Show fv By ALAN LE MAY W NU R Rr clease i J JL INSTALLMENT 16 r L r 7 J THE STORY SO FAR I Dusty King Kin and L Lew w Cordon Gordon had bad built bunt up op a vast string trini of ranches King was waa killed by his powerful and unscrupulous competitor Ben Thorpe Thorp Thorpe Thorpe- Bill BUI Roper Kin Kings King's adopted son was determined to avenge his death In spite pite of the CHAPTER XII Were We're making a big mistake not notto notto notto to hang him and be done with it Red Kane said They were two days day from Fork Creek now This long and narrow room room which Jim Leathers paced so restlessly was the kitchen of the main house at Walk Lasham's southwest southwest south south- west camp camp camp-a a convenient over top on the way to Sundance where Roper Rop Rop- er was to be turned over to Ben Thorpe The quicker we hang him the better well we'll be off Red Kane said again Wearily doggedly Jim Leathers rolled a cigarette He took his time Ume about replying Seems like you already already already al al- ready said that once before Im liable to keep on saying it Red Kane told him Things is different different different dif dif- ferent now In the doorway behind the two men who watched Bill Roper a girl now appeared a slim full-breasted full girl whose dark slanting eyes had sometimes troubled Bill Roper before before before be be- fore now He had not been surprised to find Marquita here in Walk Lasham's Lasham southwest cow camp to which his captors had brought him He had guessed when he had last talked to her In Miles City that she was Walk Lasham's girl and in spite of her expressed eagerness to leave Lasham Lasham Lasham Lash- Lash am and ride with Roper he realIzed realized real real- lied that Marquita still had to live in some way Girls of her stamp could not afford afford afford af af- ford to throw down such a man as Lasham until more interesting opportunities opportunities opportunities op op- offered Her face was impassive now but butone butone butone one of the slanting dark eyes narrowed narrowed narrowed nar nar- rowed in a definite signal to Roper The combination of Spanish and Indian Indian Indian In In- dian blood in this girl from the Tex Tea border gave her a lithe lazy grace and a haunting depth of dark eyes and the same blood made her unaccountable un un- un- un accountable sometimes accountable sometimes stoic and sometimes livened by bythe bythe bythe the lightning flashes of an inner fire Undoubtedly she was capable of a passionate passion te devotion and an equally passionate cruelty Anything could happen in a situation which included Marquita with Marquita-with with Marquita in love For a moment Bill BiU Roper resented the fact that he couldn't be interested interest interest- ed in any girl except Jody Gordona Gordon Gordon- a girl who didn't want him or need him All the worst aspects of his own situation were apparent to him then He was an outlaw wanted the length of the Trail probably would be an outlaw all the rest of his life which gave every promise of being a short one That even Marquita wanted him or had any use for him was a gift git which he should have been glad to accept What he had to think of now though was that Marquita was extremely likely to precipitate a lot of immediate immediate immediate imme imme- diate disturbance Troubled he wished to shake his head or in some other way caution her that she must make no attempt to interfere Roper had no intention intention intention tion of ever coming Into the hands bands of Ben Thorpe alive Somewhere between this place and Sundance where Thorpe waited he would make his play however slim the chance Yet he would rather take his chances with some unforeseen opportunity opportunity opportunity op op- later when they were again on the trail than to be plunged into s some me helpfully Intended situation situation situation situa situa- tion which the girl might devise devise- with danger to herself herselt and questionable questionable questionable question question- able advantage to him She had never brought him any luck He was unable however with the eyes of his two enemies upon him to signal her In any way Ben wanted him alive 1 if I could get him Jim Leathers said stub stub- Well I got him alive and andI I aim to k keen eo him that tha t way You bun bum aint ping to talk me into an l. l l Sri i f fent ent Just because you figure a d 1 man is easier to pack Bill Roper listened sardonically In the two days spent in traveling from Fork Creek rendezvous the scalp wound which had brought him down had nearly healed but when he laced his fingers behind his head he winced and dropped his hands again It was typical of the quality of his captors that his hands were not tied or manacled They told him where whereto to sit and they made him stay put and they were careful that no opportunity opportunity op op- Vas as as given him to snatch a agun agun agun gun