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Show 9 . it rilAPTEK 1 It was a land of splintered peaks, of deep, dry gorges, of barren mesas I "burnt bv the suns of a million torrid summers Tlie normal condition of It was warfare. Life hero had to protect itself with a tough, callous rind. ' 'nly the fit survived. Around the camp-(tiT the drivers of the trail herd squattod on their heels or lay sprawled at indolent ease, The glow of the leaping flames from th- iwisted meso,uite lit their lean fares. tanned to bronzed health by the beat ol an untempered sun u..w the sweep of parched wind. (Jut of the soft shadows of th( sum-i 7 ier night i boy moved from the re-ida re-ida toward the camp-fire llo wos ;.in. sandy-haired young fellow, his I ure still lank md unfilled As ho .-it down on the wagon tongue the .-I ringlnes of his appearance became noticeable. A young man waved a hand toward him by way of introduction. "Gents of the D Bar Lazy R outfit Mr. Da-: u Sanders, formerly of Arizona, will lake oration on the why. whercfon l nd how-come-it of Chlquito's super:-' orlty to all other enuines whatever ' I'd like right well to make love to that pinto my own se'f. Bob." commented com-mented a weather-beaten puncher. 'Any old tirr?" Dave wants to saw him i. ft onto me al sixty dollars I'm here to do business " 99k HP 'You're nre an easy mark, L. u c K . BBtkW grunted a large fat man ills white and -"" I. . - Be: Si T om tho tough range-rldors. He did HH not belong with the outfit, but h 5tt Doble, a half-brother the trail fore- Hfl maid, to travel with it as far as Malapi. HgH lie was known as Ad Miller intt Doble backed up his partnei B are. Buck. I can get COWporilea for HjB ten and fifteen dollars all I Wi HH he said, and contrived WEH : to make tin.- remark sang M "Nol oonles like Chiquito," HtlBH He's some bronc." explained Bob HjBH Hart. "Got a bagful of tricks, a nice BrKl t," It ' You don't say " The voice of the H And on top of all lhat edjucation he HjBmw The temper of Banders began HHf edge, "I don i rSfiRpHjj or. but he HHBH "Hmp!" grunted Miller skeptically. HHHj "JDbn't look to me like no racer." HflHj "Why. I'd bo 'most . libit- to bet that pacH horse ol ours, Bf J Bp Bob Hart 1 elped things along. K HI E F BJ f r a moment's ill got, 150 mor U i S ITou HHy not .--.(nd to covoi :c23fcf "B lonth'a paj thirl SnW dollars," retorted Dave SSJI 'Might as well boo a few u ' m; BBV self, seeing a Whisk) Bill belongs to BBy me," said Miner with his wheezy BBf 8. laugh " Who wants to take a whirl. Inside of three minutes lie had BB placed a hundred dollars The terms BR Of the race were arranged and the Bl money put In the hunds of the fore- Sman. An hour later Buck Byington drew ,anders asidt. ppp "Dave, you're a chuckle-halded B- il it. If ever 1 seen tinhorn sports B ,1.1 two -job. They'r Ilectln i BFb ' '.iii offn suckers. Didn't von aabe B9. i come-on stuff? Their pack-horse L. ringer. Both of them are i ro k- KR 1 dog e hind lalg " is&ijS iraitted the young man. PBBfl But Chiquito never went back on me BBj et. These fellows may be overplay-) BbWH their hand, don't you reckon?" t BB ' of a chanct. That tumblebug Mil- E b is one fishy proposition, and his BBB idekick Doble .say. he's the kind of BBjB bird that shoots you In tho stomach BHBJ while he's shnkin hands with vou Me BBfl 1 aim to button up my pocket when, HHjjH them guys are around." BBj CHAPTER BPfl A course was chosen for the race. IBgS ! "roni a selected point the horses were! BBjH 'o run to a clump of mosquito, round BEB it, and return to the starting place. BBS I ug Doble was chosen both starter B!J and luri''- BBH Dave watched Whisky Bin with the RB trained eyes of a horseman. The anl- Bfl uLal was an ugly brute as to the head. BHbB But in legs and body It had the fine B lines of a racer. The horse wa.s built HB for speed. The cow-puncher's heart BV sank. His bronco was fast, but the BB little range pony hud not been design-, Sy i oughbred. BJL' "Are you to.l' '." roblc asked of the tCG? n two men In the saddlee BBV His brother said, "Lot'or go!" San-BB San-BB dcrs nodded. The revolver barked. - BHBJ Chiquito was off like a fb-.sh of light. I BEjH found its stride instantly. Before it B had covered seventy-five yards the! BB idnto was thn lengths I" !Hr i-'oot by toot ih.; distance between the liorses letsened to two lenghts, to one. BBAfl to half a length. The ugly head of ESfl the racer came abreast of the cow-si cow-si puncher. With a sickening certainty (fj the range rider know that his Chlqul-B- lo was doing tho best that was In It, L Whisky Bill was a faster horse. BBB