Show I r dlan BEE BEEf 0 r J f J 1 4 HAROLD CHANN CHANNING ING WIRE RELEASE tj LEW LEW BURNET BURET Is trail tull boss of the ross ass T herd which is being belne driven from ens to the Indian agent at Ogallala e ie year yen Is 1875 1575 TOM ARNOLD own own- 1 r Is Killed in a stampede Ills will Dames es Lew boss and owner until the thee thet t e We ittle are sold when STEVE and JOY OLD NOLD will receive their shares After I difficulties and hardships 1 T l rr ey enter Indian n territory Lew refuses by a party of for JM cattle CLAY MANNING IAN foreman i fad d d fiance flance of JO Joy w wants to abandon the rd id but Lew insists on fighting lie He i Sends lends a man back to Doans Doan's store to ring rIn out the soldiers The next after after- t on the appear Lew and his hisen of nen en prepare to shoot It out t r M CHAPTER XIV Jf Lew v nodded t turned ed and swept a circling gaze around the flat fiat land ut t this one party was all And Anden en hen a grunt from the old man e his eyes around He half halt held there ther sud sud- l use ose se in his stirrups enly rigid by the horrible beauty elf if l that charge flIt it came like a tossing wave with t very ivery horse thrown forward in the I lame ame instant The rode i at t their black heads hardly above me I-me i animals' animals manes A drum drum- ning g on the earth ran rm ahead of em em nothing more They didn't 1 ell ll and it was that unexpected ii Deadly sadly adlY silence that made his blood z run n cold i It Even ven with calm nice roice warning him Take it easy ie e dropped in his saddle and swung p ip the long barrel of his gun He new mew ew what was count count- tig rig g on This was the moment of ot the greatest advantage Why I ey hey must strike with this fierce then always stop and ast before the they fought he didn't now But this one time maybe ey wouldn't The wave was weeping on within three hundred girds He lined his rifle sights rind nd then his eyes caught no signal Svery erY man manas was as suddenly upright with the horses thrown back on their heir hindquarters rearing and lunging dunging to a halt Their arms h flaw lew w up Rifles that had been hidden hidden hid hid- den n beneath the naked bodies glinted glinted glint glint- ed d in the sun They sat in an unbroken line lane motionless motionless mo mo- until one rider started out it at a walk from the others Off Of two b hundred yards he stopped and crooked his arm and shouted some some- thing He had only a strip of blanket blanket blan blan- k ket t cloth around his waist and between between be be- tween his legs Lew yelled across to him No back backs savvy The Cheyenne yelled s something that sounded bad He Hew w wasn't Crazy Bear Quarter night raised his rifle rille halt hall Boy he said first licks lick's UTe Ule battle battIe Might as well show him what weve we've got He squeezed the trigger once The horse wheeled l and d stumbled bolting back into the theli li line e. e The old mans man's whiskers part part- td ed in a wicked grin There now Watch out they'll make a run They were yelling elling now high and gobbling like a flock fiock of turkeys Suddenly their horses pivoted i and d they were lying fiat flat again racing rac rae ing bg in a circle around his herd f He He slapped his buckskin with his reels riding with both hands free The Die men strung out from him need need- id d 4 no order there were old Indian fighters in this crew Swinging off or orm from Irom m the cattle they rode their n ii-n v wn n smaller circle abreast of the running line But he head hei i sad ad d to yell at young Jim Hope to ke him stay with the horse herd g e saw Clay start from Joys Joy's wagn wagIn wag- wag i In n turn and go back Little black puffs of smoke bejan be be- lan jan to rise and drift above the In In- li Mans Hans ns wild shooting at too long a af f fange ange for their old-fashioned old guns a Tic kept an eye on just ahead They were halt hall around the herd hen the old man threw up his 1 kin n. n Hold in In boys Here they tome lome me He let out his rebel yelL lLew Lew swung his buckskin with his nee ee and halted facing out Some out of ot Apache pache ache days had let him time the moment of ot a charge For the Chey Chey- t t es had pivoted again They ame on in a solid running front The blast blost of was wase waske ke re e the rattle of beans in a gourd beyond yond his own sights he saw a aap ap app pp ap p break wide open It was Tas a fire Horses went downe down e saw the way the lunged with them unable to kick ee of the rawhide loops that held lr legs He felt cool and 2nd a little Jick Ick The e charge broke and scattered I 30 e C called enough and l I d mired the stolid