Show or E 1 IR I 1 A L STORY LAN af ORID 40 h e THREE BARS KATE AND VIRGIL D BOYLES copi r by A C mcclurg CO 1907 SYNOPSIS george NN 11 II iston a poor ranchman higl n indue and cultured searches tor for cattle n asing from his ranch the lazy S on a v A boded spot in the river rivers s bed that would have been an island had the missouri been at high water he dis co ers a band of horse thieves engaged in working oi 01 s er r bianda on cattle he creeps near enough to note the chang ing ot of the tl ti ree bars bi and on one steer to the J R brand paul lang ford the rich bonnner ov ner 0 ot f the tl TI ree rel bars Is informed of the ope operatic ratio s of the gang of cattle thieves a band of 0 outlaws headed by jesse black who long have defied the law and autuori ties of remah count south dakota I 1 langford Is struck with the beauty of mary commonly known as Willis tons s little girl louise dale an expert court stenographer who I 1 ad followed her uncle judge hammond dale from the east st to the Dakota hs and bho vho ts i living with him at wind city Is ested 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 for louise looks at a herd of cattle being shipped by bill brown and there detects old mag a well known onery 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 s co rt tor for the preliminary hearing hear ng jesse black springs the first of many great surer ses waiving examination gh jake sanderson a member of the outlaw gang he had learned that the steer mag had been re covered and thus saw tl e uselessness of fighting against being bound over county attorney gordon accompanies louise dale on her return to wind city while williston stands in the light in his door at night right a shot Is fired at him the house Is attacked and a battle ensues between williston and his daughter on one side and the outlaws on tl e other the house Is set on fire As ai ar outlaw raises his rifle to shoot williston a shot from an un known source pierces I 1 Is arms and the rifle tails falls to the ground aid has come to willston will ston but he and his daughter are ap a aured and borne away by the outlaws J in munson late at night heard the shots discon ered the attack on will ston s house hurried to the three I 1 bars rs ranch and sura burn monea mone langford langor th rc una and 1 is brave men to the rescue it was I 1 engford who fired the shot which sa saed ed tv Willis ll liston tons s ire 1 fe langford rescues mary from her captor langford tal es mary to the I 1 ome of mrs white her arm has been broken by a shot she grows delirious and receives medical at CHAPTER XI continued the long day wore ore t lop mother white was baking I 1 ahe he men would be ravenous when they came back many would stop there for something to eat before going on to their homes it might be tonight it might be to morrow it might not be until he day after but whenever the time did come knowing the men of 0 the range coun try she must hae haie something by her at last came the doctor and gordon driving up in the doctor s top buggy weather stained mud bedaubed with the mud of last spring of many springs the doctor was a badly dressed pleasant eyed man past mid die age with a fringe of gray whisk ers he was a sort of journeyman doctor and he had drifted hither one day two to summers ago from the lake andes country in this self same trav el worn conveyance with its same bony sorrel he had found good picking he had often jovially remark ed since chewing serenely away on a brand of vile plug the while he had elected to remain he was part and parcel of the cattle country now he was an established condition peo pie had learned to accept him as he was and be grateful haste was a mental and physical impossibility to him he took his own time all must perforce acquiesce you have worked yourself into a high fever miss williston that s what you ve done he said with profession al at alness I 1 know it she smiled wanly I 1 couldn coulden t help iti it 1 I in m sorry gordon drew up a chair and sat down by her saying with grave kind ness you are frett ng we must not let you I 1 am going to stay with you all night and shoo the goblins away you are kind said mary grateful ly may I 1 tell you when they come comet it if some one speaks to me they go an ay indeed aou ou maa ma dear child he exclaimed hearell ll he ile had been half joking when he spoke of keeping things away he ile now perceived d that these things were more serious than he knew kner the doctor administered medicine to reduce the fever dressed the wounded arm with gordon s ready assistance and then called in mother white to prepare the bed for his patient but he paused nonplussed before the weight of entreaty in mary s ees ekes and voice please