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Show Whs- VUlLTHEVUMiLy. fc JACKSON GREGORY M yi CREGODV W.lillRELEASE THE STORY SO FAR: Ann Lee and Cole Cody, beneficiaries under two identical identi-cal wills made by Early Bill Cole, In which he left each of them all his money and the King Cole Ranch, arrived ui the town of Bald Eagle by stage coach. During Dur-ing the Journey they were held up by bandits and the driver and one other passenger pas-senger wounded. Arriving at Bald Eagle Ea-gle the wounded men were cared for by Old Doc Joe. At the Long Chance Cole Cody met Porfirio Lopez, who Invited Cody to drink with him. Through Lopez be learned of the death of Early' Bill. Upon arrival at King Cole Ranch, Ann Lee, accompanied by Aunt Jenifer, was greeted by Ranee Waldron. Now continue with the story. CHAPTER VII Ann came close to the stove. "What are we going to do?" she whispered. "He is related to Mr. Cole; he thinks he is the owner now; he never heard of any will and He is terribly good looking, isn't he, Aunt Jenny? I like him, don't you? And it's going to seem like stealing steal-ing from him " "So he is good looking, is he?" sniffed Aunt Jenifer, hunting the coffee cof-fee pot "Well, so was our stage friend of yesterday, Mr. Cody, wasn't he?" "Why, Aunt Jenny! You don't like Mr. Waldron! Why?" "I haven't said any such thing. And if you're asking why well, just you wait and watch, my pet- He remembers to wash his face and hands, and he remembers about breakfast and he doesn't forget to shut doors after him and he doesn't forget to bar his door at night and pull the shades down and what I want to know is this: Is he going .to forget to put our horse in the barn and give it some hay! You just lift up those heavy eye-lashes of yours high enough so you can peek out of your eyes, and watch what happens. And are you going to keep toting that satchel of yours around every step you take?" Ann clutched it the tighter. "I'm not going to let it out of my sight, not for one little second, not until that other key Aunt Jenny! Do you suppose that Ranee Waldron is the one with the other key? Why, of course he is! Being Mr. Early Bill's nephew " "Son of old Bill's cousin," corrected cor-rected Aunt Jenifer. "Or so he says." By the time Ranee Waldron returned re-turned to them and again they heard the soft closing of at least two doors marking his progress the table ta-ble was set under a sunny window and breakfast was ready. He was hatless this ' time and had combed his hair. He smiled and said briskly, brisk-ly, "Ah! This is the life!" Yet it struck the observant girl, sensitive to shades of expression, that it was just his lips that smiled, and that there was a hint of sternness and of irritation in his eyes. "So you came in by stage last night?" he said as they sat down and Aunt Jenifer poured the three cups of good hot coffee and served him his breakfast. Ann nodded, and told him of their adventure on the mountain road, of the fallen tree and the attempted hold-up, warming to the recital as all its details thrilled through her again, making much of each little happening omitting only any particular par-ticular reference to Mr. William Cole Cody. It was quite as though she had forgotten that such an individual in-dividual had ever existed. But when she had finished, and her aunt looked sharply at her and sniffed, her face turned red. Rnnce heard her out without interruption, in-terruption, then said thoughtfully, "It's a funny sort of thing, isn't it? Why do you suppose they wanted to slick up the stage if it wasn't carrying carry-ing a strong box? What do you suppose sup-pose that the little man What did you say his name was? Jenkins? what do you suppose he had on him?" "We didn't find out," Ann told him.. "He was badly hurt; he didn't say anything. It must have been a lot of money, though, and the robbers rob-bers must have known about it somehow." "Well, now with things as they are, what do you ladies plan? It must be a terrible disappointment for you not to find your intended host here to receive you. Are you going home right away?" Ranee showed Ann the way into the patio, flooded now with golden sunshine, Aunt Jenifer saying, "You go ahead, Ann; I'll come along as soon as I finish the dishes. No! I don't want anybody in my way helping help-ing me!" "Do you mind," said Ranee when they were outside, "if I leave you a few moments? As I told you. I was going through a lot