courage that Brought nought ought some of ot the red men back 3 pick up the wounded Then off ofT t t a distance out of the range raged raged rag rag- ed d line continued its circle But shat at at blast had taught them some some- fring g. g At three quarters around pe e e herd they pulled in and bunched Jp p close together He could see heir lr arms making signs and hear tie e gobble He Be fed a handful of shells intoe into I he e side of ot his rifle and said to Th make em Bowwow o some AU All we need is c. c Jt It It was past noon Any moment to bring Joe Wheat and the f up over the edge of ot the lain In 1 With his gun filled he took a ang ng look off or southeast beyond the and thought 1 R I once there was something but couldn't be sure The abruptly stopped their gabble It left a strange d dead ad hush He saw their horses move a little All their painted faces turned Clay Mannings Manning's yell ell was like a shot He jerked around and saw Clay near the wagons and heard him Wm shout again North beyond the longhorns longhorns long long- horns a lone mounted Indian had risen from the ground A blanket whirled above his head He was alone for an instant Then the earth seemed to open behind behin him behind him pouring up horses and brown brow men Things have way of happening swift in the action yet slow to the quick flashing of a aman's amans amans aman's amans aman's mans man's mind Lew felt himself move But it was like those dreams in which he struggled against an unseen force that held him back He saw forty or fifty pour up and strike toward the herd at its farther rim yelled Let em go Watch here herel Fr From From m the south a bunched run was coming on again He pivoted back and steadied his horse and emptied the magazine of his rifle Once more those ranks broke Off Or across the herd the Indians had struck in a flying wedge Their terrific impact sent a wave of motion through the massed pool It rolled backward as the long long- I J w ws s i 1 t 11 l r f 11 4 t 1 i He fie could see sec their arms making signs and hear the gobble talk horns turned and rammed at those behind them and even before that struggle reached the edge near the horses and wagons he knew what it would do He grabbed his reins left handed and threw his buckskin forward Less than fifty yards separated sep crated him He could see Joys Joy's white face and Clay Manning fixed in his saddle close to her wagon seat These things he saw while his horse was running toward them and yet seemed to be standing still He yelled at Clay The waves of ot fighting longhorns had struck their terror into the horse herd He saw Jim Hope and Moonlight Bailey fail to hold them Owl Head Jacksons Jackson's four mule four mule team plunged and reared against his tightened reins But it was Joys Joy's team that he aimed for forin forin forin in this flash of time There was that instant when Clay Manning could have saved her as the mules bolted tearing the reins from her grip He could have grabbed their bridles or caught the girl from the seat Instead he tried to turn the horses saw his mistake too late Their running flood hit him and carried him on With Clay gone there was no one near the girl Her mules were kicking kick ing tog as they ran His own buckskin was snapping like a dog at the horses and cattle that blocked his way He clubbed the bony skulls of longhorns with his rifle A lane parted He was half halt across before it closed again Their horns were lances stabbing at his legs He kicked at them and tramped them down and In that struggle could no longer watch the wagon He was almost through when he I saw it and the half halt a dozen Chey Chey- ennes who had raced back on that side of the herd to cut it off They swept around it running The next moment they vanished completely from the earth A last stubborn chain of longhorns longhorns long long- horns blocked him As he broke free he heard rebel yelL He looked back The two war parties had joined scattering west behind a bunch of split off cattle To the south was a mavin moving spot of ot blue The wagons wagon's white top was ahead of ot him then down in a hidden channel channel channel chan chan- nel of some ancient stream bed that twisted away to t. t the e east cast The mules had hailed halted tangled in their harness The sC scat was wag empty A swath of footprints led back toward inward the Wichita range His first minutes' minutes run down the channels channel's looping course was blind and unreasoning thinking only hed he'd catch them around the next bend One of their mounts had the extra burden of carrying Joy It would slow their pace He his tiring buckskin for better than a mile and the swath of trampled