Show aa U r 11 B F e j CHANNING WIRE aw n W N I 1 IL P E L r A S E f TOM ARNOL alln orar engaged by co 0 the cross T to act ct its as trail boss bosa n en the drive from southern V texas to ogallala in t the spring S of 1875 tom S with we to ton n an and d dauSi ditc dh ater tc STEVE E and JOY OY are 0 v 1 to i Us t wyo wins ming tom deliver must deliver longhorns loBB horn to the indian gindlin agent by september I 1 or lose a profitable potable contract low lew hu has rea sort oa to believe that the indian supply co is 1 trying to delay the tie cross cro T herd lit lie suspects that cly clay steve stev sund and ED are in lome game way connected with the he company but he does not nat wish to make charges until he Is ure sure the drive gets ens started but CLAY MANNING foreman and ED a nv now hand rebel it at lews lew s orders CHAPTER VI from the point he saw steve and clay and gather far behind him they rode like that for most of the afternoon the two white topped wagons had vanished early northward over a swell of ground it was almost dark when he saw owl heads plume of cf smoke he waved joe wheat up to take his place to Quarter night he said im going on there was something he wanted to look at before the longhorns hoofs trampled out all sign ills his knowledge that cross T horses had been run up crazy woman creek to these plains had gnawed inside of him its puzzle only half clear now a deep notch in the plains edge to the east marked the entrance to crazy woman while on oil on his left was the tank a natural hollow covering several acres it still held enough muddy water he saw from the winters rain ram and brought himself to a sudden stop next moment it was clear enough in his mind that the indian supply herd had needed horses and had got them b by y trading cross T stock via the no new w mexico exchange the men who had caught him near crazy woman were not only rustlers but pa part t of f the indian supply crew yet what what still had no answer was clay mannings part in that deal approaching camp where the two wagons had stopped beside the tanks rim he saw the charred embers of other camps near the cooks alre owl head rose from stirring something 0 in in a dutch oven and jerked e aked a thumb toward them what do you make of that he say no use spreading what he knew but moonlight balley bailey driving ahead of the longhorns with his horse herd had cut that trail from crazy woman he was riding in in between the wagons now a small brown man with a b bullfrog voice by judas lewt he burst out 1 I know where our saddle stock went all right keep it to yourself keep ill moonlights round simple face turned dusty red toms ribbed me plenty for losin horses if I 1 listened to clay him tellin me there was no use lookin moonlight he said shut apt lie he had seen the canvas of joys wagon open now you mindl then he heard her voice behind him lew come here he wheeled his horse around she was sitting on the blankets of her bed her hat off and her dark hair falling loose what was moonlight saying nothing he said your wrangler sleeps out in in the moon too much ile he sees things no it was about the h horses 0 and ive been thinking it possible for twenty or thirty head to vanish the way they did what has moonlight found he want to worry her with mysteries and yet he want this discovery to get back to clay manning either he said that S right it was about the horses moonlight thinks he has the answer I 1 dont think he has but let it go for now will you dont talk she nodded and smiled a little 1 I learned to keep things to myself lew long ago ive had such a good example from you men 11 he grinned and yet riling from her he hated that any doubt and suspicion should begin to trouble her so early on the trail long before lew felt an uneasiness ess himself the cattle were smelling something in in the air ile he had marked six days in his logbook estimating ti one hundred miles when they came that late afternoon to the first stream bed on the plains pointing the herd into it he searched on north for the double mountain landmark and saw only the u unbroken horizon hard and sharp again against t the sky there was no wa warning aning one anc moment all the camp made its picture clear before his eyes tom arnold stood with a tin cup waiting for his coffee joy and steve were vere sitting on the tongue of her wagon in one of their rare times together three dim shaped riders were coming in for their meal the next nest instant an unseen n hand struck the campfire scattering its red coals outward for a li hundred undred feet the wagon con canvases convass vase s bellied and slapped 0 d the bows bos like pistol shots the stars were suddenly and the winds full force with its gone coking choking dust was something L lt zt t a man had to lean into strongly no one needed ills his yelled men were already running g in the ditch dark toward their borses b yet no sound broke the almost silent thrust of the wind here on the flat plain with nothing to strike against it made only a thin hiss through the short grass then the ragged black pool was ahead of him he could see the way they had swung north now in the direction the wind was blowing and knew they were held from a run because no leader had started it off their tight fear had to be broken lie he understood the slim chance a man would have caught in that mass if it jumped suddenly into its blind stampede but there was no other way he rode directly in among the hard unyielding bodies the familiarity of a horseman his voice lifted in a wordless crooning seemed to ease their dumb brains they began to move aside they brought their heads down he crowded on beavin weaving g toward thi the middle there were other riders around aro u nd him in the dusty dark ghost shapes hapes s appeared higher than the ridgepole rid backs and vanished until after midnight he had a certain hope these storms came up with the suddenness of a hurricane then often ended in a short time as abruptly as they had come but at midnight the wind was still rising with a harder thrust it would not end soon by three it was blowing with a strength that made his horse unsteady he knew the time by the strange unearthly light beginning to show a little of the herd 05 A P 01 f ka Z Z 11 a breakfast lew got some beans with plenty of sand around him their low moaning complaint had gone on these thee hours they began to move now in a solid way too tired to stand any longer too restless to lie down riding back in in the he first dusty brown light of dawn lie he saw that moonlight bailey had already met one danger by leading four