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Show ! The Race ?or Sky Meadow BY BAILEY MILLARD uprisjM 1 lv , "What (In I llilnk o women ranch boaeoaT" wan tin- wrathful Hush of i Zeke Stubb. 'I Ihlnk they oiiKht tn I keep to (lir kltthen an' nut go no In' iirmin' lellln' growed up men how i In lake tho shoe nil n horses An i 1 ahe k 19 year old gal' bid she turn 1 1 about horae frit at that Halt l.ake seminar)? 1 il like lo know' If hei , man and pw mil) was alive' Wal It'a tin in IIuth high tuned Itoardln school tlmt spile gals every llmt' , 'Oil. ilon't laki' on. eke. said Url Wlggln. coming aroiiiiil a corner ol thu Imrii "Ma) Wlndum not u few pxtru frill ut tin n miliary, but she ain't spiled An' ahe know a all about horses " tlrl wan tin- Idled man on the Win dom luiiili, nml .ok n was III helper "An' alio ain't mi driwdful iturk I up." added Url "If she wus ahe wouldn't 1m ngnlu' out with tlm aheop." I "(Join' out Kith thv aliiHp' llnwt I snake! An' ull nlnni' among them mm? (iueos )ou ran count mi' out Ihla time I ilon't wunl no woman Ikhw on tho range The Idee' A niiiii ' I an ahccpherdcr' i i "She ain't a goln' aloin. ' aalU Url ' "Mow then" I "Will, )oti know Band) Hnfun' (lor- I tlo, that married Ituss llrlcker? She's a colt." along, l Muy's not Hum to look lo ler things fcr her. an" Ocr t tlo'a ugoln" to ilo tho cookln'." I litis llrlcker hail told May Win dom that It would be n nice fur Ihn Sky-Meadow coiinlr) tho beat rnngo In thu Wnsutrh tuoiinlaliia and aim was lntcnscl) eager to set In Ural wllh her Imnd She had been out on tho range sev eral linn- beforo her father died nnco a long na a month Hlie Invod the wild life and she loved the Khcep Abovo nil thlnga. aln waa eager to set to the inline ahead of Low Mail den, who diove a large herd of hla own shouting up that wn) ever) spring a soon na the seuson opened Lew waa objectionable to her In no other way than that ho had tried to ninko hlmseir particularly agree- tibia to her. with the reault that ahe had aent him altoul Ida business Sho could hnrdl) hnvo told wh) aim had done Ihla, for Ia wua big atid strong, and lookul liner In hla saddle than any other man In Juab county, l'rob ably ahe had refined him hecainiu ho had taken her for grunted An hour nfter main the neit day , they were all up on the top of thu " dlvldn whero walla of a freah, heady air awept their face and the aheep t, browaed grndlly about. Hut while the mulra wero being fed and everybody waa eating a haaty, acrnppy luncheon, tho liandsomo Lew o,'ViNl ij "Good Mornlnol" H Said. kl rode coolly Into camp and, lining it, hla broad sombruro to the ladles, J J showed tho aame unruffled brow and H iho aame calm blue eyea that May had W aeen when ho had mudo audi amall 4 J account of her Irritating Utile "no." . J ,'Oood murnlnR'" ho anld, smiling Yl ao that Iho perfect whlto of hla teeth & glittered under hla blonde muatacho &' "Pretty rough country for freighting Y eh, Mr llrlcker?" " ' Kor a moment nobody said uu) V thine. Then May'a buspltable good 4 nature waa shown after a sharp blto . . at her under lip ' "Aten't jnu hunRry, Mr. Madden? N Won't you have aomo luuchenn?" iy "O, thanks! )ca" Ilo dismount) d .1 and look the sandwich she offered X him l "Wbero'a your shiei?" Theie was u brusquii note In Itusa' ipier) J "Over there somewhere," he aald, Tl airily, looklnK up tho ridRe it "Well, you haven't ot )our sheip O Into Hky-.Meadow yet'" queried Mil). a dreadlnK hla leply Von couldn't ' bave got up there this ipilcl. " ' The coolness of this smooth spoken 5 joung man waa Killlnn to be a llt(l. t s too much for her. "No, they're not thero )et." he aald ' ' "Perhaps not yet " ) "Well, then, we'll drlro on and hcud i J you off." Tj -All right. May 1 ute Ihla tin oiip i for a flneer bowl?" "Cortalnly." Then sha aroso "Coo-eel" ahe called to her heep A "We'll run on ahead, Mr. llrlcker. w Hh f Vrl and ltlnB. and )ou and Zeku fob liw alone with the waijiin" lnHpih It llt,Kle Sham I iielp )nu Mla NMndom" aid l.e I ii.ul.l handle that hunch over tlwre ' Wliat he ineam lit Ihla sht could not or would not lei herself under-land under-land nut ahe thanked him rather iiirtl) and ileellnnl the ofTer i lie snilbil al hei nnlldently as lie nxle awai On liat did ha base Ida coiiHdi-me" i The spirit of the ranae waa strong In Ma) Her blmid