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Show . ; - . - . , \ . r'1 r1 ' : dl.a---fl- dl.afl dl.a dla fl dl.afl8 . - . . - - , . - - . . 8 : . O.4 O4 r . q qi i I\ I II'f { \ . / 1 f , . I'f If If ' ' . : ; i " " . : . " ' : _ I ! i , . 11 , tDk tDke tDkf e . N f ' ire irer r " JI.t JIt t 'fA fA gf : ; dyI1ARQLD HAROLD HAAOLD , d'ANNINGIR.E dANNINGIR.E dANNINGIRE Ct CKANNIN6WIRE ' ' AN N i N O " ! h R.E RE . . , . . fRr , , . . ' v r J r ' C Ql ) t V - " . N.U.U NU.U NUU . " . . "tCASE tCASE " LEAS ! 7 . ' 4Ci % f/ f / UCW LEW J.luIrlfETI.s JluIrlfETI.s JluIrlfETIs . BVIUfBTl UURETI $ ii . Isv "Irn Irn \ " trill aru , } boas bo . * 01 of f &he he the &heero theCross & 01Cris * ero Cross * . . T berd herd Br * . , which wbJeh . Is . b " being ' tae b'ac bac Orlven tlv rlTeli from frombUI fromTeresa frrT * bUI Teresa x u 0 to & the th * IiCUl Indian aceat agent aen , $ at St OaD Ogallala OgallalaThe OgaUalaThe , " ft The . , yar year .ar ar . I Is la . 1175 IITS 1575 tOM 1'OI'4 1OI4 iOM ' ' ARNOLD nNOr.D nNOrD AfNOLD . , . 01fD owner waerhas r , . ha baa . beea been h ea kUlf klltell killed la hi In ft a . stampede itxi 4 * nil Bis fits wl11aaam'l willnames win wl11 will aaam'l aaaml names a ' s Lew IAtw bOil boa M . a.nd and wr owaer owner U11t11 instil tU the theeattl thecattle ( eatU eattl cattle * . are ar cM sold whea wben when HTEV S'l'EVB SlEVB STEVB ' : and aa JOY JOYare JOYSr JOYar are Sr . to ( ricelv receive their th lr Ibar.s Ibars shares shar . s After Alter many manydUlI.cuJUe manydifficulties * B yllcBltles dUlI.cuJUe dUlIcuJUe difficulties . . aaj and jrCsalys bArdlllalp hardships . they arilv ardve arrive taD ID in IDDoclee inDodge Doclee Dodge c City CLAT CLAY MANNING HANNING , 107"1 1071 Joy's Joys 107"1Ian Joy'sRange ITaaa " ' * Ian Range " . , , . eIIsappear disappears lr ari . la Iii In Ur the tow towa town , . aaj and Law IAtw Lew , , . ceaaiyaalC aceoJDpamed accompanied ky by Joy J y aaJ and mOlt most it of f blimen hismen Us bli his men men . , , roe goes c * s . after arter hir him Lew I.ew Iew . Ufa blrea hires a 410sla dozen 410slaMW dozennew ra MW new w han bands & * < * . , . a as a . he be tears fean fears trouble to U with &he he the &herival therival & UrriTal rival OyeR OpeD Open A men soon Ctey Clay I Is . .erlousl erlousl seriously seriouslywounded s . rl * lywa , . woaded wounded la In a cuntlbt gunfight ( ( , . ! . , aaJI and Jay Joy ltay stays staysbehind stayskehia . lIebIJJ.d lIebIJJd behind . * to auue nurse rr him bInI , . wblJe while whU * Or the rot re.t ret rest . mOve mOveon moveon v on with Or the herd herdCHAPTER hr * CHArTEn CHAPTER XvmThere xvni xvm xvniTher - Ther Thet There . , were nine men it M In , ttr the party partyon partyOff partyOff on Off at a distance their leader raisedhis raised raisedhis raisedhis his hand United States marshal marshalboy . , , boys Hold back your dogsl dogs dogsi ! ' " . He Hecame Hecame Hacame came on In through the gray Ught light Ughtsmiling lightsmiling lightsmiling smiling a stocky man in a black blacktown blacktown blacktown town suit I m acting for Ur the com corn commor&realth cornmorbvealth commonwealth mor&realth morrealth morbvealth & } of Keith County " . hesaid hesaid he said aid Your boss here " " . Lew paced out toward him say sayIng saying sayIng Ing ; nothing He couldn't couldnt couldn " ' ' make mak * this thisout thisout thisout out . . For a moment back there ther he hehad hehad h hhad had thought the Bame same am thing that thatwas thatwas thatwas was In St Steve ve a s head The law wascoming was wascoming wascoming coming to make an arrestThe arrestThe arrest arrestThe The marshal leaned across his sad saddIe saddie saddl dIe horn My friend he aald said saidyou saidyou aaldyou you v ve ye come a long way up from fromTexas fromTexas fromTexas Texas I know how long it is and andI andhate andhate andhate hate to hold your herd up now But Butwe Butwe Butwe we ve ye got a dead line He H waved wavedtoward wavedtoward wavedtoward