mares on picket ropes most of the horses were crowding up close they would not desert their ladies jim hope wa was s riding behind thorn them to catch any drift from the campf campfire lre loading up his kegs for an early start owl head yelled breakfast lew got some beans with plenty of sandi sand I 1 ile he shook his head and rode on to where joys mules were harnessed she was up on the wagon seat with a handkerchief across her nose and MOU mouth th ready to drive ile he stepped down and tied the mules halter ropes to the tail gate of the chuc chuck k wagon ile he had to shout above ape the slapping rattle of c canvas get inside 1 i only the blinking squint of her eyes showed over the handkerchief edge her voice reached him stubbornly this is my job lie he moved back to her head down and leaning against the wind you want to go blind sliding his arms under her legs and behind her back he carried her to the rear end and put h her er in in on the wagon agon bed ile he grinned feeling the dust dry in in his mouth you wont miss anything dont stick your head out today she pulled the handkerchief down squinting up at his red rimmed burning eyes have yon yoli had any sleep at all sure he said plenty it was like trying to talk inside of a drum P passing assing the cook again he shouted K keep beep up closel close A man could lose himself in this smother I 1 if he ever eer missed the longhorns trail in the short time since dawn the herd had drifted mo more re than a mile ile he followed their trampled swath a and nd came to the ragged edge of drags only a few of their heir bony rumps showed all others on either side and up toward the lead were cre blotted out by b the brown dust it was not a matter of driving the file herd now but of holding it back they came on in a solid front their great horns S swinging vi nging from side to side as S they crowded and spread out tor for a distance that he could neither see nor guess and above the rumble and clack of their walk the openmouthed groaning rose to a sharper key that turned a mans nerves raw he could no longer locate his rock piles only a 8 slim chance would let him blunder onto the double butte each hour he could feel himself being pressed farther into the desert of the staked plain beyond the last water that he know knew dragging off his saddle and throwing it onto the fresh horse that jim hope brought he spied two masked figures butting into the wind moving I 1 toward them he recognized clay manning andton arnold they were shouting together ile he wanted a moments talk somehow the reassurance of other mens words bending beside them he yelled weve sure hit a bad onel one it was clay next to him his head turned the violence of his answer bulged the handkerchief from his mouth A hell of a time to think of how you going to get us out of this tight nerves snapped fly you got a better way did have clay flung back it was a fool move at the start low lew tom arnold thrust himself in front of them lie he looked shrunken and dried out you got any idea where we are ile he could nIt have they knew that lie he shook his head and started to say all we can do A lash of the old mans temper cut him oil off then by god im damned it if I 1 know what youre here aorl this was no way to comet comel he had no answer you fight tom arnolds temper it would cool and he understood the bitterness bitter nesi of what the man could lose dut but at the same ti time me he saw the quick vengeance in in clay mannings bloodshot blood shot eyes lie he had got in his word with tom there was a horse bolting toward them through the dust I 1 he le see for an instant that it was running loose its head up high searching for the herd and that a man was hunched over clinging to the saddle horn with both hands ile he grabbed its bridle the sudden stop flung the rider down into his arms arins he pulled the handkerchief off it was steve both of his eyes were glued shut the swollen red lids puffed out of their sockets struggling in the wind he brought the slack body up against him Stev cl ile he yelled its all right aboy boy try to walk close to his side tom arnold shouted get him to the girls wagon and reached out to help dont worry he said to joy bathe his eyes and let him rest hell be all right he swung from her and fought back to his horse but her look went with him turning him cold with what it showed this was what it meant to be a trail boss whatever happened he h would get a little credit and all the blame steve he knew was only the beginning by nightfall he had led others one by one back to the wagons on for a short time all the dusty air a round around I 1 him had turned to gold it was blood red now in the sunset as he crossed the front ol of the herd counting his men five were left spaced at far apart intervals himself three older hands Quarter night joe wheat and ash brownstone and charley storms As he each one he warned them dont try to stick it too long sheer fatigue had slackened the pace it was again a slow walk but as relentless as a powerful machine thirst was vas what drove these animals now a mad fever that would keep them going until they found water or dropped dead their hoarse and frenzied bawling was swept forward around him in waves that rose and fell and sometimes burst into almost human screams if he known this same experience peri ence once before he would not believe that men or beasts could hold through another hour you reached an absolute limit and then what wha kept you going he know yet his awareness of being dead tired had passed a dull slack feeling had come over his body it was wai as it he had no weight lie ile locked both hands on the saddle horn and let his head nod then something wakened him that was like a cold damp rag wiped across his face it jerked him upright there was a faint grayness beyond his swollen lids ife he was suddenly aware of a strange quiet then he saw the cattle a thin line that trailed behind him shoving their muzzles through wet grass A drop of splashed from his hater i m he was riding in a misty rain with only a part of the herd that somewhere had split up there was no wind lie ile drew his gun firing it into the air but had no answer dawn had never made him feel more grateful as lie he sat waiting while the gray light turned to silver and a little morning breeze sprang up pushing back the mist tile the longhorns were spent they had halted to stand with drooping heads soaking the wetness irto into their hides the mist rose and became a thick thich layer and then a golden senri sunrise I 1 spread beneath it across the love bevc plain TO C |