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Show (Continued frnm our Inst ISSUe) ff i Ikffl buc k toward th ramp. L rrom i iit ni the chaparril i thin col- unm :' pale Cray nmoko wa? i ilnp. H "Ready, Shorty"" he askod The squat man nodden un assent and follower! him lver the summit H Into the valley beyond. Rrad Stoolmnn Mat hunched before a fire, head drooped low between his 1 hiKh narrow shoulders. The rest-1 rest-1 less black eyes In the dark hatchet I face were sunk deeper now than !n 1 the old days. In them was beginning begin-ning to come the hunted look of the gray wolf he resembled. Steelmnn Plrtled to the door and opened It cautiously. A man pushed I In and closed the door I "Did you come here to make trou-"No, trou-"No, I came to collect a bill."' "So? Didn't know I owed you any money right now. How much Brad shot a quick, sidelong loo't at him. "What's wrong now, Dug'" The ex-foreman of the D Bar Lazy R took his time to answer. He en- Jnyed tho suspense tinder which hla ally was held. " Why. 1 reckon nothin' a-tail Only that this mo'nln' I put a match to about a coupla hundred thousand dollars belongln' to Crawford. Sanders ind Hart " Eagerly Steelman clutched his arm. "You did It. then'' "Didn't I say I'd do it?" snapped Doble. Irritably. ' D'ya ever know me rue back on a bargain"" Shorty 'with you"" "He was, an' he wasn't. I did it while ho wasn't lookln'. Shorty's Kot a soft spot in him. Game enough, but with iueer notions. Some time I'm liable to have to " Doble left his sentence suspended In air. '.'What's wrong with him now, ' Well, he's been wrong e ver slnco I had to bump off Tim Harrlgan Talks about a fair break." "What, about that fire" Sure It got a cood start?'' "I looked back from across the valley. It was travelln" good," ' I'll get you the money first thing In the mornin', promised Steelman. Dick poured himself a largt- drlti nd took It at a swallow. "I would. Doble drank steadily througho-tt the night. lie remained steady on his feet, growing uglier and moie reckless every hour Tied to Doble because he dared not break away from him, Steelman's busy brain began to plot a way to lake advantage of this man s weakness weak-ness for liquor, "O' course I know. Dug, you're a better marl than Sanders or Cra. -ford either, but Malapl don't know "I'll show 'em'" cried the enraged "I'll bet ou will. No man livln' can make a fool outa Dug Doble. rustle th evidence 10 semi him to tho pen. snap his fingers at him, and on top o' that lenl his girl. That B what I told ' Doble leaned across the table and cauirht In his great fist the wrist of Steelman. His bloodshot eyes glared into thoso of the man opposite. "Vh?c girl?'1 hs demanded hoarsely Rtr-elm&n looked biandl innocent "Didn't you know. Dug" Maybe 1 oughtn c tu .1 mentioned it 1 ringers like ropes of steel tight-1 tight-1 ne'd on tli wrist. fcon t do that. Dug' Em Crawford's Craw-ford's girl ' "What about her and Sanders " Why. he's courlin' her dldn t you know ?" "When did he begin"" Doble slam-lem slam-lem a hoillke fist on the table Bplt it out, or rii tsar yore arm off." CHAPTER XXI. A carpenter working on the roof of a derrick for Jackpot Number Six called down to his mates ' Fire In the hills, looks like 1 se smoke." The rontractor was an old-timer. He knew the danger of fire In tho chaparral at this season of the year Crawford borrowed without permission per-mission of the owner the nearest saddle sad-dle horse and put it to a lope. From the tower Hart descended swiftly He gathered together all workers and equipped them with Shovels, picks brush-hooks. ,awa, and axes To each one he gave also a gunnysack The foot party followed Crawford into the chaparral, making for the hills that led to iie.ir Canon A wind was stirring, and as they topped a rise It struck hot on their cheeks. A flake of ash fell on Hob a hand Crawford met them at the mouth of the canon "She's rlp-ia rin'. Bob' Cioi too big j a start so beat out. We'll clear a flrs-bre&k where the gulch narrows Just Above here and do our fightln' there." The wind was stlffer now and the fury' of the fire closer The flames roared down the canon like a blast furnace. Driven back by the lntcnne heat, the men retreated across the break and rlung to their line Already Al-ready their lungs were sore from In haling fmoke and their throats were Inflamed. A pine, its pltohy trunk ablaze, crashed down across the fire-trail fire-trail