liHillliled warmly, and her horse pleased sharply upon he liep. while her voice ranc loud and clear Hut when the laptdl) luovllis; maiuv; of white barks scurried IhroiiKh the scrub pines near the lop not halfj a mile away over the hill, she heard faint eoiindlim Tomes'" that were amln; nearer and oomlnc up the1, rldfe 'Maddens herders for money!" sun heard I'rl ell Hut we'll Kit la ahead They won t dast roue much nearer the) wont risk a lull up" The "W'a" wen bounding up the slope and the advance lino waa all but topplltiK the ridae From a little knoll on Unit pari of thu hoc back larthest from thu meadow. May, out of breath from her hard ride ami berj fries, ant her horse fur il moment of, triumph I Siidilenl) she heard a xreat rustllns. anionic the Iters and brush on the weat side of the ridge, opposite that, on which the first great billow of, W'a' was b ginning to appear I Krom below came whooping yells, tho burking of dogs wild Mints uud a low roar na :0.00u lltllu feet beat Iho ground and MOO little round hesds were isikiil out from among thu pirn's. A great wnvo of 'M'a' loomed for n moment from over the wny, read) lo rush In and liecomo one with Iho bll low of ' W'a ' which bad charged up the vast side of the rldae Just In lime to meet It ' Htop 'em' Hlup em' Mead 'em off' Cant )ou atop 'em!" waa Ma) a frantic appeal to Xke The old sheep man said nothing, but real heil back nil Ida saddle for his rifle, unci, raising It qulckl) und I mint' lug along the hundred fool nap that remained between tho two great herds, sent it bullet whirling low over It May had heard of this trick before. Sometimes, she knew, It bad succeeded In preventing a hopcli-ss mess of two bauds Zeke llrcd shot after shot, but the two lines, forced b) tho fatal up-sweep up-sweep from In hind, mured each other by lltllo starts and bounds. May saw an "M" sheep leap Into the air and rail flat. Sbo roilo over to X.tku und mado him atop hla shooting. When she looked again the two great tides of sheep hud'incl and mingled min-gled Tho "WV wtcro scampering wildly about uiuaug Ihn "M's," und tho "M's" wero threading through and through the "W'a," so that It itemed, lu one wild tnominl. Iho drendtd. Ihu frncle. mix un waa as tuiindeto as Iho mlt'iip of n wollshullled pack of card a. Iaiw Madden rode over lo where May stood leaning against u pine, cr)lng Tho rest had all run up tho ridge chasing tho sheep toward the meadow Lew got oft his horso and was close lo hor beforo she saw him 'Oh, It was mean of you," sho declared de-clared with wet cheeka and flaming oea, mi an mean!" This mis up?" he said, smiling softly "Oh.ldon'lknow. They can stay mixed for nil I care. It'a all right." "Why, what makea you say that?" shu riled, dabbing her eyes with a hindkerchlof "Wo can't leparnto them until the end of the season, unless," un-less," she added, a little more hopefully, hope-fully, "wo could rig up a corral and I n foot gate here somewhere, 1 won dcr If we could?" i "Hut I ilon't want lo," said he, I Ml would lake a month's wotk, and It Isn't worth while, nnjway" "Well." she said, with forced firm ness "I'll do II, then " "Hut )ou don't want to, either Why ilon't I want to?" "Ilecause jou're going to marry me, l.lltle llopeep hasn't Inst her sheep. They've Just sira)cd In among her lover's, And they are going to stay thero and never b separated Come! I am yours, and so are all my ahucp!" Ho held out his anna to Jier. Never had she seemed so weak In the face of the fine, strong. Insistent mastery of his presence lint she summoned tho protesting word ut last, though It ramo out faintly No!" Ho came neater and put his great arms atunit her I Vou'ie taking iiih for Kiunted, aft I -r ull Vou'ie Just as mean as" I No, I'm taking you for u -dear, atikellr Utile eiealure who loves me i very inuili ' ' "Ihere you ate' tu suld It' I'll not be taken foi xunled thut way" How will you bo taken then?" I ' Not at ull on don t understand -)ou don't deseivr -)ouie Just as meun as' Hut he stopped her words wllh a kiss und, afloi a lltllo slruxglc her head uuatlixl down upon his shoulder. Ull. hmitlui. foi his mistress, es pled her silting on u nick beside Lew, and st rumbled huek In Zeke There' nnuthnr mix up over Ihere," ho said, oi Inning and imbuing toward Iho pi lie rtittfni them sheep'll all be 4 var1r," M next smson ' |
