Show THE MAN TW V OM M Y 0 ND fy harold titusie co WM SYNOPSIS non hen 1111 elleott lott from yonder fonder makes his hl ent entry rai nto into t the 0 lumbering town of thibup bringing al 0 11 g nn an old aid mein man don stuart who alio aft imd d been eager to reach tincup nicholas Dr brandon andon the towns leading citizen resents stuarts Kt uart presence trying to force him to leave town and elliott Cl llott re enting the tha net act knocks hlin him down It Allott Is a arrested but finds a friend in judge jude able armitage tho judge hires him to run the one I 1 lumber U r ber c camp it mp the hoot owl that lar ll randon a n don h hir as not been able to srab grah this bo be longn t to 0 dawn MeN tanum da daughter u 1 ehtor of brandee old partner wh who 0 has disappeared with a murder charge hanging over lila file head brandon sends aenita his bully duval to bent beat up u lien don and lien don him in a tint fight rind and thrown throw him out of camp old dnn stuart dies leaving A litter letter for 1111 lott to be used when tho the going becomes too tough pel dan refuses to open the letter at this time bel believing leving hu ho can win the fish fight by hta his own el forta fire breaks out in the tha mill when the flames flame are lien hen that the fire was started with gasoline thi thew koot owl kots gets nn an offer of nt spot pot cash for timber that will provide money to tide this it over but there Is a den dell nato time limit on the offer CHAPTER V continued 8 shortly after dinner on the following liny day lien gillott set out to a story of a trappers 1 camp on squaw take inko which lay to tho northward of hoot owl things were going ont on the job lie ho was a bit alicade even of the stiff schedule of production lie lind had set for himself and if the weather held reasonably good and lie lia could frustrate these attempts tra to blow him up ill lie would turn tile the trick which engaged film for tho the Ires present nL it was a rood good six miles to squaw inko but he did not follow tile tho most direct bouto swung right and left now and then smiling when ho he cuine came on a particularly title flue piece of tim bei certainly the hoot owl stuff looked better every time lie he w went ent through it it money standing on end for no an orphan girl it if lie he lien hen gillott Kl HI llott should too be strong enough to outlast nicholas 11 ruthlessness and persistence 1 lie ho wonder eil about dawn known and marked ns its tho the daughter of a murderer tough lie told himself for a child to grow up tip under a cloud like that ito iio started back after a fruitless invest invent igo tion and had not gono more than halfway half way to camp when he came suddenly upon a fresh snow shoo trail lie ile stopped short with in 0 little thrill another prowler the ono one who had shortened his mena meas krcs yesterday the tracks wore were only moments old ho he knew by thoo the way tho the freshly falling snow lay to in them lien ben went faster breaking into in jog trot where the going was good A half hour later inter lie he saw the moving figure before him film ben saw him turn about looking upward stare into the wind which blow from the northwest arid and swing to go with it IL not completely lost no na it greenhorn might rolf flit lie la not in panic and traveling meaningless circles but still from certain in durec eions lion ben felt a tightening in tits his throat tills this the chances were would be nn an encounter with one of the men who most certainly acting on Uron dons orders sought bought to hamper and hamstring him film A savage anticipation ran his veins with that to meet tills this prowler would tie be a greater satisfaction even than throwing null bull duval out of his camp had been elliott pushed on moving faster than the alio other cutting town down the distance between them as tile the thick lang acx binom made it impossible for him to see clearly at any distance tho the loan inan before him stopped suddenly nod and fared faced about elliott heal toted wondering whether he hail had been seen or not nol li it not lie he wonted wanted d to trail secretly if so lie he dipped into a ravine climbed tho the other slope and camo came face to face with the most lovely girl tie he could then or afterward remember having seen been in his life great brown eyes looked nt at him the noso nose was small the mouth month rd upped lipped mobile he imagined but now it was set rather grimly into an expression of exert extreme me petulance ile he did not register consciously tho the knitted tuque toque of soft maroon wool n nor or the well tailored juniper jumper arid knickers impressions lempea d nt at film in ensemble rather than detail a 0 oriyu trig competent little figure abl oil I 1 lie ho said when hen r she he lid did not speak oh why hello 1 lie grinned then but no responsive clinn ged the girls face or even tinted hr ber eyer eye good afternoon slie she said brusquely almost stint lily T saw aw bour trail trat teat IS I 1 CAI how flow different this from the ii lindner lin of address lie ho lind had planned I 1 lie ho folt felt culled upon now to lil its presence on her trail rather than to demand a ronson reason for hot being there 1 I saw your trail lie ho brim begun again and I 1 thought it cd to mo me you might alight be a