Show aall v HAROLD CHANN CHAN N ING aw BURNET is 1 trail boss bos ot of the cross T herd aich ch is axa bt being driven arv ft um 7 texas e ras s to the indian agent at Ot aUala ila abe itelear year is I 1 1875 TO TOM 51 ARNOLD ARVOL Downer owner has abeen been killed in a stampede tam pede ills hanl will n lew bobs li slid until bill owner r th the i btttle e are told sold hen STEVE SIEVE and JO JOY arl are to receive v their shire shares after A tier many they cy reach dodge dodee city where CLAY MINING MANNING joys joy flance is wound ed ea in a gunfight joy stays to nurse him file the rest move on witt with the herd when only 30 miles from ogallala the berd li Is topped stopped by federal cers an early rost frost ends the quarantine and lew delivers I lIvers the cattle just within the contract date lew discovers why steve ari aal clay have been opposing him CHAPTER steve when joy and clay are married and we get rid nd of this herd you and ill backtrack the trouble youre in but youre going on lie he shook his head no well let clay and joy start the new ranch I 1 can see plenty of loopholes in rayburne Ray burns killing those four can swear it against you now but may be we can make them swallow their tongues ed took liquor inside the indian nations I 1 can get witnesses chief spotted horse for one that throws them into the hands of the united states marshal right here in ogallala gives me an ax to hold over their heads and theres other ways to make a dnn give up the truth he con soldered that and say what he saw well find out who killed rayburn id gamble it you ile he 9 grinned suddenly you cant hit the broad side of a barn when you youre re sober that night you were drunk I 1 I 1 again he put his arm across the slanted shoulders and pulled them up well work it out steve dont let it hound you any more ile he lay that night in in his bedroll smoking a last cigarette he ride guard now with so many extra hands and there arwas was a mingled bleakness and relief in in what he felt something had filled in in him that had long been empty he was back on his old footing again with steve and steve himself was finishing up this trail facing his troubles in a way that tom arnold would be proud of it was one thing the old man had wanted most in his we life that account was settled but his own failure with toms fortune on the hoot hoof was black he be blamed for the quarantine and yet when a man set out to deliver a herd he delivered it come hell or high water it was the pride of being a good trail boss fifteen thousand dollars maybe for the hides bides and tallow souli sounded ded good in in talk but it much of a payoff pay off for the ye years rs that had gone gohe into the herd it ninety thousand and be much for ta the ie new ranch he finished his cigarette and rubbed it out against the ground it seemed strange then that ile he feel eel as low ns as lie he might over him the stars had never looked so clear and sharp there was nothing going to spoil his sleep he turned on hi his s side and dropped off soundly and the next thing et a mules trace chains were clanking and dragging over him and a voice was yelling whoa therel there choal ile he bolted upright in his blankets and saw charley storms in m the gray dawn running and yanking the chains over the row of beds then he saw john Quarter night rise rise more slowly next to him charley storms came back to yell look you lazy cow cowboy boyst sl looka he saw it then all the prairie lying beyond as white as quarter nights hair frostl frost the old man turned to him lew he said if that dont make you believe in in god nothing will they could move now sixty days time or one good frost would kill the texas fever the quarantine hold dressed he stepped out cut of his blankets onto a mat of gross as stiff as nails in the dawn the prairie looked lilie snow to the cook he said pull up to the ridge before you stop for breakfast were going to got get a wiggle on en ourselves with the herd shaped and walking last fast in in the cold air waiting for the frost to melt before they grazed he pointed up the ridge at eight no one stopped them on along the crest lie he could see the northern cowmen breaking their deadline dead line camps and as he passed the military street where the yellowlegs were rolling up their tents captain wing rode out ills his brown face was polished from an early shave he was looking pleased well texan he said played in luck the you claimed aimed 1 wed d get an early frost this year im going on to tile the post now b but ut ive det detailed aile I 1 some of my men in the rest of the way to es escort C ort you in just in case of trouble thais mighty good of you cap hp he said the cooks up there in front font with beefsteaks beef steaks for f 0 r breakfast you d b better e ater stop on last nights cam camp p south of there was no ala a dry one ogallala Oga and crossed the here water for river the next day at noon thirsty herd than a mile the more wide bottom out n the spread them selves and splashed and drank bluffs beyond the low ped on up rom looking ind better fatter were the little left they had a than when ile chanche that a 5 good need to argue with the agent about condition all his contract stated anyway was numbers and an average weight of five hundred pounds when this beef was dressed even a greenhorn could see sec the animals would do that from the flat top of a mesa north of the river flanking the herd and shaping it again he looked back and could see the far oft off arrowheads of other herds coming down the divide the open A must be among them let them come A yelling commotion turned him ile he was up high enough now to see all the mesa toward its rim of hills hundreds of canvas tepees dotted it A swarm of mounted bucks had started a