I toward the ridge ' ' That 'That s Keith KeithCounty KeithCounty KeithCounty County We ve ye got men camped forfi1ty forfllty tor for torI I Bfty fi1ty fllty miles alon alonp along there with a quar- quar quarantine quar quarantine . - antine order against all herds corn com- com comIng . - I Ing lag out of your state Texas feverhas feverhas fever | has been bad this year You 11have 11 ii 11have iihave have to hold up sixty days or untilthe untilthe until | the first flrst frostHe frostHe frost frostHe He didn dido dfdn t answer His breath hadstopped hadstopped had topped stopped Ha He felt like Uke a man hearing hearingthe hearingthe hearingthe the judge jude * pronounce a sentence And Andbeside Andbeside Andi beside him Quartemlght Quarternight rumbled . ' Good God Godl Godi I Sixty daysl days dayslThat I ! IThat That was wa it-sixty it sixty it - - sixty days with the thecontract thecontract thecontract contract tor for ther these longhoms longhorns end end1ng endlog ending 1ng log in less than a weekHe weekHe week weekHe He "Knew Knew ltnew " Ur the dread of Texas fever fe- fe fever fe fever - - ver A Southern herd mat that seemedImmune seemed seemedImmune seemedimmune Immune could spread It Uk like wild wildfire wildfire wildCr fire among cattle in the North kill killing killlag killing ing lag them off by thousands Tir The only onlything onlything onlything thing these Northern men could do dowas dowas dowas was stop Itop the trail drives Then hela hesaw he la saw aw w one on * hope"You hope"You hope hope"You "You You " v ve got me In a jack pot potsure , , aure sure he h * said I won tron won t try to buck buckyour buckyour buckyour your dead line Une But since this is isIndian isIndian IsIndian Indian beet beef under government con contract contract contract tract to reach OgaUala Ogallala by Ur the first firstot firstof firstof ot of September I feel I m only bound boundby boundby boundby by orders of the army commandantand commandant commandantand commandantand and the Indian agent up there Theymight They Theymight Theymight might waive Ur the quaranthr quarantine in this thiscase thiscase thiscase thiscase"That case caseThat ' " ' . marshal marshalgranted marshalgranted marshalgranted "That That 'That ' might be the th * granted You needn Deedn t lose any time timefinding timefinding timefinding finding out The Th * army is helping us usenforce usenforce usenforce enforce this dead line A Captain CaptainWIng CaptainWing CaptainWing WIng of the commandant I a staff is iscamped iscamped Iscamped camped straight north of here her * on onthe onthe onthe the ridge He led his little party partyoff partyoft partyoff off oft to the east Well boys Lew said " . ' youmight you youmIght youmight mIght as well get out Jut < your cardsThere cards cardsThere cardsThere There won t be any work tor for awhile awhile a while Keep the herd from drifting driftingtoo driftingtoo driftingtoo too tar far mat that s all 'until until ' I get backHe backHe back backHe He picKed plced ) ( up ils lis iii saddle starting startingtoward startingtoward startingtoward toward the picketed horses and then thenbeh thenbeh thenbeh beh nd the cook s wagon he came cameupon cameupon cameupon upon Steve He had forgotten about aboutSteve aboutSteve aboutSteve Steve They wcren weren t looking lookmg for foryou foryou toryou you he said Then his words struck struckout struckout struckout out with no softness So you re a agunman agunman agunman gunman nqw-that nqw that nqw - that s 111 tt it ! Going to beon be beon beon on the jump for tor the rest of yourlife your yourhfe yourlife hfe life whenever a badg badge * shows up up'He upHe ' He wheeled on without waiting waltmg for forany forany forany any answerSaddled answerSaddled answer answerSaddled Saddled and riding north he hethought hethought hethought thought back over what he had seen seenIt seenIt seenIt It was clear enough Ever smce since smcethey sincethey sincethey they had left the Little Comanche ComancheSteve