Show f S ie E rr IAL STORY S OR L U aa it oaf 1 12 be e THREE I 1 I 1 R TE E BARS 0 KATE AND VIRGIL ay D BOYLES L I 1 coper abt by A C mcl arg co 2907 SYNOPSIS george williston Wll liston a poor ranchman high minded and cultured searches for battle cattle miss ng from his ra ch the lazy S 8 on a wooded spot in the river s bed that have been an island had the missouri been at I 1 ig water he d a u band ol 01 horse tl ti ieves engaged in work ing 0 er brands on catt e he creeps bear enough to note tt it e changing of tl e three bars brand on one steer to the J it R brand paul langford the rid owner of the tl ti ree bars ranch Is sent for by na il liston and is informed of the operations of the gang of cattle thle es a band of outlaws I 1 beaded by jesse black who long have defied the law and author atles of kemah co nty south dakota with impunity but wio wl heretofore had bot not dared to molest any of the property of f the great three bars rand will wills s ton shows his in opposing a bard so powerful erful in politics and so dread drad rd d by all the community coan unity langford Lang tord pledges williston Wll liston hia his friendship it he will assist in bringing jesse black and his gang to justice lanford la Lan Tord is with the beauty of mary commonly known as ts A ill slon a I 1 atle girl lou se dale an expert court stenographer ra alo 0 had followed her uncle judge Jakota hammond dale from the east to the Dakota hs and who Is living with I 1 im at wind city Is requested by the county attorney richard gordon to come to kemah and take testimony in the prel hear ing of jesse black she accepts the tm inai badon and makes her f arst trip into the wild indian country arriving at velpe across the river from kemah she is met by jim munson a EL hot I 1 leaded cove cowboy boy of he three bars ranch CHAPTER IV maggot an hour prior to this little episode jim munson had sauntered up to the ticket window only to tg find that the train from the east was 40 4 minutes late he turned away with a shrug of relief it was a foreign role he was placing this assumption of the duties of a knight in dancing at on strange ladies secretly he chafed under it t outwardly he 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 neith er man nor devil but he doubted his ability so to direct the point of view of the boss or the scribe or the rest of the boys of the three bars ranch who were on a still hunt tor for his spot of vulnerability the waiting roum was bot 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 needs fortify himself all over again but sauntering down the track toward the stockyards he filled his cob pipe lighted it and was comforted he bad 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 if he was good enough as he was black woolen shirt red neck kerchief and all for men just so was be he good enough tor for any female that ever lived so he assumed a little swagger as he stepped over the ties and tried to make himself believe that he was glad he lie had not allowed him self to be corrupted by proffers of blue shirts and neckerchiefs he was approaching the stockyards there was movement there sounds of commands blows profane epithets and worried ballings baw lings 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 in ing stood ready to mal e way for an other car as soon 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 be settled down to musing interest gee he swore gently under his breath ef that ain aln t bill brown I 1 yep yel it Is tor for a tac fac wonder what lies he s a now for he scrambled lightly over the it gh fence of the pen hullo there bill brown he yell ed genially making his way as one accustomed through the bunch of re excited cattle hullo hutto 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 tanned fanned himself vigorously with his drooping hat while he talked gal huntin ans vered jim sober ly and despon despondently deAtly hell brown surveyed him with astonished but sympathetic tion hell he repeated you don dont t mean it do you jim ligne honesta st come now honest so YO dolve I 1 ve come to it at last have you youa well well comin over the three bars what 11 the boys saya he came nearer and lowered his ruice voice to a confidential tone say jim how did it come about and who s the lady 9 lord jim 3 ou of all people he laughed uproariously aw come off gro growled jim in petulant scorn you make me tired you re plumb luney that s what you are I 1 in after the new gal reporter she s due on that low loa down dorn ornery orner train wish it was in kingdom come lep ep ido I 1 do for a fac oh well never mind I 1 didn dian t mean anything laughed brown Drown good natu but it does beat the band jim now doesn doean t it how you people scare at petticoats they ain aln t aizen honest jim looked on idly occasionally be he condescended to head a rebellious steer out beyond it was still and sweet and peaceful and the late afternoon had put on that thin veil of coolness which is a godgiben god given refreshment after the heat of the day but here in the pen all was con fusion the raucous cattle calls of the cowboys smote the evening air startlingly here bill dill brown he exclaimed suddenly bhele did you ou run across that critter 7 he slapped the shout der of a big rawboned raw boned lon long geared eared steer as he spoke the animal was on the point of being driven up the shute what you want vant to know for fora asked brown in surprise reason nough bough that critter be longs to us that s why and I 1 want to know where you got him that s what I 1 w Y ant to know you re crazy jim t why I 1 bought that fellow from jesse black t other day I 1 ve got a bill of sale tor for him I 1 in a couple of cars to sioux city and bought him to send along that s on the square I 1 don t doubt it s far as YOU re concerned bill brown said jim