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Show H V ' TIIB BINGHAM NEWS V 'kft Rinirock Trail By J. ALLAN DUNN "4 Mot to Hit U--," M. Oopmcht, tn, by J. AU Ooaa "DADDY, DADDYl" BTNOPSIS-T- o th Thre-B.- r ranch, Arizona, owned Jointly by Bandy Bourk, "Mormon" Peter and "Soda-Wa- tr Sam" Manning, a On colli makes lu way. In th last stage ot exhaustion. Incxlp-tlo- a on It collar says lu nama la Grit, "property of P. Caey." Scenting a desert tragvdy, Bourk and Sam mount and let th dog lead them. The two And a dying man, Patrick Casey, pinned under an overturned wagon. Kneeling beside the wagon la his young daughter Molly, fifteen. perately, mere ghosts of words, taxing cruelly the last breath of the wheezing lungs beneath the battered ribs, the final spurt of the spirit. "Molly mine 1" "IH look out for that, pardner," said Sandy. The eyelids fluttered, the old hands fell away, the jaw relaxed, serenity came to the lined face, and no little dignity. For the first time the girl men where a light twinkled, the cook shack, the corrals, up to the main house. There they alighted. Sandy lifted Molly from the saddle and carried her up the steps, across the porch, kicking open the door of the living room where the embers of a fire glowed. There was no other light in the big room, but there was sufficient to shov the great form of Mormon, stowed away In a chair, asleep and snoring. Sam struck a match and lit a lamp, lie struck Mormon mightily between his shoulders. "Oawdl" gasped the heavyweight partner. "I been asleep. But there's a kittle of hot water, Sandy. Where's the what tn time are you tot In' 7 A gel or a boy?" "This la Mlas Molly Casey," said Sandy gravely, setting down the glrL "Miss Casey, this la Mr. Peters. Mor-mon, Mlsa Molly Is goln to tie op to the Three Star for a bit" aothtn' different All she ueeds la chance." "What' the Wee tn pV' on meT asked Mormon aggrlevedly. "She's a welcome as grass in . spring. They ain't no one got a bigger heart than me fo" kids." "No one got a bigger heart, mebbe," said Sam caustically. "Nor none a smaller brain. All engine an' no gaso-line In the tank 1" "She's an orphan," went on Sandy. "She ain't got a cent that I know of. The claims her old dad mentioned ain't no good because, in the first place, they'd have to be worked if they was; second place, they're over to Dynamite an the sharps say Dyna-mite's a flivver. AH she has In sight is the dawg. Some dawgt Oomee in from the desert an' takes us out to her an' Pat Oasey him dyin'. Ef it hadn't been fo the dawg, she'd have stayed there, to my notion. Got some sort of idee she'd deserted ship ef she hadnt stuck till it was too late to her to crawl out of that slit in the mesa. She's fifteen an' she's got sense. I flgger we better turn tn right now an' hold a pow-wo- w with the gel r." "Second the motion," said Sam. "Third It" --d Mormon. And the Three Musketeer ef the Range went off to bed. CHAPTER III Molly. Melly came down next morntng In the fndod bine gingham. Bandy marked how worn it was and marked an Item In his mind clothes. Ha sm Hod at her with the sudden show Ing of his sound white teeth that made many 'friends. She was much too young, too frank, too like a boy to affect him with any of bis woman-- V 'I CHAPTER II Continued. "Tore dad 7" he asked, kneeling by the girt. "Tee." She stood op, slight and straight with limbs and body Just curving Into womanhood. "The hawsses was tuckered out" she said, "or Dad c'nd have made it They didn't have no strength left, 'thout food or water. The d d road Jest Slid out from under. Dad made me Jump. I flggered be was goln' to, but his bad leg must have caught in the brake. We slid over like water slides over a rock. He didn't have a h Aa she spoke them the oaths were merely emphasis. She talked as had her father. Sandy nodded. "Got an ax with the outfitT he asked. Then turning to Sam as the girl went round to the back of the fallen wagon and fumbled about Mormon, a little sheepish at the sud-denly developing age of the girl as she shook hands with him, recovered him-self and beamed at her. "To're sure welcome," he said. "Boss hired you? Cewglrl or cook?" Sandy noticed the girl's Up quiver and he slipped an arm about her shoulder. He was not woman-sh- y with this girl who needed help, and who seemed a boy. "Don't yon take no notice of him an' his klddln'," be said. "Well make him rustle some grub fo' all of us an' then we-al- l '11 turn In. Ill show yon yore room. Up the stairs an' the last gave way, lying prone, sobbing out her grief while the two cowmen looked aside. The bay horse began to groan and writhe. "Got to kill that cavallo," sold Sam In a' whisper. "Watt a minute." The