Show E s SERIAL STORY gj L A THREE KATE AND VIRGIL D BOYLES by SIc Clurg co ima SYNOPSIS george a poor ranchman high minded and cultured searches for cattle missing from his ranch the lazy S on a wooded spot in the river e bed that mould have been an island had the been at high water he us cotra band ot horse thieves engaged in work i ng over brands on cattle lie rear enough to note the changing of the three bars brand on one steer to the V 11 brand 1 aul langbord Lang tord the rich ft of the three bars ranch Is sent or by and la informed of the operations of the gang of cattle thieves band of outlaws beaded by jesse blick who long have defied the law and author atles of kemah county south dakota alth impunity but who heretofore had biot dared to molest any of the property t the great three bars ranch willas ton shows his in opposing a band so powerful in politics and so dread rd by all the community langbord Lang tord pledges his friendship it he assist in bringing jesse black and his gang to justice langford Is struck with the beauty of mary commonly known as little girl louise dale an expert court stenographer who had followed her uncle judge hammond dale from the east to the Dakota hs and who Is living with him at wind aty Is requested by the county attorney auchard gordon to come to kemah and take testimony in the preliminary hear ing ot jesse black she accepts the inal and makes her first trip into the wild indian country arriving at velpen across the river from kemah she Is met by jim munson a hot headed cowboy of the three bars ranch CHAPTER IV maggot an hour prior to this little episode jim munson had sauntered up to the ticket window only to find that the train from the east was 40 minutes late lie turned away with a little shrug ot relief it wasa foreign role he was playing this assumption of the duties of a knight in dancing at on strange ladies secretly he chafee chafed under it outwardly be was magnificently indifferent he had a reputation to sustain a reputation of having yet to meet that which would lower his proud boast that he was afraid of nothing under the sun belth er man nor devil but he doubted his ability so to direct the point of view of the doss or the scribe or the rest ot the boys of the three bars ranch who were on a still hunt for his spot of vulnerability the waiting room was hot ably so to a man who practically lived in the open he strolled outside and down the tracks he found himself wishing the train had been on time had it been so it the impending meeting would now have been a thing of the forgotten past he must meeds fortify himself all over again but sauntering down the track toward ithe stockyards stock yards he filled his cob pipe lighted it and was comforted he had a 45 minute reprieve the boys had tried most valiantly to persuade him to fix up for this event he had scorned them indig bantly it he was good enough as he was black woolen shirt red neck erch let and all for men just so was he good enough tor any female that ever lived so he assumed a little swagger he stepped over the ties and tried to make himself believe that he was glad he had not allowed him set to be corrupted by proffers of blue and white kerchiefs he was approaching the stockyards stock yards there was movement there sounds of commands blows profane epithets and worried changed the placid evening calm into noisy strife it is always a place interesting to cowmen jim relegated thoughts of the coming meeting to the back ground while he leaned on the fence and with idle absorption watched the loading of cattle into a stock car A switch engine steaming and splutter ing stood ready to make way tor an other car as eoon as the present one should be laden he was not the only spectator others were before him two men strolled up to the side op as he settled down to musing interest gee he swore gently under his breath cf that ain t bill brown yep it is tor a tac wonder what hes a now for he scrambled lightly over the high fence of the pen hullo there bill brown be yell ed genially making bis way as one accustomed through the bunch ot re luc tant excited cattle hullo yourself jim what you doln in town responded the man ad dressed pausing in his labor to wipe the streaming moisture from his face he fanned himself vigorously with his drooping hat while he talked gal huntin answered jim sober ly and despondently belll brown surveyed him with astonished but sympathetic alon hell he repeated you dont mean it do ou jim honesta come now honest so come to it at last have you well well weats comin over the three bars what 11 the boys saya he came nearer and lowered his to a confidential tone say how did it come about and chos the lady lord jim you ot all people he laughed uproariously aw come off growled jim in petulant scorn ou mal e me tired 1 ouro plumb luney what you are im after the new gal reporter she a due on that lowdown low down ornery train wish it was in kingdom come yep I 1 do for a fac oh well never mind I 1 mean anything laughed drown good but it does beat the band jim now doean doesn t it how you people scare at petticoats they aint aizen honest jim looked on idly occasionally be con descended to head a rebellious steer shut ewards out beyond it was still and sweet and peaceful and the late afternoon ind put on that thin veil of coolness which Is a god given refreshment after the heat of the day but here in the pen all was con fusion the raucous batlle calls of the cowboys smote the evening air startlingly here dill brown he exclaimed suddenly where did you run across that critter 9 he slapped the der of a big raw boned long eared steer as he spoke the animal was on the point of being driven up the shute what you want to know for asked brown in surprise reason bough nough that critter be longs to us why and 1 want to know w here you got him that s what I 1 want to know you re crazy jima why I 1 bought that fellow from jesse black t other day ive got a bill of sale for him I 1 m a couple of cars to sioux city and bought him to send along on the square I 1 don t doubt it s tar as YOU re concerned bill brown