Show i i u m A c lH m it K or a By Edna Fer Ferrer Ferber Ler hi br II Ell r rb THE I STORY Tunny Yancey Cr Cravat jut Jull turned d from rom Ibi n 1 cp n a Indian territory rUt rolt i kl bia 1110 nc i iI I to 1 a J arso r th of 0 th tho V Von n able abl blo family T Tandy Yano no y 10 married U to abra at ra U ti 0 a criminal 11 r and editor c of tb the Wichita CHAPTER I Continued I-Continued I 2 2 You leu could f feel l the tha alkali cake on our tongue Well Wall my head went back ai as 1 L drink drank and I got lot on one on look at t that womans woman's fc face tace Her Ir eyes were re n tnt on me-on on my throat where the Adam Adama apple had just jutt given glnn that onaH one ona H 1 big gulp aft after r the flat wallow swallow All bloodshot the tha whites of ot her eyes 11 and anda a look In them tike like a dying man look looks at a light tier Her mouth was open and Ind andor her br or lip were wre all spilt with Ith the heat hlat end and the the duet dint and the sun lun and dry and flaky na as ache uhe And then she abut hw leer lips lip a little and tried to wallow swallow nothing and There Ther wasn't any spit in her mouth moul I couldn't down another mouthful parching ai II I was Wall Id I'd have seen her terrible face tace to the la taut bat t day of ot my life Ufa Bo So I righted It it and held It out outto outto outto to to her har and said laid Here llert ere dieter Iter take the therl root ret of ot It Im I'm through Cousin Jonett Jouett Goforth essayed hit his little UtU joke jok Are Ar you ou right sure lun she was w. forty Yancey ant and weather weather- beaten buten And Ant that about her hr hair and boots ant and hands hand handl Cravat Orant standing behind his hll wife's chair looked down at It her at It the fine white whit line that marked the parting of ot bar ker thick black hair With one forefinger fore for finger flager be he touched her cheek lenti gently Dead sure lore Jouett I left out one 00 thing though Cousin Jouett Jonett made a sound signifying ah I thought so oHer o. o Her nr t hoth eth Yancey ranC Cravat went on thoughtfully Broken and discolored ored like those of ot a n woman of ot seventy I Jad nd mot most of ot them gone on at the tide side liar Here Tancey Yanc could not resist charging In ing up and down flirting hi his hi coat oat tails tl and generally ruin ruining In the fine flavor of ot hi his bl victory over the tha Venable mind Th Tb Venable mind or the prospect of ot escaping It had been one of ot the reasons reason for tor his hi dash dah Into the wild lId ulee of ot the Run Hun In the first place Eow ow he stood surveying these handsome handsome hand hand- some futile tacos faces and anil a groat Impatience impatience II tience nc shook him and A flame of ot rage rale shot hot through him and lOll a tongue of ot malice flicked him With these to goad road him and the knowledge of ot how lie hi had bad failed tailed he plunged again Into hi his hi story etory to the tb endI endI end I had planned to try cud and get a place on the tha Santa lo Ie Fe train that was Will landing standing team steam up ready to run Into the Nation Hut But you OU couldn't get Itt on There wasn't room for tor a flea lIta They were wr hanging on the cow catcher and warming swarming all over the engine and aud sitting sit ting on OD top of ot the tile car cars cara It was wal keyed byed down own to make mite no more speed than a horse hou It turned out they didn't even do that Th They went nt twenty miles In ninety Inet minutes mInute I decided Id I'd use my Indian pony I knew koe Id I'd get ret endurance endur once abc anyway It If not speed And that that's what counted in the end nd There Ther w wu we stood by the thousands all U night Morning and we began toline to toUne toline line Une up at It the border a II as near our as u they'd tbd let u us UI go 10 Militia all IU along to keep beep us u. back hack The They had hilt burned the lie prairie ahead for tor miles Into loto the Nation Nation Na Na- tion so 0 as 81 to keen kelD the erase rul down an and anil make mate the way clearer To lo smoke out the too who had bad sneaked In Inand Inand and sod were ware hiding in the scrub oaks oab inthe In Inthe Inthe the draws drawl wherever they could Most MOlt of It the killing was due Gue to them They had bad crawled trawled In n end and staked taked the land and nd It stood GOd ready to to shoot those thole of ot us UI who came rame In n fair and Ind square In the lion I 1 knew the piece I wanted A little creek trek ran through the land and Ind the prairie rolled a little there too Nothing but blackjacks for tor miles round around It but on that section because of It the water I suppose there thera were rims elms and persimmons and Ind cottonwoods cotton cotton- cottonwoods woods wood and Ind even a grove grov of ot pecans I had noticed It many a time riding the theran ran range Ie Ilm lIm I Riding the range I All the Tenable enables made a quick mental note not of ot that It wa wu thus thul by stray bits bit and snatches natches that th tl v v managed to piece together some of ot Yancey Cravats Cravat's past past- Ten o'clock and the crowd was wu nervous OUI and Ind restless Thousands from all 1111 parts of ot the country had halt waited ten years year for tor this day when hEn the land land- hungry would be