and caught In the fork of a tree beyond. Instantly the foliage leaped to red flame. Bob galloped Into the canon and flung himself from the horse. "She's Jumpln' outa tho gunch aboe Too late to head her off. We better run a troll along the top o' the ridge. don t you reckon?" he laid "Yes. son," agreed Crawford. "Wo can just about hold her here. It'll be hours before I 'an spare a man for the ridge. We got to get help In a hurry. You ride to town and rustle rus-tle men." The canon abow them was by this time a sea of fire, the most terrifying sight Bob had ev-r looked upon. Monster flames leaped at the walls of tho gulch, swept In an eyebeat oer draws, attacked with a savage roar the dry vegetation. The nol?e was like the crash of mountains meeting Thunder could warn have made Itself heard. Sanders waa In the office of the Jackpot company looking over some blueprints, when Joyce Crawford came In. "Dad told me something last night, Mr. Sanders. Ho said I might pais if on to you and Bob ' though it isn't to go farther It's about that ten thousand dollars he paid the bank when It called his loan. He got the money from Buck Bylngton " "Buck!" exclaimed the young man "I know," she explained The money wasn't hit;. He's executor or something for the children of his dead brother. When he heard Dad was to desperately hard up for cash he let him have the monev Now It has been straightened out That's why Dad couldn't tell where he got the money Buck would have been In trouble." "I see." A shadow darkened the doorei'.l HIm bloodshot eyes glared Into those of the man opposite. and Bob Hart stepped into the office. His first words were ominous but heforo hH spuke both of those looking look-ing at him knew he was the bearer of bad news There was in his boyish boy-ish faco an unwonted gravity. 1 Iro in the chaparral. Dave, and going strong." Sanders spoke one word. "Where?" "Started in Bcnr t'anon, but it's Jumped out into the hills. Joyce guessed the situation was a def.pi-ru.ie one '! 1 ;id m danger?" she ask d Hart answered. "No not now, anyhow' "What can I do to help?" 'We'.l have, hundreds of men In tho field, probably, if this fire ho 1 real start." Dave told her. "Ws II rn--l food and coffee lots of It, Or- women. Make meat and-Wlehos and-Wlehos hundreds of them. And sead out to the Jackpot dozens of coffeo pots Your Job Is to keep the workers well fed. Better send bandages and salve, in case some get burnt." Sanders was on the road lnald of twenty minutes, a group of homo-men homo-men galloping at his heH. Through the Bmokc tho sun was blood-rod The nlr was heavy and heated. From the fire llnr Cr.iwford came to meet these new allies "We're holdln1 her here. It's been nip an' tuck." Finerson Crawford was holding his ground though barely holding it "How are things up above"' he asked in a ho.arsr whisper. "Good. We held the check-line." -'Bmm n through &v. son. look who's here!" His thumb hitched toward to-ward his right shoulder. Dave looked down the line of blacl'-ened. blacl'-ened. grlmv flre-flgh'ers and his 1 1 fell on Shorty H- was still wearing chaps, but his Chihuahua hat had succumbed long ago Manifestly the man had been on the fighting line for some hour "DOesn't he know about the reward re-ward ?" "Yes. He was hid In' In Malapl when the call came for 'men Says he's no quitter, whatever else ho Is. You bet he aln I He's worth two of most men nt this work. Soon as vv c get through he'll be on the dodge again. He's a good sport, anyhow, I'll say that for him " CHAPTER XXII When Shorty separated from Doble In Frio Canon he rode Inconspicuously Inconspicuous-ly to a tendejon where he could be snugly hidden from the public ga:e and yet mieet a few pals" whom he could trust at leust as long as he could keep his eyes on them. Shorty was an outlaw and a bad man Ho had killed, and might at any time kill again. To save the Jackpot from destruction he yvonia not have made B turn of the hand. But Shorty was a cattle man. He was loyal to the hand that paid him, he Ftood by his pale, and he believed In and after his own fashion loved cattle and the life of which they weru the central fact To destroy th range feed wantonly was a crime so nefarious that he could not belle.. Doble guilty of It And yet He could not let the matter lie In doubt. He left the tendejon and rode to Steelman's house. "Where's Dug "' Shorty demanded of Steelman (Continued in our nest Issue) on |