Show W N ER R AN ca SYNOPSIS kentucky jones jonca veteran cowman attends the inquest in the little town tow of waterman into the death of john maon mason son banker and financial mainstay of the district jean daughter of 0 campo ragland Rt Bland owner of the bar hook ranch where mason met death to Kentuck ys mystification surreptitiously passes I 1 to 0 him the bullet which had act killed tied mason kentucky goes coos to work on the bar hook afook ranch the verdict la Is accidental deaths death hopper Is dissatisfied bob elliot owner of the adjoining r ranee a age with a shadow of 0 legal right d rives drives his cattle on the bar hook ranee CHAPTER ill III continued 4 figure to said mccord the two foremen eyed each cadi other A certain amount of humor shoved in the rhe hard seamed beamed lines of mccords accords Mc Cords face but it was the kind of humor that starts trouble and in his gre green en eyes there was no humor at all moving right on through I 1 see said bishop some day maybe said mccord not this year no no said mccord his voice casual be surprised if wed stop and turn free up lip here ten mile no said bishop ills voice too was casual as if lie were answering a question no these cattle arent going to stop and scatter up here ten mile not near it you dont mean to tell me said mccord why I 1 heard this was oli open range open said bishop from your nearest water halt half way over to our nearest water and not one calf jump more two cowboys had left the loafing cattle and were walking their hors horses es toward the parley with a studied detachment tach ment mccord now dow signaled them with a motion of his head and they came up to range themselves a little behind the 98 foreman both were armed but kentucky recognized recognize neither so mccord said to bishop so said bishop im sorry to have bare to set you right 0 on n these few mistakes well spare you feed when weve got feed to spare but just now the bar hook bunches are working down off the bench therell be another four thousand head bead on this range right soon mccord grinned his eyes unwavering from those of lee bishop 1 I aint interested te he concluded dispassionately 1 I got my orders arld and im carrying em out kentucky stirred uneasily in his saddle sorry to see that lee bishop was getting gerting mad save yourself trouble bishop was saying this herd Is going back into the graze it belongs in and its going deep back son the halt half grin suddenly dropped from bill mccords accords Mc Cords face and in its place flashed an ill temper exceeding bishops own he kicked a spur into his horse so BO that it spun and brought up with the right side of horse and man toward the bar hook riders this move brought squarely into view the holstered bolstered forty five that swung behind bill mccords accords Mc Cords right thigh below his short cost coat until now the 88 foreman had kept his right hand to in his bis pocket but he now brought it to the reins beside his left and they saw that his right hand was why my short friend said bill mccord his voice hard and even and he began to swear slowly and distinctly ly his green eyes ugly on BIsho bishops Js face the cursing of bill mccord was neither varied nor picturesque but it was hard bard bitten personal and direct and its slow evil toned syllables carried enough effi efficient clent U ugliness eldess to raise welts welta on the bide of a mule put your scabby pony up that rim ram bill mccord finished go tell your old nan man that I 1 put pot your proper name to you and sent you home for a moment no one spoke the f foreman oreman of 0 the bar look hook sat his horse like a frozen man apparently unable to believe his pars ears so unexpected so unaccountably sudden had been the breall break tl the blood rushed to Ela hops shops lia with a wrench of his bit he put his horse staggering against Kentuck ys the animal danced crazily craz lly mouth high and open to the raw jerk of the curb bisho bishop P thrust a widespread shaking hand at kentucky gun he stuttered for G ds sake give me gun 1 I got any gun lee for an instant bishop hesitated rigid in the saddle his horse dancing under him then an ID inarticulate artIculate curse broke in his bis throat he slashed the spurs into his pony and it bounded forward at the me horse of bill mccord kentucky swung himself half out of the saddle in a wild snatch at lee bishops rein and managed to catch it near the bit As the pony whipped to its hau haunches kentucky struck bishop a terrific wallop on the back with his open hand seized his foremans der er and him hard hold it 1 ee ce d n it you hear me abruptly loe lee bishop quieted straightened in his saddle ran ills his gloved hanl uncertainty uncertainly over his eyes the color was draining out of his face again leaving it gray por or a moment the man had been insane 1 I ill 11 take it lee 1 bishop said at last and like it said lill sic ale cord ill take it and like it said bishop his bis eyes expressionless on oil Mc mccordis mccords Cords face enjoy III it youl because boull never vw the hie like or of it again by ALAN LE MAY copyright by alan lemay lellay service bishop turned ills his horse no longer rigid in fit tile the saddle arid and walked ills his pony away kentucky follow followed Ned eil but as lie he turned lie he saw that there was no