girt bad qui-eted, was kneeling with clasped bands, lips moving silently. Prayer, such as It was, over, she rose, her fists tight closed, striving to control her quiver-ing chin doing It "We got to bury him, 'count of them d n buzzards." "We'll tend te that" said Sandy. "Ef you-a-ll '11 take the dawg on up to the hawsses . . ." "Not I helped te bury Jim Clancy, out In the desert; I'm goln' to help bury Dad. Ifs goln' to be lonesome out here " She twisted her mouth, setting teeth into the lower Up sharp-ly as she gated at the desolate cliffs, the birds swinging their tireless, ex-pectant circles tn the throat of the gorge. "See here, miss," said Sandy, while Sam crawled Into the wagon tn search of the dead miner's pick and shovel that now, instead of uncovering riches, would dig his grave, "how old air your" "Fifteen. My name's Margaret-Mo-lly for short same as my Ma. She's been dead twelve years." "Well, Miss Molly, suppose you-al- l come on to the Three Star fo' a spell with my two pardners an' me? You do that an' mebbe we can fix things up and arrange about yore daddy. We'U come back an' git him an we'll make a place fo' him under our big cottonwoods below the big spring." Molly Casey gazed at him with such a sudden glow of gratitude In her eyes that Sandy felt embarrassed. He had been comforting a girl, a boy-ish girl, and here a woman looked at him, with understanding. "Yo're sure a white man," she said. "I'll irlt ni'on u'lfh von aiimA time If I door on the right Here's some matches. There's a lamp on the bu-reau up there. Give you a call when supper's ready." He led her to the door and gave her a friendly little shove, guessing that she wanted to be alone. "The kid's lost her father, tost most everything 'cept her dawg," he said to Mormon. "Thought we might adopt her, sort of, then I thought mebbe we'd hire her for mascot" "Lost her daddy 7 An' me hornin' In an' tryln' to kid her I I ain't got the sense of a drowned gopher, some-times," said Mormon contritely. "She's game, plumb through, ain't she, SamT Stands right op to trouble?" "You bet Mormon, open up a can of greengages, will ye? I reckon she's got a sweet tooth, same as me." Molly Casey was not through stand-ing up to trouble. They coaxed her to eat and she managed to make a meal tlmt satisfied them. Then she shyness. MoUy had a snnbby boss, a wide mouth, Irish eyes of blue that were far apart and crystal clear, freckle and a lot of brown hair that she wore in a long braid wound twice about her well-shape- d head. She was a combi-nation of curves and angles, of well-round-neck and arms and legs with collar-bone- s and hips over-appare- Immature but not awkward. Grit, entering with her, divided his attentions among the men, shoving a moist nose at last Into Sandy's palm and lying down obedient his tall thumping amicably. "Fo' a sheepdawg," said Mormon, "he sure shapes fine." Molly's eyes flashed. "He don't know he's a sheepdawg," she protest-ed, "lie's never even seen one, 'less It was a mountain sheep, 'way up against the skyline. Don't yon like hlmr "I like him fine," Mormon answered hurrledlv. "Fine!" work the bones of my fingers through the flesh fo' you. Thanks don't amount to a d n 'thout somethln' back of 'era. I'll come through." She put out her roughened little hand, tnan-fnshlo- and Sandy took it as Sam emerged from the wagon with the tools. The bay mare groaned and gave a shriU cry, horribly human. Sam drew his gun, putting down pick and shovel. , "H Ain't Gone Yit" She Announced. i through the rear opening of the can-vas tilt: "Man's alive, Sam. Caught a flirt of the pulse. Have to pry up the wagon. Git that bu'sted end of got up to go to her room, with Grit nuzzling close to her, her Angers In his ruff, twisting nervously at the strands of hair. t "Do you reckon," she asked the three partners, "that Dad knows he fooled me when he told me to Jump? If I'd known he c'udn't git clear I'd have stuck same as he would If I was caught Do you reckon be knows that now?" "I'd be surprised If he didn't," snld Sandy gravely. "You did what he wanted, anyway." She looked at them gravely and went out. "Botherln' about playln' squnre In Junipin'," Bald Snndy. "That gel Is square on all twelve eldges." "How'd you come to know so much about gels?" asked Mormon. "Me? I don't know the first thing about 'em," protested Sandy. "No more'n any man," put In Sam. "'Cept It's Mormon. He's sure had the expeilence." "Experience," said Mormon, with a yawn, "may teach a man somethln' the tongue." The girl handed an ax to Sandy mutely, watching them as Sandy pried loose the part of the tongue still bolt-ed to the wagon, getting It clear of the horses. "Think you cr.n