| Show I The Settling of the Sage Saget I t By HAL G. G EVARTS NU Service Ice IceM M Copyright eogh by Hal HI O. O m Evarte t i TER ER IX Continued IX-Continued Continued 18 18 Were r not nol hurt had BurrIs said sad The hll hays S 'S held them hunched bunched In good gOO shape A hn uie t l was ns growing withIn with In lie lie- Mere Here Too was a 8 case ease where other oilier would benefit no nu by the senseless sense less t-t t If It t U rt beef h herd rd could oe Ue lC vp Up p It would cause a 0 delay to round I 1 up In a It strange range with the of ot many cows being missed missed missed-a a cast o oo weakening the Jh Three ree Bar n r. r She hud had been so absorbed In learning learn big ing the details of ot the new work sedated se su elated dated 0 at t Its progress that Hint she bad Land to tu believe In Its come lome ultimate sue suc cess And they had bad hll been unmolested for so long a time flute Then had Imd come the wanton slaughter of Three Bar bulls and now the tile stampede oj ot the trail herd It was conclusive proof that had bud abandoned hIs bis former wearing down process proe s as too slow v and was out to crush the Three Bar In Inthe inthe the possible way ny through any available 8 m means ans Harris too loo pondering over Slades Slade's change of ot tactics He felt assured as us that t own men Dlen bud ci out cot t iu lu starting the run Slade not let any uny considerable number or of his boys know that lint much it abr-it t Mm I Im Some of Longs Long's mel mei had hud undoubtedly been hired to stampede the Three Bar liar herd The very ery fact that Slade Sinde Is so bald with It is proof that he sees the necessity necessity ne ne- of ot crowding us fast Harris ris said If we get too big a ft start hes he's blown up up and ho hu na nt had bad anything to work o 0 but plowed ground Hes He's Heso 0 o. o now nolt noto to worry us at odd ends We IVe can expect a steady run i t f f mishaps now fur for hell he'll work fast fast but but well we'll win out In the end She nut dud a n little w wearily allIy for tor sue she knew lale that lint with Slade throwing all his Itis forces her ber the e Bar liar would be hard hurd pressed In En n addition to this wory wo-ry tier lIer mind was concerned F f with the ri ri 11 borse horse she bad had seen t as she rol away front from the wagon the thet t huddled d figure Brawled In n the Oat flat Every ery Bar Gar rider was a friend and she hesitated to h hear ar which one onel l of her men had I gone nc down Iown In the r raid t Who was as It t she asked d at last ast and Hu Bu Is divined that she n t ark I lug ing back batik to the lie fallen night guard who had tried tc to head bead th the raiders alone F Ive been trying not nOl to think about bout that lie IH said bald Lanky was a good t pal of ot mine I J saw him go down hut but buti I f coul couldn't nt stop right then Evans E occupied a 3 place in her ber regard regard regard re re- re- re gard that wa was perhaps a notch higher ia 18 that of any other of ot the crew Cant we prove pro anything on Slade do do anything to stop him she de lie de- de If It they they they're ve killed Lanky Ill I'll perjure myself If Its It's the only way Ill I'll have Alden pick him up auk aud Ill I'll swear I 1 saw him do the thing himself lies lie's s sas as guilty as If he actually badIe bad had 1 Ive Tre a n bait or two for Slade Harris Har Har- c ris said But that way may way prove too slow If Lanky's gone under J 1 expect Ill I'll nave have to pick a quarrel w with t 1 5 Slade and hurry burry things along Dont you Jou she objected lIed For all allol allot ol ot her ber confidence In ID Harris Harris' In lo most must respects bei het Implicit belief In his courage she could not forget et the awkward urd swing of his bis gun and she had hadn a swift vision ol of him faring facing Slade without a chance chaine A crash of or wagon wheels wheel and ond the voice trice o 0 of Waddles the horses Int Interrupted lu her r. r J. J n How Is Lanky Lunk 1 was rs first query t 1 P I. Waddles ll'S Jerked a thumb lb o e el Ills hiss hl Evans shot shin once the arm and a time through t. t the Ilse shoulder reclined on the triple 1 I jl les bed I mil mull the cook conk ha had spread prend prendt t f for him on th Ih hoar of fit the wl g on Hell come round line in In ha a 0 r few w t tays If we Wl can cun keep him a 11 horse hoise I aril and riding In the lIgon I. I I r e re ve give ghe him hint orders to that hat effect I f Evans I s groaned I lie He dines o er places 1 11 wouldn't cross afoul afoot he Ill complained complained- Did Iid iu Hi hold the run run i t ne Reassure s lIre I orr orl I this hl point he flattened Bened i if i f U on his hi pallet and tile tie wagon wagn he