salt satisfaction in pill bill mccords accords Mc Cords grin catl rather ier it seemed to him that the man was disappointed chagrined suddenly he be thought lie understood mccords accords Mc Cords deliberate attempt for some definite reason that remained unknown bill mccord had done all lie he could to make an opportunity to kill lee bishop in self defense I 1 CHAPTER IV the climb to the rhe rim was a laborious one cud and tile the early dusk jas as no more than an hour away when nhen they again reached the home ranch of t the lie bar hook they were nere nearly dearly in before leo lee bishop had anything to say 1 I lia hagent ent carried a gun he declared since I 1 was a kid except to hunt with and I 1 pulled a gun on oil a man in my life but it if ill id had so much as a 11 bean shooter id have killed mccord where lie he sat salli tell we me one thin thing kentucky said do you know any reason why should want your scalp lust just what gets me lee bishop said dog doggone g one it I 1 hardly know the man lie knew I 1 had to tell him to mone moe his cattle back kentucky tried a new shot in the dark lee how long hire have you known that r bill 1111 mccord was mixed up in the killing or of mason that man has s some om c reason for wanting to down don you lee ask yourself what you know that good for him bishop did not answer for nearly a quarter of a mile it beats me kentucky I 1 cant think of anything I 1 got on him it if id only had a gun immediately they sought out campo ragland whom they found moodily swallowing scalding coffee in the kitchen lee bishop brielly briefly told his boss of the drive of twelve hundred head the prompt bold beginning of elliots elliote Elli play for or the bar ilo hook range of his own clash with Ic Cord he made little mccord cussed me out good I 1 would have took a poke at him one time there only kentucky reached out and kind of steadied my horse twelve hundred head ragland considered well if all of em cm I 1 suppose the range can stand it ive seen worse years for grass lee bishop stared at him dumbfounded all of em he finally exclaimed of course that aint all of 0 em deml I 1 find out that this here Is only a pointer and a beginning its the start of a freeze out what it Is ragland said moodily lies iles in no shape for that sure lies hes in no shape tor for it said lee bishop spunk lly but its what hes after just the same hes going coln to load that range taking what d eath death losses he cant get out of ills his only chance of hanging on after he loses his lease Is to crowd to in here before then what v eve got here beret its bad all right ragland admitted come tomorrow lee bishop said 1 I can take our boys and go down there and stop that herd and 7 elliot going to draw back his bis cattle hell then by G ct well smear into them and put eni cm back pistol whip you you start starr that stuff 1 I dont believe lee bishop began then he changed what he had started to say well then I 1 suppose he said well just have to pis tol whip em ein back bach sie ne I 1 dont know any other way campo ragland slammed his coffee cup onto the stove 1 I dont want any of that he said old time stuff it dont go nowadays nobody ever made anything by any such bustness business yet after all you got to make allowances that brand is fighting for its life lee bishop looked at Ken kentucky turned away and hopelessly spread ills his hands kentucky led the way out it was time to feed hay anyway what the devils got into him film said bishop as soon as they etere ere outside do you suppose hes going g to lay down and quit on us ile he sure set up an over hopeful holler kentucky admitted does lie he generally bust out with the shilly shuttles this way 01 not ol ive never seen him like this before bishop fell into a woody moody silence while they walked as tar far as the hay rocks racks look here lie said sud denly turning on kentucky you know holding him back no said kentucky honestly 1 I know I 1 I 1 know only too darn well I 1 toll tell you ills voice stopped as sharply as if he hall had been struck and he stood staring past kentucky jones spinning on ills lied beel to follow bishops eyes kentucky siaw saw that the fore man mail wal staring at a forlorn clun horse which stood low headed before the bars of one of the corrals an arms length of broken rein dangled from one side of its bridle tr trailing alling tile llie ground acid it stood logged legged to avoid the chafe of a saddle that was no DO longer on oil its back but under its belly so zack Is dead said lee bishal slowly at last his 1119 horse yes cs lee bishop and kentucky jones called campo ragland out nad and tile the owner of tile alie liar bar hook examined the horse and its equipment in ft a black wood mood unsaddle him aud and feed 0 oats alts was alas rill all campo said and he returned to the house the other oilier riders as they returned front from their work had more to say to these men zach back sanders was no more mere name some of them had known him for a long time worked stock with liim him often offer before the lall of his horse hall had turned him into a cook now they nore acre faced by the assumption that lie he lay jay lead dead in some unknown place lost in the rocks and snow ile he hae bale tried that trip jim humphreys said 1 I bet you it was ins his game leg