Show y LAN LE MAY KU dusty king and lew gordon hid had built up lip a vast vait string of ranches ranche in the th west king was wai killed by his powerful and un scrupulous cru pulou competitor den ben thorpe bill roper kings adopted son BOO was deter mined to avenge his death in spite of at CHAPTER R Xin Continued but B ut now the scar mouthed man gjoke suddenly from bis big POs position tit at one had bad dared flick his bis eyes to the door walk alk look dont turn tl watch this buzzard but wheel back and stand by met mel into the front of the bar two men had come they came came striding back the length ieng of the room their spurs ringing brokenly roper did not t see their guns come out but suddenly i the weapons of both of them ap p feared in their hands handi smoothly and I 1 easl easily from no place lahe two men jerelee we were reLee lee harnash H tex long tex longs g gg 43 45 clicked in the palm of his hand as a it came to full cock he sald said howdy bill I 1 A aple girl just brought us word dave shannon imd and hat crick tommy are up the street and dry camp pierce PI erce 11 gosh lee harnish said weve valve been hunting bunting you montist you want us to bleat blast these indi indians boss bill roper ropper I 1 drew a deep breath and grinned grIn Ved at athirst fir first s he could not even appreciate that here at last were the leaders he needed for his bis raid alt all he could think of was waa that he be had bad been reprieved from certain death and he knew that life was good CHAPTER XIV the tribute implied by the re gath ering of the wild bunch leaders was one of the most extraordinary things that had ever happened in bill ropers life there was not much to their story driven out of texas on he eve a of bill ropers v victory for abile they hie had gone their storn separate parate te ya but gradually they had bad dr drifted together again la in the indian nations at dodge in the northern cow camps with cleve tanner broken in texas and the roots cut from under ben Thor pea organization by the loss of his breeding grounds the outlaw riders found themselves unwilling to leave their work unfinished so at last they had come looking for roper and had found him the first thing was to get them out of there he named as rendezvous a lonely shanty on fork creek roper himself was the last to ride out of miles city seasoned night riders though these men might be with names now now famous the len length ath of the trail most of them were youngsters g still no one of them bifid wild be trusted not adget a i liquor and go gunning for lash men on his own hook book roper was relieved therefore upon riding into the fork creek rendezvous in the dreary february twilight to find his texas men already waiting tor for hi him m there they were eating fresh beef bi ef but not their own as roper came into the little cabin stamping stam bing the snow oft off his bis boots lee harnish looked sheepish say I 1 forgot argot something I 1 got a letter for you here roper took the worn envelope and stood turning it over in his hands bands the date showed it to be three weeks old no great age everything considered ci si but what took hold of him to that fora for oi full minute he dared not break the seal was that the letter was from jody gordon roper ripped open the envelope the whole note covered no more than half a page butas but as he be folded it and put it into a pocket his bis hands bands were sha shaking kingin in a way that would have cost him his life if he had been walking into a gunfight then there was a long silence with a visible effort roper pulled himself together briefly he told them whai what his bis new wild bunch had bad done I 1 but we even scratched the surface he finished unless me we hit walk lasham quick and hard bard will gathis get bis balance again and reach his bis roots back into texas and an all the work we did down there will go for nothing me tex long said 1 I aim to swing with you and try to finish up what we begun but buk way I 1 see it it the lay layout 0 ut up here I 1 aa terrible bad for our style of work there any profit in the way I 1 figured roper admitted ive been taking i casear apa sear up along the canadian border I 1 figure its an aay stasy drive it if you criminals are willing to come on and take one more crack at thorpe and lasham theres no one beyond the border needing any stock dry camp Pierce said gloomily dry dr cat camp alp bill i roper said laid aim alm thinking of the tribes 11 af y there was a moments silence granting that canadas full of war paint tex long said eald how the devil ive talked to iron dog every one of theia them each in his own way pricked up his ears at that iron dog wasa was a famous warrior chief of the gros ventre sioux ragged and starving his decimated band driven far out of their home bome country iron doi dog no longer was the stubbornly resisting farce orce which had once made his hii name but though he was broken and helpless now now remnants of his bis leade nhIp re installment 10 THE TORY STORY 80 FARI FABI opposition by his sweetheart jody gordon and her bar father ropers successful raids against texas holdings wiped him out of the state roper then left tor for Th montana ranches ranch ci jody told that her fathers tat hert life ut was in danger bained his influence extended over many bands an and dmore more then than one tribe 1 I dont hold bold with dealing with red biggers nig gers much dave shannon said these bucks are forced out of their ranges without any dial deal made whereby they get fed roper said gald halt half of them are in as pitiful a state of starvation as you ever saw A big part of the blame tor for that Is on walk lasham now I 1 aim to square the deal 1 I already made us a rendezvous witheron with iron dog be before forel I 1 knew you were in on this bill roper told them now inside of a month iron dog will be camped on the milk river with anyway seven sevea oz or eight bands seven or eight bandal tex long shouted at him my god therell be worse than a thousand indians on the A thousand belli roper said it there arent that many buck warriors alorie alone ill eat the beef myself I 1 the men to in this little cabin were a not easily surprised and less easily shocked or awed but their usually unrevealing faces now gave them away god dav