Show a I Ir N r t The j jI I i Settling i J t i t the Sage t By HAL G. G EVARTS I Copyright by by ha a 0 Evarta Evart J WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE I At the WarrEn ranch the Three Bar ar on the fringe or of the cow country a stranger al ap- ap plies piles as a rider Wll- Wll Ann known Warren to nil all as Billie Dillie la Is the owner of the ranch The girls girl's father Cal Warr Warren n. n had been the original nal owner Tile The question er the territory Is to remain cow country or be opened to settlement Is a troublesome one CHAPTER Continued I-Continued 2 2 Because the Ilu Three ee tar Bar nt needs n a mUll that bus hus prowled this counts country and tand gathered a few points about aboul what's going boIng on tie he returned And that Is 19 for sale to 0 any any brand that hires yuul I said the i girl Is that what you mean r It If It II vas there would be bc nothing wrung with wIlh n a naus nau's himself to know III points of his jot Job before he age asked for It he said Hut But It happens that wasn't exactly my reason reu rea son A shade of weariness pa passed sed over her tare fuce During the two years ears that thul her father futher hud had been confined tu to I the he house after being cn caved cd In by a horse and III ht the thc oue year ear that hud had elu elapsed sInce hIs deuth the sIx thou thousand cows that hud had worn tile lie Three Bur brand brandon on the range rUDge hud had decreased by almost half hulf under her Phi 11 put Jut you on she said suld But you'll be Insulted at what J 1 have to offer fh The men sturt out after th the horses I 1 u U a wan lUan wanto to stay here and do tinkering I round th the place till liIl they get back i suit me as well us any ht he II accepted Im u a great Ireat tie hand at tinkering The clad of the sledge bad eased ceased and a huge fut fat man mun loomed In the thedoor door doo of the shop amid mopped his drIp drIpping dripping ping face with a bandanna Im glad glat youve you've ve come cOUle he assured the newcomer A Ulan mun that's not above doing a little fixing up I A Is the roust overworked and underpaid saphead that ever lost Iosi three nights nights' sheep running hand-running and worked se hours flours un on end i sleep la In the ruin ur or nut not at all to hold huld n a job ul at forty per for six months In Inthe the year The other six bes be's louse tike like a range horse hurse to rustle rustic or starve hardest work In the world but he dout know It or wouldn't hire him to lift lItt his hand He t Its It's play Nut one une out o of ten len but bul what prides prIde himself that tW Lit cant ant be browbeat Into doing a tap ot of work Ash sl him to cut a stick of 01 and hell he'll arch hits hIs back and laugh at 01 you OU scornful Dont Don't that beat l h-l h 11 t ll it do said the stranger fill rm the best wagon cook that ever sloshed wu outer wr over the tu tail gate lIga te amid even t better titan that thul In him u a ranch MInch house kill h II the one assured him But I 1 du Justice to ro the he meals when I hi out to lu du do alt 01 time the chul chores s within four foul tithes miles and run myself thin collecting scraps and squaw wood toi the stove e het hel up uI Nou No since Billie tins lured you yuu I trust you'll work up UI U a pile lit of wood I hn I will keep me going going- and cull ull toe W he added as nn an afterthought Very good goud Mr the new oilier eunner You shall have you flU 1 The big titan grinned That title Is derived from rom mt 1 Shape alai gait he informed My 1 regular I is II youre you're s set seton i ion on tucking a 0 Mister un on behind It It Tile line girl wu waved cI tine the c cook uk ulde and I turned tI to u the he I new baud lake It h then 11 le Could you lIU spare nie about ten tuI lOIn n utis uti's solute sollie time line toda he asked Yes sh suid Ill send for you you I ve time The flout tm k fur Ills horses into tile the currul lie 11 d the uI outbuildings un Ii a tout of 01 h IIII Ibe girl Irl suit SU Rini st slued lUll long in one une spot before tile the lug cahill now u used cJ as a store roam fur odds ital ends bud b been cn the first one line erected on the Three But Bur und and hurl hud the es' es lJ before f lre tier her uther took over their CHAPTER II The fhe Three c Bur Isar girl sat sut looking from the window of her own the II v hl lug room of f the ranch