Show tr CHAPTER IX continued 12 I 1 but though he crossed many a horse track he accepted none of them as thi trail ail of the horse lie ile sought sou glit all afternoon oon he worked through clr the long ions lone lionesses li nesses covering many a weary mile twenty riders besides bes liles himself might be working tire the west cuts for all kentucky loucky knew the west cuts could have bidden a thousand more their illimitable emptiness es made a man on a horse seem to crawl like an ant descending sc deep hour long declivities only to climb again eternally lie ile was a long iong way from home by the time that lie deel decided kled lie must have over overshot once he had seen two riders whom he recognized as SS men working 88 stock hut but bill mccord was neither one of them lee bishop continued to elude him lost in tile the naze the sun BUD was setting above wolf dench bench the wrinkled peaks of the marl mari copas seemed to float detached front from the earth vast delicate deli calo traceries tra ceries of pale blue shadow set oft off with crooked red gold tracings where the lie wester lim lii sun poured golden light upon the snow enow across wolf bench already in the shadow a dark bitter cold breeze began to blow smelling of frost and blown snow kentucky jones sat his horse upon a high point and wondered if lee bishop were dead the frozen wind forecasting the night always brought to his mind the things to which a range rider has a right to look forward at that hour the gleam of a little golden light at a cookhouse cook house window far across the snowy reaches winking and almost lost in the twilight purple and fill things that the light seen far off meant to the rider coming in on his tired horse the warmth of stove heat friendly yellow lamp light eglit the crowding in of red faced hungry riders very merry over being done with work the smell of frying meat and hot fresh bread and the steam of coffee and afterward an hour or two of drowsy loafing in the warmth wise cracking the days clays work spinning lies iles maybe it a game of seven up and domebo homebody dy making music for a little while with banjo mouth organ or jews harp and at the bar nook hook the cold long twilight which always made the simple simpie realities of food and anu snug warmth seem so good and so well worth living at the bar hook these things should also have hae meant seeing jean ragland again this girl who even in adversity was like no other girl As kentucky jones sat his horse letting lettin g it blow a little from a long iong climb before putting it upon the long iong roundabout trail home he was thinking that this range could have been a great range for cattle and a great range for men and that maybe having ridden it he never would have wanted to ride another had things broken as they should it was a hidden malig malignance pance working underhandedly under handedly in the dark that spoiled this range ue he put the zebra dun into a canyon and out again and to the rim of another and there long after lie he hall had let all hope slide he sighted bishop nt at last he put ills his pony down into the canyon then upward through the can notch and a furlong into the widening valley hailed balled lee bishop across the snow enow lee he demanded as they came V funny together all this you gone crazy man 1 I dunno kentucky said lee bishop wearily sometimes I 1 think I 1 am im plumb mystified sure you d n fool you think you can A queer look in the others face stopped him the matter lee what happened well nothing much only its doggone funny I 1 funny lee bishop pulled up his horse and turned in the saddle to look back you see this canyon kentucky its called trap canyon because you cant get out the upper end over there and there and there he pointed you can get out all right but bul the upper end iou cant get eel out I 1 siw saw two riders come in here im pretty sure cure one of ern em was bill alcord though I 1 couldn coulden t swear I 1 followed lem em in and by t G d kentucky they disappeared into thin aarl air I 1 maybe il uylie offered kentucky they dropped into one of these alip se little conta that way they could have worked by ALAN LEMAY LE MAY copyright by alan lomay service up lip to the upper tipper end where that little drift of 0 timber limber Is Ken kentucky ive boon been to the upper end and not up there nor any place between and if up them side trails id have seen them you can call see a rider two miles as he be goes up lip them bliem long iong slants seems kind of peculiar said ken tucky youre d n its peculiar said loc lee bishop im plumb con fused and likewise im disgusted and likewise im sore lets set get home lie ile kicked ills his horse ahead walt a minute I 1 said kentucky ile he held his fits voice low in G ds name lee stop your horse the matter mailer do what I 1 say said kentucky without raisins raising liis his voice arid and dout dont ask why turn your horse and come back to ro me kentucky jones turned ills own onn horse so that it was headed back the hie way lee bishop had come now blida hi ing your horse alongside of mine easy he fie sat said walk your horse slow alongside of ml me where the devil we going lee bishop demanded you see that coulee up tip ahead or of us there about fifty yards leo lee how deep Is that coulee the drainage feature