drag out yore dad by the laies when we lift the body of the wagon?" he asked her. "May not be able to hold It more'n a few seconds. May slip on us, the levers Is pritty short" She stooped, taking hold of a wrin-kled boot In each hand, back of the heeL A tear splashed down on one of them and she shook the salt water from her eyes Impatiently as If she had faced tragedy before and knew It must be looked at calmly. The two men adjusted the bowlders they had set for fulcrums and shoved down on the stout pieces of ash, their muscles bunching, the veins standing out corded on their arms. The wtgon-be- d creaked, lifted a little. "Now," grunted Sandy, "snake him out" "Ef you-al- l didn't, we cu'd shack on soniewheres. I cu'd git work down to the settleraints, I reckon. I don't aim to put you out any. I've been thinkln' erbout that 'Less yon should happen to want a woman to run the house. I don't know much about housekeeping but I cu'd t'arn. It's a woman's job, chasln dirt I can cook some. Dad used to say my camp-brea- d an' biscuits was fine. I cu'd earn what I eat I reckon. An' what Grit u'd eat We don't aim to stay unless we pay someway." There was a touch of fire to ber Independence, a chip on the shoulder of her pride the three partners rec-ognized and respected. "See here, Molly Casey" Sandy used exactly the same tone and man ner he would have taken with a boy "that's yore way of lookln' at it Then there's our side. Yon flgger yore dad was a pritty good miner, I reckon? The last two words he says was 'Molly and mines.' I give htm my word then and there, like he would have to me, to watch out for yore Interests. My word is my pardners4 word. Fm willln' to gamble those claims of hls'U pan out some day. Until they do, ef you-a- ll 11 stay on at the Three Star, stop Mormon stompln' In from the corral with dirty boots, ride herd on 8am an' me the same way, raehbe cook us up some of them biscuits once in a while, why, If 11 be fine! Then there's yore schoolln. Yore dad 'ud wish yon to have that I don't suppose you've had a heap. An' you sabe, Molly, that yon swear mo often than a gel usually swears." She opened her eyes wide. "But I don't cuss when I say 'em. An' I don't use the worst ones. Dad wu'dn't let me. I can read an writs, spell an cipher some, But Dad need-ed me more'n I needed learnln.' " "But you got to have If said Mor-mon earnestly. "S'pose them claims pan out way rich and you git d wealthy? Beln' a gel, you sabe clothes, dl'monds, silks, satins an' feather fuss. You'll went to learn the planner. You'll want to know what to git an' how to wear It" "If you did that took my Daddy's place," she said, "why, we'd be pard-ners, same as him an' me was. When the claims pan out, hnlf of ltU have to be yores. I won't stay no other way." Sandy picked up the tools nnd moved toward Sam as the bay collapsed to the merciful bullet The girl washed away as best she could the stains of blood and travel from the dead face while Sandy sounded with the pick for soil deep enough for a temporary grave. The body would have to lie on the ledge overnight, nothing but burial could save it from marauding coyotes, though the wagon might have baffled the buzzards. The two set to work digging a shallow trench down to bed-rock, rolling np loose bowlders for s cairn. Lizards flirted In and out of the crevices as the miner was laid tn his temporary grave, the girl dry-eye- d again. She had brought a little workbox from the wagon, of mahogany stud-ded with disks of pearl In brass mountings. Out of this she produced a handkerchief of soft China silk bro-cade, Its white turned yellow with age This she spread over her father's fea-tures, showing strangely distinct In the falling light "I don't want the dirt pressin on his face," she said. From the dead man's clothes Sandy and Sam bad taken the few personal belongings, from the Inner pocket of the cet some papers that Sandy knew for location claims. "Want to take some duds erlong to the ranch?" he asked Molly. "We can bring In the rest of the stuff later. Got to shack erlong, It's glttin' dork. Brought an extry hawss with us. Can you ride?" "Some. I ain't had much chance." "Don't know how the mare'll stand yore skirt If she won't I'lnto'U pack rou." The girl tugged, stepping backward, her pliant strength equal to the dead drag of the body. Sandy, straining down, saw a white beard appear, stained with blood, an aged, seamed face, hollow at cheek nnd temple, sparse of hair, the flesh putty-colore- d despite Its tan. Grit leaped in and licked the quiet features as Sam and Sandy eased down the wngon. "Whisky, Sam." The girl sat cross-legge- her fa-ther's head In her lop, one band smoothing his forehead