Show E ERI ER Q L STO STORY R of oj th the e H R E BARS KATE AND VIRGIL D zai coper abt by A C mcc arg sc co ce 1907 SYNOPSIS george williston a poor ranchman high m and culture I 1 searches tor for cattle m his ran ranch h the lazy S on a hooded spot in the river rivers s bed that would have been an island had the missouri been at high water he dis covers a band of horse thieves engaged in working over brands on cattle he creeps near enough to noe note the chang ing of the three bars brand on one steer to the J R brand paul lang ford the rich owner of the three bars Is informed of the operations of the gang of cattle thieves a band of outlaws headed by jesse black w who 0 long have defied the law and autuori ties of kemah county south dakota langford is struck with the beauty of mary commonly known as williston s little girl louise dale an expert court stenographer who had followed follow her uncle judge hammond dale from the east to the Dakota hs and who Is living with him at wind city Is requested by the county attorney richard gordon to come to kemah and take testimony in the preliminary hearing ot of jesse black jim munson in waiting at the train tor for lo 10 ise looks at a herd of cattle being shipped by bill brown and there detects old mag a well known ornery steer be longing to his employer of the three bars ranch munson and louise start for kemah crowds assemble in justice james R mcallister McAll lster a court for the preliminary hearing jesse black springs the first of many great sur arises waiving examination through jake sanderson a member of the out law gang he had learned that the steer mag had been recovered and thus saw the uselessness of fighting against being bound over richard gor don the county attorney who is un popular because of his many failures to secure convictions in court wins the admiration of louise which is mu county attorney gordon accod panics louise dale on her return to baries wind vind city he tells her of the dis appointments of his office of witnesses that can be bribed and of tl e system of tampering with justice which pre vents him from securing a conviction he has the girl girls s sympathy CHAPTER IX continued her hand touched the match box at last A light flared out shut the door quick dad she said lighting the lamp on the table the 11 eat us alive williston stepped to the door just a moment he stood there in the door way the light streaming out into the night tall thoughtful no weakling in spite of many failures and many mis takes A af fair mark he made outlined against the te brightly lighted room it was quiet not even a coyote shrI shrilled lIed and while he stood there looking up at the calm stars a s sidden sharp re port rang out and the sacred peace of god 0 writt written n in the serenity of still summer nights was desecrated hiss ing and ominous the bullet sang past williston s head perilously near and lodged in the opposite wall at that moment the light was blown out A great presence of mind had come to mary in the time of imminent dan ger good my dear cried williston in low tones quick as a flash the door was slammed shut and bolted just as a second shot tell fell foul of it oh my father cried mary grop ing her way to his side hush my dear they missed me clean don dont t lose your nerve mary they won t find it so easy after all there had been no third shot A profound silence followed the second report there was no sound of horse or man whence then the shots one man maybe creeping up like some foul beast of prey to strike in the dark was he still lurking near abiding another opportunity 7 9 it took but a moment tor for williston to have the rifles cocked and ready blary mary took her own from him with a hat ha d th that at trembled ever so I 1 ly ant tnt will you do father she asked a her rifle lovingly and thanking than king god goa in a swift unformed thought for every rattlesnake or other noxious clea cleasure ture whose life she had put out while doing her man s work of riding the range work which had gov en her not only a man s courage but a man s skill as well take the back window girl he answered briefly I 1 II 11 take the front stand to the side get used to the starlight and shoot every shadow you see especially it if it moves keep track of your shots dont don t waste an effort and don t let anything creep up on you they austn t get near elou h i to fire the house his voice was sharp and incisive the drifting habit had fallen from him and he was his own master again several heavy minutes dragged away without movement without sound from without the ticking of ghastly the clock pressed on strained ears like ghastly bell tolling their eyes be came accustomed to the darkness and by the dim starlight they were able to distinguish the outlines of the cattle sheds still empty black nothing moved out there 1 3 think they re frightened off said mary at last breathing more freely they were probably just one or they d not have left he ile knew he missed yo i or he would not hav fired again do you think it was J desea jesse would nt have missed he said grimly at that moment a new sound broke the st allness the whinny of a horse reinforcements had approached with in the shadow shidow of the cattle sheds something moved out at last daddy called mary in a chol ed i I 1 isper come here they are down at the sl eds williston stepped to the bad bael win low quid quiel ly change places he said briefly daddy yes 9 keep up your nerve she breathed between great heart pumps surely do you the same little comrade and shoot to kill there was a savage note in his last words for himself it did not matter so much but mary he pinned no false faith in any thought of possible chivalrous intent on the part of the raiders to exempt his daughter from the grim fate that awaited him he had to deal with a desperate man there would be no clemency in this desperate man mail s retaliation to his quickened hearing came the sound of stealthy creeping some thing moved directly in front of him but some distance away shoot every shadow you see especially it if it moves were the fighting orders and his was the third shot of that night hell I 1 ve got it in the leg cried a rough voice full of intense anger and pain and there were sounds of a precipitate retreat out under protection of the long row of low built sheds other orders were being tersely given and silently received now men III shoot the first