which ken tucky indicated was a shallow sli allow twisting cut cur that wound its way across the floor of the mile wide aaion a creek during the rains a dry wash in time of drouth I 1 maybe five or six foot deep said bishop why walk with me slow and easy until we get to the edge of that coulee kentucky said then slap hooks to your horse and jump him into it soon still keeping constant lookout he prepared for the night bishop appeared D to be too ser seriously louly hurt to libe lie mood without alii aid already the light fight was uncertain the in often molten gold of the last sun still touched the lie upper peaks of the marl copas but ile wide readies reaches of trap canyon were pooled in ili blue dark dragging dragging bishops rifle with him kentucky jones went ment out to his dead horse and got ills his saddle addle S blanket and the saddle itself to co prop lees head ile he shucked chucked olt off his she sheepskin epkIn coat and used it with inith the blanket to make bishop a bell bed in a snow drifted angle working along tile lip of the coulee conlee ile he collected greasewood and broken drift and with this built a tiny tire lire to warm varin the wounded voun ded mans feet and another fire at Di bishops shops side lee bishop opened his bics long enough to say faintly only be a mark for gunfire kentuck Kenti ick ill take care of that lee its near dark enough to fire at the flash of the guns when these things wore were done there was not nothing liing more to do but wait keep watch and maintain their store of fuel lie ile built a third fire a signal fire ere on tile the ed edge e of the coulee a hundred yards from their forlorn when campo ragland kagland and harry wilson returned to tile the ear hook it was rea reasonable anable to suppose that they would make some effort to find bishop who wila ila had gone out looking for trouble with lilt every probability of finding it it if they came to look tile signal fire would be visible isible a long way olt off if tiley they dib not nor come to look kentucky jones hall had a long iong wait ahead a wait perhaps equal to the remainder of lee bishops Di shops life slowly the hours passed cold with a bone piercing cold and marked only by the imperceptible turn of the stars after an hour or two lee bishop be THE STORY FROM THE OPENING CHAPTER at the inquest into the death of john mason banker jean daughter ot of compo campo ragland owner of 0 the bar hook ranch where mason met death surreptitiously passes to kentucky jones the bullet which had bad killed mason kentucky goes to work on the ear car hook ranch the mason verdict Is accidental death bob elliot owner of 0 the adjoining range drives his cattle on the bar hook land L lee bishop Ra glands ranch boss ex postulates and bill mccord I 1 ilvovs foreman insults him bishop and jones are astounded at Ra glands indifference to elliote elliots Elli action bishop urges kentucky to try to influence jean to arouse her father ile he does docs so unwillingly and her reaction mystifies h him im zack sanders dar bar hook cook Is found dead murdered sheriff hopper announces his knowledge that mason also was vas murdered jones seeks to trace the ownership of a gun found on zack sanders as having a bearing on the mystery jean sells him her share chare in the ear bar hook ranch thus giving him a free hand with elliot in a gun fight with riders of the 88 ranch jim humphreys bar hook cowboy Is killed and his partner wounded jones sends for lighting fighting cowmen but ragland countermands the order jones finds proof that jean has concealed evidence connected with masons death A gunsmith whom he had engaged to trace sanders gun says he sold the weapon to a dar bar hook cowboy joe st marie jones questions st marle marie but he can throw no light on the mystery as hes in duck out of the saddle and get down lee bishop half drew up his horse as if he would stop got into you kentucky come on you fool see something im not dead sure I 1 did but lee im not going to bet your life I 1 see lee bishop brought his horse along reluctantly then what the devil was it he be demanded irritably dont look back said kentucky im not right sure lee but what I 1 saw a tied horse up there and it if it Is a horse lies hes got his head snaked low to the ground such as will stop the average horse from whinnying when another one comes along lee dishop bishop swung in his saddle to stare back at the canyon wall nall three hundred yards away kentucky snarled at ll 11 lm ain dont turn you suddenly bishop gave a queer gagging cry and snatched at his saddle scabbard A rifle had bad spoken from the upper rocks the gun above aboe spoke a second time and a third bishops horse started abruptly the rider his bis gun clutched across his breast with both hands toppled sidewise and pitched he headlong into the snow kentucky jones dropped out of the saddle lifted lee bishop and got the foreman over oer his shoulders running kunnin daa diagonally anally to keep the pony PODY between himself and the ambushed rifle he tried for the lip of the coulee A fourth time the rine rifle in the rocks spoke and this time Kentuck ys horse plunged jerking free the reins and went to its knees bishops rifle ride fell to the snow und and kentucky turned bad back two paces to snatch it up the edge of the coulee was