Show 77 SA ERIDE ra DE 71 P by ERNEST HAYCOX W N U THE STORY SO FAR clay morgan hn hits decided decide d to play a lone hind hand against den ben here herendeen deen a rancher bent on run y was tie the ca cattle country his bis own way the two men have been enemies tor for years ha having ing first ought over clays wife LIT llla who h 0 died hating him and be It evIng swe she wh should have married keren heren deen morg morgan n Is a so loll tary figure de eted to till his n alne inc year old daughter J janet an althou although h two women C catherine grant and an ana McG mcgarrah arrab are in love with hi him they know he cannot forget arget llla lila 01 his to former mor friends only hack frient breathitt had not gone 0 over v r to lleren deens side now ow hack Is dead shot by Heren deens foreman charley hillhouse gurd gard grant catherines catherine brother joined O filed lleen herendeen deen when he discovered 0 that h at catherine had been to morgans ran ranch h but the coll cold bloodedness blood bloode edness duess of e H hacht it a murder his has made him break with 1 t herendeen warned by fox wi willing ll 11 in 9 a nester he ones once befriended cl clay a y discovers that nere herendeen adeen Is stealing his cat cattle U e lie he goes to Heren deens ranch 1 for r a showdown but Is ready tie ile chance of at betl getting f ng out ont all alive e evs when uge white one of 11 rende 9 friends friend 8 rides up like gard grant he Is led fed up with Heren deens high handed methods risking his life to save clay he bersu persuades S de 8 him to take a chance on riding off he thin think herendeen will der dare to shoot the bluff works and they escape ape now clay and his men are driving the cattle back a into government valley his range e Ille herendeen rend een has followed and there Is certain to be a tight now continue with the story CHAPTER lige white con considerably sider ably disturbed by his interview with morgan and pret pretty ty much at sea in his own mind traveled over the lower spur ot of the Hay Haye creek reek hills and came down on the grant house at a fast clip the sound of his arr arrival val bringing catherine to the door he said theres there hell to pay around here wheres where gurd upstairs the trouble alge white called hey gurd come down right now he rolled himself a cigarette while he waited and made mada a sketchy explanation to catherine nervousness catching at his words catherine said at once if theres any help needed from crowfoot clay swill get it not ben herendeen 11 kaiu gurd grant I 1 looked 0 aked sick and desperate he put his shoulder against the doorway he said alge how did we get into this mess id give a thousand dollars catherine turned on her brother bothering you gurd gurd dropped his eyes his face normally so light and cheerful held V a sallow it was hard for him to talk and he be pulled himself together with an effort his hands shook he noticed that and shoved them into his pockets 1 I was over with charley hillhouse Hl on breath itta trail we trailed breathitt all morning and found him asleep in the potholes potholed Pot holes of course I 1 thought charley meant to take him into town to jail what else would a man think how was it possible tor for me to figure that hillhouse who had been hacks friend tor for fifteen years would catherine breathed out gurd sure said gurd grant sullen and full of self hatred hillhouse simply lifted his gun and killed breathitt I 1 tried to stop it it do a any ny good lige white threw away his cigarette finding the flavor gone out of it lie he looked away from gurd suddenly unable to meet the expression in the others eyes what could I 1 do lige catherine said you never should h have ave gone with charley hillhouse th there re was your mistake lige said stay out of coming the best you can do for clay now we all got caught in bens net I 1 was a fool not to have known what hed try to do now we wiggle out im going t to 0 town catherine watched him go when he passed the tar far rim of the meadow she dropped her arm tor for gurd and faced him her tone was soft and cool you went after hack because you wanted to hurt clay I 1 know that you thought clay and I 1 he showed a reviving flash of anger the night ben and uge and I 1 went up to clays place you were there I 1 walked to the end of the porch ach and saw your horse around the house you were hiding inside it if you had nothing to be ashamed of why hide she said because I 1 had gone up there to tell clay what you and lige and herendeen had bad said that night you were leaving clay out of it and I 1 stand that ben had both of you convinced but I 1 want ben to know I 1 was taking clay the information gurd stung by his mistakes still remembered he had given his bis word to herendeen it was the one thing to which he could cling so he said raid we cant go against him JU ill do nothing one way or the oth er she went on as though not bearing him they have quarreled too often meet she stared at her brother cold as ice it if clay should die I 1 think id kill ben Is it so horrible to say perhaps it is but I 1 cant help it she walked from the porch to her norse Ft standing anding by gurd said wait a minute where you going she answer swinging up a hand he left the yard bound toward mo I 1 im 17 k kip do ail 9 j Z V bullets squashed into the adobe wall beside morgan causing him to shift slowly charley hillhouse Hlll house brought up Breath itts horse and lashed the dead man to the saddle and tools took him back bach to three pines when he be came to describe the affair to herendeen the words seemed to stick in his bis dry throat it puzzled him that it should be so hard to make a simple story of it too there was an odd look in Heren deens eyes and something queer in his voice herendeen said slowly all right charley nothing more hillhouse said im him into war pass where his people are burled buried he drove through war pass alen wh en he backed against the office door of doctor padden wh who 0 was also coroner jese rusey came by hillhouse said give me a hand jesse and the two ot of them carried breathitt into maddens Pad dens office padden around but there was a side ide room with a long table in it th they ey left breathitt here rusey said A little trouble yeah ruse rusey y said too bad and went out the marshals province was war pass not anything beyond and he be had seen too much death to show much curiosity about one more