Show the race for sky meadow BY BAILEY mallard copyright 1906 by joseph bowles blut do I 1 think women ranch was the wrathful flash of beke stubbs I 1 think they ought to keep t the kitchen an not go snoop in arc an tellin up men how to tal the shoes off n 1 an 1 e a 19 year old gal D d abe larn about horses feet at that salt lake id like to know it her n aw ind i aw or ly was alive wal ll 11 t iem there 1 agh toned beardin ii choos that gals every time 01 don t take on zeke said uri biggin con ing aboul d a corner ol 01 the I 1 am may bindom got a few estr fillas at the seminary but she ain t sailed an she knows all about dories un was the blied man on the win ranch and zeke was his helper an she aint so dreadful stuck p added uri it bhe was she t be a goin out a ith the coin out with the sheep great an all alone among them oa 09 guess ou can count me out this time I 1 don t want no woman boss on the range I 1 he idee A worn an sheepherder si e am t a goin alone said uri how thena wal vou know sandy baffin s ger tie that married russ she s a goir along too may s got russ to look to fer things fer her an ger ties a goin to do the cookin russ bricker had toll may win doro that it would be a aiace tor the ky meadow country the best range in the wasatch moun tali s and she was intensely eager to get in first with her band she had been out on the range sev bial times beffie her father lied once as long as a month she loved the wild life and he loved the sheep bove all aings she was eager to get to the range ahead of lew mad den who drove a large 1 erd of his own hearing up that way every spring as soon as the season opened lw was objectionable to her in no other vay than that he had tried to make himself i agree able to her with the result that she had sent 1 im about his business she could hardly have told why she had done this for lew was big and strong and looked finer tn his saddle than an other man in juab aty ably she had refused him because he had taken 1 er for gi anted hour after noon the next day they were all up on the top of the divide where watts of a fresh heady air kweit their faces and the sheep browsed greedily about but while the mules were being fed and everybody was eating a hasty scrappy luncheon the handsome lew good morn ng he sa d ide i de coolly into camp and lifting Ms broad sombrero to the ladies showed the same unruffled brow and the same calm e e cs that may had seen when he had made such small account of 1 er initiating Ini tating little no good morning he said smiling that the perfect white of his teeth glittered under his blonde mustache mu tache arty laigh country for freighting eh mr birckel Bil ckel for a moment noboa said any thing then may s hospitable good nature was shown aftel a sl arp bite at her under lip bent sou hungry mr madden V on t you have u luncheons 0 thanks es he and took the sandwich she offered him fieres our sheep as a brusque note in russ query ch er son ethere he said airily looking up the ridge 1 ou got our sheep into sky meadow yeta queried may dreading his reply o 0 coulden couldn t have got up there this quick the coolness of this smooth spoken oung man was getting to be a little too much for her no they re not there et he said not yet V ell then w e 11 drive on and head you off all right may I 1 use this til cup tor a finger certainly then she arose coo sl e called to her heep we 11 run on ahead mr bricker with uri and ring and ou and zeke fol low along with the wagon shant I 1 help ou miss said lev I 1 could handle that bunch avei there what he meant by this she could not or wo lid not let herself under stand but she thanked him rather curtly and declined the offer he smiled at her confidently as she rode away on what id he base his confidence the spirit of the range was strong in may her blood mounted warmly and her horse pressed charnly upon the sheep while her loice ing loud and deal but when the rapidly moving masa of white backs scurried through the scrub lines near the top not halt a mile away over the hill she headd faint sounding cookes that were growing nearer and coming up the ridge i maddens herders for money she heard uri yell but w e 11 git in ahead they w on t dast come much nearer hey wont risk a mix up the W s were bounding up the slope and the advance line was all but toppling the ridge from a little knoll on that part of the hog back farthest from the meadow may out of breath aiom her hard ride and her cries sat her horse for a moment of triumph suddenly she heard a great rustling among the trees and brush on the west side of the aldge opposite that on which the first great billow of W s was beginning to appear from below whooping yells the barking of dogs wild bleats and a low roar as 20 little feet beat the ground and 5 little round heads were poked out from among the pines A great wave of Ms loomed for a moment from over the way ready to bush in and become one with the all low of W s which had charged up the east ide of the adge just in time to meet it em stop em head em off cant ri stop em was mays frantic appeal to zeke the old sheep man said nothing but reached back on his saddle for his rifle and raising it quickly and point ing along the h indred toot gap that remained lema ined between the two great herds sent a bullet whizzing low over it may had heard of this trick before sometimes she knew it had succeeded in preventing a hopeless mess of two bands zeke fired shot after shot but the two lines forced by the fatal up sweep aiom behind neared each other by little starts and bounds may saw an M sheep leap into the air and fall flat she rode over to zeke and made him stop his shooting when she looked again the two great tides of sheep had met and min aled the Ws were scampering 1 wildly about among the M s and the M s were threading through and through the W s so that it seemed in one wild moment the dreaded the tragic mix rp was as complete as the mix up of well shuffled pack ot cards lew madden rode over to where may stood leaning against a pine crying the rest had all run up the ridge chasing the sheep toward the meadow lew got off his horse and was close to her before she saw him oh it was mean of you she de dared with wet cheeks and flaming eyes mean mean this mix upa he said smiling softly oh I 1 don t know they can stav mixed tor all I 1 care its all right why what makes you say that she cried cabbil g her eyes with a handkerchiefs e cant separate them until the end of the season un less she added a little more hope t illy v e could rig up a corral ano a foot gate here somewhere I 1 won jer if we but I 1 dont want to said he would take a month s work abo it isn t worth while anyway well she said with forced firm ness do it then it s ou don t want to either why dont I 1 want toa because ou re going to marry me little bopeep chasn t lost her sheep they ve just stra ed in among hei lover s and the are going to stay here and never be separated come am ours and so are all my sheep he held out his arms to her nevel iad she seemed so weak in the face of the fine strong insistent mastery of his presence but she summoned the iio testing word at last though it came out faintly no he came and put his great arms abo it her you re taking me for granted aft er all you re just as mean as no am taking you for a dear angelic little creature who loves me ery much there you are you said it not be taken tor granted that way how will ou be taken then not at all you don t understand you don t deserve you re just as mean as but he stopped her words with a kiss and after a little struggle her head nestled down upon his shoulder uri hunting tor his mistress es pied her sitting on a rock beside lew and scrambled back to zeke there s another mix up over there he said grinning and pointing toward the pines guess them sheep 11 al be a M s next season |