house hunse one fine end ur of which was off to serve sene OE aF sleeping quarters The new lIew titan mall Wit was I IIII iii prowling the place Inspect Inspect- lug ever every and she wondered If tie he could tell lell her hn u prise e of o hII In her M tight ht to stop rhe t of o. the th Three Bur herds and help her to face lie Ie III Inuit hul I WEre WE're reshaping re lie palk pal pul k Ld Ies u of the country J ThE Three Bar nr home range was one of mon many Isolated spots where the Inhabitants held out for a con con- continuance ot of the old order of things All through the West Nest from the Mex Mex- lean Inn border to the Canadian line B a score ot of bitter feuds were In progress the principles involved differing wide wide- I ly according to conditions and local local- Ity There were exIsting laws and certain clans that denied the Justice ot of each ench one holding out against Its enforcement and ond making laws of their own In n some spots Splits the paramount Issue issue Is sue was over or the relative c grazing rights of 01 lW's and ond sheep tannIng a aflame flame ot of hatred between those whose occupations were In any way concerned con con- wll with h these rival Interests In others the stockmen Ignored the homestead home home- stead stend laws which proclaimed that set tiers could file fUe their rights on land t wherever er men rp rN sorted to to protect their fancied rIghts the order or of things hind broken down nil all laws disregarded Instead of the single ont one involved In ninny communities these between rival interests hud had furnished opportunity for rustlers to hand nd III power and take th range e. e Each chin nn was outside lle the law In sonic one und and so SI could not have ha recourse to it t l t ta a Harris Do All Right for Me those who violated It In some other respect could not appear against neighbors In one matter lest halt h frIends do against themselves es In another This attitude had enabled the bunch to saddle themselves o on er tamp communities and ply ply their trade trado without restraint Rustling bad cometo come come- cometo to be a recognized occupation to b be reckoned with the Identity ot of the thieves thle was often orten known and they visited from Crom ranch to ranch whose owners possibly were honest them selves but hind had friends among the out outlaws laws for Cor whom the latchstring was always out The rustlers rustlers' toll wt was In the nature of a 8 tribute leveled led against every brand and the various outfits expected certain losses from this source It was good business tt to recoup these losses at another expense expense ex- ex pense and thus neighbor preyed on neighbor It was a case of dug dog eat eul dog and the slogan ran Catch your calves In a basket hasket or some other thief will put his Iron on th thIem m first It II was to this puss pass that the Three Bar ar le range bad come In the Ids live five years eurs As Billie Warren the new hand moving slowly toward the rhe hunk huuk house she po pondered over U what mariner marmer of man this could be who hud had played Iu ed u a single rani t in the hills for almost a year ns he leagued with the wild hunch with the law or vas he be merely un an who mIght hove huye some Sp special hll knowledge that Uial would help her Sit save the Three Bar from The stranger pieced picked up UI his bed roil rull and disappeared through the haul house door us as she watched him rile lean ulna who vho had first greeted him jerked u a thumb toward nil an wine bunk Pay luy roll tie he Inquired then U UI as I the hl neu lIew man mudded Im most t gen generally referred to as I niky he at 01 tentatively uI Evans Is tl tile e rest reSI of It IL The stranger hesitated then I will do all ull rl right hl tor nit lilt Cal Cal for ever every he rt returned tend mt Int Introductions had been heen It was up to each to use his nl or It making his us no nit nit- known to the newcomer as occasion arose There hind been much speculation about Ute the brand worn worn by the two horses The han hands s were a 8 drifting lot gathered from almost as many points as there were men lien present out nut none one of them knew the brand A dark thin faced roun man with a der black mustache was time the west to voice olee a 8 query not from time the tact fact that ills his curiosity was large large-It was Vas per per- imps pS less than