Show KY LAN LE MAY Z W dusty king and taw lew gordon had bad built up a vist vast string of daiches ranc tiei la in the west king was wai killed by bli bin powerful power tul and nd un scrupulous competitor ben ban thorpe bill roper angs adopted son ion wai was deter mined to avenge big hi death inspire In spite of cl CHAPTER XII continued Con tinned jody jodi gordons eyes had bad darkened in the dusk making her face teem seem very pale what do da you yoa want me to do shoshone allee shrugged that aint hardly up to me miss gordon but IU ill tell you this banys the time ive seen seen your father go stomping down the board walk right here in ogallala alone and not even armed that wont do miss gordon if I 1 was in your place I 1 wo dalt never jet let him out of the h house ou IS without his sunbelt Is strapped on m and the iron tree free in its leather and d wherever he goes there ought BR be three or four good hard shoot tog ing cowboys with kith him hirn because it I 1 know ben thorpe he going into t any gunfight alone jody peered at him intently what made you bring this word to me im a bill roper man shoshone Shosho oe wiles wilce said god knows miss gordon stringing jing with bill roper has never done anything tor for me but well I 1 lust just thought bill roper Rope would want you to lt know ow I 1 kind of got the idea he thinks a heap of you miss gordon and now another pony came slashing up to the corral one of the loading foremen had come in 1 I got to be getting along shoshone wilce said quickly she turned away but instantly turned back again and gripped sho arm ju just st as he be was sliding out of sight stay around she ordered him stay here until miss gordon came the quick whisper ive got to get on to awiles ulles city I 1 P WI BI thought so bill ropers some here up there he be yes well im going to join my father there ill ride with you to the morning four hundred milesa and no coach until dont worry about that it takes saddle ponies to make time but im afraid your paw might think 1 I dont know how bill roper ever used you jody said with contempt shoshone winced 1 I ill be around he faded into the shadows as jody walked out of the stable her eyes hard and bright in the dusk CHAPTER bill roper sat alone at a rear take ln in the palace bar in miles city ae athe the young turbulent center of a vast raw range the possibilities of which were still unknown for three months roper had ridden through the bitter montana winter it had been no trouble tor for him to sweep together toge thir a dozen malcontent cowboys who hated lasharn lasham or thorpe or both already they knew bill ropers name against their common enemy these youngsters could be led wild reckless and crazy for raid and roper had led them as texas had taught him his new northern wild bunch laced faced conditions in nany many ways bitterly adverse herein here in the ahe north were no ousted cattlemen no ao established population to which he could look for or help the canadian border was tar far away and no market awaited the hard bard pushed herds on the other side what montana had that texas did not have was a concentration of indian tribes principally sioux and cheyenne deprived of their hunting grounds and dependent for food upon beef which the government was pledged to supply it was to 10 this circumstance that roper had turned the giant beet beef contracts which the government threw upon the market ahad inevitably attracted more mor ethan than rie e kind of graft the result was wa carnine m ine w pitiful relentless starvation stalked through the lodges of I 1 the sioux the cheyenne the crow and with it ropers opportunity scouring the country roper turned ap up tour four indian agents who were already badly scared they had overplayed their hands bands and were now faced with a loss of tile life among their charges about which they i could do nothing without revealing their own corrupt inefficiency th si se men had connived with lasharn lasham in bringing about a condition of tribal starvation they were willing to c connive dun iva with bill roper to cover up their position in any way they could by delivering beet beef to the reservations under these highly irregular conditions ons ropers wild bunch could atle tie more than r make ake expenses but ie e advantage was this a beef herd delivered to an indian tribe disappeared over night leaving little trace A thousand hands skinned out the beet destroying the portions odthe of the hides containing the brands constantly changing horses perpetually petua lly in the saddle ropers bobers saddle hawks swung across montana they first struck astruck at muddy bend picking up tour four hundred bead ot of steers in the breaks of the yellowstone three days hard driving delivered these to a village ot of assini tolne colne only four days later they installment ll 11 THE STORY 80 90 FAR opposition by his hi sweetheart jody gor cor don and her father her Ito pers successful raids Thor pt texas holdings wiped him out of the state when roper visited jody one night she iha almost contemptuously called him a aste ah thief cef were anthe on the flats of the little thunder tar far away here through a soft blinding snow they ran off five hundred head bead and a it few days later three hundred more they Christma sed in company with a herd of lifted steers somewhere between three sleep and the little powder and new years found them sifting the dickof pick of La shams cattle out of his lost soldier range by the end of january they had bad moved three thousand head the very cream of the wintering stock repeatedly they had bad driven cattle incredible distances in impossible time yet he knew his work had ohly obly begun all ali their hard riding would tall fail of effect unless he could strike such a smashing blow as would cause a split spilt between lasham and ben thorpe and roper had bad a plan rash in scope pe and methodi method but savage in el ef feet if it could be fulfilled already he be had enough riders in sight to strike this last desperate blow but the men available to his purpose were wild eyed fighting kids who could not be driven and could scarcely be led roper could not captain his bis campaign alone so now he fretted in miles city seeking three or tour four outlaw leaders who would make his preparations corn com still studying everyone who came into the bar roper broke open a they first struck at muddy fluddy bend deck of cards and laid out