Show i 1 i 1 h esy WOMAN py VV N U r L R V IC L THE THUS ran raft mary blary sutherland an castern IS astern 91 erl 1 Is lured to ati art zona lona by the wheel advent sel oct of 0 the lilt 11 a torl dude ra ranch ch ia fl operated ty by ml ala a ind 1 d durdan urdan she it 1 li e met let at the sui station tion b by aca y iea t the ille rodeo e I 1 at I 1 phoenix h onix len enters the lie brone bronc slad mad hitter hitler mary lear learns Is that leu len loves her and that his father disapproves she wagers one thou thousand tholand and to three thousand that len will ride tin tile horse ile he dots AOS but Is injured alary now buys the lie ilir dan equity in wagon wheel out bidding alain ham kellne the ranch Is his offers it to his son learning that mary dots does not have the money to pay for or tile the notes lie ile owns he fi immediate foreclosure ion closure CHAPTER XI presently ma jangled a cow cour bell so mary know knew luncheon was ready pa was ready too as likewise a dark man with handlebar handle bar mustaches whom pa introduced without naming liim him as the deputy sheriff guarding everything the injured dude spinster had attached under the judgment rendered her against the berdans Bur dans the democracy of the southwest was apparent for the deputy sheriff had been invited to eat with the new owner and her employees plo mary decided to change that custom promptly luncheon had just been finished when the dog commenced to bark and into the ranch yard rolled pedro with len henleys Hen leys pickup pick up truck and lens two horses in the trailer attached behind came the old sedan and the trailer house with a pretty brunette young woman driving in g and beside her on the seat two small boys about rive five years old who appeared to be twins the berdans gave gare pedro unstinted welcome and pedro was plainly surprised at seeing mary present ile he introduced his wife carlotta carlott and his two sons victoriano anda and juan uan and pa burdan said meet the new owner a 0 1 tle wagon wheel pedro this is miss mary sutherland friend a 0 lens he added parenthetically pedro bowed low and almost swept the ground with his sombrero but ho he did not indicate that he and mary hal hai met before ills his wife him in spanish how is is this my pedro we have been sent out here by don hamilton she pronounced it hamil tone and now we are informed this lady is the owner 1 I am embarrassed said pedro you need not be pedro mary assured him until yesterday don hamilton felt so assured the ranch would be his following some trifling legal formalities that he anticipated his right to send you out here to represent his interests but s since I 1 n C e then the situation has changed and it is now my pleasure to welcome you to the wagon wheel mrs durdan burdan you will please assign the ortiz family to one of the dude cottages and then prepare lunCh luncheon eDn for them thein we thank you dona maria said pedro 1 I was pretty tired camping out on the deserted rodeo grounds so I 1 came in to see don Ha miltone to ask what I 1 should do with the property of don leonardo Leo naido 1 I am about to buy the wagon wheel ranch he told me take the property of my son out there and bring your family with you and look alter after things for rile me you and your family and don leonardos property are welcome here pedro until other arrangements can be made for you don leonardo would not be happy if he thought ought a stranger was in charge of his horses the cattle on the wagon wheel belong to don hamilton so if lie he desires you to do something tor for him in in connection with them you must remain to do so friter enter your house so pedro and his family entered their house and carried in in alth with them an assortment of groceries while alary continued her inspection of the ranch headquarters and after luncheon ma gurdan burdan drafted carlotta for a brisk sweeping and dusting campaign in what wha t she railed called the dude house at marys direction she set a small table before the fireplace in the living r room and ana fireplace in r room that night mary marr ate dinner in the isolation her poi position tion as boss of the rancho demanded C carlotta arlotta very cry prettily asked permission it to D serve her in the capacity of waitress and maid 11 in which prior to her ter marriage slie she had had some experience per mid and mar mary promptly engaged her on salary sit she had alicade unpacked marys t trunks she could launder fin fine garments and was an expert needlewoman and hlaic fa felt it a little recession of the suspicion acion that she was as a hardy pioneer when upon retiring she found a fire in the small open fireplace in lier her room her bed turned down and her nightgown robe and slippers laid out the rhe following morning pedro sad bad died lens horses and invited her to ride with ill hin him over the home ranch sile she accepted nor did she consider it worth while to tl inform him that bird of passage on but a she he was aa wheel and not remotely wagon the interested in acquiring it for an investment ment that hor her presence here vet result it of impulse the the rest will was s ranch she d discovered sc con consisted home bome of three sections contiguous to practically 1 level mesa each other a PI hundred feet above rising perhaps a 1 the little valley in which the ranch headquarters stood it stretched about half a mile wide between the river and the northern hills and about three I 1 miles long toward the southwest and in general following the course of the santa maria toward which it sloped almost imperceptibly so this is the home ranch she said disgustedly well pedro I 1 give a dime an acre for it 1 although I 1 will admit it raises a bigger b ig ger and better crop of worthless woith less shrubs than one will find out on the desert and the state bank of arizona loaned ten thousand dollars on it had the board of directors been recruited in an insane asylum aSyl LIM smiled his kindly gentle smile you do not understand dona maria this is rich land otherwise there here would not be such a splendid growth on it I 1 any kind of growth on an poor land is scrubby but this growth although worthless is magnificently worthless if cleared this would make good dry farming land although one can secure water at from fifty to sixty feet and a generous and constant flow pumped with a gasoline engine it would irrigate many valuable crops ile he led her to a lane about forty feet wide that stretched through tile the jungle and lost itself over the horizon and they rode down it at a time when senor burdan had some zif I 1 I 1 M well ivell pedro I 1 give a dinie dime an acre for it ready money lie he had a tr tractor actor willa blader on it what we call a bull dozer come in here and breech this lane pedro explained this thi i growth is all shallow tooted and the he blader thrust it to one side four trips up and down the length of tile the horne home ranch and the job was done then senor