Show 7 WOMA PETER B KYNE au TIIE THE STOMY STO THUS PAH A it mary efland land all castern girl irl is 1 lured to arl rl zona ael by the 6 advert se seil ats lt of 0 the wagon n wheel dude d ranch bura operated by y ml bla and pa burdan she be ls is alet ill at abe tl station on by len ll ealey 6 ey rodeo who tells her that hat the 1 h acon B ull gileel has sone gone out ot of business bus 1 h LM len takes her to phoenix here h hap lens L aunt at margaret maxi hearing that the wagon wheel banch ila 11 1 1 broke 11 ham byll henley sr lens ln dad purchased th the ca burdan notes note from the 0 bank 11 3 wants complete control while n at phoenix len enters the rodeo drawing a broncho known as ad mad blad hatter toughest horse in the west ham liedley bets els his hi ton son len three to one that len wont on t be able to stay on mad hatter CHAPTER V you hear that you awag ng the old man almost yelled even strangers realize you been a disgrace to the family ile he smiled at mary with great appreciation of her support and held out his glass to clink with hers im not surprised redheads red heads is always smart mary thought len henley considerably less exuberant than his fa ther who went on his voice raised an octave under the stress of his emotion the son of a gun breeds back to my old man miss sutherland and my poppy pappy was the most contrary man that ever helped arizona to statehood if you asked him nice to do something hed bust a halestrap hame strap to do it but if you give him an order hed get rebellious right off the ladies donned their wraps presently and the party motored out to the phoenix country club in ham henleys Hen leys car tile the orchestra was playing as they entered the dining room so len appropriated mary for a dance while his father led mrs maxwell to the table well he announced as they circled the small dance floor my old man dinner clothes cow mans fine boots black sombrero and his own tobacco and cigarette papers I 1 hope like him 1 I hope I 1 shall he requires knowing however although I 1 have half a suspicion his bark is is very much worse than his bite I 1 gathered that you seen each other for a long time we dont travel the same roads miss sutherland its nice nice to think meet frequently quent ly now that you have decided to buy the wagon wheel ranch she added after a long pause why not leave the wade brothers to somebody else I 1 have a suspicion your father is is in in a mood tonight to give you half his kingdom but first hell make me demonstrate I 1 can manage it capably and profitably so I 1 think ill glean my experience on a job that ill boss then if there should arise arise necessity for a good job of criticism or scolding ill do it 1 I could wish you made that bet with him don leonardo 1 I could too but he asked for it and I 1 gave it to him because there was a certain malice behind his desire well not malice really but that hateful this hurts me more than it does you formula of fatherhood in m the woodshed he thinks im conceited about my rough riding and that its his duty as my father to take a modicum of that conceit out of me also hed like to wreck me financially because he thinks that the older I 1 grow and the poorer I 1 become the easier easier it will be to break down my resolve never to enter his employ happiness means more to me than money greatly in excess of reasonable needs so pappy going to slip the burden of his assets to me 1 I cant quarrel with that philosophy len her I 1 thoughts shifted abruptly 1 I 1 imagine had you been inspired this morning to buy the wagon wheel ranch instead of this evening y you ou would not have risked a couple of thousand dollars to gamble on yourself the principal reason why I 1 decided to buy the if one handicaps that horse on his past performances three to one on him are fair odds ard and lie he has already won von over you three times true but I 1 learned the secret of his fighting style since silice then ive watched him unload fifty good men and ive noticed he never changes his technique but tomorrow ill ride that old cha champ pl i on 01 to a squealing finish ill not oven even permit the nick ick up men to take tae off I 1 m p to ride mad hatter until his boing ig ge heart a rt breaks and he stands bands still and says boy you w win in it must be very comforting she mused to possess that sort of self confidence to do all ones own thinking and make all ones 0 jovn wn plans my ay iy life runs in a groo groove ve lipe the ball on a roulette wheel ivory 11 but in the end lie he rennin reminded ded her er the ball always POPS out of the I 1 groove wish S I 1 had a job ob don leonardo leonad id like to make some mon for the jun fun of making it to work ork ey v because it is not an easy t a task ata at throttle it to get it down and on small touch 1 perhaps we have a 0 of atavist 1 liere he miss sutherland walked great grandmother my covered wagon and pun punched ched b bes 0 side de a missouri to oxen sen from laid and she california cr amento father en ell route and bore re my ny grandfather frand with her indians herself two got rifle after the in brothers kenduk kentucky y deans had put so many arrows in him he looked like a porcupine youve been around a great deal 1 I 1 mean youve seen more of what people call life than I 1 have miss sutherland call me mary len I 1 1 I thanks hanks ive been wanting to out but remembered the old adage that breeds eds contempt and I 1 bisk risk contempt from you have nave you ever seen a case of love loe at farst sight 1 I have seen what turned out to be ba infatuation at first sight do you believe its possible for one to fall in love at first sight of the love object len asked in diagnosing a disease doctors often make the mistake of confusing the symptoms hence its not surprising pris ing that the symptoms of true love and infatuation always confuse the patient who will insist on being his own doctor love is is a profound emotion and infatuation is is a hallucination well when one feels all ho inside when his feeling is one of worshipfulness and admiration for quality qui lity when hed swim a river river full of hungry crocodiles to fight three worlds champions on the farther bank because they were in his way and if he was unhappy about it because his circumstances indicated he should keep his mouth shut why you old Polly annal you know that true love like that is only found in victorian novels that N W 7 call me mary len something sloppy and synthetic has taken its place in the modern world not one