a hand of solitaire now one of the dance hall ball girls came to his table slipping uninvited into a chair this was a girl whose attention bothered and embarrassed roper every time he came here her name was marquita Marq ulta he know what attracted her to him he be know what attract ed any particular woman to any particular man it may bithal be that his very disinterest was what caught her attention first and later gave him the desirability of the unobtainable she spoke to him now in a quiet lifeless bolce why dont you like me 1 I like you all right he said no you dont you dont even see me at aw all he noticed now that she looked different tonight and after a moment he recognized that this was because there was no paint on her face that would be because he disliked paint though he had no idea how she had found that out her washed face was a perfectly symmetrical oval set with black eyes a little slanted and her black hair parted in the middle was drawn back severely in the fashion of the mestizo girls texas she leaned toward him now and spoke poke rapidly her voice low and al compelling om listen I 1 hate walk lasham too listen she insisted you have to listen to me walk lasha bashams La shams ms in town lie he came in this after afternoon noon so roper thought the time had ome come to mo move ve on again with his work undone he like it much ft well thanks he said im glad to im know ow he knows youre here and what I 1 yo youre lre hereof her here eor for 1 I suppose he does roper said youre waiting here for or lasham she accused him hima you know hell come here youre going to try 8 shooting hooting it out 1 roper shrugged and was silent bill its hope hopeless lesal walk lasham is the fastest gunfighter gunfight cr in the northa and gunman his determination unchanged ht he now turned nil his attention toward Thor pea ranches in montana jody ody waa was secretly visited by shooshon one wiles one of ropers men who warned that her bar rather fathers life wag la in danger roper shrugged again walk wants no fight with me youre going to force the fight your yourself that what youve been waiting here tor for ever since you cameleo came to miles city any moment lasham may walk in that door marguita Marqui Marg ulta tast sat staring at him hopelessly lessl yin in dereyes he her reyes eyes a fixity ot of devotion which his taciturnity seemed to increase against his bis will he was becoming something that tha was happening to marquita he remained silent and in a uttie while she went away an hour passed while roper drinking slowly played his bis solitaire and watched the door then suddenly marquita was back she came behind his chair to speak close to his ear to in a panicky whisper hes coming hes coming along the walk all ali right walk has two of his men with him she said rapidly you a chance not a ghost ot of a chance I 1 cant bear to see you killed I 1 know you dont care anything about me if youdia you did id go anywhere in the world with you but now you you have to come out of here quick by the back way ill do anything roper turned his bis head bead to look up into her face very close to his there was more to this girl than there was to the rest of her kind even now he was unable to recognize that marquita was capable of a sincerity of purpose and a passionate preoccupation in her purpose not to be expected here 1 I step aside two feet he tolo tol her to pass walk or any man I 1 tell you walk wont fight suddenly she whimpered bill roper saw that three men had come into the front of the palace bar the first of the three a dark lean man with wide bowed shoulders was walk lasham marquita caught bills head in her arms forced up his chin and kissed him he was surprised at the unexpected softness of her lips hot against his mouth then abruptly marquita stooped and as she sprang away from him he felt the weight of his sunbelt ease she flung bung over her shoulder its for your own sakel sake her face was white frightened he half started up in instant anger but the girl was running down the room he saw her put something under the bar and he be knew it was his gun roper rang his whiskey glass upon the table trying to catch a bartenders eye if lasham had not seen saen what the girl had done one of the them in could bring him his gun before it was too late but the bar was thronged thron ged the bartenders were working fast in the thick of the evening rush the bar fliess had made room for walk lasham atthe at the end of the b bar a r and lasham and his two cobb cowboys had their heads together now consulting sul ting one of the cowboys a man with a scar across his face ace that d distorted IS ported his mouth in the manner ot of a hare bare lip avent went quickly behind the bar hunted beneath it and returned to walk roper saw La shams long face set he said to himself walk knows walk lasham was fiddling with his empty glass on the bar and the scar mouthed man was was watching roper covertly with one eye from under the brim of his hat lasham reached for or a bottle filled his glass tossed it off then he turned squarely toward roper and came walking back through the big room roper played his cards his bis hands bands visible upon the table it seemed to take lasham a long time to walk the length of the room roper glanced at the lookout chair where a salaried gunfighter gun fighter usually sat it was empty now walk lasham was standing in front of him so you he said are the tough gunman that killed cleve tanner bill roper raised his eyes to walk bashams La shams face and you he said are one of the dirty cowards that murdered dusty king A hush bush had fallen upon the room unbroken by the clink of a glass or the rattle of a chip lasharn lasham and roper looked at each other through a moment of silence he dropped his eyes to ropers hands bands and his own right hand band started a tentative movement toward the butt of his bis sun gun his spread fingers a shook hook a little as his hand crept down but he be was wah grinning now sure of his bis ground looks a little different to you now huh A coyote always looks like a coyote to me the smile dropped from lasham lashame Lash amt a face im going to give you every chance he sald 1 his voice swung in even rhythms low and singsong sing song im going to count five draw and fire any time you want to because on five im going to kw kill you where you SIV sit 1 I dont think thin kYou you are one two lasham said TO BE CONTINUED I 1 |