of pretty badly mcssed-up papers and accounts last night Part of the mess I've got fairly well in mind right now; I think twenty minutes more with it and 1 could put it away ship-shape. I hope you don't mind?" He hurried away, stopped and headed back to the kitchen. "I never tasted such coffee," he told Aunt Jenifer. "I'm off to my room for a little more study of those papers; I think I'll take another cup along with me." And, carrying the full cup, he departed. She stopped what she was doing and stood with her head tipped to one side, listening with all her ears. She had noticed something: Before he had put two spoons of sugar to each cup this time four. She nodded nod-ded complacently to herself when she heard for the third time the soft closing of doors. "Man or woman company, which?" she asked herself. "I wonder! won-der! And what's he scared of?" Only a moment did she loiter in the patio garden; its beauty was all about her, steeped in the rare sweetness sweet-ness of the early morning and she was aware of it, yet her troubled thoughts kept darting away. Suddenly Sudden-ly she whirled and scurried back into the house, running to her aunt in the kitchen. "Aunt Jenny!" she cried reproachfully. re-proachfully. "Why don't you help me? I don't know what to do! He doesn't want us here he has as good as told us to go " "Well, we're not going! Or are we?" "Of course not! Not, anyhow, until un-til we find out about everything." "Shush! Here comes Mr. Ranee again." Ranee returned and stood in the doorway, looking in upon them gravely. "I decided to put everything aside for a while," he said, his eyes flicking flick-ing from the girl's face to her aunt's, back to Ann's and back again to Jenifer's, as though he were for the first time really taking If t He pulled a Colt forty-five out of its holster, stepped across the threshold. stock of them, as though he measured meas-ured them, perhaps to decide which of the two did the thinking and deciding de-ciding for both. They saw instantly that during these few minutes his mood had altered, hardened; the line of his lips was straight and firm, his eyes were steady and stern. "You see," he went on, "this is really no place for you people at this particular time. I couldn't pretend pre-tend to make it pleasant for you under the circumstances. What I should like very much would be for you to come back out here in a few days and be my guests. I'll be coming com-ing into Bald Eagle; you'll be staying stay-ing there at the hotel for a while? I could pick you up and bring you out again." "My! You do sound hospitable!" said Aunt Jenifer. He frowned at that "My dear lady," he said curtly, "just how hospitable I sound has nothing to do with it. You were invited, you tell me, by old Bill Cole. Well, he's dead and gone, and as far as I know that's the end of that invitation. Were circumstances different did I not have so much on my hands " "Mr. Waldron!" cried the girl, her cheeks flaming. "I hadn't meant to say anything like this, but I will now " "Count four and twenty, Tatticor-um," Tatticor-um," said Aunt Jenifer warningly. "I won't! I've counted enough already! al-ready! Mr. Waldron, it goes against the grain to come the first time into Mr. Early Bill's home and start talking like this, but how can I help it? You are distantly related to him, yes, but Did you ever hear of his making a will?" "A will?" He stared at her so sternly then and for such a long, silent time that she felt a shiver up her back. He didn't seem exactly exact-ly surprised, she thought that his eyes narrowed speculatively, and she thought there was a glint of menace in them, that was all. "So he did make a will, did he? You don't mean that you are the lucky one?" "Maybe I am!" "Maybe?" He gave her a high-shouldered high-shouldered shrug. "Just what does that mean? And I didn't even know that you and my uncle were old friends! Just how long and how well did you know him?" "I never saw him in my life and you know I didn't! But " "This will, now? What are Its terms, young lady? When was it made? And where is it now?" "It" But she bit the words back. She couldn't tell him, "It's right here in this room! It's locked up in an old iron box in my satchel yonder! There are two keys to the box and I've got only one! For a minute I wondered if you had the other one!" No, none of that was to be spoken without looking ahead. He laughed at her. "Really, Miss Lee! Now, look here; if there's