Show fan the t C inq waw e 0 0 ky peter MK ASO aayne 0 0 0 ty peter D a sory loo SYNOPSIS Ito barta antrim beautiful east am rn xer who lives with hor her uncle Will william fain 13 latham known as s crooked bill because of his bl musin st slyness receives reo elvea a tele gram from jaime bliff mieuel uel owner of the rt nancho ancho vallo valle verde in texas informing her her uncle tom antrim has died a violent death I 1 CHAPTER I 1 continued 5 no ile la in also good natured and easygoing otherwise lie ho would not bother himself with tho the probably thankless task of protecting the interests of a stranger and an american at that probably lie he acted thus because I 1 am a woman which proves he Is gallant and chivalrous 11 A sort of knight orrant errant crooked mil murmured maliciously and hackett shot him film a look of tire lire well mexicans cans of whatever class aro very polite to a lady they always malto malio a n great to do about women the chances aro are this to la an educated halfbreed half breed aztec indian I 1 wish ho he had informed us who killed cock globin lie ile merely says it was a cowman 1 I wonder if lie he got hurt roberta murmured toes it matter particularly for a reason lie he had bad not even tried to analyze but which had find been born of a subconscious resentment of tho the man who had made it possible to interject calmo miguel into roberta An kantrims trims thoughts glenn IIa cliett spoke ten thousand cunning imea peeped for in an instant from crooked bills old eyes no he get hurt at least not very badly how do you know hackett IIa cliett demanded and roberta looked at her undo uncle inquiringly 1 I believe you know jaime 11 1 I matte make nn an affidavit to that It roberta oberta I 1 cannot recall having mot met him or even heard of him so help me mel I 1 just then the butler entered to an dinner better reconsider your decision and break bread with us crooked bill urged their guest yes yen do roberta pleaded thank you I 1 think I 1 shall not then to the butler harms will you be good enough to get my hat and coat and telephone tho the garage for my earl when glenn Hac hackette hacketts ketts car had rolled away down the driveway crooked bill turned to hla his ward round two wo for little bright eyes pm im placing my money on the red who the girl demanded firmly Is talmo miguel 1 I dont know honey I 1 can only suspect Bu and some day ill verify my auspicious and tell you please tell we your suspicions now theres a dear and roberta smiled her most coaxing smile and put her arms around crooked bills neck ah 11 lie ho murmured a man can struggle along under a mystery but it drives A woman crazy ill not tell you what I 1 suspect and you are perfectly powerless to drag it out of me for two cents roberta threatened id go down to los Alg algodones and investigate balme miguel maguel inigue nos nes personally it if you do get the surprise of your sweet young life my dear robertas Roberta 8 brown eyes danced nobody know knew letter better than crooked mil how she cherished surprises 1 I think I 1 should go down to undo toms funer fu nerol nl she suggested im the last of the kantrims and it would be rather indecent of me to permit strangers and not very sympathetic strangers I 1 fear to bury him film crooked bill was always practical even if mysterious 1 I do that honey im afraid uncle tom wont keep until you get there I 1 have never neier heard of ice or undertakers in los algodones Algo Alg donea and as for hermetical ly scaled d caskets there just jus t arent anyo any I 1 lime a friend down there however agni nd ill wire him to attend the obsequies tind and send lowers flowers for you and a wreath of cactus for me why have you alawiya disliked uncle tom so because youre his niece not mine and hes never showed the slightest interest in you except to send you five dollars at christmas and alid on your birthdays because I 1 staked the unholy wretch in the cow hu huskiness siness and he sold out the cows refused to pay the loan went to mexico where I 1 collect and set up op in the sheep cheep business because cause he was ornery from birth and looked it it your father was not what I 1 would call a mental giant roberta but lie he was kind and amusing and on the square whereas your uncle tom ws a throwback ft black sheep every family has baa them the girl defended well lioney ioney you yours any moro more I 1 0 0 0 0 A the folA oving evening glenn blackett having recovered marvelously from his indisposition of the ilay ua before called for dinner the bank gives tho man H ague nes most blatter flattering ng recommendations mr mr latham t ft L announced lie he has plenty of cash und and worldly assets and his record to Is clean iio he la in known as a man of honor and can bo be trusted implicitly 11 crooked bill nodded as if this ro port was not a mutter matter of surprise to him hackett resumed rea umed 1 I cannot so go to texas to attend to this mutter matter of your roberta Ko berta it will bo be necessary to engage a lawyer down there to handle your affairs there and I 1 suppose Higue higueres nes can direct you to a good one I 1 imagine you will have to proceed to los algodones Algo Alg donca immediately dia tely toly 11 1 I shall start tomorrow roberta Rober tit decided and added maliciously 1 I can hardly wait