| Show 0 B B S T R im arvle SYNOPSIS jim wall wail young cowpuncher from wyoming seeka a now new field in n utah its n m e eta hank flank alays who admits admit s being a robber and tells tella wall he h I 1 id a working for foran an englishman pained named who hils haa located A Us big ranch in the he moun mountains tOns hay flays and othora others are plotting to steal the their r employer employees cattle and money W wall 11 saves hanks life ike by bluffing a gambler with hays flays and two other rustlers happy jack and lincoln wall arrives at herricks ranch iferlick announces that his hl sister lister union Is to the ranch flays unfolds his plan for getting posses slon blon of herricks head of live stock its he and his lieutenants ride away to drive orttie of the first bunch af 0 cattle jim remains behind to shoot it out if necessary with Ite li eigeman assman iteva rival among the cattle rustlers Ife eseman tells tella wall hays was once till his partner and double crossed creased him iferlick delegates jim to so go to grand junction to meet miss CHAPTER IV continued 5 jim purposely delayed his hour of quitting la order to avold avoid haya flays after supper clipper udya flays lighted bl his pipe then without facing jim h he said ball jim had me boss mentioned this here trip before I 1 no J I 1 wasas was as surprised as you wal suppose you make some gomo ex cuso an let me go instead but wont like that hays protested jim ile he turned down dowil your proposal cold 11 shore ile he did 6 n funny I 1 take thet too nut but it you or go id ho be next choice hays flays you surprise me ine here you cro on alie ovo of a 4 big deal tile the biggest of our ou life and you risk aggei ing 4 herrick at this 1 stage hays flays puffed his pipe lie he wa waa s beaten wal he said flo florally ally 1 I reckon debbe youre right jim only it seem so hy by next day jim wall waa on ills way to grand junction Y young aung karnos barnes the cowboy haddis had his hands blands full with the spirited team presently jims ever watchful eyes caught dust far ahead and dots of ridera getting oft the road into tile the cedar thi thickets viets they would be smokes kutlu jim calculated and gave them credit for seeing the buckboard first they did not appear again and jim knew they were hiding lil ding oli on their way back to star tanch at four they drove into irand junction which was waa considerably larger flod and busier than green river dames barnes here we are said sald jim tills la bi it a metropolis compared green river fust VIve ivo beon bean homo home for long rejoined barties ill take care of the team at my paws 11 after supper jim turned in awakening early lie got up and leisurely shaved and dressed pay ing wore more than usual attention to his appearance lie ile was there to escort an english girl fifty ralles miles across wilderness to star ranch one tiling thing lie he was sure of and that was that it would bo e vastly petter better for miss titan ihan it if hank hays haya had been sent suddenly this fact struck jlia jim as a singular was lie he any oya bettor than hank flays atter after breakfast he went out and found a boy to lo shine hla his high top tod boo hoots as and brush lits lita dark daik worn suit bull and ills his black sombrero pres antly then lie ho encountered barnes ll howdy boy did you haye have a nice ehno home bomel coot I 1 did grinned the cowboy you surp sum look bright tills this morn ing ill wali wal you look bluda spick 11 ana n span yourself jim li drawled 17 fanny tinny how the idear of it a gurl gets a feller bollei 1 funny you mean terrible my friend A woman la Is as terrible as an army approaching with banners I 1 11 gosh ever dreamed you had seen tile the lils inside idl ofa of a DUO bible exclaimed claimed tho ole cowboy its funny though how I 1 happened to remember that NOW kow barn aarnes e s listen this miss bliss Iler ilersich rIch take me for an honest docent decent fellow like atko you hut but it if I 1 lot let that pass id be bd spilling under false colors I 1 dont do ao that and as 1 I 1 cant very sery veil avelt tell her myself you must tell her what queried barnes barncs with n puzzled grin you know tha th kind bind of a man I 1 am 1 I sort of dt like you myself so ayou want vant mei me to tell her any anything thin you ou must say what 11 well then tell her about herrick hiring all the desperadoes in utah and that im ono one ot 0 them mako mis ou oai worse than alays anil and mese mad thrown together shore theta easy dut but tb the idear biml 1 I always an outcast ind and t think hurt me less it if this khlil girl was wag scared and rc repelled pel led att eho took toe me for a real wet westerner terner you know ino wand and talked and laughed well veil id go got get powerfully drunk and probably shoot up star ranch so you fix it for me will you barnes Barn cay shore ill fit it t replied barnes with a sly glanco at jim you give me a when tile the stage rolls up shea due now ill run down on an drive tho the backboard up but the staige did not show up for achour an houra hour a long ions nervous dragging one tor jim wall gracd grand junction was no different from other western points remote from clyl civilization liza everybody turned out to see sea the stage come coma in it was a gala occasion for tho youngsters