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Show 'niMiiiM I TTv tl PTFQ tl Authwf ! I Rimrock Trail & MaK" i I By J. ALLAN DUNN Sandy was a crucible filled with glowing white' fury. Thoughts of what Pllrusoll might achieve In Insult and Injury to Molly could not be kept out of his mind and they but added fuel. It was not Sundy Bourke of the Three Bar, riding his favorite pinto, but a desperate man on a horse Infected In-fected with the same grim determination, determina-tion, a man with a face that, despite the fiery heat within, blazing from his eyes, would have chilled the blood of any meeting him. The place It had taken Molly and young Keith nearly three hours to reach in leisurely fashion, Sand; gained In one, splashing through the shallows of Willow creek at the ford below the big bend and giving Pronto the chance to cool his fetlocks and rinse out his mouth In the cold water Ahead lay the chimney ravine that led around Into Beaver Dam canyon. In which Molly and the boy had been attacked. Sandy rode on down the narrow trail. One In a while be broke a branch and left It swinging as a guide to Sam whAi he should follow fol-low with the riders from the ranch. The tracks of Molly's Blaze and the "Ifow, sonny," he said. "Tell us about It Where did you leave Molly T" "I don't know Just where. I wasn't noticing Just which way we rode. She did the leading. I don't know how I ever got back." "Didn't she tell you where you were makln' fo'?" "She didn't name It It was a little lake In some canyon where Molly, said there used to be beavers." "Beaver Dam canyon," said Sandy exultantly. "You left here 'bout seven. How fast did you trail?" "We walked the horses most of the time. It was all uphill. And I looked at my wntch a little before It happened. hap-pened. It was a quarter of eleven. We saw some men ahead of us. Molly wondered who they could be. Then they disappeared. We were riding In a pass and two of them showed again, coming out of the trees ahead of us. One of them, on a big black horse, held up his hand." "Jim PUmsoll lH "Yes. Molly recognized him and spoke to him to get out of the trail. Gelt wns trailing us. PUmsoll wouldn't move. I heard more horses Back of us and I turned to look. Two more men were coming up beh!nd. Molly spurred Blaze on and cut at PUmsoll with her quirt He grabbed her hand with his left. Grit sprang up at him and he got out his gun from the shoulder sling and shot him." "Shot the dawgT Hit hlmr "Yes, In the leg. He fired at him again, but Grit got Into the brush." "Jest what were you doln' all the time?" Sandy knew the lad was a tenderfoot, knew he would have been small use on such an occasion, but the thought of Grit rising to the rescue, res-cue, falling back shot, brought the tnunt. "The two men behind told me to throw up my hands," said young Keith, his face reddening. "What could I do?" "Notliln', son. You c'dn't have done a thing. Go on." "Pllinsoll twisted Molly's wrist so that the quirt fell to the ground. The tnnn who wns with him tossed his rope over her and they twisted It round her arms. I had the muzzle of a rifle poked Into my ribs. They niillliiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. ....... CHAPTER XVIII Continued. 1ft Sandy went to the door and hailed Sam and Mormon. They came to the office escorting Blake, whose fox-face moved from side to side with furtive eyes as If he smelled a trap. "We want the list of the folks you unloaded Molly stock to," said Sandy. Blake looked at his employer who sat glowering at his cigar end, licked his lips and Buld nothing. "Tell him, you d d fool I" grunted Keith. "The stubs are In the car at Hereford Here-ford depot" said Blake. "In the safe." "Money there, too? I suppose you cashed the checks?" "I deposited thera to my own account," ac-count," eald Keith. "Come on, let's get this over with since you are determined de-termined to throw away your own and your partners' good money, to say nothing of the girl's. She could bring suit against you, Bourke, with a good chance of winning." He glanced hopefully at Mormon and Sam. They kept on grinning. "Round up that chauffeur, Sam. will your asked Sandy. "Tell him we're Btartln' fo' Herefo'd right off." Kate Nicholson and Mlrandn Bailey were