Show ifan lan BE E F 1 HAROLD CHAN channa ct N I 1 NO WI RE LEW teen engaged by TOM told ARNOLD owner ol of the tb cross cron T to act as trall trail be boil s an a the drive from boa louthern r a T to ogallala Oi allala la in the spring a rot 1871 TO tom m kith 1 hit son ion and daughter STEVE and joyo JOY a are moving to wyoming tom most mait deliver to to the ind indian I 1 an agent by sopt sept I 1 or lose loie a profitable contract low lew suspects inspects that the indian supply co li Is trying to delay he cross T tom arnold li Is killed during ng a stampede stampede itam pede CLAT CLAYr MANNING dANNING and ED dispute lows lew authority and Lewal charie esplana low lew hean bem from the old lers at Doans store that the indian are being abeln incited to ral galdins dins they cross cron 1 into to indian territory A party of Cheyenne i demand 00 cattle CHAPTER XIII over his cornmeal corn meal bread and steaks and coffee lew watched toward the cooks wagon with only a curious interest steve was over there too eating with them but r it was joy that clay was working on making something light ot of it with his hat pushed back on his blond head and all ot of his bis big face showing her an easy reassurance he could wheedle her when he wanted to with a sort of concerned gallantry his blue eyes going momentarily in menta en rily grave then he could see their talk was coming to a decision and his first feeling that clay could get nowhere with joy left him for she stood briefly with a little frowning doubt steve took her arm and spoke to her she nodded they tossed their empty plates blates at the wreck pan and came op on toward the fire Wel lLew clay said he brought his bis eyes around schools out clay class dismissed sit down he grinned at joy weve got to know your plan she said all right were turning west at dawn clawn ahe he held out one hand palm up heres rain coming indians wont travel in the wet so were safe enough tonight that about it He Hi glanced at the half ring of men to see what backing he would get some of them nodded spoils their feathers said rebel b john stay under cover now f then we can count on that if the rain holds tomorrow we can make better than twenty miles to the west well be close to the texas panhandle by that time its thin safety I 1 know but we can call on the army if we have trouble off of indian lands armyl clay mocked you got any idea where that Is theres a troop he said at doans crossing im sending a man back tonight t that all you got clay asked 0 all keep moving except we can make a fight of it if we have to sure against six hundred in dianse I 1 eleven men he be pointed out held off ff more afore than that at adobe walls but there wont be six hundred bucks halt half of any tribe are squads squaws 11 he leaned back on his elbows he go on with an argument and yet he wanted clay to show his hand it came forced out with heat where none was called tor for as it if clay needed that fire of temper to bolster bolste him up i youre right about turning west but the herd travels too slow well send the wagons on ahead What about splitting the benr men he asked you cant divide this outfit now have no profet protection anywhere then send plenty with the wagons make sure of that it its 3 joy im thinking about maybe yet cla clays ys plan boiled down simply to abandoning the herd he grinned dryly why not all go with the wagons let the lake ake the cows lew steve put in clays right lew gave the boy a long straight look steve he said gently you know better than that you stand there in your dads boots and tell me to desert four thousand longhorns at the first scare of indians youve got more reason than youre telling plain enough no man with any honest sense would split his crew here or run oft off either I 1 wont then I 1 guess steve said flat ly a showdowns show downs come hate to do it lew clays taking charge ariy riy lew stood up by owners vote it you agree joy he asked lew I 1 she began and faltered all right he said all I 1 wonted wanted to know he paced toward war dithe the three of them slowly 1 I wanted tp to be sure you understood the owned owner had full power he pulled a folded sheet of paper from inside ti ills 0 buckskin jacket 1 I intended to show this or use it joy keeping the paper in his bis own hands bands he opened it and held it to the firelight tor for her to read the two blond heads beads bent in close to hers and he followed the lines their eyes were following written ritten in tom atom arnolds oddly small rounded script he passed over the first legal preamble to the meat of what it said to lew burnet in th the event Ws this will is read while the gross T herd is still on the trail full ownership that ownership to bold ogallala U i reached and a sale Is made such money then to be divided baluto halt to my sort son steve halt half to my daughter joy to lew burnet furthermore five hundred head of his own choice out of the extras to be held by him in payment for half interest ta in his powder river lands of wyoming ames strayhorn tom arnolds attorney in ox bow had witnessed and notarized no i the document there was no loophole its legality was beyond question and h he help but feel the compliment of the old mans trust in him joy was the first to look up any sudden surprise Is hard to take for most people you tome some up behind a man and only yell his name and most likely he gets mad he thought it was that way with the girl now sho she stared at him with a quick bewildered wil dered anger lie he saw steves eyes lift from the paper and strike at clay questioning him all of their old hounded fear suddenly in them again of the three this turn seem seemed le d to hit steve the worst for clays claya reactions were slow at times his head came up he stood like a huge bull swelling with his rage it burst from him with the madness of one hardly knowing what he said this changes nothing clay he said enough he could feel the scar across his cheek begin to itch and burn bum you call this a showdown all right lets something happened before the start made you want to block this herd from going north now you think youve got your chance make joy an excuse to let it go want to hear why the open A Is coming up behind us if we lose our herd to the pass with no trouble theres a stacked deal tor for you youl its all you want he saw joys face down beside his shoulder turn from anger to shocked disbelief she stared at clay drew