hundred per cent for instance you could not possibly in induce in in any man anything sloppy or synthetic what worries me is that the thing to do is is ascertain what this girl thinks of you don leonardo and usually discovered by asking chos talking about me im discussing a hypothetical case im talking about you and youre not a hypothetical case did the girl fall in in love with you at first sight 1 I dont know and I 1 dont dare ask for sundry sound reasons 1 11 I can appreciate them well ill set your mind at ease the girl did fall in in love with you at first sight how do you know she help it the girl who could help it would be a monstrosity st at that instant somewhere in the club house the fuse controlling the I 1 light ight circuit in the dining room and lounge blew out and they stood in inky darkness of course the dancing ceased although the trumpet player being a wag immediately played dancing in the dark and fully aware that he should not do it aware that nut he was getting himself se if into deep water close to the shore aware only that he was no long longer er responsible for his actions which n now ow appeared to be controlled by an imp len henley drew mary close to him miraculously found her face uplifted to his and kissed her three times breathlessly tell me she whispered ask me ine it synthetic or sloppy he whispered back im a broken min man ill never be the same I 1 love you how about you oh darling im so glad her lips came up again and met his and he held her and she felt the hard regular beat of his heart against her breast promise me never grow up she whispered and ill always love you and never leave you the spirit of the Hass yampa he said makes strong medicine doean doesn t he write your own ticket the lights came on lind and the music started but in their hearts was the music of the spheres the melody of a i love that had had a quick birth md and might be destined to die as quickly luick ly but with that continue con contingency tinge ncy they were happily not concer concerned ned tor for time the tomb builder also builds castles in spaine when they returned to the table hamilton henley gave them both sharp barp looks in which pride and curiosity were mingled lie said to mary what business is your father in young lady and murmured when informed that her father had no occupation unless that of killing time could be considered one ile he pondered this 1 I should have retired long ago myself he announced noun ced only I 1 been afraid to I 1 know what to do with my time it takes a smarter man than I 1 be to make his pile an retire an chuck the habit 0 work the art 0 has got to be learnt when a fellers young like len my father started learning it in his bis crib 1 I see your grandfather done it all eh no the drone strain in ift our family sprang from my great grandea ther who went to california in 1849 lie he was a smart yankee and quickly discovered that gold was something miners slaved and starved to acquire in order that they might enjoy brief periods of riotous living so in my ancestor decided to supply the riotous living and engaged in the business ot of retailing squirrel whisky the price of a drink was a pinch of gold dust from a miners poke and great grandfather had an unusually large thumb and forefinger eventually he employed both hands and grabbed everything in in sight that tale drew a hearty laugh flip from 0 m hamilton henley well you aint a stuck up dude at any rate he complimented her lens great grandfather was one 0 the first settlers in arizona an while the grab bin was good an he had the grab bin instinct the indians leave him no time to grab all he collected was the scalps 0 apaches twenty eight of em an then got himself killed resen res entin tm an insult to his 0 scalps A feller put a piece in the paper cl almin aimin three 0 the old mans scalps was mexican it was marys turn to laugh it would appear she said that the old grecian spirit frozen in the henley veins hamilton henley said to his son this dude is good company son smart as a fox and easy to look at but she wont do for you lie he spoke in spanish mary was to discover that a great many native arizonans Arizo nans are lingual bilingual bi be careful son id have kissed her too at your age R remember member a man has to put on some age before lie he gets hoss sense youre just so methin for her to amuse herself with I 1 know because you got a speck 0 her war paint or on the corner of your mouth his son thanked him for this information and casually wiped his hia mouth hamilton henley spoke again to his son in spanish not that 1 I blame you son it aint often a fuse blows out and leaves you in the dark for half a minute with a bashin young woman like this one A fellers got to smother his opportunities tuni ties 1 I suggest you start getting accustomed cus tomed to her now father because im liable to marry her in s spite pite of hell and high water you would ham henley replied trust you to make a foot fool of yourself and after ashes lived with you about a n year shell tell you east is east and west is west an leave you flat the baby with her what I 1 have I 1 hold it if she leaves me it will be my fault and ill take it on the chin ill not be embittered like you ham henley turned to mary what brought you bo out to arizona 1 I thought a change would do me good mothers in europe and fathers big game shooting in british east africa hamilton henley thought she wants a chango change 0 scene on an a change 0 men admirers I 1 knew she was dangerous of course she kissed my son when the lights went out her kind aint got no reserve they help themselves to whatever they want aloud he asked can you cook certainly r A t suppose you married a feller that coul ant afford to hire a cali cai for you margaret maxwell noticed that len appeared to be having difficulty subduing some slight internal disturbance tur bance she did not speak spanish and she did not know how this which her womans comans intuition warned her was an undeclared war had started however she decided to find out so to that end said len im not so old and stiff in the knees I 1 enjoy another dance with you then she added suppose we leave these two to get better acquainted quain ted out on the dance floor with len she said im not color blind dear and neither is your father that adorable girl kissed you half a dozen times he confessed with huge satisfaction 1 I slipped out and gave the colored bartender an honorarium to pull the electric switch for thirty seconds TO BE CONTINUED |