that or of any other man manIn manin In the lie room but for the Ule reason that lie he chose to satisfy It or at once Morrows Morrows Morrow's Mor Mor- rows row's personality was cold and bleak inviting no close cluse friendships or Inti III les e to 10 a 8 lle degree f e that had Impressed itself on his com or of the last few days and they looked up surprised at 01 hIs Interrogation Box L L. L he commented dots does that brand ron ran Southwest and Oklahoma the stranger answered Squatter country Morrow said Every ery third section tinder Harris sat looking through h the lie door nt at the valley spread out below anti after a 8 moment he answered the thru thrust t us as Ir If he hud had been heen tong long prepa prepared pre pre- pa pared red for tor It Yes he said And huts hut's what till all e country will come cOllie to In a afew few feu- inure years farm what they can m mancl and ancl graze they cant can't Ib the sooner t tie the beiter twit er for a nil II concerned lie ile an arm dawn the Goad iii filia dirt going to wa waste lp down n t there overrun wIlh wll h sage nail 1 only growing enough grass to keep len rows cows to 0 tile the quarter If that thai Tn ripped up and seeded to hay It w tv aria row enough to winter five fi thousand head This led to to the old debate thai wits never-ending never In Iii time the cow tO country breaking out nul afresh In every ery hunk house rind and exhaustively r cussed l vins regarded curiously ashe ns as tie he provoked pru the ment then sat hack batik und and listened to the various ideas of the others s ns as the dis- dis u heated and general Its II II a settled eel fa fact t that t t the he out outfits n tit that have put In hay are better otT off Evans g said But the theres a doz dozen n In- In like this a dozen little civil wars going on right now where the are so mulish that they lay Iny theIr ears eurs and fI light ill their own Interests In- In by a hit flea preen slice lIre that lint was good for twenty sears ago ngo but hul Is a 0 dead Issue today And why Is It dead today Morrow Morrow Mor- Mor row demanded And not us as good as asIt asit It always UI was Only a hundred or so different reasons Evans returned indifferently Indifferent indifferent- ly Iy Then uThen tops beef brou brought hl ten dollars dol dol- lars u a head hend and they're worth three times that now then you bought a 8 abrand brand on the hoot hoof come as they run for Cor round five dollars straight through exclusIve of oC calves now Its It's based at ten on the round up tally In those days a man could better at af atford ford to let part of his cows winter winter- kilt than thun to raise false feed to winter the tha whole of them through among other things These days he cant And have your water holes boles ten fenced ed Morrow said As soon ns as you let the first light The government nt has prohibited fencing water holes necessary to the adjacent range cut In It If that valley was mine Id I'd have put It ItIn Itin In hay this dots long time hack back nut But It wasn't yours ours Morrow pointed out No but It Is now or at least a apart part Jurt of It Is saId I picked up that school section that lays across the valley tIlley and tiled riled ou on a home quarter quarter ter that butts up ul against the rims lie He sat gazing out the thedoor thedoor door as If unconscious of the dead silence that followed his remark More u nien cn had drifted In till 1111 nearly B a n nVere were Vere In ha the room newer never been dune done out oUI here here- huIng school sections amid aud squatters squatter's squat squat- ter's ICIs rights Marrow said at In last st st. Is cols V cI un try and will never uever he anything else Good cow cuu country III ry Barris n agreed I to Anil it II stands to reason it 11 cold clI be made a little help el yieu JUu start n raun lIun I Ir try with fence une arid plow II ow you oU ruin it 11 for cows ul I know v I III III II ul loomed lUll II I up UI In III the lilt lI Unlit hl of ofa a 11 guild naive tf to rut lilt I the he nl returned One Inc u of us tins hils read his signs s sonic uwe signs I round herE you bet met r said They were r puSIrI for such 1111 as you it appears like Id I'd d made matle a 8 I timid sorry surry I i that d. d In n a nl II i gent cut ton that ht liet his words Its I 1 hard to tell Just how It II will pan out nut ITO TO liE E CONTINUED I |