race toward him riding cream colored ponies and decked out in gaudy blanket shirts for this special occasion women and children were running afoot behind them the squaws squads dresses flapping in in a dangerous way for cattle cattie aie he called across to Quarter night arid and they ran their horses forward to turn that danger of a stampede the bucks veered off at his waving signal the women stopped ile he judged there were a thousand indians in in this camp riding back to the point again he was thankful he have to see this beef issued hunting down wild animals was a different matter but these longhorns had become almost as tamo tame as pets he saw the stockade a little later a huge square fenced with poles and wire wire on the flat mesa top and soon after that an army ambulance came up from the east in the direction of ogallala the town was out of sight below the river river bluff an escort of yellowlegs yellow legs trotted beside the slick varnished three seated outfit they swung off out of his dust until one of the troopers came toward him and he recognized captain wing there was another telegram in town for you wing said thought you might want it he nodded turned the gray envelope in his hand and waited till wing rode off he ripped it open it was like her other ten words arriving ogallala on cannon ball nine p in august thirty one love he slapped the settling dust from it and read it again staring at the last she might be only filling the allotted space and yet she never did waste her words he felt a quick warm stir run through his blood and tried to hold that feeling down but tonight she would be here this was august thirty first there were those afternoon hours to pass the dusty job of parting out the ranch stuff from the herd bvrd and after that feeding the beef longhorns in a thin line through the stockade gate he sat his horse on i one side counting while the post commandant and the indian agent watched ched from the other ile he could see their eyes sweat and knew they lost then their count early in the end they took his word I 1 long before train time lie he was pacing the loose cinders of the depot yard at last the train arrived this thib was the cannon ball going through to salt lake city he had halted near the station back in in its shadow and even when lie he saw her he move he hardly knew her she was standing in in a sleepers vestibule behind the conductor everything she had on was new a small hat like twisted ropes of dark velvet wound round around 2 her head and a light brown suit buttoned and small at the waist and reaching below her shoe tops it turned her into a woman more than ever ile he remembered they had come through kansas city and omaha they had long stops i I 1 she was lookin looking out past the conductors duc tors shoulder and came down like that her eyes searching the depot where a little group of men had gathered now even then he waited until the conductor handed out her bag and she stood there holding it herself and he knew she sha was alone ile he had to steel himself walking toward her feeling a shakiness in a way that nothing had ever shaken him before she saw him and all of her face seemed to catch the stations light glowing and warm before a shadow fell he speak in that moment until he managed ill take your bag here he shifted it into his left hand and took her arm there weri were men watching expecting something they see beyond the depot he avoided the towns street and walked into the dim lane in a moment the cannon ball snorted behind them and after that banged past showering down sparks she put up one hand to cover her new hat then in the sliding light of car windows he saw her face turned up to him strained for a question he had not asked he did when the night was silent again wheres clay in chicago I 1 suppose she said by this time ile he went with a trainload ol of feeders for the stockyards stock yards ile he has a job 1 I see no lew no you dont he lent coming back he felt as it if something had stabbed through him pinning him rigid ile he shook his head give me time I 1 thought be married 1 I know her voice came up to him quietly we forgot one strong thing about clay ills his pride we both did A rail fence ran along the tracks right of way she leaned against it theres so much to tell Is steve au all right yes he said im keeping him out of town you I 1 know all about it now she pulled the little hat off and held it looking down at it in her hand you remember there was an open A rider wounded in the hospital with clay and ed I 1 nursed them all the best I 1 could her voice dropped he died but id made things easy for him and when he found I 1 was steves sister he told me ste steve ve kill sheriff rayburn that man did the doctor wrote a confession for him and witnessed it ive got it here out of the dark the calls and sounds sound of Ogal lalas nightlife night life rose rosa and died away she seemed to listen in the silence again she said A girl cant marr marry y a man who wont have her can she that was it clay knew what had happened ile he could have gone on with half of me and it was his pride but more than that I 1 think there were a lot of fine things in clay after all there were he said 1 I know that now she had been looking off past him she brought her eyes up with a smile growing in them and her lips turned soft do you see I 1 have a new suit I 1 bought it in omaha I 1 thought it would be nice to beaz before we went on before they went on in those words all of the future opened ahead of him the little trail that was jeff to wyoming and all of the yean they would have wear it he said tomorrow and brought her close in his hard arms A wild wad fire was rising in him burning cleat clear away a loneliness lie he would nevel know again THE END |