Show UNLOCK U N L 0 aar RANCH SYNOPSIS sleepy cat desert town of the southwest ti is celebrating the fourth of july lane jane van beautiful daughter of ous gus van cambel hated owner of gunlock ranch has from the east for the first time she watches the frontier day celebration in company with dr carpy crusty tenderhearted tender hearted friend of the community henry bawdy of the circle dot ranch tricked in a take fake horse race rac the day before by dave McCross fe Crossen cn foreman at gunlock plans plana revenge eV enge CHAPTER I 1 continued 2 the noon train from ile dicine bend brought a few more visitors to tile the Fali grounds these made just about a load for jim bus to one liedle medicine lne pend bend nann man tim jim paid particular deference calling him frequently by h his Is ili first name but doing most of the lie talking himself all the way from the depot for ills his friend like most porting ng men was spare of words but the moment favored passenger had anid his fair tipped tile the scotch liveryman generously slid and walked toward the grandstand pill confided to those about him that this was the celebrated harry Ter tenison ilson big time gambler from medicine bend who talked of opening a place in sleepy cat and lefeber were lo in moody confab behind tile the grandstand when the dapper tenison approached picking his steps with disgust through the dust sandys eyes lighted on tile the new arrival first ite ile gave a groat great start harry he cried for the love 0 coment women I 1 of all men youre sent tills this minute from heaven now how much Is tills this goin to cost henry asked Ten tenison lson pausing to dd dust t ills his shoes with an immaculate silk handkerchief lefear Le feer too beamed on tenison harry I 1 lie he shouted for the love 0 hike how come two of you commented tenison calmly the clouds are ga catherln gather therin ln I 1 supposed youve been cleaned by tills this sleepy cat bunch and want me for a payoff pay off oft harry barry murmured lower voiced and very sober ill admit I 1 have said it better myself come this way talk low the three found a quiet spot back of the grandstand the story ot of the cowmen was soon told it went into sympathetic and unhesitating ears As with all gamblers who play big s mind was soon made up 1 I dont don t bans anac mun on sure things but you two seem to know what youre about how much do you boys want A thousand harry tenison thought a minute Is jake spotts spoils in town here on the grounds if hes not up at the saloon hunt him up hell have a few hundred ive got a few in my pocket wheres the boy that pulls this stuff for you come over to the horses and meet bill denison Den lson were keeping him dark they think hes a hostler Ten tenison lson when introduced looked over sandys hope in his usual cold blooded fashion jake spotts the pro fane ane barber shop and bar magnate appeared meantime tenison asked for six hundred dollars jake counted bis big roll he showed four hundred odd give me the four jake said tenyson calmly 1 I 1 cn get all you want up at the bar harry suggested spotts thin tall bald headed hollow jawed and hollow eyed theres no time to make the trip jake interposed Der nervous delvous the races are pretty near over and the trick aldin comes next ono no matter interposed Tent tenison son ni ill borrow a couple hundred from harry boland why bolands backen the gunlock outfit all the letter better id just like to dou alro ble cross the within the the next five minutes he was ta talking X ing t to oland boland next on the pro program r an asked the life medicine dicine bend g gambler b 1 er after t er the preliminaries trick said boland hance chance to pick up any money on it sure if you yon can place any money bet on mccrossen for gunlock the rust rustier lerl hell hes foreman at Guil gullock lock now 1 I suppose van bambei feel easy it if he be had an honest man ste alln tor for him all right it if you say its ate mccrossen lend me a couple of hundred harry id like to make my tare fare up here anyway boland counted out two hundred dollars and handed it over tellson hand hand ed halt half of it back to boland put this I 1 on Ate mccrossen Crossen for me ill see gee if I 1 can place the rest on him myself vilos vilo S ridin against him two or three buckaroos tile the circle dot outfit have entered a young fellow well clean em cm same as we did yesterday predicted boland 1 I heard about that suckers will 1 always 1 tall fall for it harry well ru iti go eo ver over and talk to and lefever see eee it if they got any money left maybe I 1 can get a small bev bet boland was tat fat und and short ile he never