while the other felt under his vest and shirt, above his heart "lie ain't gone yit" she announced. The old miner's teeth were tight clenched, but there were gaps In them through which the whisky Snndy ad-ministered trickled. "Daddy I Daddy 1" It might have been the tender agony of the cry to which Patrick Casey's dulling brain responded, sending the message of his will along the nerves to transmit a final summons. Ills body twitched, he choked, swallowed, opened grny eyes, filmy with death, brightening with intelligence as he saw his daughter betiding over him, the tace of Sandy above her shoulder. The gray eyes interrogated Sandy's long and earnestly until the light be-gan to fulo out of them and the wrinkled lids shuttered down. Another swallow of tho raw spirits and they opened flutterlngly nifiiin. The Hps moved soundlessly. Then, while one hand groped waverlngly upward to ret upon his daughter's head, Sandy, bending low, caught three syllables, repented over and w, Jt-- The glnnces of the three partners exchanged a eDncluslon, a mutual ap-proval. "That goes," said Snndy, putting out his hand To' all three of us. When the mlm are peytn dividends, we split half on 'count of the Three Star, half to you. Provldln' you fall In lino with the eddlcatlon, so's to do yore dnd yo'sef an' us, yore pardners, due credit when the money starts com In' In. Saber "I'll fix that." She clambered into the wngon. Before she came out with her bundle they piled the cairn, a nissk of broken rlm-roc- k heavy enough to foil the scratching of the coyotes. It looked to Sandy as If the girl had changed Into a boy. The slender fig-ure, silhouetted agnlnst the after-glow, softly pulsing masses of fiery cloud above the top of the mesa, was dressed In Jean overalls, a wide-rimme- d hat hiding length of hair. "I reckon I can fod that hawss of yores now," she said. "I gen'ally drew thlsnwny 'cept when we expect to go nigh the settlements or a ranch where we ulm to visit." The gray mare made no bother and cxn tliey were riding down fwnrd the strip of Bad lands. Snndy let the collie go afoot for the time. It wns dose to midnight when they reached tho home ranch, riding pnst the eutbuildings, the tunkhouse of the "Where's the What In Time Are You Totln' a Gel or a Boy?" about mules but not wimnien. No, sir, tlmt feller in the po'try who says, 'I learned about wlmmen from 'er, was braggln'. Now, Oils gel of 's 'pears like what her dad 'ud call a good prospect, but you enn't tell. Fool's gold Is bright enough, but you enn't change It to tho reul stuff no matter how you polish It" "Mormon, you wnrn't calculated to hundle wlmmen. This li'l gel is game as they make 'em, on' I reckon she's right sweet If she on'y gits a chance. I'nHtwine, I see several signs of pay dirt this afternoon an' evenin as I rcrkon Snndy done the same. She's been tniilln' h?r dnd nil owr h 1 an' creation, talk in' like him, sweartn' Uka him, act In' Uke tho. Never sue "Hs kissed me while I was aslsap, the 0 d skunk, flared Molly. cro w contsu I Top oil each meal with a I sweet In bit ol the form 1 of WRIGLEVS. lit satisfies the sweet tooth and M aids digestion. I Pleasure and Ut combined. STRAIILFEELS f" UKENEWMAN ; Portland Citizen Declares Tan-- Jac Completely Overcame vs Stomach Troubles. J. P. Strahl, 6517 88th St, Portland, Oregon, speaking of his experlencs J""""" with Tanlac, says: "Tanlac has ended my stomach trou . ble, built me up eighteen pounds and I now enjoy the beat health of my Ufa. But for two years before I got Tanlac stomach trouble had ma In Its grip, " and all sorts of ailments kept bobbing ; up to cause mo misery. Scarcely any-thin- g I ate agreed with me. and I kept I s falling off till I was sixteen pounds underweight Gas on my stonmch . .( bloated me till I could hardly breathe. I had attacks of biliousness and had to be all the time taking laxatives. 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Pink-- J. ham's Vegetable Compound T. to Other Mothers j Windom, Minn. '1 waa so run-dow- n f that I was just pood for nothing. I was to liimiiiiiiiiiimii 1 1 become the mother ( ?, MT'tl to go through with ' ? S: it I took Lydia E. ' A. Pinkham's Vegeta- - '". Dla Compound, and 0 I it has surely done all t k , 'j I could ask it to do 15.'; ''CTr' and I am telling all f ' wl my friend9 about it ' .fU I Ihaveanicebigbaby i . v will 1,1 pjj am fecling i fine. You may use thia letter to help i other sick mothers." Mrs. C. A. I MoedE, Box 634, Windom, Minn. ' My First Child j Glen Allen, Alabama. "I have been h benefited by taking Lydia E. ) Preatly Vegetable Compound for 5 bearing-dow- n feelings and pains. 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