Show N ar GUNLOCK a RANCH in by mm FRANK ii 11 SPEARMAN copyright frank if spearman I 1 service CHAPTER XIV continued 20 what s the matter stormed den ison wild with the delay just a minute muttered parda loe I 1 forgot something be right back Par daloe spurred back to the jail jall bince while hile his compani companions ow counted time he rejoined them after three minutes that seemed to denison thir ty for gods sakel sake I 1 are you ready now denison chopped off the ards furiously all set bill returned Par daloe peacefully you hustled me so I 1 got the wrong hat boy denison was waspish with ampa tience vence man alive what difference does it make what hat you wear he demanded testily A whole lot of difference returned Par daloe with warmth had on my new hat bat it might git plugged three men rode with denison that night Par daloe bob scott and frying pan the ponies were fresh and the men eager they stopped at gunlock A light was still burning in the living room of the ranch house when the men pulled up in the yard denison sprang from the saddle ran to the door and knocked chos there were the low ards from within Is that you jane its it s bill she flung the door open bill she cried what are you doing here 1 I I think I 1 im in needed here hows how s henry oh he hes s badly wounded bill how did you know bob scott and john frying pan have strict orders to bring me ranch news of the kind that came today ben page rode in to get dr carpy tell me quickly dear what nap hap bened this afternoon he urged mccrossen rode out to get some things so he said it was sitting here sewing bill when in walked mccros sen he ile said he was going away tor for good I 1 said I 1 wished him luck jane hesitated a moment he asked me to kiss him good by I 1 said no he got angry and swore he d take as many as he wanted I 1 tried to run to the front door he ile caught me and I 1 was fighting him in his arms when henry walked in at the kitchen door henry told him to let go of me that man acted like a tiger he turned on get out of here he shouted I 1 begged to protect me he dr drew ew his gun gunt let go that giri I 1 said mccrossen turned on henry his gun in his hand henry didn dian t dare fire for fear of hitting me mccrossen fired point blank at henry and he tell fell in a heap I 1 screamed tore myself loose and ran out the front door and hid behind a tree mccrossen walked out as cool as could be put up his gun mounted and rode away bill I 1 im in glad you re here I 1 I 1 dont don t f feel eel safe a minute I 1 he comforted her as best he could I 1 must see how bad henry is hurt then I 1 im in off with Par daloe and bob scott after mccrossen hes res running off steers tonight with jane he went to the bed on which had been laid looked pleasantly surprised as jane held up the lamp and he saw denison well bill he said coolly the old foreman Is us up today henry where are you hit in the side bill but it ain aint t over serious you see mccrossen jane told me henry don dont t waste any strength talking when I 1 seen his game to hold jane tor for a shield I 1 made up my mind to drop at his first shot I 1 you did a good job N ow keep quiet he told of the word he had from tb the indians that a bunch of two and three i harolds ear olds were to be run off that night that george plenty bear was watching in lit the hills and that he denison and Par daloe hoped to pick up the trail without much delay over the rim of the hills a full moon was rising into a cloudless sky jane with tightened lips her heart pounding in her throat her straining eyes tear less stood in the open doorway watch ing the ghostly figures of the tour four horsemen silhouetted against the sky as they made their way up the ridge that led to the hill divide from the moment denison and his companions crossed the divide they were riding into enemy country frying pan was asked to strike farther down and across the reserva tion the rendezvous had been fixed at a point on deep creek with the hills behind them denison scott and Par daloe made their way down the creek breaks to the bench lands they were aware of a rough cattle trail along the east bank of the crek but the night as they halted on the creek bench was silent denison conjectured wrongly that the cattle had been driven past this point working carefully downstream through clumps of willows and alders along the benches scott pushed ahead to locate the phantom frying pan the lone indian after a time came down from the hills lie ile was taciturn no body go by was all he said denison questioned him closely with out shaking his certainty that neither cattle nor horsemen had passed down the east bank the west bank where the pursuers were now halted was impassable for cattle they ve taken another trail bob declared denison to scott there s an overgrown trail through the timber to the south its a long way around and rough and they toz took it to throw off pursuit but that may m ay iy beat them iet how so they ve got to double back lower downstream to strike deep creek again with the cattle well we 11 play it so anyway its into the brush for us we can cant t cross the horses here it if I 1 in wrong and they re above us yet it its s safer to stick to this side any way ray where can they strike the creel 2 about a mile above the old bridge how we goin to get to them IN eteve e e got to cross that bridge scott smiled a sickly smile that bridges been fallin to pieces for lo 10 years john said denison to frying pan feel out the scrub for us lets go I 1 the riding was rough and the pace through the chaparral grueling the four men reached a point where here the creek bottom opened from a canyon out on low rough country and the rising moon shed more light we re a mile yet above the bridge said denison you and john ride up the canyon wall a ways bob and take another look he suggested the indians came back with news there theres s so methin looks like left of a campfire campf lre near the arld bridge e push on I 1 exclaimed denison they may have halted there the riding grew worse thickets be came almost impassable there never JP their hands went haltingly up had deen a trail down the west bank and the job called tor for dogged en durance scratched and torn the tour four reached an open breathing space where rock and shale ended the fight through the scrub the moon clearing the moun moon tain fain peaks revealed at a distance below the abandoned bridge not far from it denison could discern embers of the campfire campf lre frying pan had re ported where there theres s been a fire there theres s been men said denison they may be there yet but we weve ve got