to meet that adorable jaime miguel CHAPTER 11 II A sabbath calm lay upon the hacienda of don aalmo miguel higue nos nes lord of tho the rancho Ilan clio valle verde notwithstanding tho the fact that it wa waa not sunday don jaime gazed out through the arched entrance of his file patio toward tho the distant blue nor serrated hills where the united states of america ended and tho the republic of mexico began 1 I wonder ho he thought what to Is going to become of the family tho the problem proving too much for him don jaime did that which all of his raco race do with the utmost ease and without preliminary notice lie ile fell into a gentle slumber and while he slept a man on a honey colored horse with a dark running the length of his back backbone bona rode up to the da entrance dismounted and strode stiffly through the arched entrance and down the flower bordered gravel walk to the veranda observing don jaime at peace tn in the arms of the stranger removed a full cartridge belt with two pistols and hung life hla armament on one of a row of huge spikes driven into the adobe wall of tho the house quietly he drew another chair alongside don jaime and disposed hla his tired body in it don jaime murmured without troubling to open his eydi eyes who the devil are you 7 wake up you lazy greaser and see tho the visitor retorted when you speak in your naturally loud vulgar and irreverent tone of voice I 1 recognize you I 1 do not have to look don jaime spoke perfect english but the faintest clipped accent denoted it was waa not his mother tongue ile he added in spanish welcome to tuy my poor house houm it to IB yours t gringo 1 I dont want your poor house all I 1 desire Is accommodation and food for my horse and myself until morning and thou graceless onel don jaime murmured drowsily but without of bense but what else can one expect of a texan and particularly a texas ranger but what brings you here my friend A desire to be neighborly and to offer a slight return for your many evidences of princely hospitality that and a natural desire to enjoy it again sinco since when did you go into the sheep business jimmy don jaimes dark eyes opened widely and the hint of an ever ready smile faded from his file handsome features leaving them unbelievably stern wheres where 1 lie ho demanded about ten miles south of here I 1 canio came across country from san ysidro and bumped into them on your range about forty thousand of them I 1 should say although im no judge of sheep cp in quantity the brand Is circle A tom kantrims An trims outfit well if hes only ten miles from here hes tres passing on my range thanks for the information ken feed Is pretty scarce to the east of me nod and I 1 suppose torn tom antrim got desperate yes you have your uses gringo if you care to run into los algo dones and swear to a warrant charging him and john doe and richard roe and james black and thomas green aal and say a dozen other off color gents with trespassing tres passing ill pick those boys up op and lodge them in the jyz JIM gado ando then you and your boys can run the sheep off in peace 1 I dont want to run them oft off in peace ken don jaime julme replied languidly ive done that before and it work they always conte come back sure you got some other work to do tomor tomorrow rowl now look here jimmy the ranger protested you listen to me toni tom kantrims An trims there to ritty so im going to hang around the neighborhood iles hes got twenty herders gerders with him and I 1 noticed they all carried rifles A mans house la Is his castle said doti don jaime contemplatively and I 1 presume that principle applies to the lands landa contiguous thereto ono one tins has a right to defend his castle from un warranted trespass and im here to tell you old aeed I 1 am very weary of tom antrim and his cheeps I 1 mean sheep cheep D n it will vill I 1 never set get over the habit of slipping on my plurals like any mexican I 1 three weeks ngo ago the sheriff of this county arrested tom antrim an and held him aej and d his men long enough to permit wo to drive hla his sheep off my range and bo before I 1 called the sheriff in I 1 talked with tom antrim I 1 told him ho he must not come back again because beef eef 1 I mean it if ho he did hero don jaime shrugged eloquent well I 1 would not bother tho the sheriff to light for my rights for me no by maria in Puri alma I 1 it to la in the blood blonti of tho the family to fight their own lights 11 the tha ranger protested again 1 I heard all about the famous de clad fl of yours to old antrim and I 1 happen to know tho the old skunk dont anko orders worth a cent yet lie he knows you mean business why his men aro are all armed lie ho expects a battle and lie ho knows lead your forces now if you should got get killed la in tho the fracas your executor would bo be the one to protest against his trespassing tres passing in the future who might your executor bo be tho the federal trust company of el paso pago tom antrim owes them a lot of money in a dry year they might not be too anxious to discover that antrim was invading your range that Is not until they had gotten their money out of 0 the old hog now I 1 6 ft IF 4 1 A sabbath calm lay upon the tha hacienda of don miguel Higue higueres nes like you jimmy and I 1 dont want to see bee you get killed