man of you who blubbers when he s hit D ye heard there have been breaks enough in this affair already I 1 don dont t intend for that petticoat man and his petticoat kid in there to get any satisfaction out 0 this at all hear me mea there was no response none was needed some shots found harmless hodg ment in the outer walls of the shanty they were the result of an unavailing r i 1 oark dark sinister figures fl eted f from tree to tree attempt to pick the window whence Willi williston s shot had come mary could not keep back a little womanish gasp of nervous dread grip your nerve mary said her father that s nothing shooting from down there just lie ile low and they can do nothing only watch child watch they must not creep up on us oh for a moon she did grip her nerve and her hand ceased its trembling in the darkness her eyes were big and solemn sometime to morrow the re action would come but tonight to night yes father keep up your own nerve she said in a brave little voice that made the man catch his breath again the heavy minutes dragged away at each of the two windows crouched a tense figure brain alert eyes in iron control it was a fright tul ful strain this waiting game could one be sure nothing had escaped one s vigilance 9 starlight was deceptive and one s eyes must needs shift to keep the mastery over their little horizon it might well be that some one of those ghostly and hidden sen dinels patrolling the lonely homestead had wormed himself past staring eye balls crawling crawling crawling it might well be that at any moment a sudden light flaring up from some corner would tell the tale of the end now and then could be heard the soft thud of a hoof as some one rode to execute an order occasionally something moved out by the sheds such movement if discernible from the house was sure to be followed on the instant by a quick sharp remon from williston s rifle how long could it lasta would his nerve wear away with the night could he keep his will dominant 9 it if so he must drag his mind resolutely away from that nerve racking still and un seen creeping creeping creeping nearer and nearer how the stillness weighed upon him ana still his mind dwelt upon that sinuous flat bellied creeping crawling worming god it was awful he fought it desperately he knew he was lost it if he could not stop thinking about it the sweat came out in big beads on his forehead on his body he prickled led with the heat of the effort then it left him the awful horror left him curiously cold hut steady of nerve and with a will of iron and eyes cat s eyes for their seeing in the dark isow now that he was calm once more he let himself weigh the chances of succor they were pitifully remote the lazy S was situated in a lonely stretch of prairie allec land far from any direct trail true it lay between kemah the county seat and the three bars ranch but it was a good half hall mile from the straight routs even so it was a late hour tor for any one to be passing by it was not a traveled trail except tor for the boys of the three bars and they were known to be great home rs and little given gien to spree ing As for the rustlers if rustlers they were they had no fear of interruption by the officers ot of the law who held theli thelt places by virtue of the insolent and arbitrary will of jesse black and hi brotherhood and were now carousing in kemah by virtue of the hush money put up by this same secret tribunal watch child watch he sal sat again without in the least shifting hi tense position surely responded mary quite steadily now was her time come dark sinister figures flitted from tree to tree at first she could not be sure it was so heartlessly dark but there wa movement it was different from tha thal terrible blank quiet which she had hitherto been gazing upon till her eye burned and pricked as with needle points and visionary things swam be fore them she winked rapidly tc dispel the unreal and floating things opened wide her long lashed lids fixed them and fired then knew that his little girl his one ew ewe lamb all that was left to him of a full and graci gracious olis past must go through what he had gone through all that nameless horror and expectant dread and his heart cried out at the unholy injustice of it all lie ile dared not go tc U her dared not desert his post for an instant it one got within the shadow of the walls all was lost mary s challenge was met with a rather hot return fire it was probably given to inspire the besieged with a due respect for the attackers num bers bullets pattered around the out side walls like hailstones one even whizzed through the window perilous ly near the girl s intent young face silence came back to the night there was no more movement yet down there at the spring something maybe one of those dark gaunt cot ton woods held death death for her and dea death th for her father A stream of icy coldness struck across her heart she found herself calculating in dellb aeration which tree it was that held this thing death the biggest one shadowing ha dowing the spring helping to keep the pool sweet and cool where paul langford had galloped his horse that day when ah ahl it 1 paul langford Lang tord would only come now A A wild girlish hope flashed up in her heart langford would come had he not sworn it to her fathera had he not given hs his hand as a pledge f it means something to shake hands in the cattle country he was b g and brave and true when he came these awful creeping terrors would disperse grim shadows that must steal away when morning comes when he came she could put her rifle in his big confident hands lie ile down on the floor and cry she wanted to cry oh how she did want to cry cold reason came back to her aid and dissipated the weak and womanish longing to give way to tears there was a pathetic droop to her mouth a long quivering so sob bing sigh and she burled buried her worn wom an s weakness right deeply and stamped upon it how utterly wild and foolish her brief hope had been beeny langford and all his men were sound in sleep long ago how could he know were the ruffians out there men to tell ah ali no there was no one to know it would all happen in the dark in awful loneliness and there would be no one to know until it was all over tomorrow to morrow maybe or next week who could tell they were off the main trail few people ever sought them out there would be no one to know TO BE CONTINUED |