ComancheSteve ComanchBtev * Steve * had been hounded by some somethIng something something thIng behind him on the trail This Thismornmg Thismorning Thismorning mornmg morning showed it was the law he hefeared hefeared hefeared feared and that must go back to toShenff toSheriff toSheriff Shenff Sheriff Rayburn Rayburq . killed in Ox Bowthe Bow Bowthe Bowthe the night the bank was robbed IfSteve It If ItSteve IfSteve Steve had done that he knew noth nothmg nothing nothing mg ing could save him For there was wasa wasa a certain certam dumb conceit in m every bad badman badman badman man he had known They hadn t tsense tsense tsense sense enough to see how much the thegame thegame thegame game was stacked aga nst nat n t them and andcould andcould andcould could go on to a fight ng end Steve Stevewas Stevewas Stevewas was not that dumb He was al already already already ready scared and when a man Isscared isscared is scared cared he whips hImselfOn himselfOn himself himselfOn On top of the ndee ridge the little mill mlii mliitary milltary milltary tary camp made a straight neatlane neat neatlane neatlane lane of pup tenta tents with a flag planted planted plant | ed in front of ot a larger tent at the theend theend theend end A bunch of yellow legs curry currylng currying curryIng lng ing down their horses stared at him himand himand himand and a sentry challenged him as be he herode hrode * rode into the streetHe street streetHe He said I m looking for tor Captain CaptainWmg CaptainWing CaptainWing Wmg Wing The sentry led him onLike on onLike Like Lieutenant : Katon Baton Eaton at Doan I . Crossing Captain Captam Wing coming comingfrom comingfrom comingfrom from his tent lent a moment later was wasvery wasvery wasvery very young H He * wore a saber anda and a pair of gauntlets & and &nd nd his hil brownhmr brown brownluur brownhair luur hair was down long beneath hi his hiscampaign hiscampaign , campaign hat In the way Ur the old oldIndian oldIndian oldIndian Indian fighters ghters had made popular popularfor populartor for these Uies * boys Looking Lookmg stem stern and andmilitary andmilitary military he showed allowed his disapproval disapprovalof of all Texas trailmen which had hadreason hadreason hadreason reason enough and Lew thought'Not thoueht thought Not 'Not ' ' much chance hereBut hereBut here hereBut But he gave hi his . name and placed placedh1mseU placedhimself placedhimself h1mseU himself with the Cross T herd of ofIndian ofIndian ofIndian Indian beef beet then asked What 5 s 5thirty sthirty sthirty thirty miles Captain more or less7Siace less ' Sln Since e we w * ve ye come twelve hundred hundredto to toake make \ake ake \ this delivery seems seem . like likeyour likeyour 'Our Our your ) ' commandant might stretch a / : plnt pclmt point * and accept it r tjtght el\t el t glt \ ; here her * Wb Why Whynot Whynot not not ? ? It It's Its ' , going goJnk to by b * icattered scattered any anyway . way"o way \"o "o o \ " You w won't wont n't nt ' J\o1d J o1d \ hold old it to in Olal Ogal Ogal-lala Ogal lala - . " . lala lain I , , lainWing Wine Wing thought thouibt about abbut It it , . , frowning ' * Your contract I know , . " " be b * laid said , , . calls tor for delivery "cross cross Across " across the tbe river riverAs rivrA As * tar far as Ur the army is fa concerned concemf,1d concemf1d , Ican 1 I 1I 1can Ican I can t see that thirty mlls mUes miles * mean meananything meananything meananything anything All we do o is act as 81 escort escortfor escortfor escortfor for Ur the Indian Indlen agenl agent * g nt . But I think thinkthere thinkthere's thinktaere'a thinktaerea there there's theres ' " where whr * you'll youll you.U youU ' . run into trou troubIe troubin troubl bIe bin " He H * shrugged "Not Not " te1l1hg telling te1l1hgtales tellingtales tellingtales tales out of IrcbooI-ou IrcbooI ou school-you school you chool - , you know how it it1J itIs itis 1J Is The Th * agent deals deal dealswith ? -with with - the