Show r I 1 MI mt third richest girl airl burcl by richard H wilkinson F IT had happened back in west I 1 IF chester or most anywhere in th world except here on the edge of a high mesa at the rim of deat valley it would have made the th front pages of 0 every newsy news ne in the country the reading bubli would have been delighted this was explainable for or joa doai I 1 roberts was the third richest gr in the un united ted tates stales and what minate ever happened te tc 31 fiction her was news if the reporters had been been on hand that thai day she had her face slapped the telegraph wires would have hum med it if they had known that the man who slapped her face ace was a cowhand editorial offices would have been thrown into a shambles joan roberts and lanky andrews who was the cowboy had ridden away from the wagon wheel ranch that afternoon with the idea ot of watching the sunset from the rim of howling coyote mesa this was not the first time they had ridden oft off alone together at first joan thought landys attitude of deference was a pose but later she decided he was acting quite natural the discovery delighted her casually she had abse observed arved lanky andrews without appearing to do so she registered the fact that he was a good deal more handsome thin than you noticed at first glance elance ela nce nothing about his mar manner ner or what he said was affected casually too she made inquiries about him and learned to her astonishment that he owned a harvard diploma and a small cattle ranch down on the mojave ave her frequent trips into the des rt with lanky coupled with the knowledge she had acquired gave joan so to speak a new lease on life up to now her general outlook was bitter she trusted no one she hated people who posed lanky andrews without knowing it gradually changed all that 0 joan prolonged her visit and S SO demanded landys services more and more she tried to be nice to him tried to give the impression that she appreciated what he was doing for or her but lanky remained the same he was a good dude wrangler he was dependable kind thoughtful courteous but never personal that is he was never personal until antil the evening they stood on the edge of howling coyote mesa and watched the sun ease down into the desert without turning her head joan said its lovely and lanky anky andrews unexpectedly and without warning turned to her and said that sunsets a washout compared to you and he kissed her as effectively as joan had ever been kissed MOW OW LANKY was acting like anthe the men joan knew and understood der stood she acted on impulse she slapped his face ace why you he began anil slapped her face ace a resounding crack J joan oan stared at him mouth open cheeks white how dare you by the same right you dare to slap me lanky said easily you you apparently mr andrews you dont know who I 1 am I 1 N aff lanky andrews kissed joan it as effectively as she had ever absen been kissed im the third richest girl in the united states so what im the best dude wrangler anywhere around im just as human as you just because youve got more dough than I 1 give you any more rights or make me any less feeling why you you well what cant you think of anything to say of 0 course you cant time you learned a few things this time joan say anything she merely gaped at hi him she was c conscious on of 0 only n 1 y ae one thought one feeling one f ear he might not kiss her again but he did and the newspapers had to be satisfied with the result they were never told about the face slapping episode but the story of 0 subsequent events was as plenty to make lovely big black headlines |