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Show if By Ern ectHaMI 11 Jir ' STORY SO FAR: Clay Morgan Ided to play lone hand aEalnst " rendeen, a rancher bent on run-I run-I L cattle country his own way. roen have been enemies for ' baving Brst fought over Clay's "'"'lila who died hating him and be-she be-she should have married Heren-"Mortan Heren-"Mortan Is a solitary Bgure, de-"t de-"t L his nine-year-old daughter, Jan-Jltbongh Jan-Jltbongh two women. Catherine t and Ann McGarrah, are In love urn they know he cannot forget " Ot'hls former friends, only Hack "'.hitt has not gone over to Heren-" Heren-" . side Gurd Grant, Catherine's '",",!!, Hesitated about Joining Heren-. Heren-. b'ot became Morgan's sworn ene-hen ene-hen he discovered that Catherine been to his ranch. Hack Breatbitt, 1 camping with Pete Borders, a rus-1. rus-1. being watched by Hcrendeen's ""' Clay bas learned that Govern-"' Govern-"' Valley a piece of land he and ;.den both want, Is to be auctioned , sue Cits', WO miles away. Hack ' Lnoile fights with some of Keren-: Keren-: ws men. He gets away, but b. i, ' larltiv. now and knows It. Clay gets I 1 ' City Just in time to hear Charley 1 HUihouse, Herendeen's foreman, bid 1 jgt.t thousand." 1 Now continue with the story. A woman came to the door, young and still pretty, with pure black liair. range etiquette. He simply stood his ground, waiting for Morgan to speak or ride on. Morgan said: "Maybe you could put me up to dinner." Willing's answer was reluctant. "Sure, Mr. Morgan. Step down." Morgan helped himself to the boiled potatoes and canned tomatoes toma-toes and to the meat. It was fried steak and when he sav it he realized real-ized it came from one of his own cows. Willing ate with his eyes downcast; down-cast; a taciturnity close to sullen-ness sullen-ness covered him. The woman didn't touch her food. She sat with her arms in her lap, a growing strain on her face. She was about his own age and he could tell she had been through a lot of misery. Morgan appreciated the meal, but he was glad when, hat in hand, he returned to the yard. He walked toward his horse, both the Willings behind him. The shed was only a dozen paces beyond and he had the definite inclination to go over there, open the door, and have a look at the beef for himself. He knew it was there and he didn't want Willing to think Long Seven was run by a went at once to Ann McGarrah s. Ann and Janet were eating supper. sup-per. He sat with them, listening to Janet's cool voice recite the little things that had happened to her, watching the way Ann McGarrah' s faint smile came and went away. Janet left the room. Ann McGarrah McGar-rah sat back in her chair. Her arms were round and firm on the table. She had a way of looking at him, straight and intent, with a shadow across her eyes. Her lips were red and pleasant; they had a gentle strength. "What is on your mind, Clay?" . "Odds and ends, I guess." "Did you have luck?" "I bought the piece. How did you know I was on that business?" "It was all over town, half an hour after you left." He said, "I'll be back for Janet in a minute," and walked to the store porch. He stood here briefly, watching the street until he discovered discov-ered Jesse Rusey paused in the shadows at the corner of the hotel an obscure shape patiently waiting. He crossed to Rusey, observing the marshal's short solid shape swing around to him. Rusey's voice was ! I CHAPTER Vin ' Hillhouse said again, in a steady, n stubborn voice: "Eight thousand." 1 other three men were specu-i specu-i lators It was a smell. It was writ- ten on their good clothes, their white i faces and their soft hands. One of ,hese said reluctantly, "Eighty- "Eighty-three, said Hillhouse. Morgan said: "Ninety-three." Now the speculators looked around and moved together and one of them whispered something and shook his bead. The land-office agent looked hopeful. He said: "Ninety-three's . the bid." "Ninety-four," said Charley Hill-house. Hill-house. Morgan said: "I didn't ride a hundred hun-dred and ninety miles to play around with a piker, Charley. Eleven thousand." thou-sand." "Eleven is the bid," said the land-office land-office agent. "Another bid, gentlemen?" gentle-men?" ( The speculators said nothing. One ti them shook his head. The