Indian IndianSupply IndianSupply IndianSupply Supply Company , . and two partners partnersof of that company are in Ogallala Ogalaia Ogallalanow Ogalaianow OgaUalanow now , waiting for ( or a herd of ot theirown their theirown theirown " . own 'Su Su 'Sure Sure "Sur Sur " ' e * " Lew 8ald said aid , . ' Ur the Open A AFought AFought AFought Fought m me * all aU ail Ur the way up That I s Iwhy swhy why I ve ye v got to beat this quaran quaran- quarantine quarantine . - tine It If I m held after September Septemberfirst Septemberfirst Sept mb rfirst first my subcontract with Urm them . i8 is i8broken isbroken isbroken broken They can caD deliver their own ownherd ownherd ownherd herd any time ' Ha He looked at the theofficer theofficer Urofficer officer and thought the army was a adetent adecent adecent detent decent : outfit outtU after alt all U . . But he knew knewhow knewhow knewhow how it was with sorrr some Indian agents agentsThey agentsThey agentsThey They were in a place where money moneycould moneycould moneycould could turn the game If this one on OD * in inOgallala inOgallala inOgaUala Ogallala had been reached that way waythere waythere waythere there d be no favors for the Cross T T'You T'You T"You TYou " ' " asked * ' ' woulddo would woulddo woulddo 'You You think h he * 'it it it do any eood good It If I rode in to see se your yourcommandant yourcommandant yourcommandant commandant ? No Wing said you needn t do dothat o othat oth that . t . . I m sending a coin Gout COU er in thisN this thisHe N r , ' ryas ryash h ryasi . i t z zi zI zt I i t ' t s s'l 'l l 'lr ' r , r I ' ; ' ( M Ma : . : -a a - a4 * , _ ' . -4- 4 - 4f - - f - - _ _ p--'r p 'r r p'rHe - , - ' He didn't didnt IJa't IJat ' apeak speak , aa4 and he h * heyt kept his hiseyes hiseye eyes * on a the th * caniyflr campfire * as If he h * werestill were weretill still till alone alone't ale 't t ' morning 111 III I 11 write a note and havean have havean havean an answer back sometime In the theafternoon theafternoon theafternoon theafternoon"All afternoon afternoon'All "All All 'All " . ' right thanks " He moved his hishOl7se hishouse hishovse hOl7se house and stopped and sat sat , , gripped grippedbetwf"en grippedbetween grippedbetwen betwf"en betwfen between " * a thing he wanted to know knowand knowand and didn dldn dfdn t want to know either She Shehad Shehad Shehad had said she would write and ten tell tenhim tellhim tellhim him how Clay was In the end ehd hesaid he sa said id It If it isn t too much trouble troubleyour troubleyour troubleyour your man might bring brmg out the tle ) Cross CrossT . T mall mallRiding Riding along the ridge afterwardbefore afterward afterwardbefore afterwardbefore before turning turnmg south he could see seethe seethe seethe the wide twisting line of Ur the South SouthPlatte SouthPlatte SouthPlatte Platte river bottom and almost almostmake almostmake almostmake make out the town far across the thegently thegently thegently gently sloping sloplOg plain For a man manto manto manto to be this close hardly a frog s sjump sjump sjump jump away compared to the trailHe trailHe trail trailHe He shook his head and put thatsight that thatsIght matsight sIght behind his backHis backHis back backHis His hope was small enough but it itearned itcarried itcarried earned carried him through that afternoon afternoonrIding afternoonriding afternoonriding rIding guard on the loosely grazingherd grazing grazingherd grazingherd herd until he thought It was time timeto timeto timeto to get his mail mall Then he saw a yetlow yel yet yellow yellow low legged trooper loping out of the thenorth thenorth thenorth north He waved the rider over overthanked overthanked overthanked thanked him and said there was wal a agood agood agood good poker game go ng in camp and andwas andwas andwas was alone then with two envelopes envelopesin in bis his handHe handHe hand handHe He opened the brown c"lcial clcial c1cial c'lcial " ' " one oneof oneof oneof of the War |