to watch both sides of the creek suppose you bob and frying pan get over to the east bank how I 1 the bridge scott grinned but shook his head there s ten on feet of gone in one place from the floor of the old bridge nobody can cross that we could maybe crawl across in the day time not now wei e got to get across somehow insisted denison bob Is there any place up or down the creek where you and john can get ON oer er not with horses well we must stop the cattle and whoever s with em get over some how after you where wheres s the planking off the bridge the east end that s bad no matter dust along two shots from you will bring me over anyway you stop anybody that comes along with the beef well we 11 leave the horses here with Par daloe and while you re getting over try to find out who these fellows are below at the fire tire bill he lie turned to pard aloe if I 1 need you III whistle 0 K assented the lanky pard aloe slipping off his horse and taking his rifle denison crept crawled and rolled down the slope towards the dy ing fire for a little way he could be seen and heard then he vanished into the shadows denison though anxious to get at what lay ahead of him was forced to work down the slope slowly within a long earshot of the dying fire he thought he heard voices since the men were still there renewed caution was called for creeping over a sandy bit of botto bottomland raland dragging his rifle after him he could hear the voices quite plainly he lie made out two voices but tins this gave no assurance that one or wore more men might not be asleep flattening on the sand he its listened t ened the fire and the men were not over fifty feet away denison could hear their words they were talking eng though one voice was guttural and revealed a mexican As they were ob waiting for someone who had failed to appear cold and too lazy to keep up their fire denison made no bones about intruding on the pair and whoever might be with them the first the two men heard from him was a low but plain command pitch up bos the startled pair jumped to their feet up I 1 put cm em up came a sharper order their hands went haltingly up they 1001 ed around to see where the voice came from and while they 1001 ed they heard a short v wh h and saw a man emerge from the chaparral not twenty feet away who the hell pre are you demanded the smaller man of the pair with a bluster his voice betrayed him to denison I 1 in here same as you are to meet some cattle coming down the creek returned denison I 1 in going to help iou ou clubfoot hands up damn you keep em where they arel while he spoke he heard Par daloe cluttering through the thicket bill he added as Par daloe appeared bring down the horses will you these boys are waiting for the cat tie tle same as we ve are explained den ison when Par rard daloe aloe reappeared we don t need four hands on the job take their guns tie em up till we get straight Par daloe tying lying the mounts stamped forward gun in hand he ile searched the pair while clubfoot Club toot protested pro canely at the outrage I 1 in m here to take oner 0 er cattle that belong to me bought and paid tor for stormed the butcher before Par daloe hid had finished roping the butcher and his helper a shot was heard from far across the creek denison started almost as if the bullet had struck him NN while hile he listened with every nerve on edge a complete silence followed it was not a fight was it a signal almost five minutes passed when a second shot rang into the night den ison tried to read the riddle the first shot had come from a revolver the second sharper and less open had come from a rifle it all dawned on denison they were ere signal shots ile whirled toward Par rard datoe atoe hand me clubfoot s gun bill he said securing the gun he fired it twice in the air some guesswork here clubfoot he remarked emptying and tossing the gun on the ground 1 I don dont t know ow whether your answer was to be one or two scarcely were the words out of his mouth when a spatter of revolver shots rang across the creel bill exclaimed denison a fight if tl ese birds make you the least trouble shoot em I 1 im in going over how you coln over called par daloe quickest way I 1 can bill he shouted the bridge he ile was running for his horse you re crazy it 11 drop you a hun dred feet man mani I 1 shouted Par daloe watch your prisoners I 1 denison was galloping away Par daloe petrified watched the dis appearing horseman nothing but the sharp echo echo on his ears of flying hoofs convinced him he was not dreaming for he never would have believed sober bill denison would take so slender a chance of getting across the creek alive the clatter of hoots hoofs grew fainter at times they ceased and the old frontiersman s breath choked him then as it if in answer to his straining ears came the hollow sound of hoof beats on wood denison had bad reached the bridge an instant later there came into Par Pard daloe aloes s sight la in the distant moonlight the ghostlike figure of a horse flying across the rotten bridge par daloe divined at once that the pony had thrown his rider then of a sud den the beast whirled with a spring and as if somehow guided shot ahead again he was a third of the way over Par daloe s jaws laws came together squarely and comfortably for he now understood denison was on that horse clinging to its back like ille a pan ther but there was still the east end plank gap to cross scott had said the he big one was ten feet but he had not seen it for a year it might easily be twelve or fifteen feet suppose it were twenty IN with ith denison more than halfway across the clatter of hoofs grew faint er one two three rifle shots rang out in fairly quick succession the rider was out of sight Par daloe ran to higher ground try as he would he could not see a thing on the bridge but now and again he could hear the faint hoof beats they ceased then there was a silence then a faint distant shout to this day the gap that denison jumped has never been measured the reckless rider bad had been spotted when he was less than halfway across mccrossen riding behind the cattle had galloped for forward ward when It ebstock ahead was vas intercepted and questioned by scott the half breed breeds s gun signals had been taken by as an at tack and he had fired back before either side beally knew what it was all about they were exchanging shots but the in instant S tant mccrossen OSS en sa saw w the horse dashing along the rotten bridge his sixth sense of danger guessed the rider for an enemy and without a moment moments s hesitation he trained a rifle on him and fired TO BE CONTINUED |