of whom there was a surprising number fihe women onlookers bookers jim ob served rather hung bung in the back bach aroun ground d the four horse stags stage came rolling up in a cloud of dust the dr ivera grizzled old frontiersman brought it to a 4 stop atop with afine a fine nourish flourish and bawled out grand junction half hour for fer lunch luncie 11 there were six passengers two of them feminine the last to leave tile stage was a tall veiled young woman her lithe and erect figure encased in a long linen coat she carried tt a small satchel expectantly ilia looked around jim stepped before her baring hla his head are you miss ll errIck oil oh 1 ires yes she exclaimed in re rc alef your brother sent us ua to meet you went on jim indicating games barnes who stood to on one side lie ile did not bomol come the full rich voice with lla its foreign intonation struck pleasantly upon jims car no theres much work at star ranch but its lt perfectly all right miss I 1 we will drive you sa safely fely over before dark jim could not see clearly through theann the ann veil but he discerned well enough that big eyes studied him he be send a letter or any thing 1 how am I 1 to know you men are employed by my brother im afraid have bavo to take taka ani m word replied gravely but barnes byrncs here can prove his identity lie ile lives in grand junction and of course there are responsible people who will vouch tor for him miss the boss did send word spoke up darnes barnes touching hla his hat and stepping closer bearded he be added in a lower tone lie ile told ine mo last you was to fetch what come by wells fargo then it Is nil all right she ghe replied heartily relieved sly my luggage to la ins inside adi on top and tied on behind the name ison la on every helen herrick ill the herrick rejoined jim Bl meanwhile etin while games barnes will show you where to eat it might rest you to walk a little YO ve have an eight hour drive thank you iyo ive been riding steadily for two weeks and im stiff whereupon tim jim set about collecting tho the pieces of baggage marked Il lerrick 10 it appeared that tho the stage had been loaded loadell down with them nineteen in aall manifestly miss bliss h had ad come to stay to find for all of 0 them in the buckboard was wag going to be a task lie ile set about tills this methodically hla his mind at oncel busy and absent by packing carefully under the seats and on thoai them too jim got the bags all in tie he went to the store and bought ropo rope to tie somo some of them on securely wonder what sho she looks like ilke ho he thought lie ile had felt vaguely uncomfortable ahert she tooted him over ili rough that veil ills task completed jim stood beside the tha rest restless lesa horses waiting and it seemed he was waiting for ho know kaw not what presently names barnes returned T wearing car an excited grin ills eyes were important s jim I 1 used died it I 1 shore gave her no an earful ho he said you much obIl obliged ged cowboy she took oft thet coat an veil utah nover never seen tho the likes of her red lips pink cheeks hair uko like gold an eyes like violets tsi I 1 jim for aa I 1 went plumb back on tuy my gurlt but shucks taets craz crazy v she asked me to set at table I 1 did ashes just as nice an free na as herrick it was while we was catan thet iliad tho the to toll tell her about the tha notorious jim wall debbe I 1 spread it on an gee eyell slie she said so berate herrick sent a desperado to be my escort ilow how perfectly ripp lall honest jim theta what sho she said so I 1 shot up pronto 11 have you double doubler crossed ossed pie wy queried jim suspicious of this boy you were to make me out lowi low i down jim honest to clawd it if thet gurl gur aint scared to death of 0 yov you shaa a new one on roc me declared barnes but there was fun and evasion in his keen hazel eyes somehow ho he had failed to follow instructions go in the chinks here and get a bite to 0 eat you watch the horses upon his return jim espied miss bliss herrick emerging from the mardof yard of mrs afra dowes bowes lodging house she carried tho the linen ceaton coat on her arm and without it did not appear so BO tall she had a wonderful step a free swinging graceful stride expressive of health and vitality sho she did not look slender as an in the but superb broad of shoulder she wore a half length coat over her brown dress it had a collar of dark fur which presented vivid contrast to her exquisite complexion the veil was wag tucked back and now permitted sight of a wave of shining golden hair at a little distance her eyes looked like great dark holes set la in white but as aa she approached ja jim in saw that they alicy were violet la in hue warm beautiful fearless are we ready to td sol gol she asked gayly yes it if you have seen the fargo people replied jim f 1 I ite it in my satchel she returned indicating the tha half hidden receptacle under her linen coat jim tried to interest himself in that satchel because he was wais in league with robbers but it did not work suddenly ho he had bad a murderous desI desire reto to kill nays hays thas this girl 1 are wo we ready to go she asked gayly for she appeared a girl in vivid freshness of youth seemed not in the least absolutely free from revulsion indeed she was waa regarding him with undisguised