bave e shannon bananno aid it was wai almost a prayer hes he done don it now hat crick tommy said laid slowly you know kno I 1 r I 1 lop now I 1 aim to square the deal what happens when you throw that man V loose indians together you got a war on your hands by kiy godl god come whooping down montana tear the country wide open opeal the whole frontier will go up in a bust of smoke Nothing 11 ever top stop lem em once they get together like that one thing will what will grub said roper that might be so BO dave shan non admitted 1 I never yet see an indian go to war on a fuu full stomach A had bad come into that dark cabin they were realizing now that thai they stood 1 in the shadow of events oi of a magnitude they had not dreamed in the quiet bill ropers hands bands kept creasing and the letter from jody gordon A faint dampness showed on his bis forehead but his fingers acted cold and awkward awkard theres five of us here tex long said you expect us to just suddenly feed every indian in creation ive got twenty seven riders waiting to throw in with us at the first word twenty seven riders where an all over montana what do you think I 1 did an all winter holed up like a she bear silence again while they all stud led roper how many you figure to move tex long asked at last roper dopera voice was so low they could hardly hear his words between twenty and thirty thousand head tex long threw his hat aga against iasi the roof poles in a gesture of complete impatience dead of winter he said maybe having to part of the time why thirty for forty ty cowboys drive we dont have to handle this ibis tat fat beet beef roper reminded edhem him we dont have to pull up for quicksand or stampede i losses or high water jf it a hundred head get swept down a river what the hell some different indians will get hold of lem em downstream working that way hard and fast ivirty thirty cowboys can move every head in mon tonal tanal were terrible short of time tex long said raid 1 I know it in another i couple of left her home to ride EDO miles to worn warn him walk lasham lanham mannier manager of 0 Thor holdings in montana saw law R bop op er sitting alone and unarmed til hi a saloon one day gun in hand band lasham prepared to kill his hated antagonist months their chuck wag onswill be heading out and the deep grass win will be full of their riders we have to move and move quick it might be dry camp pierce declared himself it just could be done A hard gleam was coming into the old rustlers wary eyes and it if it caa can great godl theres never been nothing like this the others seemed to have had the breath knocked out of them by the unheard of scope the bold daring the headlong all or nothing character of the plan this is bigger than the texas raids tex long said wonderingly this is bigger than anything has ever beene suddenly dave shannon smacked his thigh with his huge hand by god I 1 believe bust demill deml over the pack of outlawed youngsters had bad come a wave of that fanatic enthusiasm which sometimes sways men as they face the impossible but roper strangely was unable to share it the great raid he had bad planned pla abed all winter now seemed futile fu tilea a plan senseless and cold bill said lee harnish the matter with you you got chills and fever or something roper spoke to harnish alone as if he had forgotten the others that letter was from jody gordon he said bad news son 1 I dont know she wants me to come to ogallala Og aUala when now right away what for does she say she says she needs me she says she needs me bad and right away I 1 guess she does all right if she I 1 doret dont believe shed ever wr write ite to me the faces of the wild bunch riders were expressionless noncommittal roper knew they have much to say they were youngsters still all except pierce but their faces were carved lean and hard by long riding and a lot of that riding had been for him he stood up shaking his shoulders catch up your ponies we pulling out tonight ye yet t you bet your life we are ought to make red horse springs by midnight and after that harnish said slowly 1 what is it it bill Is it ogal lala once more the silence while they waited tor for BUL its the raid roper said CHAPTER XV lew gordon came stumping across the corral of his bis little miles city house his spurs ringing at every stride his big hands bands rope hard ened and thickened at the knuckles swung loose at his sides but his face had the look of a man beset opening the back door of the house he sent a great roar through the walls bodyl jody where are you she answered him and lew gordon went to find her the meaning of this was his greeting as his daughter came running to him through the house you were supposed to stay in ogal dalal jody threw her arms about his neck and pulled his head down to kiss him but lew gordon was not to be put off that horse wrangler just brought me word that you was here he said theres a pretty kettle of soap when some horse wrangler knows ks more about where a mans daughter is at than he knows himself S ifill 1 dad win will you please sit down I 1 tell you I 1 want to talk to youl you oh all right 11 lew gordon flopped into a chair jabbed his spurs into the floor at long range and tore off another huge mouthful of beet beef there are two pieces of bad news jody said now first thing ben thorpe has cut under us in the bidding for the government contracts tr acts at dodge A spark leaped leape dinto into lew gordons eyes under the pressure of the last two years he had turned edgmand edg yand garrulous as if his mind had bad become hasty on the trigger now that his hands were idle 1 I might have known his big voice boomed those infernal the loss of those contracts is going to hurt jody said 1 ive ve brought the bucks up into fair shape and it looks to me as if king gordon is starting stalling the worst year in history if the losses go on piling up the way they are jody gordon came and sat on the arm ol of her fathers chair there was a man rode up to ogallala from dod dodge ge city she said he brought some very peculiar news and I 1 dont it like it at all if that renegade i i colorado outfit think going to lew gordon began this was a bill roper man jody said lew gordon checked as suddenly as if he be had been struck across th the e face TO BE CONTINUED |