littia lost 0 an aa it matter of fact I 1 nin am corn plemely turned around armind 01 site she SAM bald it was silly of rio nia to como come into tile booths especially or on A lay day like tills without it hut but I 1 did if i and here I 1 mill and sho was eyeing him closely now ns as though searching ing for some gonio special detail of fact or figure Igi iru lost lie iio thought a lost manal diana I 1 1 I kept losing my bearings and lind had trouble getting oriented rind nm am gl gutting a little tired it was so ao silly billy I 1 downright stupid I 1 it if you know tills this country you con can sot act nio me right I 1 shot should bo be back in tincup before long or worry lien ken wondered quickly anti and irrelevantly who they might ho be yes ho he could get tier her out in a halt hour lie ho could have her in ills hla camp and mono bomi tier on tier her way to town lint hut in a half hour and with tier her nin tiner an clearly hostile for no reason nt lit nil fill she impressed him film na As H n young woman most de to know well rind also ns AS 0 ono no whose would ho be slow in requiring lost oh di ile he asked and laughed 0 oddly idly matter of fact I 1 camo out without a n as myself that was truth ile he needed no compass for A short swing such ns no lie he had find made today tits his sound woods mans instinct would hold him film safe well weil lint complicates matters mattera the girl said ive got to get feet out of tills this 1 timber and im not rood good for much more mora travel in tills this sort of going I 1 been on webs in several years and ive ie gone further than I 1 should have illy by george too badill bad I 1 ho he suit bield and hoped that none of his men who would bo be trekking into crimp by now would shout or sing so their voices would break down the illusion of empty distances surrounding them which evidently possessed the girl too baal its getting dark sure enough but it very late if you could sit down tind get your second wind now but what good will that dot do if wo we stay hero here until its really dark there may inny be no getting out until morning all I 1 have with mo me Is a cake of chocolate cho colato rind the prospect of a hui hungry agry cold night in tile tho woods with you alluring ben rubbed hla his chin im sorry if the impression I 1 make la Is as and as 1 I meant nothing personal but I 1 dont know you I 1 dont fancy being lost with anyone anyon lot alone a stranger lie iio thought she almost smiled as it if relenting a bit from her brusque look t he said bald pointing aloft to where a break in tile the clouds near the zenith lot let about the last of tile the lot 1 7 III it y good afternoon she said brusquely daylight lit through its going to clear well vell have stars directly let me bull hulad a little shelter tint a lire fire here A few minutes rest will do a lot of good and with stars wu we can set get anywhere she hesitated seeming scenting to consider all right I 1 must admit the last half hours going tins lins been hard out camo came his belt ax off vent the lower limbs of young hein hetti locka locks in less than it would take nn an ordinary man to lop loll tile the branches he hail had a benches ben choS snow on a knoll covered with aromatic boughs and a thick windbreak of them behind it then attacking a huge birth birch stub tie ho pl peeled elco off 11 quantity nt f lenaa writ this ho lighted from a match carried in A tightly corked bottle antl lint as the lie quickly burning sturt bluff shed it i comfortable glow on tile bow er cr lie be find built lie knocked lend dead bronchus bron chos from a hemlock fed thoin thein to tile flame and then turned to a nearby dry top of fl a fallen maple knocking oft substantial faggots maggots fag gots sho she eyed the ire fire no an lie he stood erect ironwing Irn wing on off hla film stoves gloves and spreading hla his big hands to tho the warmth strange site aho said that you yen should hb be lost from tho any you ninko yourself comfortable in the woods id say been born in timber avrom from the way you yon know wood craft when you see it id any its ns no stirn that you should bo be lost I 1 what I 1 know of the woods wits learned years ago ono gets rusty ivo ive discovered who tire you and what are you doing hero here ifer her directness quite took his breath well my names lien hen elliott ni llott if thit ill it means anything to you and I 1 ans was looking for somebody who tins has no business to be here who anro you tind alint brings you into tills this tim ber ile he wits bound now to break through her aloofness that she replied however la Is largely my own altair hut mr el ilott if you should guess that tant I 1 was simply trying to lose a certain unpleasant mood in the woods where 1 I once was quite be 10 far from right she spoke incisively and ta tingly but it seemed to him that behind tills this brusqueness brusque was something quite different something he ha could not quite fathom lie ile ans about to remind her that she had not yet revealed reven led tier her identity when sho she went vent on looking for some one who tins hns no business hero here you said bald just who tire they what are they doing As to tho the first I 1 cant tell you vor for tho the second their purpose ably would ile be to attempt to hold up tip a timber operation