Show copyright by A mcclurg co 17 SYNOPSIS george a poor ranchman high and cultured searches for cattle missing his ranch the lazy S on a wooded spot in the rivers bed that would hae been an island had the missouri been at high water lio dis coers a band of horse thieves engaged in working over bianda on cattle he creeps near enough to note the changing of the three bars brand on one ateer to the J it brand paul I 1 ang ford the rich owner of the three bars la informed of the operations of the gang of cattle thie vese band of outlaws headed by jesse black who long have defied the law and authorities of kenntth county south dakota I 1 anford Is struck with the beauty of mary commonly known s little birl 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 city la requested by the county attorney richard gordon to come to kemah and take testimony in the preliminary hearing of jesse black jim munson in waiting at the train tor coulso looks at a herd of cattle being shipped by bill brown and there detects old mag a well known onery ateer be longing to hie employer of the three bars ranch munson and louise start tor kemah crowds assemble in justice james R s court tor the preliminary hearing jesse black springs the farst of many great surprises waiving examination through jake Sander sori a member of the outlaw gang he had learned that the steer agag had been recovered and ahna saw the uselessness of against being bound over county attorney gordon accompanies louise dale on her return to wind city while stands in the light in his door at night a shot Is alred at nim the house li attacked and a battle ensues between and his daughter on one side and the outlaws on the other the house Is set on alre As an outlaw raises his ralle to shoot a shot from an un known source pierces ills arms and the rifle falls to the ground aid has come to but he and his daughter are and borne away by uie outlaws jim munson late at night heard the shots the attack ort s house hurried to the three bars ranch and summoned langford and his brave men to the rescue it was I 1 who anred the shot which saved alte rescues mary from her captor janeford Lan eford takes mary to the home of mrs white her arm has been broken by a shot she grows delirious and receives medical attention CHAPTER XI continued the long day wore e mother white was baking the men would be ravenous when they came back many would stop there for something to eat before going on to their homes it might be tonight to night it might be tomorrow it might not be until be day after but whenever the time did come knowing the men ot the range country she must have something by her at last came the doctor and gordon driving up in the doctors top buggy weather stained mud be daubed with the mud of last spring of many springs the doctor was a badly dressed pleasant eyed man past mid die age with a fringe of gray whisk ers he was a sort of journeyman doctor and he had drifted hither one day two summers ago from the lake andes country in this selfsame trav el worn conveyance with its same bony sorrel lie bad found good picking be bad often jovially remark ed since chewing serenely away on a brand of vile plug the while he had elected to remain he was part and parcel of the cattle country now he was an established condition people haa learned to accept him as he was and be grateful haste was a mental and physical impossibility to him he took his own time all must perforce acquiesce you have worked yourself into a high fever miss that s what you ve done he said with profession al mournfulness 1 I know it she smiled wanly 1 I coulden couldn t help it I 1 m sorry gordon drew up a chair and sat down by her saying with grave kind ness you are fretting we must not let you I 1 am going to stay with you all night and shoo the goblins away you are kind said mary grateful ly may I 1 tell you when they come if some one speaks to me they go away indeed you may dear child be exclaimed heartily he had been halt joking when he spoke of keeping things away he now perceived that these things were more serious than he knew the doctor administered medicine to reduce the fever dressed the wounded arm with gordons ready assistance and then called in mother white to prepare the bed tor his patient bul he paused nonplussed nonplus sed before the weight of entreaty in mary s eyes and wice please don t sho cried out in ac terror oh mr gordon don t let him I 1 see such awful things when I 1 lie down please please and mr langbord Lang tord said I 1 might sit up till he came mr gordon yeu will not let him put me to bed will yona I 1 think it would be better to let her have her way locknert Lock said gordon in a low voice maybe it would dick eadd the doctor with surprising sus meekness I 1 II 11 stay all night and I 1 II 11 take good i iw w wife ww at 11 1 1 care of her locknert Lock the res moth or white beckoning to supper you 11 eat before ou go no I 1 wont take any supper now thank you mother I 1 will stay with mary and he did stay with her all through the long watches of that long night lie never closed his eyes in sleep sometimes mary would drop olt into uneasy slumber always of short du ration when she awakened suddenly in wide eyed fright he soot hedl her with all tenderness sometimes when he thought she was sleeping she would clutch his arm desperately and cry out that there was some one behind the big cottonwood again it would be to ask him in a terrified whisper it he did not hoar hoot beats galloping galloping galloping and begged him to listen he could al ways quiet her and she tried hard to keep from wandering but after a short broken rest she would cry out again in endless repetition of the terrors of that awful night mrs white and several of her small progeny breathed boudi from an ad joining room A lamp burned dimly on the table it grew late 12 clock and after at last she rested she passed from light broken slumber to deep sleep without crying out and thus awakening herself gordon was tired and sad isow that the flush of fever was gone he saw how white and miserable she really looked the cir cles under her eyes were so dark they were like bruises the of his misfortune was spreading to bring others besides himself into its somber folds the men were coming back but chiy were coming quietly in grim s lence he dared not awaken mary for the news he knew they must carry he stepped noiselessly to the door to warn them to a yet greater stillness and met langford on the threshold the two survey ed each other grave 1 with clasped hands you tell her dick I 1 I 1 can t said langford his big shoulders drooped as under a heavy burden must I 1 asked gordon