back from both of them suddenly holding them both with darkly bitter eyes without speaking she walked with rigid steps to ward her wagon tin the group of 0 men had begun to break up joe wheat rose and came over in his bis casual walk a thin slat ilat I 1 A 11 this changes nothing of a man with a gaunt morose fade face but there was a thing behind joe cheats morose silences that men understood in his bis quiet drawl he be said time for the first guard aint it lew he turned his deeply hollowed eyes on clay our watch it was cheats plain statement that there had been no change in bosses and under those quiet hard eyes some of the stiffness went from Clay Mannings back with no more the old rn man an started away lew followed him past the fire not you joe he said aid im riding guard in your place youre going back to doans he picked up his bis saddle carrying it on to the night guard horses we come more mori than seventy miles you can make it by daylight and lead the troop back they said they give me any help in the nations but got a young lieutenant hell come when he knows we have a girl along saddling he looked past the firelight toward her wagon steve was waa over there leaning in across the to w where here she lay motionless on the blankets her head burled buried anber arms it was strange how rarely he thought of the them in as brother and sister there was never much between thern them to show that bond yet all of a brothers brother comfort for some reason now was la in the way steves hand brushed her hair slowly his ups lips moving in talk sometime past the middle of the next rno morning aning he saw the first breath of wind stir through a gray curtain of drizzle that had bad been falling straight down he dropped back along the th herd feeling th the bitter irony that so much could hang upon the direction of a wind he pulled to a stop end and let the lorig bonu flow past waving the nien men on as ai the drag end came abreast mot most of the crew were riding back here now each with a rifle scabbard thrust under Us his left stirrup leather stock idock forward close to his him hand they had made a good start beating the dawn by an hour the cattle had risen of their own accord from the wet bed ground and would not feed in the rain rahl they were walking fast he figured they had bad already made better than ten miles still salu his bis main hope had bad been that when the wind came it would be out ot of the north cold and stormy what he felt against his cheek was a warm melting breath from the south it would clear the skies too soon in a dead silence as the clacking blacking clack ing thud of the longhorns passed on he sat facing their back trail where even in this short time a breeze had begun to tear the gray curtain into shreds A As far as he 49 could see the land was as flat as aa a floor door unbroken by any creek or dangerous hollows hollow of ground when he ha passed joys wagon up close along th the a point behind jacksons Jack sona he saw that she had bad her fathers father frontier forty tour four lying on the seat they talked this morning he was going to ride on she called him over forget it lew she smiled nothings bad enough to make you look like that well he said 1 I got you into this and get us out she believed it her clear eye showed him that he grinned al at her he was suddenly warmed beneath his bis wet soaked clothing sure he said well get if only the fool longhorns could grow wings I 1 in another hour the rain had bad stopped the herd was wai 9 grazing abing now loose kneed heads bead down crawling at a slow torments torment ing pace A thick ground mist we was left blowing northward it gave them em shelter until sometime past noon the lift came abruptly in a layer of tog fog that rose and hung suspended overhead he swung out from th the a herd and looked beyond their close formation hunting off 03 southeast in the way from which joe wheat would come but off there lin and d on behind him bun ih the e land stretched empty and list flat he brought his eyes around slowly to hold a fixed gaze on the back trail toward the distant humps of the wichita range that emptiness was too good so far away that at first he be hardly caught it looking like a part of the brown earth a darker spot of brown was moving he yelled and crooked his arm six at the dragmen they jumped their mounts into a run toward his side of the point Quarter night loped around to him moonlight bailey and young jim hope began to drive the leading horse borse herd back he waved the wagons over and under that pressure of mules mule sand and horses and men the point began to swing owing gradually four thousand longhorns were turning back upon themselves until they made a great letter U and then the gap closed as the leaders joined the drags there had bad been no confusion to give them a scare they milled only a little and came to a stop in their compact pool it had bad taken perhaps ten minutes time watching east cast he be had seen the dark spot grow la in size coming on oa swiftly in these minutes john he be said youre an old timer at this what would wood you say take it easy Quarter night answered set like eke we are have to do their fancy ridin first it they get too close we can outtalk lera em some ways off they sat so with men spread out at intervals on either side the two wagons close behind them the horse herd bunched between the wagons and the cattle like that they formed a line facing the direction of attack a line that could shift around the pool of longhorns long bonu it if the indians swung he turned once and saw that clay was backed against joys wagon seit seat making himself her guard then his buckskins little black tipped ears pricked up swinging forward he felt the animals heart pound beneath his bis leg even the horse knew these were indians somehow from a mile off he wrapped his reins around the horn hom and drew his rifle from its it scabbard A cool fascination gripped him like the thing you flit felt when you watched the rippled movements of a snake they made do a sight no longer a solid brown their mounts were streaked with red and yellow naked painted bodies and black heads lay close to the horses backs they came on ata at a steady trot knee to knee in a widespread line aint that a show quarter night said wre mrs enough how many you figure he h asked some less than a hundred not nol near what you ww WON tom told TO ES BIS CONTINUED CONTIN raD |