Show SERI an L STORY 8 7 LANGFORD LANd FO 40 of th the e THREE BARS by KATE K AND VIRGIL D BOYLES T coper abt by A C D C arg co IM 1907 SYNOPSIS george will ston a poor ranchman high minded and cultured searches for cattle missing from bis his ranch the lazy S on a wooded spot pot in the river s bed that would have been been an island had the missouri been at high water he dis covers a band ot of horse thieves engaged in working over brands on cattle he creeps near enough to note the chang ing ot of the three bars brand on one steer to the J R brand paul lang ford the rich 0 aner of the three bars Is informed of the operations of the gang of cattle thieves a band of outlaws headed by jesse black who long have defied the law and author hea iles of kemah emah 1 county south dakota langford Lang tord Is struck with the beauty of mary commonly kno as williston s little girl louise dale an expert court stenographer who had followed her uncle judge hammond dale from the he east to the Dakota hs and who I 1 Is living with him at wind city is requested by the county attorney richard gordon to come to I 1 kemah emah and take testimony in the preliminary jr elimina ry hearing of jesse black ji jim m munson lu in waiting at the train for louise looks at a herd of 0 cattle being shipped by bill brown and there detects old mag a well known oi 01 nery steer be longing to his employer of the three bars ranch munson a d louise start tor for kemah crowds assemble in justice james R mcallisters McAll McAlli lster s court tor for the preliminary hearing jesse black springs the first of many great sur arises waiving examination through arises jake ake sanderson a member of the out law gang he had learned that the steer mag had been recovered reco verea 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 wind city he ile tells her of the dis appointments of his office of witnesses that can be bribed and of the system of tampering with justice which pre p vents him from securing a conviction he has the girl s sympathy while williston stands in the light in his door at night a shot Is fired at him the house la is attacked and a battle en sues between williston and his daugh ter on one side and the outlaws on the other CHAPTER IX continued As her strained sight stared out in to the darkness it was borne to her intuitively it may be that something was creeping up on her she could see nothing and yet knew it to be true every fiber of her being tingled with the certainty of it it was corn com ing closer and closer she felt it like an actual presence her eyes shifted here there swept her halt halfe circle ircle searchingly stared and stared still nothing moved and yet the nearness of some unseen thing grew more and more palpable it if she could not see it soon she must scream aloud she breathed in little quickened gasps soon very soon she would scream ah ali A shadow down by the biggest cottonwood it badly sought a nearer and a smaller trunk another slink ing shadow glided behind the vacated position it was a ghastly presenta tion of pussy wants a corner played in nightmare but at last it was something tangible something to do away with that frightful sensation of that crawling creeping twisting worming insinuating nearer and beai er so near now that it beat upon her unseen presence she pressed her finger to the trigger to shoot at the tangible shadows and dispel that enveloping choking blanket horror when god knows what stayed the action of her fingers call it instinct what you will her hand was stayed even ev en before her physical eye was caught and held by a blot darker still than the night over to her right tarth est from the spring it lay perfectly still it came to her the wily plan with startling clearness the blot was waiting for or her to fire futilely at grinning shadows among the trees and under cover of her engrossed at insinuate its treacherous body the farther forward then the play would go merrily on till the end she turned the barrel of her rifle slowly and deliberately away from the amov ing shapes among the cottonwood clump sighted truly the motionless blur to her right and fired once twice three times the completeness of the surprise deemed to inspire the attackers with a hellish fury they returned the fire rapidly and at will remaining under cover the while shrinking low at her window her eyes glued on the still black mass out yonder mary wonder ed it if it were dead she prayed pas slona tely that it might be and yet it Is a dreadful thing to kill once more the wild firing ceased mary re spondee once or twice just to keep the deadly chill from returning it if that were possible under cover ot of the desperadoes fire at obtuse angles with the first attempt a second blot began its tor twisting it accomplished a space stopped pulled itself its length stopped waited watchful eyes on the window whence came mary s scatter ed firing still into the clump of trees ahey had drawn ber close regard at last N it hola out forward again crawling flat on the ground ever advancing slowly very slowly at but also very surely creeping creep ing creeping now ing now creeping stopping creeping all at once tl ti e gun play began again sharp quick from the spring from the sheds the blot lay perfect ly still tor for a moment waiting watch ing the y little rifle was silent but so it I 1 lad ad been bethic Q larter length halt half whole length cautiously vath frequent stops eyes so steely so intent could it be possible that this gun was really silenced out of the race raced it would not do to trust too much the blot waited scarcely breathed crept forward again A sudden bright light flashed up through the darl ness under the wall to mary marys s left almost simultaneously a kindled light sprang into being from the region ot of the cat tie tle sheds the men down there had been waiting for this signal it meant that tor for some reason the second effort to creep up unobserved to fire the house had been successful the flare grew and spread it became a g glare are when the whole cabin seemed to be in flames save the door the dry rude boarding had caught and burned like paper when the heat had become un bearable williston held out his hand liand to his