Show MOUNTAIN UNTA N MAN N A ichon serial 0 H C wire by HAROLD CHANNING WIRE XIII Continued 12 th no time to lose breck s wung swung clipped tile the four wires at tho the est post then leading kit ran next three sections of fence e cut and the wires on the nd d before r n I 1 spurt of flamo flame ed out ol of tile tho black shadows d sly alone a lone bullet ed post past straightened and in the st sl that followed the guns crack bolce oace burst sharp shar pil langer anger herel udden ludden rush of hoofs and a rat it pistol ore all but drowned the ering bering shout to heu hell with the berl erl crashed from ev ler er that guns there ere As ho he sprang to his horse faced the tha opposite edge of la 8 jackson and his ui arged up behind him breck d kit in with them and they t across the bald dome the h s turned red with stabs of involuntarily he dodged agh h shots were being fired to i out the dozen men in a second hey ey rushed on one horse teu fell rider ider limped back toward the the forests edge the two bands p together and an d there real fight egan began jackson astride a tall horse was suddenly engulfed cen en two forms breck wheeled that at way and caught a blow a knotted rope between his ile he struck up with his gun rd off a second blow thing was plain in the dark horses thudded together apart lariats whirled A caught one horse by the fore he plunged headlong and a s body turned twice in midair mid air machers from each side were losely packed to allow guns g had ceased there sounded the swish of ropes grunted 3 one voice shouting as if thit that could obey his command in n suddenly above au all else rose der ot of cattle on the run they poured past the break in the and now in one wave were ping ing across the bald dome c caught sight of them through pen ipen trees spurred kit from path and with other men left ight to dash from that un ed rush i rider racing lacing at an angle in of him turned in his saddle ired fired a last shot the range no more than twenty feet felt a slash of fire alo along ng his then knew the full fury of g blood the figure entered e of trees breck followed at down the long mountain spur r kits lowered head as swift agular as clock ticks he shot 9 a little to the left of the wanting a prisoner rather than apse se the automatic held ten in its clip until six were the figure ahead showed no of halting at seven he wain his saddle at nine he up his hands bracing himself s i horse stopped with au all feet to the earth ck rode down beside him fellow turned gaping with T r for gods sake botin loot ln I 1 counted em nine till liu golna ere is one more and breck answered now you ice ce front and keep your hands reached across lifted the gun then drove him upward wile where re they could climb 0 open ground the herd had bad 1 out by now he could hear and voices answering from rom the he drift fence presently a aided him sons ons tall gray horse came to no sight then he recognized th we L cow punchers and rode to they were gathering the etleman beman was sitting on a log rs s rolled from up a bloody k ordered his prisoner to the and dismounted only six ere at the fire aint all here said jackson were just likely kely some of us will have lunt pretty soon little atle group stood in silence one others rodo rode in reached aund nd questioned with their it t said nothing soon there en cs a yonder the last arrival arriva 1 e d pointing further along the legs broke fred jackson ordered him a horse he str straight ight om dressing his bis own wound wound ked around the group ten mac makes eleven chos res eres John johnny someone re e an answer could be given tant stant crac crack k of a gun broke the night three shots slowly lowly telling ot of deliberate k leaped leama to his horse hinging flinging 5 he lunged away hold that r r here herell I 1 lete stillness had come after ee slow thole shute there was something horrible in tile the cool way of king firing ile iio pictured tho the boy ruthlessly shot down lying somewhere in the canyon below but ho could have saved himself the agony before ho he had gone fir far johnny camo came loping upward gun alert as ho he questioned from a distance ranger yes are you ill all right son the boy approached no I 1 haintl throe three shots just like that and I 1 missed hinal back at the ore with all men accounted for and no signs ot of renewed attack now that all tho the cat alo were scattered over the mountain areck faced his prisoner whose outfit are you from tho the fellow looked up suddenly browns of course AU all right youre going back to brown and youre going to tell him that his line ends west of black mountain at tho the creek tell him its open season on any of his cattle found this side of it understand now get out when the middle forker had ridden away quiet tell fell over the group broken at last by jacksons an no lets get along boys soon well be too damn stiff to move it was a wordless line of men that rode down black mountain in the first light of dawn and a weary lot by the time they reached bear trap still wordless they threw oft off saddles and clumped into the cabin but in a short time over cups of black coffee and thick slices of bread their spirits rose and talk began A cowhand turned to where breck was sprawled on the floor boor with two others well by god ranger they done initiated you I 1 breck raised a hand to his grimy cheek remembering that slash of fire ills his fingers came away red with blood in time the cowpuncher cowpunchers cow punchers rs finished their coffee and ono one by one went where they could lie ile down in the sun and sleep breck felt the same desire but knew he must get bac back k to telephone connection with headquarters when he rose jackson walked with him as far as the screened meat safe outside his door halting JG drew a chunk of beef from its hook book here ho he said wrapping it in a gunny sack take this and help yourself whenever you come through though breck had meat left from what temple had given him he took it gl gladly idly again it wits was the cow count rys offering of good will CHAPTER R XIV the trip to bear trap was brecks last ri ride de away from rock house station tor for some time tim e upon cooks remained close t to 0 the telephone order h he 0 lor for lay day by day the first week of july passed and then halt half the tha se