het hel rl i toward the lite herd here t f tl ri The rhe held 1 u t u er tot for fora tott wen wear wean 1 cows were t a day of lit r test I M st st. The III night IH guards were doubled precaution was main maln II iI tamed tallied the succeeding g two I stop Before reaching y the he thE shipping H I Harris Harris and Billie tnt sat on the top rail ol of the loading chute while the thelast list last felt ft fe Three Bur steer seers tv re being on b bard and ard the cars and his perch Harris Borris clipped slipped front from motioned fl to Moore and hurtle Home You can go uptown now nn and take on a 8 few Hunt up un old mid find y your ur chins trl friend or two wag Make It tI right lIt relive tei-relive and con lint lIa tied malic each enoh one ful tul nut not to a 8 to nn III other living soul That way the HIP news new Is sure to 10 Mine t 1 rapid He lIe Ie returned to he the girl Irl as the rhe hands waved Va a 0 train wain pulled out JilL Two of the tr lop HIP Joyous farewell from the tile of o p curs cats delighted at nt the pro prospect le trip hip to market ef with the rhe steers st ers old that I dont don't pretend to regret U for Bangs Bands Mlle Kile e even Clr ou out said suld But Bt I wish hed he'd sorted it pla place e sonic some ont one n el else elfe e In the fhe albinos albino's Oar Btu was ba baG bad J hut bu ne nest F for the fhe Three when Harper went down lie He was the head fiend of the gang she said salil The Thc worst of the lot And for tor that reason be lie was able to o hold them down Harris explained it It 11 was some of ot the outfit from over o rn fo the that stampeded us Slade wouldn't let his own boys know that much about him bim so hed he'd hire Lang Ung Harper had brains He wouldn't have hn gone In for tor that Lang has bos thrown In against us Lies He's all aU hulk and no bruins brains and as os savage as asan asan an nn Apache buck hang hans himself In the end but In the Interim be may hand us considerable grief CHAPTER X All through the range and ns as far south as liS the railroad It was current gossip that flint the Three Bar would pay puy paya puya a thousand dollars dollars' reward for tor each ench of ot f fifteen n men n fast tast saddle borse horse thrown lu in and nod no DO questions asked The Themen Themen men were named and nud If the rumor was based on truth lruth It was virtually 1 lt yal tl It Had the Effect of Causing the Men MenSo MenSo MenSo So Branded to View All Others Other With Suspicion placing a bounty on the scalps of ot certain certain tain men the same as the state stute paid bounty on the scalps of ot wolves wol ex ex except cent that It was without the sanction of ot the law This backfire rumor had established a definite line with fifteen men out outsIde outside outside side conspicuous and alone and those e who bad had once followed the hazy mid middie middie middie die ground of lawlessness 3 with perfect security now v hastened to be become become come solid citizens whose every oct net would stand the light for the whispers whis pers pel's seemed embracing all and It was waE Intimated that new names would be he added to the orl original list to Include those who fraternized with the ones outside the pale Those not branded by this alleged bounty system were quick to grasp the beautiful simplicity of It all nil Some recalled that a 0 similar rumor sup Slip supposed supposed posed to have hn originated with old Con Can RIstine bad had wiped out the wild hunch that preyed on the Nations trail row that the he GallatIn clean clean up up hind had result resulted ed ell from a like report which AI Al Mond 1 was reported to have hn launched It had the effect of causing the men menso menso so branded to view all others with suspicion no as possible aspirants out to collect the bounty on their heads The reference to I the he fast saddle horse hors u was guarantee that no o questions would lI be asked before the price waS WMS paid anti and no nn questions answered u utter after the re rc had ridden away tawny from the he Three Bur liar with his bis spoils Yet It If the thc thing were true II It was the mosi most violation of the law ever er launched even en In the tie Strip SUlp where transgression was tin the rule Iule For Fur the branded men were not wonted wanted on any ony charge It II was merely the W wholesale hll I tm h. h posting Austin of reward fen fm iii the lives of some slime fifteen citizens whose community wits legal legally standing In the ly Iy the same n as us the rest rest rest- rest prize prize mi nev utTered offered li II by an nn Individual concern forUs for Its Us enemies without reference to the law On Oil every cly possible occasion liar ris denied that there was a II shred of ot truth