on the ranch-house veranda. "Could I ask you to mall these letters, let-ters, Mr. Keith? Two of Molly's and one of my own." Kate Nicholson advanced ad-vanced toward him, the letters In hand. With a spurt of fury Keith snatched at the letters and threw them on the ground. "To h 1 with you I" he shouted, hts face empurpled. "You're fired I" All of his polish stripped from lilin like peeling veneer, he appenred merely a coarse bully. Sain came up the vernnda In two Jumps and a final leap that left him with his hands entwined In Keith's coal collar. lie whirled that astounded astound-ed person half around anil slammed htm up against the wall of the ranch-house, ranch-house, rumpled, gasping, with trembling trem-bling hands that lifted before the menace of Sam's gun. "I oughter shoot the tongue out of you befo' I put a slug through yore head," sntd Sam, standing In front of the promoter, tense as a Jaguar couched for a spring, his eyes glittering, glitter-ing, his voice packed with venom. "You git down on yo' knees, you rlng-tulled rlng-tulled skunk, an' apologize to this Judy. Crook yo' knees, you stlnkln' jiolecnt, an' crawl. I'll make you lick her shoes. Down with you or I'll send you straight to Judgment I" "No, Sam, Mr. Manning It Isn't .necessary," protested i?te Nicholson. "Please ..." Sam looked at her cold-eyed. "This is my party." he said. "It'll -do him good. I'll let him off llckin' yo' shoes, he might spile the leather. But he'll git them letters he chucked away, git 'em on all-fours, like, the eneakln', slinkln', duuble-crossln' coyote coy-ote he Is. Crook yo' knees first an' apologize !" Sam fired a shot and the promoter jumped gulvanleally as the bullet tore face was rosy; both were embarrassed. embar-rassed. "Thank you, Mr. ' Manning," she said. "Please let htm get up, and put away your pistol." "Git up," said Sam, "an' go pick up thera letters." Keith gathered up the envelopes and presented them, with a bow, to the governess. He had recovered partial poise and his face was pale as wax, his eyes evil. "I'll mull thera, Miss Nicholson," said Sandy. "Let's go." He took Sam aside as the car swung round and up to the porch. "Sammy," Sandy's San-dy's eyes twinkled, "I didn't sabe you an' Miss Nicholson was so well acquainted." ac-quainted." Same looked his partner In the eyes and used almost the same words for which he had just tamed Keith. But he said them with a smile. "You go plumb so b 1 1" e Creel, president of the Hereford National bank, a banker keen at a bargain, shot out his underllp when Keith, with Sundy In attendance, tendered him the money for all shares of the Molly mine sold In Hereford, Including his own. "You say the mine has petered out?" he asked Keith, with palpnble suspicion. Keith glanced swiftly at Sandy sitting across the table from him In the little directors' room back of the bank proper. Sandy sat sphinx-like. sphinx-like. As If by accident, his hands were on his hips, the fingers resting on his gun butts. "That Is the news from my superintendent," superin-tendent," said Keith. "I wish I could doubt It. Under the circumstances, consulting with Mr. Bourke, who represents rep-resents the ninjorlty stock, we concluded con-cluded there was no other action for us to take but to recall the shares, although the money had actually passed." "Humph I" Keith's suavity did not appear entirely to smooth down Creel's chagrin nt losing what he had considered a good thing. He Rtnelt a mouse somewhere. "There are only two reasons for repurchasing Rtich stock," he sold crisply. "The course you take is rarely honorable and suggests sug-gests great credit. The second reason rea-son would be a strike of rich ore rather than a failure." "I will guarantee the failure, Creel," sold Sandy. "If, at any time, a strike Is made In the Molly, I shall be glad to transfer to you personally the same amount of shares from my own holdln's. I'll put that In wrltln', If you prefer It." "No," said Creel, "It ain't necessary." neces-sary." He glumly made the retrans-fer. retrans-fer. Sandy vlseed Keith's accounts and took Keith's check for the balance, bal-ance, placing It to a personal account for Molly. The check was on the Hereford bank and It practically exhausted ex-hausted Keith's