dead man hillhouse Hlll house delayed his departure both hands lying on the table beside breathitt Breath itts face was gray and dirty but it was still the face ot of a man who had looked on life as a game to be taken as lightly as possible hillhouse suddenly removed his own hat placed it over hacks face and turned from the room he drove the wagon as far as the long grade here stopping tor for a drink the barkeep made some casual remark about the weather which hillhouse accepted in dour silence thereafter the barkeep held his own council hillhouse Hlll house paid for the drink went out and climbed into the wagon there was no travel on the road it wound with the foothills it looped beside a creek passed over a small divide and entered a scattered belt 0 of f timber by the dell lake trail he observed that three or tour four horsemen had recently come off mogul far up near moguls rim he caught the transitory motion of a rider all these things he automatically noted missing nothing of the signs or shapes or color of the land four miles from town he broke the neck of the bottle of rye over the brake handle and took a long drink A mue mile beyond this point cache river cut nearer the road and a small grove of cottonwood lay hard by the stream charley turned through the grove and let his horses wa water ter at the margin of the river he wrapped the reins around the brake handle and got down holding the whisky bottle charley hillhouse Hlll house spoke aloud 1 I wish seen it my way hack I 1 wish you had he walked steadily forward until he faced a cottonwood he drew his gun holding it only a foot from the tree and fired at it afterwards stooping a little he studied the hole made by the bullet with a strange care ile he held the bottle of rye in his left hand and now knowing it would do him no good ever he be gave it a long overhand heave into the river As long as he was alive nothing would cover up ils his thinking excitement whetted morgans nerves to a sharp edge as he stood there and heard ben herendeen say come on boys A man yelled to hell with this I 1 morgan waiting a more definite target saw one rider swing wide and rush in suddenly all of Heren Herendeen deens 8 men were wheeling around the beet beef running for the dobe building near by as though to circle it vance ketchell called to announce himself its me ketchell and lige white they raced down on morgan he had bad to step aside barely avoiding a collision vance was out oat of the saddle beside him and grumbling damned near too late I 1 lige white still mounted turned away he called herendeen cut this out cull one of Heren deens riders plunged straight on and fired once at lige whites high placed shape morgan and ketchell laid their shots on this man they caught his horse and watched it sink they saw caw the rider tree free himself and seem to flatten against the earth jump murmured going to try something powder smell small settled around morgan A small definitely cold thread of wind hit his bis face and there was a telltale smearing of the shadows in the open area by the tar far building they were running wide keren heren deens men and now they were on foot firing as they moved away from the dobe jump said im goin after those horses and scurried forward bullets squashed into the dobe wall beside morgan causing him to shift slowly horses plunged around him knocking him backward some blodys shoulder hit him and then he saw Heren deens men rise out of the earths massed darkness into their saddles the ruffle of Heren deens horses diminished on the desert and sta standing nd slack and tired in the open morgan knew this nights fight was done he knew something else as well it was Heren deens cre crew w which had given way not herendeen vance ketchell called alges been hit morgan went over at once ketchell 1 knelt on the ground his knee propping lige at the shoulders morgan drew back from the party quietly calling fox willing fox he said 1 I wish ride over and bring mrs white to the ranch fox cut away at once the rest turned north reaching long S seven even an hour later coming into the ya yard rd morgan saw catherine in the doorway when he got down to help lige white from the saddle he turned to look at her again framed as she was in the light tall and still and straight shouldered and he felt the tug of strange old excitement lige could use one leg only and had to brace himself between ketchell and morgan catherine stepped aside to let them pass saying put him on a bed clay and followed the men upstairs into an extra bedroom the room was dark and they had a moments trouble getting lige on the bed morgan heard lige grit his teeth together as they laid him down catherine found a lamp and lighted it and by this yellow glow all of them saw the whiteness of aiges face his hair came down on his forehead and sweat oiled his skin his lips crawled back form ling ing a smile 1 I sure as hell broke something you know clay if it too much trouble I 1 wish send tor for grace already have im going into town for padden vance you better get his clothes off lige white said 1 I guess you dont know the whole story yet clay hillhouse cornered hack and killed him the mans man a fanatic im warning you about that if you should see him in town morgans eyes dropped he stood like this quiet and cold and too weary to feel the full shock of the news he said after a while ill meet him sooner or later and left the room he turned to janeas room when he came came beside the bed and looked down through the shadows he found she asleep she reached tor for ils his hand saying chos hurt dad dy 1 we had bad a fight with Heren deens deeni ranch janey lige white was hurt im going after a doctor she murmured it is too bad but im glad it you the pros pres sure of her hand was warm and confident she was pleased to have him sit here and talk with her it made her expand and grow confidential 1 I wish I 1 here daddy when you were young and danced with catherine I 1 bet you were the best dancer ot of all she Is pretty walt wait tiu till you get old enough to dance ill stand by and remember when you were so small you walked under the table she was silent seeing the picture ot of herself dancing and pleased by it her ups lips softened and there was a glow in her eyes afterwards afterward in a faintly reserved tone she said she like I 1 thought she was wa daddy what did you think she likes me daddy I 1 think she would TO BE CONTINUED |