fed ted They were like people starving Ive I've seen leen the same look Jook exactly on the faces of ot men who were tre ravenous for tor food tood Well Vell eleven o'clock and they were crowding ro and Ind cursing ursin and fighting for tor places near Dear the line They shouted lod arnd Ian sang and yelled and nd argued and I the sound they made wasn't human at atall atall all 11 but hut Ilk like thousands of ot wild animals animal penned up The sun aun blazed blued down It was aa cruel The dust dUlt hung over e every ery everything ry- ry thing in Sn a I thick cloud blinding you rou and nd choking you The black dust of ot ottile the tile burned prairie was over every every- thing We W. were like a horde of ot fiends lIend with lIb our red eyes and our cracked lips and nd our blackened faces Eleven Eleven- thirty It was a a picture straight out of It h hell bell lL The roar gr grew rn vr louder People Peo Dle 11 foht for tor au an Inch Deb of ot gaia gate on the tb border Just Jut next nut to me m. was a girl who looked about eighteen she eighteen she turned out to be twenty five twenty and and a I beauty she Ih was WU too too too-on on a coal black thoroughbred Aha Ahal l I ald said Cousin Jouett He Ile was WAI the kind of ot man who says Aha Aba On the other side Ide was 1111 an In old fellow fel td low with a long gray gral beard a beard a plainsman plainsman plains plain man be he was was was-a a sz In hi his hll belt one on wooden woodeD leg lor and Ind a flask of ot whisky lie He took took a pull out of ot that every minute min minute ute or two He lie wa wu was mounted on an Indian pony like mine minI As A. we waited we fell tell to talking the three of ot n us though you couldn't hear much In that uproar The girl said she Ihl had trained her thoroughbred for tor t the he race rare lie He was 1111 from Kentucky and so 10 was wal she She Rho was wa bound to get let her hundred 1 and sixty acres she said IBid She Sh had ball to have It She didn't say why and I didn't ask her We were all too keyed up anyway to make len sense e. e Oh Oh I forgot She had on a up get that took the attention at at of ot anyone that saw law her evenin even enn evenIn In that crazy cruy mob The better bellr to cut the wind she he had hod shortened sail loll and wore a short skirt black tights and a skullcap Here lIre there was quite a n bombardment bombardment bombard bombard- ment of ot sound as II sliver silver spoons and knives and forks were re dropped tro from shocked and nerveless feminine enable Venable Yen Ven able Ible fingers It turned out that the three of ot us there In the front line were headed headd down the old freighters freighters' trail towards the creek land I said laId Ill Til be the first tint In the Run Huo to reach Little Rear near That was the name of ot the creek crek on the section The girl pulled her cap down tight over her ears eara Follow me she laughed Ill Til show you the wa way way Then the old fellow with the wooden leg and the whiskers yelled out i Whoop vet I Ill I'll tell era fm along the I Little Bear Dear youre you're both a comin There we w. were the girl on my left lett the old plainsman on my right Eleven forty Along the border bonder were the soldiers their guns In 10 one band hInd their watches in the other Those last five minutes ul es seemed years yean long and funny they'd quieted till there wasn't a sound lound Listening The last minute was wu an ao eternity Twelve o'clock There went up a roar that drowned the crack crock of ot the soldiers soldiers' musketry as II they fired In the air as the signal of ot noon and the start tart of ot the Run You Ton could rouM see ee the puffs of ot smoke from their guns but you couldn't hear a sound lound The Tha thousands thousand surged over the line It was II like water going over a broken I dam Ilam We swept across the prairie In Ina Ina Ina a cloud of black and red dust dOlt that covered our faces and hands In 10 n a minute so 10 that we Va looked like black demons demon from hell The old man on his hi pony kept In one rut the girl on her thoroughbred d In the other and I Ion Ion on 00 my on the tha raised place In 10 the middle That first halt half mile was 81 almost almot a neck neck and neck and race nce The Theold Theold Theold old fellow wa was yelling and waving one oue arm and hanging on somehow He lye was beating hi his hll pony with the flask on hi his hi flanks Then he began to drop behind Next Nelt thing I heard hard a terrible scream cream and a great shouting behind me I threw a quick glance over my shoulder The Tha old plainsman's pony flon had stumbled and fallen tallen ills His bottle smashed Into loto bits his hll six shooter flewin flew lew lewIn In another direction and ond he la lay sprawling full length In the rut of ot the trail The next Instant he be was 1111 hidden r va It Was Wu Like Water Going Over a I Broken Dam In 10 a welter of ot pounding hoofs hoots and II fly ing dirt and dode cinders and anda a wagon on wheels heels A dramatic pause The faces tace around af the table were ere balloons balloon pulled by a single Ingle string They swung this wa way and that with Yancey Cravats Cravat's Cravats Cravat's Cra Cra- vats vat's pace pre as he be strode the room hi his hI Prince Albert coat tails tall billowing This Till way way the the