don t she cried out in ac terror oh mr gordon don t let him I 1 see such awful things when I 1 lie down please please and mr langford said I 1 might sit up till he came mr air gordon I 1 tiou u will not let him put me to bed will yo yoi i I 1 think it would be better to let her have her way lockhart said gordon in a low voice maybe it would dick said the doctor with surprising sus meekness stay all night and aud take good care of her locknert there the res s moth er white beckoning to supper you 11 eat before you go goa no I 1 wont take any supper now thank thank you mother I 1 will stay with mary and he be did stay with her all through the long watches of that long night he ile never closed his eyes in sleep sometimes mary would drop off into uneasy slumber always of short du bation when she awakened suddenly in fright he soothed her with all tenderness sometimes when he thought she was sleeping she would clutch his arm desperately and cry out that there was some one be hind the big cottonwood again it would be to ask him in a terrified whisper if 1 he did not hear hoot hoof beats galloping galloping galloping and begged him to listen he could al at ways quiet her and she tried hard to keep fron fro n wandering but after a short broken rest she would cry out again in endless repetition of the ter bors of that awful night mrs white and several of her small progeny breathed loudly from an ad joining room A lamp burned dimly on the table it grew late 12 0 clock and after at laba she rested she passed from light broken slumber to deep sleep without crying out and thus awakening herself gordon was tired and sad isow now that the flush of fever was gone he saw how white and miserable she really looked the cir cles under ter eyes were so dark they were like bruises the mantle of his misfortune was spreading to bring others besides himself into its somber folds the men were coming back but ahry were coming quietly in grim si sl lence lenee he dared not awaken mary tor for the news he knew they must carry he stepped noiselessly to the door to warn them to a yet greater stillness and met langford Lang tord on the threshold the two surveyed each other grave ly with clasped hands you tell her dick 11 can t said langford his big shoulders drooped as under a heavy burden must I 1 ia asked gordon dick I 1 1 I can cant t said langford Lang tord brokenly dont don t you see seea it lf I 1 had been just a minute sooner and I 1 promised yes I 1 see paul said gordon quietly I 1 will tell her you need not said a sweet clear voice from across the room I 1 know I 1 heard I 1 think I 1 knew all the time k the sheriff and his deputies made a diligent search for williston but jou ou were vere all so good to make me hope don t worry about me any more dear deir friends I 1 am ail all right now it is much better to know I 1 hope they dida t hang bang him you think they shot him don t yoa little girl little girl cried lang ford on his knees beside her it Is not that it la Is only that we have not found him B it no news is good news that we haie hane found no trace proves that they have to guard him well because he is alive we are 9 going on a new track tomorrow to morrow believe me little girl and go to bed now won wont t aou ou and rest yes she said wearily as one in whom no hope was left I 1 will go 1 will mind the boss I 1 As he laid her gently on the bed while mrs white aroused from sleep fluttered aimlessly and drowsily about he whispered his breath car carress mg her cheek you will go to sleep right away wont youa you 9 I 1 will try you are the boss CHAPTER XII wa t ng the man to fo md ind dead the night the lazy S was nas burned out was not easi ly identified he ile was a halt half breed but halt half bi bleeds eeds wre many west of the river and the places where they laid their heads at night were as shifting shit ting as the sands of that rapid ominous changing stream of theirs whish ever cut them off from the world of their fathers and kept them bound but rest est alere less chafing in that same land where their matheis had stared stolidly at a strange little boatload tugging up the river that was the forerunner of the ultimate destiny of this broad north west country but which brought in Incident incidentally aIly as do all b g destinies in the great scheme bring sorrow to some one wrong misunderstanding forgetfulness to a once proud tree free people now in subjection at last the authorities found trace of him tar far away at standing rock t tl rough the agent there who knew lim 1 im as of an ugly reputation a dis roving profligate who had long since squandered his government patrimony he had been mixed up in sundry bad affairs in ane past and had been an inveterate gambler