breathed easily but he would not have been able to breathe at all it if he had heard the next talk between tenison and how does it look 0 to you harry har blurted out like many things have hate looked be fo ore kin they dont always alway look so 0 o after heres jakes four our bun nu wed red rw in i n addeal ddlan six aundrel tt that by fran frank he H spearman copyright frank if spearman service makes your thou I 1 dont know nebout tuat C Iz arette trick I 1 never dever saw it done but once where was that in 31 llad adison lson square garden who pulled it A loung fellow a texan I 1 get ills his nome name 11 froni from the lie judges stand canie came the clang of the bell the jockeys rode up tip to licar hear the decision when they had ridden away the lie announcing judge called for the contestant in the next event the fancy four our entries rode up tip and were checked in flit 14 t came mccrossen McC gunlock foreman tall and spare long haired ind and straight ns as a statue ildon 11 g the identical ware mare that had taken toe the circle CIr cIDot oot money the day before next for entry came caine a gunlock braie accouter accoutered ed with handed banded hair to in scant indian fashion the third hope was a local boy in brave ap apparel parel the fourth to ride up was as the night wrangler of the circle dot outfit not an alarming threat either in looks or in reputation ue ile rode the horse on which lie he had been so badly beaten the day before lefevers little chestnut gelding ills his personal rl rig was inconspicuous having been worn the whole way on the drle from the rio klo grande wear nod and travel stain had made themselves sensibly felt on it throe three judges had been chosen to name the victor jim Lar laralle Larain amle le a not noi til th country cattleman himself a rider of no mean ability john selwood a mining man who li likewise keIse knew how to jr 1 I suppose youve been cleaned by this sleepy cat bunch 0 ride and an ex bill Par daloe now a deputy and who rode ilk like e a tub but matched any man in the mountains as a connoisseur of decent liquor and who would drink nowhere in sleepy cat except jake spotts the first test came in indian style riding this meant bareback first wit with h bridle ped then with bridle th the e reservation entry was at home in this 8 it t made a pretty picture the hal half f naked young brave racing around the track irack throwing himself from side to side and backward and forward on ills his pony Par daloe gave him a hundred points and waited for tile next man the local boy passed out on this test mccrossen made a splendid showing but ills his size was against him for that style of horsemanship wan ship the wrangler almost as large a man seemed able better to twist and wind himself around his gelding the last time be raced down tire the course it looked at a distance from the grandstand asaf the horse hor S e lad had I 1 lost his rider I 1 so 90 completely did the wrangler hit hide I 1 e himself on the opposite side the judges at least decad decided ed that no buck they had ever s seen een ride could hide bide himself more effectually from a toe they gaie gae the texan par with the buck mccrossen fell a few points under the two wild west riding followed in this INIC mccrossen Crossen made a perfect score ills lol long little litlie body in action his perfect ease and his 1118 striking garb brought enthusiastic thusia applause the wrangler now well thought of was nas a disappointment disappoint ment in this test lest lie he got through all the work but seemingly unevenly and with an effort ile he dropped to eighty points with mccrossen McC at par een the local boy and the indian passed him looks like yesterday over again said harry boland disposed to jeer at sandy guess your boy shot his bis bolt on the first round the laugh seemed to bore into sa we dont quit yet he blurted out like one baffled but not beat beaten en though ill say I 1 have seen the boy ride a whole lot better what do you think harry boland bolan d was appealing now to tenison Ten lson who stood near at hand looks like the wrangler Is through assented tenison Ten lson backlog backing then to one side and speaking loud to boland he added put that money 0 of mine on mccrossen hes got the act in the bag well better luck next ti time me henry said boland resuming bis h Is prodding of 1 I 1 dont ask any better lual luck retort ei cl saw saidy dr my boy la is the best rider in this bunch an I 1 know it henry asked coland boland bae you got any money that says that fairly hated the bound of the fellows sneering voice tile boys just havin harln an olt off spell might be all