interest and delight mr jim wall youre not in the least what my brothers letters have led me to believe she said Lett letters cral I 1 why herrick ii has a a not hid had time to write about me exclaimed jim incredulously it takes hikes long for a stage letter to go ive been at star ranch only a few days oh lie he did not no t write about ab out you individually sho she laughed but from his letters about bandits and desperadoes I 1 had evolved a rather frightful conception Than kyou you miss bliss herrick he replied gravely dont trust appearances on our western border will you get up wo va must be going and he attempted to assist her inside ill the a back seat beat of the buckboard it if you are going to io drive I 1 want to sit in front she bhe said bald frankly with a bow he helped her up the high step cursing inwardly at hank hays and herrick and the tha inscrutable fate that had brought tills this about for some way or other he was lote lost ile he almost forgot to wait for Barnes who was waa saying goodby good by to a red cheeked checked wide eyed girl in the crowd barnes came running to leap into tho the buckboard blackboard and then jim got in owing to tile the way he had packed backed the baggage there was not a great deal of room tn in the front seat ilia heavy gun and sheath bumped against miss herrick Il rather lather tight quarters with that gun there herem he remarked arleed find and swung tho the sheath round in tits his lap do you steep sleep in itt she asked I 1 quizzically and never am the daytime till Ws its buckled on what startling folks you western americans I 1 some of us are indeed startling I 1 hope you wont flud find us unpleasantly so he replied and loosening the reins let the spirited team go in a few moments the noise dust heat and the staring populace of grand junction had been left far behind and the red and lilack black ranges lifted above the meadows and sage oh glorious ia sho she cried and gazed raptly capuy ahead as the curving road brought into view a wonderful sweep of utah jim was hard put to tt it to keep the blacks from breaking out of aberisk a brisk trot he thought grimly that he w would have liked to let the team run oft off and kill them both far bettel that than what might bel mish herricks photograph on her broth ers desk fell infinitely short of doing her justice it failed to give any hint of her color of the vivid lips of the glory and gleam of her hair of the dancing laughing violet eyes of her pulsing vitality jim wall felt the abundant life of this girl it lowed out of her it got into hla his veins it heated his blood the wind makes me cry she said cald merrily or maybe its ita because im so happy you say well get to star ranch before dark barkl surely oh ob its been such a long slow duty dusty cramped journey she exclaimed but now I 1 want to see gee to smell to feel to gloat silsa altos herrick this la Is fine country but tame compared to that all al about labout we henrys you will see then them when we top the next nest hlll hill ive seen most of the west Aidt and the be canyon desert below star ranch Is the wildest and most sublime of all the west probably of the whole world indeed you yon speak strongly not to say eay surprisingly it never occurred to me that a gunman that Is what you ou are to Is it not could have any appreciation of the wonder and beauty of nature rj A common ml mistake stAke miss herrick rejoined jim nature 6 develops the men who spend their lonely hard bloody lives with her mostly she makes them into beasts with self preservation the only instinct but tt it Is conceivable that one now and then might develop the opposite way war you interest me she replied simply tell me of tills this canyon desert and such men jim talked for a full hour inspired by her unflagging interest he described the magnificent reaches and escarpments ending in wild horse mesa and the unknown can boned abyss between it if and navajo mountains and lastly the weird ghastly brakes of the dirty devil ugh how you make me shi shiver verl I 1 she ejaculated but its ita wonderful im ica sick of people offos of i fog rain dirt dart cold noise lotse id like to get lost down aown in those red canyons canyon sl 1 CHAPTER V THEY ED Y came to a long level valley where the white road was like a floora floor and the horses went like the wind what was going to be the effect of this chis extraordinary woman upon the fierce men of this lonely region upon that thai swarthy hank hayal bays I 1 at last the horses had to be held in at tho the base of the longest ascent on the journey miss tucked her disheveled hair with the ends of the veil underneath the edgeson edge her bonnet what a run I 1 im used to io horses but not touring tearing along with a vehicle like this she ilia said breathlessly waif Walt till one of these old drivers gets a chance at you im really no teamster are you a cowboy young barnes tell you who and what I 1 im am queried jim turning t to 0 her J 1 I grasped that you were a stranger to utah that atiat you were from wyoming where you had killed hilled many bad men and that your mere reputation was enough out hereto keep rustlers and desperadoes away from star ranch mr wall you certainly are ara a hero in his bis eyes it did not take great perspicuity to grasp that jim was wag not far |