daughter silently As silently she put her hand her left hand in his nor did williston notice that it was her left nor how limply her right arm hung to her side in the glare her face shone colorless but her dark eyes were stars her bead head bea d was held high with firm step williston ad danced to the door deliberately he unbarred it as deliberately threw it open and stapled stepi ed over the threshold they were covered on the instant by four rifles drop your guns called the chief roughly then the desperadoes moved up I 1 take it that I 1 am the one wanted said williston his olce noice was calm and scholarly once more in the uselessness useless nesa of further struggle it had lost the sharp incisiveness that had been the call to f r they were covered on the instant action it if one must die it is good to die after a brave fight one Is never a coward then Willis williston tons s face wore an almost exalted look my daughter is tree free to go be he asked his first words having met with no response better much bet ter tor for the make ot of a man like willis ton to die in the dignity of silence but for mary s sake he parleyed I 1 guess not responded the leader curtly it a idiot hadn haan t missed the broad side ot of you as pretty a mark this side heaven as man could want then we might talk about the girl she s showed up too damned much like a man now to let her loose his big shuffling form lounged in his saddle he raised his rifle with every appearance of lazy indifference they were to be shot down where they stood now right on te t e thres hold of their burning homestead wil listen liston bowed his head to the able tor for a moment then raised it proudly to meet the inevitable A rifle shot rang out startlingly clear at the very moment the lead er s hawk eye had swept the sight his rifle arm had twitched uncertainly then fallen nerveless to his side while his bullet playing a faltering and discordant second to the first true shot tore up the ground in front of him and swerved harmlessly to one side instantly the wildest confusion reigned shouts curses the plunging of horses mingled with the sharp schack of fire arms the shooting was wild the surprise was too corn com for the outlaws to recover at once they had heard no sound of ap pro preaching aching hoof beats the roaring flames licking up the dry timber and rendering the surrounding darkness the blacker for the contrast had been of saving grace to the besiegers after all in a moment the desperadoes ral lied they closed in and imposed a cursing malignant wall between the rescuers and the blazing door of the shanty and what stood and lay before it mary had sunk down at her father s feet and had no cognizance ot of the fierce though brief conflict that en sued presently she was dragged roughly to her feet A big muscular arm had heavy grasp of her make sure ot of the girl red I 1 corn com banded a sharp voice near and it was gone out into the night afterward she heard oh many many times in the night watches the eerie galloping ot of horses hoofs growing fainter and ever fainter heard it above the medley of tramp ling horses and men and knew A A AU f it tor for what it meant but to tonight night this evil nigh she gave but one quick bewildered glance into th the 13 sinister face above her and in a loft oft shuddering voice breathed please don t and fainted CHAPTER X in wh ch the X Y Z figures what bously jim munson riding his pony over the home trail at a slow walk drooped sleepily in his saddle it was not a weirdly late bedtime half past ten maybe but he would have been sleep ing soundly a good hour or more had this not been his night to go to town if he chose he had chosen ha he would not have missed his chance tor for a good deal but his dissipation had been light the boss never tolerated much along that line he had drunk with some congenial cronies from the circle E outfit compline complimentary comp lime dutary to the future well being and increasing wealth of this already well known and flourishing cattle ranch 0 of course he be must drink a return compliment to the same rose colored prosperity for the three bars which he did and sighed for more that made two and two were the limit and here was the limit overreached already for there had always to be a last little corn com forter to keep him from nodding in his s addle it was a sleepy night cool and s oft soft and still he could walk his horse all the way it if he wanted to there was no haste the boys would all be in bed they would not even wait up tor for the thop mall mail knowing his jims jim s innate aversion to hurry had he not been so drowsy he would like to have sung a bit but it ailred a little too much effort he ile would just plod along must all be in bed at williston s no light anywhere A little short ot of where the williston branch left the main trail he halt half paused it if it were not so late he would ride up and ghe give them a hall but of course they were asleep everything seemed still and dark about the premises he ile would just plod along hello there where d you come from he cried of a sudden and be fore he had had time to carry his re reo solve into action A man on horseback had drawn rein directly in front of him jim blinked with the suddenness of the shock might ask you the same question responded the other with an easy laugh I 1 in tor for town to see the doc doe tor about my little girl been puny for a week oh I 1 where you from 9 asked jim with the coutte courteous ous interest of his kind new man on the X Y Z answered the other lightly must be gittin on worried about my baby girl he touched spurs to his horse and was off with a friendly so long over his shoulder jim rode on thoughtfully now don dont t it beat the devil hd was thinking how that there cow puncher struck this trail comin from X Y Z with the X Y Z clean t other side 0 town yep it beats the devil for a fac he must be a ridin for his health it beats the devil this last was long drawn out he ile rode a little farther it beats the devil he thought again the wonder of it was w waking aking him up how that blamed fool could a struck this here trail a goin tor for doc doe at the branch road he stopped irresolutely TO BE CONTINUED |