second end with no sign of rain to break the drouth that th at had settled over the Sl sierras erras his grass meadow began to turn brown needles the pine trees bec became ame tinder under talk talked ed three times each day he peak ma making k kern with the lookout on certain that the line was clear dannys report always and getting cloud not a the same it was humidity cha changed aged half a degree breck would ask any amo smoke ke the thing in m mind ind these that was in he began to see smoke days and once a sitting it every every patch of light log near the telephone on a tinge of it definite caught a he post in his nostrils and sprang up rea ready dy to throw on hla his pack then realized his own stove from the odor came when cook called from headquarters they talked of nothing else looks bad the ranger said dry here same with vath match over as a all things will be I 1 suppose you in the next rain get right if we storm but it if its lightning well earn our money I 1 that was wednesday evening As brock stood at tile the telephone ho he glanced up to the unbroken heavens where stars hung like clear blue gems later ho he went out again and found that even since the tha time ho he had talked with cook something had formed up there black pitches patches had appeared A high broad arm covered the area south of rock house ile he returned to his bunk and fell eu asleep with thoughts ot of an approach ing storm and dreamed endlessly of blazes and brush hooks and then a oro firs ball that mat swung over the for est it descended lower and lower until it touched the pine tops they th C y burst into lame flame with a queer sound ringing breck leaped from his bunk and walked whilo still halt half asleep it was daylight outside the telephone bell clamored beyond his door ile ho 41 io M q I 1 v J 1 1 V r 3 u L N hold that prisoner herd beret jerked open the iron box and answered rock house yes all right donny ive got you fire to the south ot of you rock house the lookout called down reading one seven five just a minute said breck he ran into the cabin drew his map from a shelf unfolding it as he returned to the instrument I 1 the reading donaldson had given him was in degrees from a circle about kern peak north being zero brocks brecks own map was marked with a corresponding circle now he took the direction of one seven five a little east of south one seven five he repeated how flow far head of lost horse creek breck studied the map found lost horse saw at once by contours that it was in steep broken country then looking further he discovered something more thata near the potholes potholed Pot holes DOY DO Y what sort ot of fire Is this lightning I 1 think struck in three places ive watched a storm since midnight OK lox 11 breck finished ano another t her voice broke in before he could hang up the receiver rock housel house 1 he recognized cook get on the trail as soon as you can the ranger continued it will be noon anyway before you reach lost horse take grub tor for a week no telling what do you think of this ore breck asked lightning maybe though its mighty close to tho the potholes potholed Pot holes mako make up a crew from tho the desters nesters there find a tool box near wellers place ill keep donny on tho the line and it if things dont look better by afternoon slim will come now hop onto lit itt the potholes potholed Pot holes lay somo some twenty civo miles to tho the south and a little east cast of brocks brecks station a country of 0 small round meadows below steep ridges connected by narrow ravines and all occupying a 0 hollow where the sierra root roof began to break into lower levels costers nc had come there and settled cettl ed a man to a m meadow C adow before the district was made a federal forest now government land surrounded them yet they remained independent of 0 the reserve this much breck had learned from cook when he first come came on the job along with tho the rangers statement god knows what they live they dont graze cattle and they dont farm they handle till sons bootleg some soma and get their thirty ove five cents an hour firefight fire fight ing bear a look any time youre in that part leading his pack breck areck could make only tour four miles an hour along a trail that climbed and descended and climbed again long before ho he came within sight of the potholes potholed Pot holes he saw a mushroom of smoke above that area it grow grew steadily black at first showing the fire was in brush then took on the gray of burning timber when he topped a rise about eleven and looked into the hollow country the whole basin was obscured in a cloud the main blazo blaze seemed further east of the potholes potholed Pot holes centered on the hank flank of a cone shaped peak here an occasional curl ol of red flamo flame burst up through tho the smoke ile turned in that direction dipping downward in order to pass the nester settlement it came into view hazily half a dozen weathered buildings store blacksmith shop a few houses scattered at tho the fo forc edge A group of men loafed in front of the shop breck rode there at once saying as he ha halted baited Is wellei here it took no more than a glance to put them down as aa a shiftless lot they wore overalls mostly un washed since the day they left the counter ragged shirts and stared with sullen indifference from be beard rd ed faces he repeated where Is weller one jerked a thumb toward the smithy breck dismounted left lef t kit tied to a hitching bar and strode to the smiths smi thys door immediately he was confronted by a thin bodied thin faced man who appeared out of the black interior his eyes were small and close and hla his nose seemed wrinkled in perpetual animosity what do you want na ranger nger it was a blunt demand breck spoke with sudden anger are you weller 1 I reckon then the matter with you nesters desters ne why arent you on that fire breck brack whirled from the door come on now and got a crewl weller followed at a slow pace cant docant fight with no tools mister theres the box nothing to stop you breck waved a hand toward the service chest that stood under a tree not far off sure theres a box weller agreed help yourself breck went to it and sung flung back the cover space inside was empty save for one shovel and a rusted brush hook without a ban handle dle TO BE CONTINUED |