dick I 1 I 1 cant said langford brokenly dont you see if I 1 had been lust a minute and I 1 promised yes I 1 see paul said gordon quietly 1 I her you need not said a sweet clear voice from across the room I 1 know I 1 heard I 1 think I 1 knew all the time but you were all so good to make me hope don t worry about me any more dear friends I 1 am all right now it Is much better to know I 1 hope they dian didn t hang him you think they shot him don t you little girl little girl cried lang ford on his knees beside her it Is not chati it la only that we have not found him but no news Is good news that we have found no trace proves that they have to guard him well because he Is alive we are going on a new track tomorrow believe me little girl and go to bed now wont you and rest yes she said wearily as one in whom no hope was left I 1 will go 1 will mind the boss As he laid her gently on the bed while mrs white aroused from sleep fluttered aimlessly and drowsily about ho whispered his breath car her cheek you will go to sleep right away won t you I 1 will try you are the boss CHAPTER XII waiting the man found dead the night the lazy S was burned out was not easily identified he was a halt breed but halt breeds were many west of the river and the places where they laid their heads at night were as shit ting as the sands ot that rapid changing stream of theirs which ever cut them from the world of their fathers and kept them bound but rest less chafing in that same land where their mothers had stared stolidly at a strange little boatload tugging up the river that was the forerunner ot the ultimate destiny ot this broad north west country lut which brought in incidentally as do all big destinies in the great scheme bring sorrow to some one wrong misunderstanding forgetfulness to a once proud free people now in subjection at last the found trace 0 him far away at standing rock through the agent there who knew him as of an ugly reputation a dis fil paled roving who had long since squandered his government patrimony he had been mixed up in sundry bad affairs in ane past and had been an inveterate gambler bo only were the kemah county to uncover ot the way I 1 ward earthly career ot the dead man ot his haunts and chronlos of the period immediately preceding his death the agent could tell nothing ho bad not been seen at the agency for nearly a the reprobate band had covered its tracks well there waa nothing to do but lay the dead body away and shovel oblivion over its secret in the early morning after the re turn of the men from their unsuccessful man hunt gordon gray and hag gard from loss of sleep and from hard thought stepped out into the kitchen to stretch his cramped limbs H stumbled over the figure of Lang tori prone upon the floor dead asleep in utter exhaustion he smiled under stan and opened the outer dool quietly hoping he had not aroused th workout boss the air was fresh and cool with a hint of autumn sharpness and a premature indian summer hazo that softened the gauntness of th landscape and made the distance blue and rest giving he felt the need of after his night s virell and struck oft down the road with long strides in pleasant anticipation of a coming appetite for breakfast thus it was that langbord Lang tord ging to a sitting posture rubbing his heavy ees with a dim consciousness that be had been disturbed and won dering drowsily why he was so stupid felt something seeping through his senses that told him he did not dc w ell to sleep so he decided he would take a plunge into the cold artesian pond and with such drastic measures banish once and tor all the elusive yet all pervading cobwebs which clung tc him rising to his feet with unusual awkwardness he looked with scorn upon the bare floor and accused blindly and bitterly as the direct cause of the strange soreness that ba set his whole anatomy the lay of the floor bad changed la a night where was he he glanced helplessly about then he knew thus it was that when mary lan opened her eyes a little later it was the boss who sat beside her and smiled reassuringly you have not slept a wink she areld accusingly indeed I 1 have he said three whole hours I 1 feel tiptop you are fibbing she said your eyes look so tired and your face Is all worn his heart leaped with the joy of he solicitude you are wrong he laughed teasingly I 1 slept on the floor and a good bed it was too no miss ton I 1 am apt all in yet by any means in his new consciousness a new formality crept into his way ot ad dressing her she did not seem to notice it forgive me tor forgetting last night she said earnestly 1 I was very I 1 forgot that you had not slept tor nearly two days and were riding all the while in our behalf 1 forgot I 1 was tired and I 1 went to sleep I 1 want you to forgive me I 1 want you to believe that I 1 do appreciate what you have done my fath er dont dont little girl cried langbord Lang tord forgetting his new awe of her maidenhood in his pity for the stricken child my father she went on steadily would thank you it he were here I 1 thank you too even it I 1 did forget to think whether or no you and all the men had any sleep or anything to eat last night will you try to believe that I 1 did not forget wittingly I 1 was so tired when langbord Lang tord answered her which was not immediately his face was white and he spoke quietly with a touch of injured pride it you want to hurt us miss wll listen that Is the way to talk we cowmen do not do things tor thanks she looked at him wonderingly a moment then said simply forgive me but her lips were trembling and she turned 40 the wall to hide the tears that would come after all sho was only a woman with nerves and the reaction had come the sheriff and his party of deau ties roade a diligent search for ton that day and tor many days to come it was of no avail he had disappeared and all trace with him as completely as if he had been spir cited away in the night to another world body and soul that the soul ot him had really gone to another world came to be generally believed mary held no hope after the return of the first expedition but why could they find no trace of his body where was it where had it found a rest ing place was it possible for a man quick or dead even west of the river in an early day of its civilization when the law had a winking eye to fall away from his wonted haunts in a night and leave no print neither a bone nor a rag nor a memory to give mute witness that this way he passed that way he rested a bit here he took horse there he slept with this man he had converse that man saw his still body borne hencel could such a thing be it seemed so to be continued |