more and shut off bis view. He had an Idea that he had seen a face, hazy and Indistinct, a few feet outside the door. -Ie wondered If It cu Id be the friend for whom IIarri3 had search d. "Make the visit soon, Billie." he urged. "It's been a long month 3iuce we've bad you with us. We thought maybe you'd deserted us hack there. How soon will this visit start and how long will It last?" "It will start as soon as the Three Bar doesn't need me," she said. "And last a long time." Again a lane opened through te crowd, affording a view of the door. Deane sir- the face outside In the night, and a foot or more below It some bright object glinted 'n the dim light which filtered through. The music mu-sic ceased and the chant of the rou lette croupier began, mingling with the smooth purr of 'the Ivory ball. There came a sudden hush from the vicinity of the rear door, a hush that spread rapidly throughout the room, so swfit are the perceptions of a frontier fron-tier gathering. Old Bile Foster stood Just Inside, his gun half raised before him. Can-field Can-field and Lung stood together Id the center of tlu floor, apart from rhe rest and with no others In line beyond thp-i. Bile tossed a boot heel on to the floor and as It rolled roward the iwo men he .h'M Cnnfleld through rhe chest. Lang's gun crashed almost with his own. lilie s knees tagged under un-der him and he pitched face down on the floor, his arms sprawled out before him. The surge ot - the- crowd pressing hack out of 'ine, threw the albino on the edge of It. his big form towering alone. The old. man raiser, his head from the floo' and crooked his wrist with the las: of his ebbing strength. '"Four for Bangs," he said, and shot Harper between the ejes (TO RE CONTINUED.) |