besides tt if you kick up it a row and dont get yourself killed you make work for me and my men myself pin im a man of pence consequently it occurred to me P you want me to give alvo him another chance to appear weak and vacillating by talking to that antrim again don jaime valrae charged instantly thank god my blood Is the cool blood of an anglo saxon ancestry if I 1 had bad your hot corpuscles corpus cles mend friend jimmy I 1 never would have risen to be a captain in the texas rangers rd id have been killed as a private now you listen to me because I 1 have no interest at nil all in antrim I 1 have however a sympathetic interest in you and your broad acres you plan to go over yonder and start something all wrong old son aon all wrong you take a rangers advice and let the other follow fellow draw first then beat him to the draw you are always my good friend murmured dou don jaime gratefully now listen jimmy ken hobart continued tomorrow I 1 shall make it my business to drop in to that sheep cheep camp for luncheon A little later you will ride up alone and unarmed ill report to antrim that youre bent on an arguments argument but not in the smoke and hell go out to talk to you because I 1 shall advise it strongly when ho he does you give him fanni warning in language most becoming to a hidalgo of your proud ancestry hell etell think youre weak and afraid and of course hell bell disregard the warning well having warned him you ride back home gather your gang together and take possession of the water holes where antrim must of necessity water his sheep tonight dont let him water them nell hell fight for tho the water rather than backtrack back track with his flock over ground been eaten over only to find your men guarding the water holes in that direction too A sheep cant stand such I 1 hards hardship bip and three days without water will see his sheep dying by the thousand you yon understand me jimmy you provoke the fight but ho he shoots first then you clean up and clean up good because the only way youre youra ever going to have peace kantrims An trims fate will le be a lesson to any other grass thief with designs on your range ranga and I 1 dont think any jury in this country will convict you of murder b cc ause antrim and tits his men will have been clearly outside tho the law you have a record for patient forbearance in the past and I 1 will be your witness to prove that you rode up to kantrims An trims camp unarmed and talked to him film like a gentleman sabe listed amigo inlo A captain of rangers testimony carries weight with a jury anyhow it just possible to convict vict a in his county you have never navor killed anybody or invaded an others rights and that old buzzard antrim has never done anything else but you tire are always don jaime miguel reiterated my very good friend and you are as an wise as a of owls you plot with all the consummate craft of ray my own people whore where the devil do you suppose I 1 got my education if not along tho the illo orande grande ken hobart retorted ue he lit a cigar and looked out over tho the pleasant garden gosh youve got a nice place here jimmy I 1 wish id been as a discriminating in the selection of my ancestors as you were 1 don jaime laughed lightly only a little while ago I 1 was reflecting that chave I 1 have not had opportunity to practice tho the discrimination evinced by my ancestors in the picking of wives friend hobart obart II he replied it if you would bo be lord of a rancho marry a lady who has one and know what to do with it fortunately I 1 possess thees I 1 mean tills this rancho so I 1 do not need the lady I 1 it if you did jimmy where the devil would you find her you have the delightful habit of placing your finger on the weak spot my friend where indeed would I 1 find a suitable wife I 1 am too busy with thees I 1 mean this ranch and when once or twice a year t f wander to the fleshpots lesh flesh pota pots it la ig to bo be filled with amazement and fear of what would happen to we me if I 1 marry a q modern girl you have all of a castillani Castl CastIl llana lans horror of a woman who believes she can take as good care of herself as any man can I 1 suppose you want a girl who will consent to dwell behind bars take no exercise and stand for a fat old duenna tagging around behind her not to see eco that she avoids romance but to make certain she act natural and seek it you are wrong my friend I 1 am quite modern but a bit old fashioned too I 1 have been in love many times but only in love with lovo love I 1 must think long and carefully before asko ask ing any woman to sharel chare this life with ine me here sho she would bo be lonely sho she would look from this hacienda to the horizon and see cattle she would look back and see me one grows I 1 weary 0 of f scenery she would come to regard me as a jailer not a husband so I 1 must be careful 90 well when you meet the girl you yon truly fall desperately in love with and she reciprocates your passion she don jaime miguel solemnly shall be tho the mother of my children where here where she will my friend don jalan replied with simple sincerity then jimmy said ken hobart 91 1 I hope for purely selfish reasons meet your fate before long and that shell refuse to marry you yon until you sell this ranch and move to houston or |