grass ran on vacantly ahead He gave in then to his knowledge of their swifter ponies His own had already given its best To crosscut between one bend and another he swung S up the channel bank He looked south and suddenly suddenly sud denly pulled his horse in and rode in short fast circles At the same time he drew his four forty and shot it Into the air The off far spot of blue was plain now now Joe Joe Wheat bringing the cavalry troop Yet at more than two miles they couldn't hear his gun and gave no sign of recognizing his riding sig sig- nal They kept on toward the stalled herd Back there equally two miles away he could see the little darting darting dart dart- ing figures of men spreading out to catch the thet horses While almost out of sight beyond them the split off bunch of cattle were vanishing to the west The channel wandered back and forth the banks gently sloping its bottom smooth and green The short shortcuts shortcuts shortcuts cuts let him gain a lot They'd keep under cover themselves following fol lowing loving down the crooked way He watched backward hoping any moment mo mow ment that some of ot the outfit would show up But they might be riding rid ing directly along the Indians' Indians trail Each time he plunged into the windIng winding wind wind- Ing course there was only the empty empty empty emp emp- ty trampled grass Those devils could move His run brought the black tas looming up into the fog that had held low overhead all day Light around him began to fade The channel straightened He saw water water wa wa- ter of ot North Fork Creek beyond the narrow mouth He loped on for half halt a mile mUe and the hunch that had pulled him this far became like a magnet losing Its force The wash lay empty on ahead A sense of every moment taking her farther from him with those brown devils made his Ws skin crawl No use going on this way any more He pulled to a stop and sat listening Any sound from the canyon mouths would carry far farIn farin farin In the still air Not even a blue jays jay's warning chatter broke the Wichita's dead hush His heart went cold He was turning to head back down the stream when there came a coyotes coyote's quavering bark It held him rigid Too early in inthe inthe inthe the evening for those animals to tobe tobe tobe be on the prowl He pulled his rifle from its scabbard and saw his buckskins buckskin's little tipped black ears swing and point There was danger danger dan dan- ger here But he could locate nothing nothing noth ing up where they directed Slowly Slowly Slow Slow- ly he moved the horse again Hold on son Old Willy Nickle stepped from the willow fringe Willy I he said and rode toward him You old coon Been seem you said Willy That was all just then He lIe turned his gentle changeless face and stared off blankly But he might be learning things you never could tell Lew waited keeping his sudden impatience Well he said in a moment and brought his eyes around Theres Indians knocking about here so there is They give you a fight Seems like I was watching from the hills but was too much fog We held them off or he said And then it burst from him Wm They got the girl I Unconcerned old Willy said So I they did II I You saw them He moved his I horse Which way I Willy stood there calmly looking up Now you hold on Dont Don't you never go trailing Indians up too close It was Crazy Bear had her heron heron heron on his bis pony Him and six of ot his bucks They're In the hills by now and they'll b be 00 watching back I No you give an Indian time to think hes he's safe Time he said sad With the girl wait for that said Wil WH ly Take a white man now and hed he'd risk his hide to stop But Crazy Bear hell he'll want to parade her in camp first and maybe get I some buck to fight him Wm for her Seems like an Indian has always cotto got cot gotto gotto to mix it up with fighting Well this dont don't know why He looked north up the creek nodding You ride on now easy He stepped back and was gone This was no time to doubt old Willy Wil WI I ly Nickle Yet Yot it wasn't the way hed he'd get on the hunt himself Hed He'd I find the trail and ride it But he knew that Willy was hull half Indian in inmost inmost inmost most things by now wise to all their tricks and able to understand the language of any pIa plains In tr tribe I In a little while a n canyon stream came down to Join North Fork tic Ik- was standing on its bank The turned up here he said an and p pauti ed See they're leaving situ si n II Means they dont don't think they're fol lowed That's a heap careless for tor Must be likker in en em yet Well its it's plain where they're heade headed L' L I TO ITO DI UE liE CONTINUED |