Tho "halfway mark v. as Just alp ad 1 BHBb 1 ne cowpunchcr know exactly how to I El mako the turn with tho least possible; H loss of speed and ground Scarcely bSB ackenlng speed, ho swont the pinto HaH round the clump of mesquite and was HHJ Off for home. V Dave was halfway back before h i: Ci vas sure that' tho thud of Whlb .. fiasf hoofs was almost at his I B called on the cowpony for a last I spurt Tho plucky little horse an-Iswered an-Iswered the call, gathered itself for the jhome stretch, for a moment held its illtagO. Then ho knew that the bay wa run-Ining run-Ining side by side with Chiquito. The two horses raced down tho stretch together. to-gether. Whisky Bill half a length In the lead, and gaining at every Stride Daylight showed between thorn and they crossed the lino. Chiquito bad been outrun lo- a speedier borr CHAPTER II r Hart came up to his friend grinning. "Well, you old horn-toad, WO got no kick COIhlh,' Chiquito run a mighty pretty race, (inly trouble was his lalgs wasn't long enough." The owner of tho pony nodded, a lump in his throat. lie WAS not think-1 Ing about his thirty-five dollars, but about tho futile race Into which he I had allowed his little beaut to be trapped Dave would not be 21 until coming grass, and it still hurt his boyish pride to think that his favorite had been beaten The voice, of George Doble cut in. openly and offensively Jubilant. 'Till tell vou now that broomtall never had j a chanOB to beat Whisky BUI." "Yore hoss can run. sob," admitted I Dave. "He didn't have lo take tln kluks out of his legs to beat that plug." "You get our money," said Hart quietly, fclri'i t Vint enough without rub bin it in?" ' iQOPDLS MIGHTY !" SCREA M E D DOBLE. LEAPING TO HIS FEKT The usual give-and-take of gay repartee re-partee was missing at supper that night What hurl, was that they had been tricked, ied like lam Us to tho I killing. None of them doubted now that the pack horse of the gamblers was a "ringer." Thcso men hud de- llberately crossed the path of the trail outfit lu order to take from the va- queros their money. The punchers were sulky. Instead !of a fair race they had been up against an open-and-shut proposition, as Kus-koII Kus-koII phrased it. The Jeers of Doble did not improve their tempers. "They say one's born every minute. And dawge'd if I don't believe it." he sneered. Audibly Hart murmured his sentiments senti-ments aloud. "I'm liable to tell thesi birds what I think of em, Steve. M they don't spend quite some lime lay-in" lay-in" offn us." "Don't tell us out loud. We might hear you." advised Doble insolently. "In regards to that. I'd Mile worry if you did " Dave was nt that moment returning to his plaoo with a cup :' hot ootfc . By some perverse trick of fute his glume fell on Dobel's fdnis'.or liioe of malignant triumph. His self-control snapped, mid In an instant, the whole course of his life was deflected from the path it would otherwise have taken. tak-en. With a flip ho tossed tho tin cup so lhat tho hot coffee soused th? crook. "Goddlornlghty!" screamed Doble, leaping tb his feet. He reached for his forty -five, Just as Sanders closed with him Miller, With surprising agility for B fat man, got to his foot and laun hi 1 himself nt the puncher. Dave flung the smaller of his opponents back against Steve, who was sitting tailor fashion beside him. The gunman tottered tot-tered and fell over Russell, who lost no time in pinning his hands to the ground while Hart deftly removed the revolver from his pocket. Swinging round to face Miller, Dave saw at once that the big man had chosen cho-sen not to draw his gun In spito of his fat the gambler Was a rough-and-tumble flghtor of parts. Tho extra weight had como in recent years, but underneath It lay roped muscles and heavy bones. instantly Dave plunged at him. They went down, locked together. Davo underneath. The puncher knew that if he had room Miller would hammer ham-mer his face to a pulp. He. drew himself him-self close to the barrel body, arms and legs wound tight llko hoops. "Lemme loose'" shrieked tho man on top "My Gawd, you're killln' me'"' Davo had not the least Idea v. h-'t was disturbing Mllk-tV pf aoe 0i' mind, but whatever it was moved lu 1i1h m:-vantago. m:-vantago. Ho clampod tighter, working his heols into another secure position. The big man bellowed with pain. "What's all this?" demanded an imperious im-perious 5l;e. Miller was torn howling from the arms and lege that bound him and Dave found himself Jerked roughly to his feet The big. ruwboned foreman was glaring at him above hln large hook nose. (Continued In our Next Issue) |