Show THE garl AT HAL F W AY HO 1 A S T O 0 R Y O 0 r T H P L A 1 N S ja g BY HOUGH AUTHOR OF THE STORY OF THE COWBOY TJ 1903 in D new lora f CHAPTER cent aued at this place they saw a few men eting outside the door calmly ig among these sam the liveryman merchant by name of chapman and homesteader who was known as ne eyed inside the ouse playing cards with curly were ur other men franklin noticed that aey all were armed they all ap eared from their story to have just copped in fo pass a little time with ariy from time to time others copped in most of them remaining upside in the moonlight sitting on leir heels along the porch talking ut little and then mentioning any ling but the one subject which was uppermost most in every one s mind yet lough nothing was said it might w ell e seen that this little body of men ere of those who had taken the tand for law and order and who were resolved upon a new day in the his of the town it was a battle of the two hotels nd what they represented over at ie great barroom of the cottage biere as at the same time assembled much larger gathering composed chiefly of those transient elements chich at that time really made up the irger port on of the population of the lace wide men with narrow and broad belts at which swung eavy blued revolvers with broad butts a wild looking wild ving body of men savage in some ays gentle in others but for the lost part just according to their reed all drank whisky and drank regularly up to ten clock the whisky had produced no effect at ten clock a big texan raised is glass high above his head and mashed it upon the bar law an order be damned said e what kind law an order is it i let a murdering mur derin greaser like that cleara which of us 11 be the ext bed kill well said a conservative booth gly let s wait till to let s t the co te set another day any ow yea I 1 reckon right yes bats so said others wed better ait till to A brief silence fell upon he gather g a silence broken only by shuf flings along the bar then tar over the prairie there came a lit e flat recurrent sound or series of ands as of one patting bis fingers atly together it fell and rose and ew coming rapidly nearer until at nath there could be distinguished ie cracking and popping of the hoofs running horses it s the bar 0 outfit from the bra coming in said some one the pressed out into the air it bened and melted slightly the it curly s shanty increased ighel silently inside curly and s friend still played cards the ant pr oner lay asleep upon the the rattle of many hoofs swept up the door of the cottage where the arlve nervous horses were left angling while the men went in their ader a stocky red mustached man faring with him the rope which he hd loosened from his saddle having punk the leader smote upon the bar ith a heavy hand come along men he called out hie quicker we hang that d d leaser the better it will be he moved toward the door followed r many silently by others with steps at lagged well you see began ie man to hl with all that said the new emier turning upon him fiercely ive dont need no cowards no that ain t it resumed the first an but we got to the co te fust co te ever did set here you see be fellers some of em thinks me the jury thinks that the fel r s too crazy fer to hang crazy be d d were goin to jing him an that settles it law an der kin take care of it afterward all the time they were shifting ward the dour As though by concert ey swung into saddle and swept off the street in a body above the ise of their riding now breaking a creless laugh now a shrill yell of leer joyous excitement more than a lindred men drew up in front of the all shelter over which was spread e doubtful aegis of the law fifty men met them the lights ent out in the house in an instant id in front of the door there swept dark and silent cordon the leader the invaders paused but went raught forward we want that man he said you know very well you can t have m we don t know bothin the sort fe want him an were coln to have m git out of the road second figure stood by the side of anklin and this man was recognized the leader aw now curly what d d foolish iss is this here bring him out YOU know I 1 won t jim aid curly apty ive r bryin him the square you ain t the co te I 1 kom t gie him to no one but the cote silence tell for an instant then from the rear of the party there came push ing and crowding and cries of burn the house drive him out there was a rush but it was met by a silent thickening ct the line at the point as sailed men scuffled with men swear ing and grunting panting hard here and there weapons flashed dully though as yet no shot was fired the rushers toward the house grew closer so that assailants and besiegers were now mingled in a fighting s vear ing mass you re no cowman curly cried one vo ce bitterly you re a d d liar cried curly in reply whoever says that to me im only a 1 bepin of my word you kain t clean us out shoot the livin soul out any man that touches that door this here Is the jail an I 1 m the and by aull not have my prisoner quite right me man said a cool voice at curly s side and a hand tell on his shoulder as a tall form loomed sprang toward the building the cries became savage it was no longer human beings who contended over this poor half witted being but brutes less reasonable than he juan left the door he swept frank alln and curly and Batter sleigh aside as though they were but babes it was his purpose to rush t to strike to kill it