local resources. Keith's powerful car made nothing of the few miles between Hereford and the Three Star and It was only mid-afternoon when they arrived. Molly and Donald Keith were still absent, ab-sent, there was no sign of Brandon, e e e e e Keith stayed In his car, smoking, Ignoring the very existence of the ranch and Its people. The afternoon wore on with the sun dropping gradually grad-ually toward the last quarter of the day's march. At four o'clock one of the Three Star riders came In at a gallop, carrying double. Behind blm, clinging tight was Donald Keith, woebegone, woe-begone, almost exhausted, his trim riding clothes snnjrged and soiled, his shining puttees scuffed and scratched, ne staggered as he slid out of the saddle and clung to the cantle, head sunk on arms until Sandy took him by the arm. Keith sprang from his car and came over. Sara and Mormon Mor-mon hurried up. "What's this?" demanded Keith angrily, suspicion rife In his voice. "I picked him up three mile' back, hoofln it. He was headln' fo' Bitter Flats but ke wanted the ranch," said the cowboy to Sandy, Ignoring Keith. "We burned wind an' leather comln' In, seeln' Jim PUmsoll on' some of his gnng have made off with Miss Molly!" "Where'd this happen?" demnnded Sandy. "Sam, go git Pronto fo' me on' soddle up." "That's the h I of It," said the rider. "The pore d n fool don't know. Plumb loco! Scared to death. Been wandertn' round sence afore noon." Donald Keith sagged suddenly and Sandy picked the lad up In his arms, strode with him to the car and laid him on the cushions. "C.it some wafer," he ordersd Keith. "We've got no llcker on the ranch." Keith bent, opened a shallow drnwer beneath the sent and produced a silver flask. He unscrewed the top and pouted some liquor Into It. Sandy San-dy raised the boy's head and lifted the whisky to his pallid lips, gray as lild face where the flesh matched the powdery alkali that covered it. The conllnl trickled flown and Ion-ald's Ion-ald's eyes opened. Almost Immediately Immediate-ly color came hack Into Ills cheeks and Hps tmd he fr'ed to sit up. Sandy helped hlui. made me get off my horse. And they mnde me walk back along the trail. They fired bullets each side of me and laughed at me when I dodged." Donald's Don-ald's eyes were filled with tears of self-pity and the remembrance of his helpless rage. "I didn't know what to do. I couldn't rescue Molly without with-out a horse. I only had a revolver against their rifles and I'm not much of a shot. I tried to get buck here but It was hard to find the way. I was all In when your man found me." "All right, my stn. Keith, I'm go-In' go-In' to borrow that flask of yores. Might need It." He Jumped from the car, flask In hand, and ran to the ranch house. Kate Nicholson met him as he entered. en-tered. "Has anything happened to Molly?" she gasped. "That's what I'm goin' to find out," Sandy answered. "Mormon, gtt me my cartridge belt an' some extry shells fo' my rifle." "You ain't takln' Sum?" asked Mormon, Mor-mon, returning with the cartridge belt, Sandy's rifle and a box of shells. "Sam ain't comln'," said Sandy, filling fill-ing his rifle magazine and breech, stowing away extra clips. "I'm go In' In alone. Mo'n one 'ud be likely to spoil sign, Mormon, mo'n one Is likely like-ly to advertise we're comln'. They're liable to leave a lookout PllmsoU's clearln' out of the country an' I'm trallin' him clear through h I If I have to. Ef he's harmed Molly I'll stoke him out with a green hide wrapped around him an' his eyelids sliced off. I'll sit In the shade an' watch him frizzle an' yell when the hide shrinks In the sun. Tills Is my private play, Mormon. You an' Sam can back It up, but I'm handlln' the cards." He left the room and they saw him covering the ground In a wolf trot to where Sam, nstrlde his own favorite mount, held Pronto ready saddled. They saw Sam's protest, Sandy's vigorous vig-orous overruling of It, and then Sandy was up-saddle and away at a brisk pipe with Sam gazing after him disconsolately. dis-consolately. Keith's car was turning for the trip to Hereford, spurning the dust of the Three Star ranch forever and not lamented. Sandy, his eyes like the mica flakes that show In gray granite, his humorous humor-ous