land-office land-office agent turned to Hillhouse. He said: "Another bid?" Hillhouse put his hands in his pockets, and slowly brought them out "No," he answered, an-swered, "that's all. I've got to stick to a limit, and we're past it now." "Sold at eleven thousand." Morgan stepped toward the table. "My check all right?" The land office showed an instant discouragement. "01 course not." One of the speculators laughed and Hillhouse made a half-turn. "Then my bid of ninety-three is good." Morgan reached into his pocket. "No," he said, dryly, "I just wanted to know. I've got the cash." fool too blind to see the signs. He rolled up a cigarette, trying to figure out some way of telling Willing this without hurting the woman's feelings. feel-ings. There was a lot in her and she was pretty badly troubled at this minute. Willing was like most nesters. Cattlemen had pushed them around until they figured it wasn't any crime to steal beef when they could. He lighted his cigarette and stepped into the saddle. There was immediate relief on the nester's face and the woman's shoulders re- . j. il hr9laH thPTTlKelveS inflexibly courteous, giving morgan his due, nothing more and nothing less. "Evenin", Clay." Morgan said: "Who started the ball Friday night, Jesse?" The marshal's head tipped. Secret Se-cret care flowed from him. His voice, when he spoke, was unsentimental unsenti-mental and without favor. "They was jiggerin' around from point to point Breathitt and Connor and Bones McGeen. Breathitt met Connor Con-nor once, down by Old Town, but neither of them was ready. Connor floated up the street, past the dance hall. McGeen dropped back into laxea; uivy ui for the worst. Morgan removed his hat, smiling at the woman. "I wish both of you good luck. You'll need it." Then, with the reins half-lifted, he added: "It occurs to me that you may get pinched for grub this winter. win-ter. If you do, I'll be glad to see that you get a quarter of beef occasionally. occa-sionally. When you see any stray cattle of mine up here this winter in the snowdrifts, just drive them back. We'll consider it a fair exchange ex-change for the meat. But" and now he looked at the blcnk, gray-green eyes of the man "come to me when you want it. I do not like to think of beef being butchered and wasted on the desert." The tension left Willing's shoul-The shoul-The woman's hps softened I Hillhouse turned from the room without further talk; the speculators specula-tors slowly followed. Morgan counted count-ed out the money, in bills. He stood over the desk, propping both hands on its edge to hold himself up while the land agent took his name and address and wrote out a receipt. "You'll get a deed in the next few months." J Morgan said: "When did you mail out notice of that sale?" k The land agent stared at him. (a "About six weeks ago." y Morgan folded the receipt between his fingers, creasing and re-creas-ing it, his head bent down. He mur- )l mured, "thanks," and left the , '00m. He passed the speculators in the crack by the bank. Hack showed around the corner of the dance hall, and met Connor." He paused, weighing weigh-ing his words with an extreme thoughtfulness. "It was a case of love at first sight, only Breathitt got in the first kiss. Bones was wastin' his shots all the time, just stinkin' up the wind. Hack got out of town two jumps ahead of his own funeral. Tell Hack, if you see him, I'll throw him in the cooler if he does that again. There's a rule against smok-in' smok-in' up this town." "Tell it to McGeen," said Morgan. Mor-gan. "He's been told," retorted Rusey. "I'd tell it to anybody even to the Almighty." A long halloo shrilled through the shadows and a cloud of children raced down the street. Ann McGarrah Mc-Garrah waited on the porch, slim against the store lights. Janet, out of breath and softly giggling, trotted trot-ted toward her. Morgan turned toward to-ward these two. He said again, "Time to go," and watched Ann McGarrah's face show a darkening at his tone. Janet's hand came obediently to him and they strolled up the street. At Gentry's Gen-try's he saddled Janet's horse and boosted her up, and rode from War Pass. The night was soft and luminous and fragrant. Earth's warmth rose around them but the wind drifting from the south brought in sharp, cool