burdan had a well driller come in with his rig and drill halt half a dozen fifty foot wells to prove the existence of the water at that high level then what happened happen Ld the money he planned to spend to clear this land was then invested in in a gold mine it is is still there but ile he did clear one hundred and sixty acres along the river forty acres lie he farmed for hay forty acres he sowed bowed to grass for horse pasture and forty acres he planted to pecan trees and grapefruit on this cleared land which ho he thus gave value the bank made the loan but took in tile the land for additional security then a bad frost kilk killed d the grapefruit trees tree s which was all right because senor burdan kr knew bew nothing about grapefruit culture anyhow u and it developed he had p planted the wrong kind of pecans there has never bren been br en a crop worth har vesting mary 1 laughed lug hod inwardly poor pa born to futility pedro went on this mesa land is very rich in volcanic ash it is alluvial the result of erosion from the hills and it is not deep enough for alfalfa but any crop that grows in arizona will grow abundantly here don leonardo a always knew that one day the bur dans would lose the wagon wheel and it was his hope that when that happened lie he would ha have ve enough capital to buy it a and nd work it out of diba alas when the opportunity arose he was in a hospital unable to take advantage of it mary had a feeling that pedro was trying to interest her in lens dream so because it had beer been lens dream s she lie became inter interested interests estL J what would woud don leonardo have planted here sile she asked if fate had willed that he should own this rench rhodes grass dona maria imported from rhodesia in south africa it grows tall and luxuriantly it has a tolerance for alkali as high is as three per cent it is a perennial very nutritious does well on poor land and is very drouth resistant of course on rian land with irrigation it would pro prove vo a great forage crop for it can be cut cu t for hay or grazed indeed who told don leonardo all this ile he learned it at the university of arizona he had this soil tested there for don leonardo is not one to leap before lie he looks and he looked into the future and saw himself the owner of nearly two t wo thousand acres of pasturage that would support three thousand cows and their increase ile he would have built up a herd of pure breo bre to sell to other cattlemen for breeding stock at prices double or triple what they would bring for beet beef with this home ranch developed and under fence he would have abandoned the open range there would be no roundups round ups lie would have a short payroll pay roll and there would be no hance chance for thieves to run his cattle oil oft in trucks 1 poor don Leo leonardo 1 if lie he were a crybaby cry baby he would weep when he reflects on what lie he lost that he might triumph over mad hatter I 1 warned him not to stay too long on that brute but lie he would not listen to me ile he overestimated over estimated his strength and now pedro spread ills his hands despairingly so this was what she had deprived d 2 him of when she made th thai foolish bet with ills his father to win win that bet for her lie he had taken a risk that had cost him the dearest wish of his life mary could have hava wept and then came the thought it if he had the home ranch he need the open state range so he would be safe from clu clashes with cattle thieves thieve sl and I 1 bought the tha state range lease to save him from that tumble tom is a brother ol of minel mina of course pedro went on as they th ey rode along don leonardo wo would uld not have given up the state lease until he had the home ranch in shape and well stocked and to earn the money to do this he would have had to run cattle on the open range it would have been many years before ills his dream came true but what of that one must work and one must fight to be happy and is life not like a tunnel one trav travels L Is far in the darkness and then co comes ML A the light at the other end and it grows brighter and brighter until one emerges into the sunshine and out there in the sunshine is a cemetery she said bitterly pedro I 1 think I 1 shall be happier if I 1 too do some working and fighting fortunately I 1 shall not have to live liva my life in a tunnel I 1 have the power to make my entrance and my exit swiftly like a train ile he pulled up his horse and looked at her eagerly ills his brown hand saw the landscape you mean you will take up the dream of don leonardo she nodded 1 I live a very useless life pedro I 1 do nothing to justify my existence the thought has just come to me that it might be fun to make millions of blades it 0 gross grass grow where none have grown before that hat there may be some quiet satisfaction in doing my bit toward feeding the world dona maria said pedro with willi deep feeling you ire are a different dude lady at the moment I 1 am employed by don hamilton henley but bul I 1 would it might be my fortune to help you with this dream I 1 am only a poor man but I 1 am not stupid I 1 have been to high school in this country and I 1 am not a peon my afy father was a ile he was killed in the madero revolution don hamilton found me at agua prieto prieta with tile the soldiers there was a big tight there and I 1 was sent across the line I 1 was just a poor little fellow and so frightened well I 1 am an american citizen now when they returned to headquarters mary borrowed the station wagon and asked pedro to drive her in to congress junction where she telephoned to sheriff hank flank wade at prescott Pr cscott the county seat this is miss mary sutherland speaking sheriff wade she announced and spelled out her name for him 1 I 1 have just purchased the wagon wheel ranch and find on it one 0 of your deputies guarding a couple ol 01 cows some rather obsolescent ponies es that ought to be retired on PON pension this livestock is is being beine held on my property and fed ora on my hay for I 1 took that over with the real estate and improvements also the water those animals drink is mine and it attached and cant be and I 1 dont want that livestock livestock 0 or r that rusty old equip equipment mem t cluttering terin g up U p my ranch after today she hoard heard the sheriff laugh softly what would you begrudge a critter a bite to eat an a drink a 0 cold water 1 I would mary laughed back youre a dude I 1 take it yes what they call me out here when she returned to the ranch she said to ma ala burdan mrs burdan sheriff wade will bo be lunching with me tomorrow so please have an extra special luncheon ma whistled that aint goin to be so pleasant miss sutherland sherife wades three sons was prosecuted by pa here a little while back for st ealin our cattle pa caught em cm cold in the act got the drop on em an arrested em cm but they beat the case twice so it got thrower out 0 court TO DE BE CONTINUED |