from n n unwary holster but these were merely the routine precautions precautions precautions pre pre- cautions of sensible men For these riders were the picked gunfighters of B Ben n Thorpe's scores of outfits They did not fear Roper would not have ave feared him bim had he been armed Bill Roper had no doubt that Red Kane and perhaps one or two of the others would kill a doomed prisoner prisoner pris prise oner for no more reason thaw than Jim Leathers Leather had suggested The Lasham camp had been Bolling boilIng boil Boll Ing with news as Jim Leathers' Leathers men had ridden in at dusk with their their- prisoner Much had happened on onUle the Ule range while Leathers Leathers' tad ad ad waited out Bill Roper at the F rk Creek camp The news that tha had reached Uon lion of his sweetheart Jody Gordon Cordon and her father After Alter breaking Thorpe In Texas Roper conducted a great reat raid upon Thorpe's Thorpe vast herds herc In Montana Jody was captured by seven of Thorpe's Thorpe men Roper and Shoshone While res res- 0 v e Lasham's Lasham's southwest camp was broken bro bro- broken ken and seemed to have been little understood by the men who had brought It but Roper with his inside Inside Inside In in- side knowledge of the force he had turned loose against Lasham could piece together its meaning well enough Lasham's southwest outpost outpost outpost out out- post with its big herds of picked cattle wintering In n this deepest and richest of the Montana grass had had been more powerfully manned than any other Lasham camp But twice in the past week frantic calls for reinforcements from the outfits to the east cast had drained most of this man power away first away first five picked gunfighters then a dozen cowboys more until only five men had been left The messengers who had killed their ponies to come for help had brought the camp a fragmentary story which gave Roper the deepest deepest deepest deep deep- est satisfaction In their tales of incredible losses of raiders who struck night after night at far separated points driving driving driving ing cattle unheard-of unheard distances to disappear weirdly in the northern wastes Roper read the success of his Great Raid I Dry Camp Pierce was sweeping westward across Montana like a destroying destroying destroying de de- de- de wind by unexpected daring daring daring dar dar- ing by speed of movement by wild i t srA s- s rA rAt t p n c e 4 t Q Dry Camp Pierce was sweeping westward across Montana riding relays which punished themselves themselves themselves them them- selves no less than the cattle they drove Dry Camp was feeding an increasing stream of Lasham beef into the hands of Iron Dogs Dog's bands who spirited the beef forever from tram the face of Montana Montana- By the very boldness of its conception and the wild savagery of its execution the unbelievable Great Raid was meeting meeting meeting meet meet- ing with success And now Dry Camp had struck even deeper than Roper had planned lifting the best of Lasham's Lasham's Lasham's Lash Lash- ams am's beeves from almost within gunshot gunshot gunshot gun gun- shot of Lasham's strongest camp So well had Dry Camp planned and so steadily did the luck hold that a full day had passed before the loss inflicted by the raiders was ered The five remaining cowboys at the southwest camp were only tightening their cinches as Jim Leathers rode in Most of the Leathers party had joined the Lasham men in pursuit of Dry Camps Camp's raiders Only Jim Leathers himself and the unwilling Red Kane remained to convoy Roper Rop Rop- er to Ben Thorpe at Sundance Because of the confusion involved in the organization of the pursuit the night was now far gone already it was long past midnight Theres still another reason Red Kane said why it would be better to hang him now Suppose that wild bunch of his knows hes he's here How the devil would they know that Leathers said with disgust Maybe they was scouting us with spy glasses as we come over the trail today I If they was they would have landed on us right then in place of waiting till we got Into camp Maybe the girl run to them them them-It The girl You make me sick Have it your own way Youre darned right Ill I'll have It ItI i I my own way I dont don't want to hear bear I no more about it And Ill I'll tell you this l If your trigger finger gets itchy while youre you're on watch tonight you better soak it in a pan of water and leave the gun be Because 1 If anything anything anything any any- thing comes up while youre you're on watch such that you got to shoot him by God next thing you got to I shoot me you me-you you understand I IRIS IS A 9 r q j SUP ERl pR fF RIAL I A M. M KM RK R K Of FINE FICTION cued her In a surprise attack Shoshone Sho- Sho shone hone and Jody rode to a prearranged ed spot pot but Roper Roper was waa captured while fighting a rear guard CUard action While While- waiting for