mouth a stern line, little bunches of muscles at the Junction of his jaws, held the pinto to a steady lope that ate up the ground, drifting straight and fust across country for the opening open-ing In the mesa that he had marked as the short-cut to the spot described by Donald Keith. Every now and then he talked his thoughts aloud, ns the lonely rider will nd, If the pinto could not understand, he listened with pricked ears. "(Jrlt must have been hurt prltty bad, I'm afraid. Wonder who the three were with PUmsoll? They've gone to the Hideout an' we g,,t to (ind It, 1 IT hawss. S e Job, I reckon Hut riliuKoH's pin' to be mighty sorry fo' hlmsw'f befo' long," Sandy Was a Crucible Filled With Glowing White Fury. horse Donald had been riding were plain as print to Sandy. He even noticed the slot of Grit's pods here and there In softer soil The place of the struggle was plain. The brush was trampled. To one ilde of the trail there was a clot of blood, almost black, with flies buzzing attention to It It must have come from Grit. "I'll score one fo' you. Grit, while I'm about It," muttered Sandy as he dismounted and carefully surveyed the sign. Six horses had gone on, one led. Sandy swung up the heavy stirrups and tied them above the saddle seat He stripped the reins from the bridle and pulled down Pronto's wise head. "Hit the back-trail fo' home, UT hawss," he said. "If I need me a mount to git back I'll borrow one. I got to go belly-trallln' prltty soon." He gave the pinto a cautious slap on the flank and Pronto started off down the trail. So far Sandy believed be-lieved he had not been seen. If he had, a rifle-shot would have been the first warning. A buzzard hung In the early evening eve-ning sky. circling high and then suddenly sud-denly dropping In s swoop. "Looks like Grit's cashed In," thought Sandy. "That bird was s late coiner, at that." But It was not Grit The ravine curved, forked. One way led to Beaver Dam lake, the other rifted deep through rocky outcrop, out-crop, leading to the Wuterllne range The boundary fence crossed It Two posts had been broken out, the wire flattened. Through the gap led the sign that Sandy followed. The clouds were assembling for sunset overhead, the iimon Just topped the eastern cliffs, beginning to send out a measure meas-ure of reflected light. A beam struck a little cylinder, the emptied shell of a thirty-thirty rifle. There was another an-other close by. And scanty soil was marked with more hoofs. Sandy halted, halt-ed, wondering the key to the puzzle. Did It mean a quarrel between PllmsoU's Pllm-soU's men? Altogether he figured there had been a dozen horses over the ground. It was only a swift guess but be knew It close to the mark Had PUmsoll been Joined or attacked? And . . .? Walking cot-footed, he made no sound but suddenly three huzza nN rose on heavy wings and be went swiftly to where they hnd been squatting. squat-ting. A dead man lay up against the cliff, a saddle blank" thrown fiver his face. This had held off the cir-rlon cir-rlon birds. The body was limp and still warm, it had been a corpse only a short time. Sandy took off the blanket. It was Wyatt! A bu!tet had rosde a small hole In his skull r the right templi' and crushed out rougc the back of his hem! in i bloo - japl (TO BB CONTINI'EJ) Sam Fired a Shot and the Promoter Jumped Galvanically ai th Bullet Tors Through the Planking. through the planking of the ranch house between his trembling knees. "I regret, Miss Nicholson," he commenced com-menced huskily, "thot I let my temper get the better of me. I wus greatly upset. In the mutter of your services 1 was er doubtless hasty. It can be arranged." He shrank at the tap of Sam's giin on his shoulder, wilting to his knees. "She w'mm't work fo' you fo' the time It takes a rabbit to dodge a rattler," rat-tler," said Sam. "She never did work fo' yon. It wns Molly's money puhl her. Kate's goln' to stay right here os long as she chooses an' I . . ." Catching Kate Nicholson's gaze, the admiring look of a w onion who bus never before been championed, conscious con-scious of the fact that tie had blurted out bet 4'-hrlsMan name and disclosed the necret of that touch of Intimacy between them, Sam grew crimson through Ms tan. Kate Nicholson's |