but that s our critter jest the same and ill jest est tote im along f you ve no ob sections well I 1 guess not said brown la conically look here bill brown jim was getting hot heatedly bead head edly angry didn dian t you know jesse black stands trial to morrow for that there very critter from the three bars ranch no I 1 didn t brown answered shortly any caseb I 1 guess yes williston Wll liston 0 the lazy S saw this very critter on that island where jesse black holds out he proceeded to relate minutely the story to which williston was as going to swear ajl ari ida J I 1 I 1 ve get a bill of sale for him on the morrow but he concluded jcsse josse a goin to fight like hell against bein bound over I 1 well well said brown perplexed ly y but the brand jim it a 8 not yours or jesse s either Quain quainter ted with any J R ranch in these parts queried jim shrewdly I 1 ain aint t well neither am I 1 confessed brown but that s not sayin there aln aint t one somewhere maybe we can trace it back shucks exploded jim maybe 3 ou oure re right jim but I 1 don t propose td lose the price 0 o that animal less n I 1 have to you cant can t blame me for that I 1 paid good money for it it if its it s your n why of course it s your n but I 1 want to be sure first sure you d know him jim how could you be so blamed your boss must range 5 head I 1 now hima know maga I 1 d know mag alag et ef my eyes were full 0 cataracts he s an old and tried friend 0 mine the meanest critter the lord ever let live and that s a fac but the boss calls im his maggot seems to actually charish a kind 0 faction for the ornery critter and says the luck 0 the three bars would sort 0 peak and pine et ef he should ever git rid 0 the pesky brute maybe lies he s right leastwise the critter critters s his and when a thing s yours why it s yours and that s all there is about it by crabl the boss is some mad you d think him and that wall w ill eyed cross grained son of a gun had been bee kind and lovin mates these many years well I 1 aln aint t met up with this ornery critter tor for some time hullo there mag look kind 0 now dont don t you that outland ish and unbeknownst J R bill brown thoughtfully surN surveyed eyed the steer whose ownership was thus so unexpectedly disputed you hold him insisted jim ef he aia ala t ours you can send him along with your next shipment can t you youa what you bobblin ain t afraid the boss 11 claim what aint t his are you bill browna well I 1 can t he p myself I 1 guess said brown in a tone of voice which told plainly of his laudable effort to keep his annoyance in subjection to his good fellowship you send lang ford down here first thing in the morn lag ing it if he says the critter critters s his n that ends it no new that he had convinced his quondam acquaintance the present shipper 0 J his entire satisfaction jim glanced at his watch with os ease his ills time bad had come if all the minutes of all the timo tim to come should be as short as those 40 had been how soon he jim mur son cow puncher would have ridden them all into the past but buthis bis getaway get away mi ml st be clean and dignified likely bunch you have there he said casually turning away aitu un assumed reluctance fair to sail brown with pride to sioux city you sald said yep well so long so long any these days jima nope boss never dribbles em out when he ships he ships aint ain t none gone over the rails since last tall fall he stepped off bristly ansi ly and vaulted the fence with as lightsome an air as though he were bent on the one er rand his heart would choose and swung up the track carelessly hum ming a tune but he had a viselike vise like grip on his cob pipe his teeth bit through the trail frail stem it s split plit he tossed the remains away with a ture lure of nervous contempt A whistle sounded he quickened his pace it if he missed her well the boss was a good fellow took a lot of nonsense from the boys but there were things 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 tell fell sIan slantingly tingly on the gay groups aw munson you re bluffin jested the mall mail carrier you aint lookin ter fer nobody you I 1 now you ain t you ain t got no folks don t believe you never bad none never heard of em lookin tor for my uncle explained jim serenely rich old codger from the state 0 Pennsyl vaney some ers ain t got nobody but me left aw come off what you givin us usa 9 but jim only winked and slouched off prime tor for more adventures he ile was enjoying himself hugely when he was not thinking of petticoats CHAPTER V at the barf ami unlike most of those who ride much her escort was a fast walker louise had a trouble in keeping up with him though she had always considered her self a good pedestrian but jim mun son soil was laboring under strange em barras he was red conscious of the attention he was at tr trading acting striding up the inclined street from the station in the van ot 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 cate gory 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 of bosses whose master mind was the prop and stay of the northwest it if not of all ChIrst endom and lastly upon himself the modest but loyal servi tor in this Jarad paradise lse on earth but girls were far from normal conditions there were no women at the three bare bars there never had been any woman at the three bars within the memory of man to be sure willis ton tons s little girl had sometimes ridden over on an errand but she t count this this was the real thing and he 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 willis ton s girl but he didn dian t believe she was a day 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 ton of the fat voluble and tragic mrs airs higgins where the men from the other side of the river had right of way and unlimited credit TO BE CONTINUED |