Roper to meet them thom Jody saw Shoshone fan fall down dead S I I guess it could be done Red Kane said nastily Leathers ignored this and Red Kane disappeared This time tune the thedoor thedoor thedoor door shut after him Leathers said Get me a drink Marquita unhurriedly set out a bottle bottle bottle bot bot- tle and a glass on the table beside Jim Leathers' Leathers elbow A deck of cards Leathers said She produced this too Marquita strolled over to Leathers Leath Leath- ers the high heels of her slippers clicking lazily on the puncheon floor Why are you so cross with me she asked reproachfully She moved behind Jim Leathers and slowly ran her fingers through his hair Aint going to get you a thing Jim Leathers said sourly No said Marquita For a moment moment moment mo mo- ment one hand was lost in the folds of her skirt then deftly unhurriedly unhurried unhurried- ly she planted the muzzle of a 38 against the back of Jim Leathers' Leathers neck There was a moment of absolute silence absolute Immobility Jim Leathers' Leathers eyes were perfectly still upon Bill Ropers Roper's face as still as his hands in one of which a playing card hung suspended But though his face did not notably change Marquita with her 38 pressed hard against the back of the gunman's neck had turned white her mouth worked as she tried to speak and her wide eyes were upon Bill Roper in terrified appeal Perhaps no more than a second could have passed in that way but to them all it seemed as 1 if 11 time had stopped so that that little fraction of eternity held them motionless forever Bill Roper moving up and forward forward forward for for- ward exploded into action smoothly like a cat It was the length of the room between them that saved Jim Leathers then Leathers twisted lightning fast Marquita's gun blazed into the floor as her wrist swept down in the grip of Leathers' Leathers left hand and Bill BUI Roper Rop Rop- er checked a yard from tram the table as Leathers' Leathers gun flashed into sight becoming becoming becoming be be- coming instantly steady Marquita sagged away from Leathers and her gun clattered upon the puncheons but although Leathers' Leathers whole attention attention attention atten atten- tion was concentrated upon Roper Marquita's wrist remained locked in his grasp The gunfighters gunfighter's voice was more hard and cold than the steel of hisgun his hisgun hisgun gun it was as hard and cold as his eyes Get back there where you was Bill Roper shrugged and moved back Leathers flung Marquita away from him and with his left hand handpicked handpicked handpicked picked up her gun as the door of the storeroom was torn open and andRed andRed andRed Red Kane bulged in What the theThis theThis the the- This thing come behind me and stuck a gun in my neck Leathers told him The devil devill You hurt Hell no I took it away from her Gently tentatively his long fingers fingers fingers fin fin- gers ran over his wounded leg That bullet wound f in i his thigh must have tortured him unspeakably through the two days in the saddle and it must have been Jerking at his nerves now with red hot hooks roused by bythe bythe bythe the swift swit action that had preserved his command His face had turned gray so that the black circles under his eyes made them seem to burn from head deaths hollows and his face which had bad changed so little In this moment of action was relaxed into an ugly contortion Slowly the gray color was turning to the purple of ofa a dark and terrible anger By God said Red Kane I told you we should have hung him himl I You told me right Jim Leathers Leath Leath- ers said The burn of his eyes never for a moment left Bill Ropers Roper's Ropers Roper's Ropers Roper's Ro Ro- pers per's face You was right and I Iwas Iwas Iwas was wrong I should have hung him at the start A A pleasurable hope came into Red Kanes Kane's face tace Well it aint too toolate toolate late latel No it aint too late Tie his hands Keeping Roper between himself and Leathers so that his partners partner's gun bore steadily upon Ropers Roper's belt buckle Kane lashed Ropers Roper's hands behind him The stiff frost-stiff rope bit deep Tie up this girl too Leathers I ordered when Kane had finished I want her to see this show Marquita said Im sorry Bill Bill Her voice was broken by hard jerkIng jerkIng jerking jerk- jerk Ing sobs and tears were running down her face yet somehow her words sounded dull and dead I Idid 1 did the best I could You did fine tine Roper said That was a game try Hobbling on his stiff leg Leathers moved to the outer outer out out- er door flung It open coatless he stopped and signaled Red Kane back with one hand Red get back Get out of line Unel With the quick Instinct of a man who has always been In trouble Red Kane jumped back into the room carrying Bill Roper with him The They all could hear now the sound of run ning hors horses s. s fT tTO TO BE CONTINUED |