said jim but that s our critter jest the same and jest tote am along you ve no ob well I 1 guess not said brown la conically cally look here bill brown jim was getting hot heatedly head edly angry dian didn t you know jesse black stands trial to morrow tor that there very critter from the three bars ranch no I 1 brown answered shortly an caseb I 1 guess yes 0 the lazy S saw this very critter on that island where jesse black holds out he proceeded to relate minutely the atoo to which was going to swear ive get a bill him on the morrow but he concluded jsse s coln to fight like hell against bein bound over well well said brown perplexed I 1 ly but the brand jim its not yours or jesse s either with any J R ranch in these parts queried jim shrewdly I 1 ain t well neither am I 1 confessed brown but that a not sayin there ain t one somewhere maybe we can trace it back shucks exploded jim maybe you re right jim but I 1 don t propose to lose the price 0 that animal less n I 1 have to you can t blame me tor that I 1 paid good money for it it its yourn wiy of course it s your n but I 1 want to be sure first sure know him jim how could you be so blamed sure your boss must range head know mag id know mag et my eyes were full 0 so cataracts he s an old and tried friend 0 mine the meanest critter the lord ever let live and a fac but the boss calls am bis maggot seems to actually churosh a kind 0 for the ornery critter and says the luck 0 the three bars would sort 0 peak and pine ef he should ever git rid 0 the pesky brute maybe he a right leastwise the critter s his and when a things yours why its yours and that all there Is about it by crack the boss is some mad you d think him and that wall eyed cross grained son bad been kind and lovin mates these many years well I 1 ain t met up with this ornery critter for some time hullo there mag look kind 0 en eakin now don t you that outland ish and unbeknownst J R bill brown thoughtfully the steer whose ownership was thus so unexpectedly disputed you hold him insisted jim ef he ain t ours ou can send him along with your next shipment cant youa what you about ain t afraid the boss 11 claim what ain t his are you bill brown well I 1 can t ho p myself I 1 guess said brown in a tone of voice which told plainly of his laudable effort to keep his annoyance ann oance in subjection to his good you send lang ford down here first thing in the morn ing it he sis the critters his a that ends it now thit he had convinced his quondam the present shipper tj his entire satisfaction jim glanced at his watch with os ease his time had come it all the minutes ot all the time to come should be as short as those 40 had been how soon ho jucson cow puncher would have ridden them all into the past but his get away must be clean and dignified likely bunch ou have there he said casually turning away aitu tin assumed reluctance fair to malj dron with pride to sioux city you said yep well so long so long any these days jim nope boss biever dribbles em out when he ships he ships aint none gone over the rails since last tall he stepped off briskly and vaulted the fence with as lightsome an air as though he were bent on the one errand his heart would choose and swung up the track carelessly hum ming a tune but he had a vise like grip on his cob pipe his teeth bit through the frail stem it split he tossed the remains away with a ture of nervous contempt A whistle sounded he quickened bis pace I 1 he missed her well the boss was a good fellow took a lot of nonsense from the boys but there were he would not stand for jim did not need to be told that this would be one of them the platform was crowded the yellow sunlight fell slantingly on the gay groups aw munson you re bluffly ln jested the mall carrier you an t lookin ter nobody you know you ain t you ain t got no folks don t believe you never had none never heard of em lookin tor my uncle explained jim serenely rich old codger from the state 0 sommers ain t got nobody but me left aw come off what you givin usa but jim only winked and slouched off prime tor more adventures he was enjoying himself hugely when he was not thinking ot petticoats CHAPTER V at the bon ami unlike most ot those who ride much her escort was a fast walker louise had trouble in keeping up with him though she had alv ays considered her self good pedestrian but jim mun son was laboring under strange em barras he was conscious of the attention he was at trading striding up the inclined street from the station in the van of the prettiest and most thoroughbred girl who had struck velpen this long time not that he objected to attention under normal conditions not he he courted it his chief aim in life seemed to be to throw the limelight of publicity first on the three bars ranch as the one and only in the category of ranches and to be connected with it in some way however slight the unquestioned aim and object of existence of every man woman and child in the cattle country secondly on paul langford the very boss ot bosses whose master mind was the prop and stay of the northwest it not of all and lastly upon himself the modest but loyal seral tor in this paradise on earth but girls were far from normal conditions there were no women at the three bars there never had been any woman at the three bars within the memory ot man to be sure tons little girl had sometimes ridden over on an errand but she dian didn t count this this was the real thing and he dian didn t know just how to deal with it he needed time to enlarge his sight to this broadened horizon he glanced with nonchalance over his shoulder after all she was only a girl and not such a big one either she wore longer skirts than tons girl but he believe sho was a day older he squared about immediately and what he had meant to say he never said on account of an unaccountable thickening of his tongue presently he bolted into a building which proved to be the bon ami a restaurant under the direct su pervis ion of the tat voluble and tragic mrs higgans where the men from the other side of the river had right ot way and unlimited credit TO BE CONTINUED |