was the moment of opportunity for the leader of the co gallants sal lants the whistle of a rope cut the air and the noose tightened about the giants neck with instant grip there up in the crowd there s good ma in you me bully fair play s a jule an it s fair play we re coln to have here backed by a crowd of men whose resolution was as firm as their own these three fell back in front ol 01 the door franklin felt his heart going fast and knew that more was asked of him here than had ever been upon the field of battle in a moment he re fleeted the firing would begin suddenly the climax came the door was thrust irresistibly open not from without but fram within stoop ing so that his head might clear its top the enormous figure of juan the mexican appeared in the opening A roar of anger and excitement rose as the prisoner was seen standing there before them though outlined only by the dim light of the sky every man in the assailing party was a surge back upon the rope a movement which would have been fatal for any other man which would have been fatal to him had the men got the rope to a horse as they wish ed that they might drag the vie tim by violence through the crowd but with juan this act was not final the great bear of the foothills when kopd by the horseman scorns to attempt escape but pulls man and horse toward him by main force so the giant savage who was now thus assailed put forth his strength and by sheer power of arm drew his would be captors to him hand over hand the noose about his own neck he loosened with one hand then he raised his hand and let it fall the caster of the rope his collar bone broken and his shoulder blade cracked across fell in a heap at his feet as the swaying crowd made way there came boring into the silence with horrible distinctness the sound of one merciful mysterious shot the giant straightened up once a vast black body towering above the black mass about him and then sank gently slowly down as though to curl himself in sleep there was a groan a roar a swift surging of men thick black like swarming bees some bent above the two prone figures others caught at the rope groveling snarling they were saved the last stage of their disgrace into the crowd there pressed the figure of a newcomer a hatless man whose face was pale whose feet were unshod and who bore one arm helpless in a dirty sling which hung about his neck haggard and unkempt barefooted half clad as he had stumbled out of bed at his ranch six miles away bill watson the sheriff appeared a figure heroic enough with his broken arm hang ing useless and jostled by the crowd he raised his right hand above his head and called out in a voice weak and halting but determined men go go home I 1 command you in the name of the law BOOK IV the day of the plow CHAPTER the end of the trail the cottage hotel of was hingul irly enough in its palmy days conducted by a woman and a very good woman she was I 1 was perhaps au error in judgment which led the of this woman to undertake ate establishment of a hotel antti a alce and such a time but he castene ha stene repair 1 Is f alt by am ably d ins the a oman of geat g eat kindess Kind rss 9 he fi ard a certain kill in tte care of gansl ot wounds tell heiress to the bus ness carried it on and made a success of it all these wild range men who came roistering up the trail io ed th s large and kind old lady and she called them all her boys watching over the wild brood as a hen does over her chickens she fed them and comforted them nursed them and buried them always new ones coming to tal e the places of those who were gone chief mourner at over threescore funerals ne less was mother daly s voice always for peace and decorum and what good she did may one day be discover ed when the sp erred and booted dead shall rise there was yet no hey to the cottage bar when there came the unbelievable fprd that there was no longer a but falo to be to ind anywhere on the range and that the ind ans were gone herded up forever far to the north it was declared there were men coming in on the cow barge who had silver mounted guns who wore gold and jewels and who brought with them saddles without horns it was said however that these new men wanted to buy cows feo cows were tal en to them mother daly looked upon this and it was well she understood her old bos and loved them she was glad the world was full of them she look ed out over the wide wind swept plains along the big chutes full of bel lowing beeves at the wide corral with ita scores of saddled nemeses and she was calm and happy it was a good ly world it was upon one day that mother daly 1001 ed out her world upon the next day she looked again and all the was changed far as the ee could reach the long and dusty roadway of the cows lay silent with its dust unstirred far very far off there was approaching a little band of strange small bleating woolly creatures to whose driver mother daly refused bed and board the cat tie chutes were silent the corral was empty at the cottage bar the apepe had at last found a key to the door up and down th trail east and west of the trail all was quiet bare and desolate at some signal some sig nal written on the sky all the old 1 fe of had taken up its jour ney into a farther land into another day the cowman the railroad man and the garnal ng man had gone eav ing behind thorn the wide and well perforated cottage the graveyard with its double street the cantio chutes with well worn hairy walls to oe continued |