ri right ht next nest event but you bet on it looked at hi his s tormentor torme g sriv ly you want ant a bet ell eh sounds S like it dont it what boddil you give bolind boland turned to tenison to laugh lau heres a man with tile the best fancy rider on earth and askin odds on him 11 askin odds on him film today only explained ph allied defensively iles hes just oft color today isolind bolind isol ind sneered again an there dirt aint t 9 goin oln to be no trick ridin tomorrow a fine proposition of yours henry ill have toy iny buy boy in the saddle tomorrow for any kind of riden you yon name a against pin st any rider you name retorted what odds you abkin SaN vily asked boland dangerously near to a sneer as lie questioned on the the boys made responded impressively and only on the chance he be can pull himself together liy by tomorrow im askin two to one how much do you cover at that all you can raise saudy snapped boland til ill go you a thousand two to one the judges bell clanged for the trick riding in consternation rushed toward the stand hold on lie he cried throwing up his hands five minutes gentlemen just five minutes he shouted my man Is changie ch angin his boots five minutes please does it take him five minutes to take off ills his boots bellowed dill bill pard aloe 1 I cn kick mine oft off in five seconds start the ordered mil bill clanging the bell impatiently for gods sake bill Parda loel shouted hold on hold on give me at least three minutes it if a wink from the foot of a two story balcony might be described as stentorian such was the slow agonizing wink that cast up at the impatient judge Par daloe looked at his watch ill give you two minutes he said sternly be ready or default but both men quite understood that this remark was for public consumption rather than literal enforcement raced hastily back to poland boland who in fact had followed him part way to the stand you said a thousand at two to one panted lie ile drew hastily from his pocket a roll of bills ind and laid the money in Teril sons hands count that mostly fifties now boland put up or shut up just a minute minu tel boland conferred with his bis cronies a group of them were already about him there was a turning sidewise a digging into pockets an assembling of wads the thousand was hurriedly put into Terl sons hands bands boland was excited particularly calm roland doland he said casually im liun hungry ry what do you mean im hungry for another thousand same odds like hell I 1 guess pulled from another pocket a second roll of bills put up boland or shut up justs you like ill bet you five hundred more even money it was purely a bluff but it brought an unpleasant surprise 1 I want to be fair harry boland retorted justs you was yesterday put up your five fire hundred buddy ill cover it the words were a blow to boland sandys not even pausing to insist on odds as the money went up told him that somebody somewhere had bad loaded something hustled back to the stand and winked anew at Par daloe the bell clanged the contestants rode up the wrangler now as jane van cambel saucily whispered to dr carpy carp Y sitting next to her was a symphony in fit brown from head to foot a skeleton brown jockey cap close fitting brown jersey brown jersey riding trousers and low soft brown boots made dade up ills his rl rig mccrossen lung clung to his scarlet sash and silk shirt nor had the indian alan ii or the local hoy boy changed As tile riding went swiftly forward ind and tile the feats grew more difficult the tha boy and the lie indian were eliminated mccrossen Alc Crossen took these stunts readily the wrangler riding fourth and easily in III oil all the tests after him these two riders seemed indifferent in all the earlier feats they rode standing feet first or head first twirling rifles rides turning lightning like in the saddle to face forward or backward at full speed the crowd sat bewildered with the struggle narrowed to the two seemingly even matched riders spectators began to wonder how the contest could be decided the judges after conference asked for a further trial of the familiar feat of beking objects from the ground already these feats had been made a feature and creditably performed but some gome word lad had reached the judges that there might be further possibilities bIll in this field the two contestants were asked to propose their own stunts tossing fo for first choice abc mccrossen won A lad ladys YS white li hand andker ker chief was dropped and riding at speed turned backward in the saddle mccrossen picked it from the ground d tho wrangler followed suit sol t elta easy reto SUIL HE BE CONTINUED |