ten paces beyond As lie he ran chest to the g ground the ride chopped at them once more from the ledges of the notch and Ken kentucky tricky felt lee bishops body jerk then lie lo lowered ered bishop over oer tile the edge by the arms and leaped in after him lee lee where are you lilt lee bishops eyes were squinted shut and lie groaned through bet teeth as ar kentucky tried to straighten him out upon the bottom of the arroyo they got me kentucky he managed to get out at last tile the li I 1 they have you going to t please that bunch by making a die but when he had examined leo lee bishop he did rot know the first shot lee had received had been an angling one in the back he could not tell whether the bullet had lodged nt at the bottom of the lung or some place else catching up bishops rifle kentucky threw a shot into the general vicinity of the ambush and instantly drew fire ere in return apparently their attackers were not attempting to close kentucky immediately set get about the improvisation of bandages twice a minute he interrupted ills his work to sight across the valley floor tor for sign of approach gan to mumble from the depths 0 of a delirious stupor CHAPTER X it must nave have been nearly midnight when the wounded mans mind cleared kentucky he said right here lee 1 I dont know inow I now but what ive got nii m comeuppance kentuck I 1 got something I 1 gor to tell you you better wait until shut up I 1 ought to have told somebody this before I 1 dont know as do you much good telling you now cut but you ought to know it ri bishops shops voice was very faint but he seemed to speak with little effort as long as lie he did not try to raise his tone lee said kentucky K 1 I dont want to encourage iou to talk but it if aou ou can tell me why dill mccord wants to kill iou it sure might help in going to come arter after this kentucky I 1 aint got any more idea than you lee said 1 I dont know as I 1 care a whole darn what im worrying about Is the way youre getting dragged into this killing of mason ason what time did you leave tile the ear bar hook the day M mason a son was killed 1 I can prove I 1 was in waterman by half past one then said bishop you I 1 possibly have bae killed jolin john mason 1 I never claimed I 1 did lee lec theres others will claim aou ou did bishop mumbled you have killed mason lie he repeated because mason was still alive when ihen you got back to waterman Wa teiman I 1 know lie was alive because I 1 saw him alive ile he as sitting ills his horse just below a knob about a quarter mile from the car bar hook ranch house I 1 saw him blin plain cut but when hen you found lilun him ken tucky pointed out there was no shiow under him proving lie he was killed before the snow began to fall 1 I cant account fur for that maybe the snow under him melted or some thin this seemed unlikely to Nen kentucky tucky but lie he did not interrupt 1 I 1 was a couple furlongs away bishop admitted continuing hut but dont you tell me I 1 made a mi mistake stiLe I 1 mind how john mason used to sit kind of halt half crooked in the saddle and I 1 mind the round of tits his shoulders as he fie sat his horbe and the tilt of ills his hat id know him any distance out of a thousand wen men there was vlas something peculiarly familiar about lee bishops claim oi 01 recognition suddenly kentucky knew why lie he hall had heard joe st marle use almost the same words nords in explaining to jean ragland lia gland the night they found zack sanders that he be had bad seen a ghost it hardly likely kentucky offered that mistake misrake that pinto borso season rode that day they was wrong about that thal bishop said promptly mason riding no pinto horse lie ile was wag riding a little blood liny perly an aa SS pony they call three spot tell me c one ne more thing kentucky ate r salil d 1 did tills this did mason see eee you if he ought to have seen me I 1 wal wa in plain sight cut but he answer to my wave kentucky rose and went about ht hit work of keeping up the fires liy by the sl signal nal fire he stood listening for a loll ion time suspicious of small sounds fa fai away but lie fie could make certain or of no indication of nearby human life ile he went back to ioe bishop are you there kentucky rl r right l glit here lee kentucky im sorry I 1 never told that if only id told some people about it it would clear you but use it any way you can you never told anybody at all just one person in the world ken lucky and that liable to do you much good who was that jean ragland shell buck back up lour bour word ord it if you tell ern em what I 1 said cut but I 1 dont know as it will carry much weight anybody can see that shea dead gone on you kentuck most lost likely discount what she says saye in bour our favor on that account kentucky jones said gently youre wrong there lee youre a fool it if you think I 1 am I 1 told her about seeing mason and slie site made me promise not to tell anybody else I 1 what I 1 thought though was her reason for that it seemed a reasonable thin liang to ask at the time kentucky jones jodes sucked in his breath through ills his teeth lee he said slowly you sure you got this straight sure kentucky I 1 disrel 0 alze old iron 1 I dont mean that lee I 1 mean you told jean abour abode seeing this and she told aou ou not dot to tell anyone |