In the report But these very natural d denials had hind served servel only to strengthen mens men's belief In the truth of ot the tile report Inevitably Ine they had hod established a hard line that cut ort oft the meu nieu so na named med from the rest rest of 01 the countryside Harris knew that his own life lite was forfeit any time he tie chanced to ride alone Dione fIe He had bad not a doubt douht but that Slade had hod put a n price on his head hend and ond I that perhaps a Q dozen men were patiently po pa waiting wailing for tor a Q chance at him Any man whose name nome appeared on on I the black list which he was supposed to have havA sponsored would overlook o no opportunity to retaliate In kind In 10 I addition to this there was always the chance of ot n a swift raid on the men who ha had filed flied their homestead rights In Inthe Inthe inthe the valley As a n consequence Harris had taken every possible precaution The full tull force lorce of ot Three Bar Dur hands had hod been I kept on the tile pay roll instead of being i let off ort Immediately after otter the beef beet was I shipped These riders were stationed In line camps out on the range their ostensible purpose being to hold all Three Bar ur cows close to the home ranch but In to reality they served two I ends acting as ns a n cordon of ot guards as ns well ell Three times In as ns many weeks strangers strangers stran stran- gers drifting In from other localities stopped In er and profanely reported reported re ra- re- re ported the fact tact that for no reason ha whatever while passing through the Three Bar range they had bad been held beld up and forced to state their business In fn that thai neighborhood Hostilities had bad ceased The Three Bar girl had anticipated a 0 series of ot raids against the cows wen wearing ring herbrand her herbrand herbrand brand swift forays In Isolated points of ot her range but no stock losses were reported On the surface It appeared that Slade had bad given up all aU thought of ot harassing the Three Bar Dor nut But the girl bad b d come to know Slade lie De would never recede from his former stand She noted that Harris' Harris vigilance lance was never for tor an n Instant relaxed and und It was gradually Impressed upon her that the cessation of petty annoyances annoyances annoy annoy- ances held none nore of ot menace than ol of assurance Slade hud had seen that the Three B r was not to be discouraged In Its course and ond he now waited for tor foran foran toran an opportunity to launch a 0 blow that would cripple striking simultaneously at every exposed point and delaying only for a propitious time In n the face fuce ot of continues Immunity she was filled Oiled with n a growing conviction of ot Im tm Impending pending trouble Christmas hn had J found the lie range covered cov coy ered erect with a 0 fresh tracking snow which precluded possibility of ot a raid and all on allhands allhands hands had bad been summoned to the home ranch for a t two day rest resL The frolic was over and the hands back on the range runge Harris sat with Billie before her fire he satisfied for tor another two months he said Then well we'll have to call them In to for another spree This evening e conference before the fire lIre had bad come ome t ti t. he a n nightly occurrence Together they went over the details of ot the work accomplished during the day dllY and mapped out those for the next nest Another two months and the cab cabIns cabins cabins ins will be roofed and finished Harris liar Har ris said Then TheIl well we'll he through till the frost frust Is out of ot the ground Well We'll start building fence fenre as soon eoon as os you cnn cant sink n q post hole and well we'll have e time to break out two hun huu dred Bred acres of ground before time to seed It down It I IThe The girl nodded tJ without comment content to leave len him to o his thoughts her mind mine plen pleasantly occupied with her own For Tor lung long her evenings e had he been en lonely but now Jow she had come to look forward to the Ille he conferences es before the blazing logs Ings She had made no co attempt attempt at nt tempt to analyze the fhe reasons for tor the new Jew contentment which had transformed transformed trans formed her evenings e formerly periods period of drab reflections Into the most moar pleasant portion of each day The weekly letters still sUII came utne from Henri teane e The girl valued Harris as a n I friend fwd and partner without apparent He Ufo trace truce of lit more mire regard wondered which h would prevail pre theties tin the ties tl's which bound her to tn I hI life she had uh n always s 's known or th the lure of the I new life which beckoned I TO BE DE CONTINUED I |