faces turned toward the sideboard deboard That way way they they turned toward the windows Vancey Yancey held the little moment of ot silence like a jewel In the circlet of ot faces Sabra Cravat Cravat Cravats Cravat's Cra Cra- vat vats voice olce high b and sharp with lIh suspense suspense sus sus- pense nse cut the stillness What happened What happened I to the old man maar Yanceys Yancey's pliant hands hand flew ft up In a gesture of ot Inevitability Oh he was trampled to death la to the mad neb mob kl f. f that charged over him Crazy They couldn't top stop for tor a one legged old whiskers whisker with lIh a quart flask Out of ot the well-bred well murmur of ot borr horror hor bor that now DOW arose about the Venable board there emerged the voice of ot Felice Venable edged tharp-edged with disapproval dis dl approval And the girl The girl with the black black black- Unable to say It Southern The girl and I I funny funny I never neTer did learn her name Dam were name were ere In err the lead because because be- be cause we had bad tuck stuck to the old trail The girl wa was 1181 close behind me That thoroughbred the she rode root was built for tor speed not distance A race horse blood blooded Id I could hear him blowing He lie was waa trained to short hort bursts My 11 Indian Indian Indian In In- dian pony was wu just getting his second wind as her horse horae slackened Into a trot W We had conic come nearly sixteen miles I was well In the lead Iad b by that thai time with will the girl following We had left the others behind hundreds going this life way hundreds that scattering for tor miles over the prairie Then I saw that the prairie ahead was wu afire The tall grass wa was blazing blazing- Only the narrow nar oar narrow row trail troll down which we were galloping galloping gal gal- al- al loping was WI open On 00 either side aide of ot II 11 was a wall of ot flame Some skunk ola ol ot ota ofa a sooner sneaking In ahead of ot the theRun theRun Run nun had set et the blaze to keep the boomers off ort saving the land for tor him him- self The dry grass raa burned like oiled paper I turned around The girl was 1181 there her racer stumbling breaking and going on his head lolling now I Ilaw saw law her motion with her hand She was coming I whipped ort oft my hat and clapped It over ey eyes eyu s gave him the spurs spur crouched down low and tight shut m my own eyes and down the trail we went Into the fur tur- nace Hot I 1 It was WIS I. h-I. h 1 I could smell mell the singed hair on 00 the flanks of ot the mustang M My own hair was singe singe- Ing In I could feel teel the flames licking my legs 1111 and back Another hundred yards yard and neither the horse hone nor I could have come ome through It But Dut we broke out Into the open choking and blinded and halt half suffocated I looked down the lane of ot flame The girl hung on her horses horse's neck Tier Her skullcap was pulled down over her eyes She was coming through game garde I knew that m my land the land the piece that I had come through hell for was for was not more than amile a n amile mile ahead I knew that hanging around hero would probably get ret me a ahot ashot ashot shot hot through the head had for tor the sooner that started that fire must be lurking somewhere In the high bight grass ready to kill an anybody that tried to lay claim to his hi land I began to wonder too It if I that girl wasn't headed for tor the same lame section that I was 88 bound for tor I made mode up my mind that woman or no woman this was a race and dt devil II take the hindmost My Ml poor little pony was coughing and sneezing and trembling Her racer must have hae been ready to drop I wheeled and went on I kept thinking how when I came to Little LittleBear Rear Bear creek Id I'd bathe my little mustang mustangs mustang's mus runs tangs tang's nose nORe and face tace and his poor heaving flanks flank and how bow I mustn't let yet him drink too much once he got his muzzle In the water Just before I reached the land I Iwas Iwas Iwas was riding for tor I had to leave the trail and cut across arroS the prairie I could rould see Ile a clump of ot elms ahead I knew the creek crek was near neal by Rut But just before before be be- fore I got to it I came cam on one of ot those deep dtp gullies you find In the plains plain e country Almost t ten feet fit across cross this one n wa was and nd deep tp No No way around 11 le runt Hlat i t t ace rr ant ana no time rime 10 to o look for tor one I put to th the e leap and by G G d d. d he took It landing g on the other side with hardly an au Inch to spare pare I heard a wild scream scram behind behind behind be be- hind me I turned turned- The girl on he her r spent racer had tried to male make th the e gulch He lie had bad actually taken it It It-a a thoroughbred and a gentleman that animal but animal but he came down on hl his s kne kneed s 's just on the farther tarther edge rolled and slid down the gull gully side into the Ibe ditch dUch The girl had flung herself free fre My claim dalm was fifty yards away So was the girl with her dying horse Sire She lay there on the prairie As I 1 raced toward her her my my own poor little mount was nearly gone by this time- time she scrambled to her hr knees I can see lee her face tAfe now DOW black k with cinders and |