Show A ut 11 1 AM W R THE STORY SO FAR ellen cutty carey teems seems interested in two men jeff brand rustler rustier and calhoun terry ranch man inam ager eer four rustlers had bad been mysteriously killed the tee bl big ranchers rancher ranch much aver over terrys terry protect pro prot cst hired an army ol of y the voice was that of lee hart ile he bowlegged liow legged forward and pulled up abruptly as he recognized the two ranchmen ranchman ranch men ills his gaze slid to yan ce cey they could see understanding of the situation filter into his eyes hr he opened his mouth to shout and was a fraction of a second too late terry had plunged forward his right lashing at the mans jaw hart went down and terry was on min him instantly his fingers closing on his hairy throat to prevent an alarm calhoun dragged the heavy body into the aspens ashens give me your bandanna 2 0 he said to yancey and with it gagge gagged a the prisoner the rope from the saddle he used to tie theman the man the moon came out for et a moment then went behind a cloud yancey was boasted to the s saddle addle and terry swung up behind him CHAPTER ellen found it impossible to sleep after tossing in bed for two or three hours she got up dressed and went down into the hotel lobby roan atford passed through it on his way from the bar to the street the gray haired little mans beady eyes fastened on the girl what you doing up this time of night miss ellen EUe euenee nhe heihs asked ked 1 I cant rest mr alford im worried about father I 1 want to go 90 back to the ranch where ill be nearer him it if anything happens alford agreed to ride with her A As s they rode up through the darkness to the ranch house roan caught at the rein of ellens horse and pulled it to a halt wait a minute theres someone there on the porch al already ready ellens gaze had picked up two horses at the side of the building vague and shadowy in the gloom the object on the porch stirred it wa was s a man or was it two men who is it alford called calhoun terry the answer camel came A pulse began to beat in the girl girls S throat Is that father with you she a asked terry rose from where he had been kneeling no your father is all right miss carey this is a wounded man he slipped out of the Wagon wheel gap ranch with a message and they wounded him as he was trying to get through the lines at the Wagon wheel gap she repeated yes ellisonsr Elli sons men are surrounded there they wint want a telegram sent to the governor has there been beena a bitile battle not yet the settlers are besieging the invaders who are pretty well forted up im afraid there willi will be a heavy loss of life if the troops dont stop it where is father he is with bill herriotts men we offered to mediate but they I 1 let I 1 us ellen looked do down w n at the man on the floor floo r Is s he badly hurt she asked shot in the leg could you take him in here until I 1 can arrange to have him moved of course 1 I hate to trouble you maam yancey said i 11 Dont worry about that she told him 9 the he men carried him upstairs and put him to bed they dressed the wound as best they could after 4 which ich ellen joined calhoun on the porch ill rope one of your horses if you dont mind he said to her 1 I have to get this message off to the governor she took instant alarm youre not going back to round top no ill send the telegram from jim m creek it would probably be held up if I 1 tried to get it off from round top will you send a wire to doctor harris and ask him to come up tip and look after outpatient our patient here yes hell probably be needed it at the Wagon wheel gap ranch too on the way there he canston can stop here ellen walked down with him to the corral roan alford was taking care of the wounded man and for the time she could be spared she moved with a fine animal vigor shoulders deis and hips in a straight line ibie vertically calhoun noted the rhythmic grace of the slender figure he had never met another woman like her so fine and gallant and animated with life there strummer strummed strum med bd in his blood a strong desire for her for the dark beauty tempered as a toledo blade for the sweetness and the courage that she carried like a banner there would be gifts in her eyes for some lucky man but they would not be for him larry richards and I 1 are buying a slice of the diamond reverse B he told her ive been thinking we mig might ht have a place for jeff brand when he gets able to work she flashed a quick look at him W surprised do you think that thai would installment NINETEEN texas ex peace offic officer tri to invade the countryside and kill without trial all suspected rustlers oy by mistake terry and his hi foreman larry are attacked by the invaders jeff thinking them rug comes comei to help them li is wounded suit jeff she asked hes so restless I 1 wonder if he would be content hell have to settle down sometime wont he be calhoun said 1 I dont know hes so wild she went on almost as it if she were talking to herself it would be terrible for a girl to be married to him with a husband as reckless and unstable as he is no woman would be able to keep step he aou would id bring her great and lasting unhappiness though very likely she would keep loving him till the end calhoun pulled up in his stride 1 I thought you were going to marry many him did you think I 1 would marry marg a rustler she reproved gently do you mean that youre not in love with him he asked looking directly ather