so much only were vere the kemah county A aa authorities ale able to uncover of the way ward earthly career of the dead dead man of his haunts and cronies ot of the period immediately preceding his death the agent could tell nothing he had not been seen at he agency for nearly a year the reprobate band had covered its tracks well there was nothing to do but lay the dead body away and shovel oblivion over its secret in the earty early morning after the re turn of the men from their ful man hunt gordon gray and hag gard from loss of sleep and from hare hard thought stepped out into the kitchen to stretch his cramped limbs lit IR stumbled over the figure ot of langfort Lang tord fore prone upon the floor dead asleep te jr utter exhaustion he smiled under stan and opened the outer door quietly hoping he had not aroused the th workout boas the air was fresh ane cool with a hint of autumn sharpness and a premature indian summer haza haze that softened the gauntness of the landscape and made the distances dist ancee blue and rest giving he felt the need of invigoration after his night s virgil and struck off down the road with long strides in pleasant anticipation of a coming appetite for breakfast thus it was that langford Lang tord ging to a sitting posture rubbing his heavy eyes with a dim consciousness that he had been disturbed and won dering drowsily why he was so stupid felt something seeping through ht hio senses that told him he did not dc well ell to sleep so he decided he would take a plunge into the cold artesian pond and with such drastic measures banish once and tor for all the elusive yet all pervading cobwebs which clung tc him rising to his feet with unusual awkwardness he looked with scorn upon the bare floor and accused it blindly and bitterly as the direct cause of the strange soreness that be set his whole anatomy the lay of the floor had changed in a night where was hea he glanced helplessly about then he knew thus it was that when mary lan ian guiday opened her eyes a little later it was the boss who sat beside her and smiled reassuringly you have not slept a wink she areld accusingly indeed I 1 have he said three whole ho irs I 1 feel tip top you are fibbing she said your ea e es 1001 so tired and yo ir face Is all worn his heart leaped with the joy of he hex solicitude you are wrong he laughed teasingly I 1 slept on the floor and a good bed it was too no miss willis ton I 1 am not ill t 11 in yet by any means in his ills new consciousness a new formality crept into his a ay of ad dressing her she did not seem id to notice it ft forgive me tor for forgetting last night n g she said earnestly I 1 was very selfish I 1 forgot that you had not slept tor for nearly two days and were riding all the while in our behalf I 1 forgot I 1 was tired and I 1 went to sleep I 1 want you to forgive me I 1 want you to believe that I 1 do appreciate what you have done my fath er don t don t little girl cried langford Lang tord forgetting his new awe ot of her maidenhood in his pity for the stricken child my father she went on steadily would thank you if he be were here I 1 thank you too even it if I 1 did forget to think whether or no you and all the men had any sleep or anything to eat last night will you try to believe that I 1 did not forget wittingly 7 I 1 was so tired when langford answered her which was not immediately his face was white and he spoke quietly with a touch of injured pride it you want to hurt us miss wll wil listen liston that is the way to talk we cowmen do not do things for thanks she 1001 ed at him wonderingly a moment then said simply forgive me but her lips were trembling and she turned to the wall to hide the tears that would come after all she was only a woman with nerves and the reaction had come the and his party of deau ties made a diligent search for willis ton that day and for many da a to come it A was of no avail he ile had disappeared and all trace with him as completely as it if he had been spir cited away in the night to another world body and soul that the soul of him had really gone to another world came to be generally believed mary held no hope after the return of the first expedition but why could they find no trace of his body was it ita where had it found a rest ing place was it possible for a man quick or dead even west of the river in an early day of its when the law had a winking eye to fall away from his wonted haunts in a night and leave no print neither a bone nor a jag nor a memory to give mute witness that this way he passed that way he rested a bit here he took horse there he slept with this man he had converse that man saw his still body borne hence could such a th ng be bea it seemed so to be continued |