any will we'll talk about it when it turns up. As a matter of fact, I happen to know that there isn't any. Also I know that he was going to make one but he didn't get time! He died first! Meantime, as next of kin, I am taking tak-ing care of things here. I'm sorry that I can't ask you to stay. Really, I am sorry!" "We're not going!" cried the girl. "I won't budge, for one. He wasn't your uncle, anyhow, just some sort of distant cousin or something. And he didn't like you! Neither do I! I've come over a hundred miles and at Mr. Early Bill's invitation and here I stay!" Ranee's voice sharpened. "Finished? Good! Now you listen to me " "What goes on here?" asked a man's voice, very cool and calm, almost at a drawl, yet quietly emphatic. em-phatic. It was Cal Roundtree, old Early Bill's foreman. Hat in hand he came in from the patio, stepping softly on his toes because of his spurs. "It's nothing that I can't take care of, Roundtree," said Ranee, very curt. "Any time that I need you I'll let you know." "Thanking you kindly," said Cal Roundtree, and then stood pulling one end of his moustache, then the other, while his serene eyes regarded regard-ed the two women with the frankest interest. "Mornin', ladies," he greeted greet-ed them. "Me, I'm Roundtree, Calhoun Cal-houn Roundtree, used to be foreman fore-man for . old man Cole." He appraised ap-praised the older woman at his leisure, lei-sure, no impertinence in his look, just unmasked inquiry, then transferred trans-ferred his investigations to the girl. His eyes brightened, but then most eyes brightened when they met Ann Lee's eyes. "It might be," said Cal Roundtree, and sounded friendly, friend-ly, "that you're Miss Ann Lee, come up here to see Early Bill?" "Why, yes! How did you know?" "I had a mite of a talk with him a few days ago, shortly before he petered out," said Cal. "He said as how he was expectin' comp'ny. It would be you and with you, maybe, your aunt Miss Jenifer Edwards, ma'am?" he asked in that gentle voice of his. Aunt Jenifer nodded. "Pleased to meet you ladies," said Cal then, and offered a horny, toil-blackened hand. "You're right welcome, that's what Early Bill says I'm to say to you, and to make yourselves to home long as you care to tarry. He says likewise he's most sorry not to be able to be here to shake you by the hand, birn bein' called away to keep a dat he mustn't be late at" He cleared his throat and clapped on his hat, "I happened to see the horse and buggy. bug-gy. First, I thought maybe the horse might like a drink of water and a forkful of hay; next, I says to myself, That's a livery stable rig from Bald Eagle. Comp'ny! And I reckoned it might be you ladies." Ranee Waldron heard him out, his gorge rising, his face a hot congested con-gested red when at last he said in a repressed voice bespeaking a cold fury, "Roundtree, when you're wanted here at the house I'll let you know. I'm taking care of things up here, understand?" Cal started to go, then turned and came back. "Either of you ladies know how to shoot a gun off?" he asked gently. "Ann there," said her aunt, "can shoot your eye out at fifty yards!" Cal chuckled. "Me, I'll make a point not gettin' ornery around you, ma'am," he told Ann. He pulled a Colt forty-five up out of its holster, stepped across the threshold of the kitchen and dropped the gun to the table. "Any time you want anything," any-thing," he said, "you just blaze away with that; me, I'll be down around the corral somewhere, anyhow any-how not too far off to hear it Like Early Bill said, make yourselves to home, ladies," and departed, stepping step-ping softly, along with a scowling Ranee Waldron. "I like him," said Ann Lee when the two had gone. "Isn't he " Aunt Jenifer jerked her head about and cupped a hand to her ear. "Here comes the rest of the world, I reckon." she said contentedly. content-edly. "For so far from everywhere, we sure do see folks! Someone on horseback like he was riding a race. Now who do you suppose this young feller is?" They waited in the patio to find out He dismounted out under the big oak, around the corner of the building just out of sight Then they heard him coming on to the house and then he came to the big arch giving upon the patio, and saw them and lifted his hat Ann Lee gasped at the sight of him, startled. The twinkle came glinting back into Aunt Jenifer's eye. Here came the young man cX the stage, Mr. William Cole Cody. (TO BE COXTIMED) |