eddies of coming winter. The two of them rode in silence across the rutted desert and took to the steep road up Mogul. Morgan said: "You did fine, Janet. Jan-et. I guess I was pretty proud, sitting sit-ting there and listening. Don't ever be afraid of anything ahead of you. Never borrow trouble. Walk right up to it. Listen to the crickets. They've been singing like that a thousand years, and they'll be doing do-ing it for another thousand. Nothing Noth-ing changes, honey. Remember that when you feel like running away. 4 - Charley Hillhouse waited for him on the porch. Charley had a ciga-V ciga-V rette lighted. He removed the cigarette, ciga-rette, choosing his words very carefully; care-fully; he had his eyes half closed, and stared ahead of him into the dust-yellow, sun-brightened street. "I want to tell you this, Clay. ' When I work for an outfit, I stick by that outfit. I'm foreman of Three Pines and long as I am Three Pines comes first." Returning from Sage City three days later Clay Morgan came through a low gap of the Burnt Hills and found somebody occupying the deserted homestead house on Salt Meadows. . It was twenty-five miles I from this point northwestward to his own ranch, and though the shan-J. shan-J. ty was an old one he had not known of nesters being in it. 1 Riding into the yard, Morgan gave I his name. "You must be new here. I Nobody's tried to make a living on this spot since Yardsley left, four Wars ago." 1 The man was around thirty, long g and on the lean side, with the freck-3 freck-3 lsd skin and dry creased hps and If the gray-green eyes of a Southerner. He looked like a worker rather than j "e of that shiftless rattletrap breed Morgan had Ri-i nftrm sppn camninG and her eyes grew warm. After that he crossed the yard and came down at last to the lower edge of Government Govern-ment Valley. Far up the flats he saw the remnant barracks of the old fort, and for a moment he paused to have a look at this land which now belonged to him. He slanted across the valley and rode up the narrow length of his older range, reaching home-quarters in the middle of the afternoon As soon as he left the saddle old Mose gave him the latest news: Hack Breathitt had been pulled into a fight at War Pass, killing Liard Connor. Now Hack was hiding in the hills with Sheriff Nickum on his trail. . , , -I'm going to town," deeded Mor-gan Mor-gan once. ;;and ought to be back around eight." . Old Mose said: "The way things are now. I wouldn't skylark on the trail after dark." Morgan caught up a fresh horse h headed for War Pass, reaching here shghtly before six. His first frfand was to go into the post office and pay his respects to Fred Rich. Vred " he said, "that notice of sale was posted a Utile late." I Took it out myself, the same day it came." Nothing changes and nothing ever really dies." Sometimes when he talked to her like this he felt the absorbing attention at-tention she paid him. Sometimes her mind was away on its own dreams, locking him out as Lila had locked him out. She spoke suddenly sudden-ly and seriously, as though she hadn't heard him: "Will you ever marry again. Daddy?" Dad-dy?" Now why should you think ol that?" She said in her small, still voice. I just wondered. Maybe I coi'lc like another mother." (TO BE COXTIML tl eyCailed it from Sage City , ct m0nth " stated Morgan. laSFrTRich's face showed a white- suddenly around the base of S nose 1 gus il heId "P hIS we " he murmured. But he j 10ft the post office. He 3, Rich caU out "Clay, I want heard Ft ch ca hg didn,t f atngt see any mans face turn, haling n show that aedu, cumbed b3ntrtotave the u-s 'd part of the hill to leave me and his money with Harley o j W the edge of the range. He said, ;n "I'm Fox Willing. Been here four . rnonths." He was pretty brief with , to talk, a reserved man with the rnark of a short temper on him, bW there was in his eyes at the C moment something Morgan had often of-ten noticed in other nesters' eyes f ''hen they faced cattlemen: a half-oncealed half-oncealed hatred, a veiled fear. A woman came to the door, young and still pretty, with pure R black hair. She shaded her eyes at Morgan; he saw fear definitely on her face. " wat time to eat; in fact Mor-- Mor-- 'welled food in the air. But Willing didn't know much about |