at her she laughed a little tremulously where did you get that ridiculous notion he stared at her a heat beating through his body then youre not in love with him or with any other man ma she said in a low voice we arent talking about any other man are we some hint of her deep emotion reached him A swift hope blazed up in in him lethad HO had thought never to tell heri her what was in his heart but now he ilung flung away restraint he said PI 1 I be the man but his voice asked for a denial when she did not reply he pressed home his question ellen looked up her face a soft and shining answer riding h tho night to send the message to the governor calhoun was filled with a sense of thi the nearness of the girl whose warm body he had hild held in his arms the lift of the hour was still on him with the extravagance of a lover he was sure that no man since adam had ever had a sweetheart comparable to his he loved everything about her the parted lips and shining eyes the flowing grace of movement the turn of the lovely head his ecstasy amazed him he had counted himself a hard man cyril calbot cal not given to sentiment yet a girl with a windblown wind blown skirt had crossed his path and changed the world for him he thought with a smile of the verse odthe of the hymn he had once quoted to her though every prospect pleases and only man is vile he was ready to revise his opinion about that too jeff brand dave morgan sheriff hart tou tough 9 h hard men all of them but with a light shining in their hearts that separated them a million miles from vileness CHAPTER that the soldiers reached wagon wheel gap ranch just in time to save save the invaders is written in the history of Catt leland ellison and his men surrendered e to the commanding officer of the troops stationed at fort garfield to sheriff hart and to the best of the attacking settlers the sound of the bugle sent out by the approaching troops had been almost as welcome as to the beleaguered beleaguer ed party collins strutted out of the ranch house undaunted by the yells and A rescue party takes takei jeff to town own for or medical treatment and tirry terry and nd tarry larry are arrested ar retted by the sheriff forsake or ae hee pini jew jeff pacifies mob cl cal tree free know ellen loves love him not jeff but he li Is loon to lero leam curses flung at him and his associates he stood on the porch and waited for a chance to speak and when the angry shouts died down flung back defiance at the enemy to call me a murderer make me one he said no more disturbed than if he had been sitting with cronies it at the cheyenne club were honest men fighting for our rights so some me of us have been here since the indian days every cattleman among us has helped build up this territory and has been a good if citizen I 1 can call out the n names ames of a dozen thieves I 1 see among you I 1 scoundrels who came here wit without houta a cent and have obtained herds at our expense every hoof of them stolen from some of us ile he waited till the roar of tage rage had spent itself then wint went on hardily id do just what I 1 have done again the time has come when either honest men 0 or r the thieves have to get out aln and d by godl I 1 stand for hanging every rustler rustier I 1 can find until the law will punish them by putting them behind bars we are not fighting small settlers but thieves it if I 1 have to go to prison for what I 1 have done ill still say I 1 did right in trying to rid this country of outlaws neither collins nor anhof any of the 0 other th invaders went to the penitentiary their trials were postponed for many months witnesses vanished the intensity of the feeling against the cattlemen declined moreover the cost of the trials was so great that there was likelihood of county bankruptcy in the end the indictments were dismissed but it was plain that the big ranches wiro aure doomed one after another followed the example of the diamond okd reverse B and went out of business with the fri increase crease in the number of small cattlemen the chances for undetected rustling grew fewer most of the thieves were known and one by one they flitted flirted to montana or idaho or mexico jeff brand joined a cattle outfit in the Af argentine gentine at long intervals his friends heard of him he came bickfo back to the states to enlist for the spanish american war A bullet took him in the throat as he was going up si san juan jan hill in the reorganization of the cattle country after the breakup break up of the big ranches calhoun terry took an important part lie he was recognized as a strong man and lis as the years passed his influence became more than local there came a time when lie he had to go to washington to represent his people he was never quite happy there for he was no politician and he was glad when his term of office expired so was ellen it seemed to her that a city was no place to bring up a large i family of boys and girls and she gave a deep sigh of relief when they were all home again in the west she loved her father was an old man by that time and she knew it made him happier to be near them in private sometimes her husband tells ellen that she is still lovelier than the slim daru daril eyed daughters who trouble the hearts of the young men of the neighborhood she smiles wisely and is content for she knows that both calhoun and she have had a happy life in ij spite of the occasional storms that have beat up to trouble them THE END |