in which im rather interested not so far from here ter llor eyes were on him with a curious curlo iia expression which might possibly have been personal inter est to hold you up tip low how are you from tincup il 1 I rim nin 11 you know people there and what seems to be tile the towns most fanmous tradition 1 1 I dont understand it that nicholas brandon finishes what lie ho starts out to do vint that whatever ho he says goes come what may ive heard that said people like to talk I 1 hut but im nin managing an outfit encouraging rough going from some source all sorts of things are anre happening rind im trying to head off certain of them 1 I see she looked awny away and puckered her delectable lips as though to whistle hen ben rubbed his chin again she was not even interested in learning more about him but where many young men would have been piqued at that he only laughed softly he joko joke she elie asked almost defiantly antly 1 I was just thinking that its a funny situation when a man gets into a scrap and it looks so BO big to him that he be thinks the whole darned country roust must be watching it anti and him film anil and then along cornea comes a nice girl ehos been in a position to hear all about it and who isn t interested a dimes worth she looked up at him slowly yon yen maan that you want to talk about it perfectly natural alint I 1 should im in one chalo of a flight till and having tile the little of my life its the first job ive found in a coons age that was hard enough and complicated enough to bo be worth working over what ive hoard board about you 11 youve auve oh so you have heard about me of course I 1 live in tincup few have tiny secrets in a town of tin cups size pen ben chuckled again well then if youve heard that much about me and my jot job maybe there anything I 1 could tell you that would be Inter interesting eAtIng maybe not site bhe said with an air of dismissal il ben len watched her closely as she slowly broke a twig to bits with her slim fingers deer used to yard in the a swamp w back of here she said W when lien I 1 wits was a little girl I 1 used to come out till and try to make friends with them why I 1 came out today wondering it if started to yard yet its ita too early for them to yard yes but the snow may inny get deep enough any lay day to bunch them snow I 1 he said bald and shrugged it if it gets jeep deep in a hurry the leer deer will yard all right and maybe ill be licked and a little girl done out of all she tins bus in the world all she hn haf 4 in the world meaning just what it if you live in tincup an and know the town you must know about nebout the owner of tills this property this Is the loot owl timber A queer smile twitched at the girls lips sometimes I 1 think I 1 do as often I 1 wonder iwonder what ashes like really like I 1 happen to bo be dmn dawn mc ilc tinnus t lien 1 allott opened ills his mouth na as it if to speak peak then cloyed closed it agnan and made a foolishly move moo ment with one hand he to stared tit nt tier her arid began to Ma matziner tuiner why I 1 why you why able midi ile he laughed outright then no as his till misconception pt ion became clear oil oh it if id given it a second thought thou alit id have known 1 able first told mo me about you as a little girl it stuck in my head a little garlt but that was years ago 1190 of course G ceol ee I 1 why then thell youre lost in your own back yard you might any 1 I was she corrected hut a few minutes ngo ago I 1 heard some one sins sing out and just now the cook called the crew to supper then why you because nc causo I 1 was rather curious to the pool rooms a good place for you to oe be limpy discover what sort of man Is standing between me and poverty perhaps ironically this and of course 1 knew you lost elliott hushed flushed on that 1 I played nt at being lost myself so id d have a chance to talk to you im m glad I 1 did unless it tins has offended you no im im only ready to go in now she adjusted the harness of her shoes dexterously and they set act out on tho the way to camp lien hen tried to talk to her further but her responses were brief and noncom noncommittal iler her interest appeared to fie only poorly aroused even on such a vital matter as the operation of tier her own property find and so BO finally he gave up tip trying to make talk and broke trail thinking that now the job would anve nn an added zest that a girl like dawn mcmanus was an even greater incentive than the thought of a small child alone with her timber tit nt tho the deicy mercy of fiord schemers and depending on him to make safe lier her heritage CHAPTER VI 1111 now new piston head bend for the locomotive TUB co arrived and elliott was nt at the when the train bearing it pulled in more he was close beside the express car when it halted and carried tile part himself into his waiting sleigh the veneer logs were ready to come out to the siding standard cars h and a d be been jill set 0 off if a at t hoot owl that day Ironi tomorrow orrow bright and early they would start loading and hy by night his can contract tract with blackmore Black mora moro would be filled lie ile would receive a B large check a substantial part of it clear profit to in return ills men were acre growing restless rest lesa under the driving whispers in camp had it |