made him fall harry wilson a small man wizened beona ills his middle age by many a winter in the saddle allowed that this vias nas the bunk if so how comes that streak of blood on the swell of his saddle fork billy petersen the young horse wrangler said maybe laybe lie he was fi fixing to shoot a rabbit or something and ills his horse sliced sailed and as he fell the gun went ott off the boy stopped probably there was no one there who hall had not seen scon immediately tile the parallel between this suggestion and the accepted theory of john masons death somehow tile the improbability thit that this could have hap ann IMP so zack Is dead said lea bishop slowly bened twice threw doubt on the theory that it had happened at all when the other riders had gone about their work of feeding the stock lee bishop took look kentucky jones aside the blocky foreman was in a subdued but lowering temper its bad when you learn that a boy youve known for a long iong time Is lead dead he said but it dont change the other thin thing kentuck nor take oft off of us what we got to do I 1 dont suppose theres anything we can do for zack sanders now but in the meantime fob dob elliot Is swamping the bar hook range we got a fight on our hands Ken kentur tuk anil and the next nest thing here just before horse come in Ken kentucky said you were starting to 0 tell me what was holding campo ilick buck theres the kingpin of tile the situ situation allon lee it if youre right that you know what it Is lee face took on oil the stubborn look of a man nho thinks he will be disbelieved this may sound tunny funny to you kentuck but ie known those these people here a long time a sight longer than you have arid and I 1 know that im dead right kentucky considered this what makes you think so lee there anybody in ill the world has any influence with ragland except jean not dot even tier her mother the rest of us come and go and he pays us no more mind than horses but jean she can fan him just as handy as she fans a brone bronc if she makes up her mind there will nili be no war with elliot therell be no war and campo will watch elliot work his ruination and never smoke a gun kentucky jones thought he saw the chance to probe a side trail ma be lie he said why he had that big picture of her hanging holn in there in the main room what big picture dont you remember sat said kentucky the picture always hung on the wall of the luilly room right opposite tile the kitchen door ile he described the position and appearance of the empty frame fraine which had so startled jean the night before that no picture of jean just some guy on it a horse what und kind of looking horse just a horse what the li I 1 to do you yon care nothing its kind of interesting to see who remembers hat 1 here vc e got a couple of deaths said lee bishop disgustedly ind and a range light fight about to make the bar hook a tiling thing of the past and our old dl man all quits on oil us and were backed up against the wall and all aill you can find to think about is sonic guy had bad his picture toik on a horse all right said kentucky lip ill picked up tip the other oilier thread 11 anybody can see join jean lias has a heavy drig drag with tier her father and ni mabbe ab la is tile only one eliat has 1119 I but ot th its slim allm backing lee for mint you sall said what was your other reason lie be matched zit ched stend steadily i ay iy tir for I 1 thinking ifon it rig I 1 ha I 1 i loan en n is keeping hooping tier rather father frow making a stand stan 0 ainest 11 kullot you have another reason that you given nic me lee bishop hesitated for a ion long time no lie he said at lat last lee said Kent kentucky licky it if jean want tier her father to scrap it out with elliot eliat ahat do you suppose hr c reason Is how do I 1 know what her reason Is said lee bishop explosively how does any ally roan man know what any womans comans reason Is maybe ala the tile the I 1 trouble rouble weve were hall had here already has made ati c her afrasi s sick 0 of g runs a and ashes afraid ld t that h at if ick til bour ground w we st stand a 1 our ground therell b be e more of these liere here empty saddles come in ID under the bellies of horses have you talked to tier her lee lee grunted a negative and hesitated again groping for words look here he burst out at last look here youie youe got to talk to herl her lie theres nobody around here shet pay any attention to but you some way ashes got a blind on the old mans eyes and ashes keeping him snubbed down helpless kentucky I 1 tell you lee bishop declared sav savagely abely if we make our stand against elliot now it may be we can turn him film and get out of it cheap cut but the farther tills thing thin goes tile the harder it will be for him to draw back if this thin thing goes too far there will he be no way but to light fight it at a deadlock until one or the other Is smashed youve got to talk to that girt girl what makes you think I 1 can do anything thin with her lee lee bishop groped for some way to express a thin thing that he sensed but could not prove she follows you with tier her 05 cs he be said at last whatever you do it you arent looking she follows you with tier lier eyes said kentucky maybe but you got to do what I 1 say anyway said bishop stubbornly what chance we got |