Show aad RIDE 7 by ERNEST HAYCOX K lease THE STORY SO FAR art rancher ya y morgan forgan knows known he ha must fight rm ras rs but he li like kethe the methods ed d against gain 8 t 1 them hem by big ranchers like ben B en determined to play a lone on e hand rather rathe than a crooked e d one he be defends defend the rustler rust for owe jacks when he Is fire freed if after his tri trial altor lor stealing teall ng ll 11 ren deens catoe cattler 1 herendeen prom is discs to leavis leave jacks alone as long ionic as ai he be try cry to leave town morgan and hl hi nine year old daughter janet go to the cemetery where Ws wife Is burled bur leil although two women catherine grunt grant and ann Ne mcgarrah McG arrab Garrah are in love with him morgan cannot forget his wife who died bating him and believing she should have married herendeen on their way back to town they side ice jacks ride away so 0 it li Is no surprise when bl morgan orgain a little later that jacks has been killed herendeen had kept his bis word and 11 no more now continue with the story CHAPTER III clay morgan ate breakfast by lamplight and was in the saddle before day crossed the eastern hills harry jump and cap vermilye were at roundup in the Hay creek huls hills leaving only mose too old for or such riding andade and the mexican cook pancho on the ranch rance morgan said to mose ill probably be back after dark put some new crosspieces cross pieces on the front gate its coming apart and set forth southward across djs range at this elevation the night air was sharp enough to bite through his bis vest ve stand and cotton shirt the big bay horse shot away ona run morgan let him have his run moguls rim lay two miles north behind him the ranch house hoube and its corrals and barns sat at the foot of the rising mogul hills which ran straight south along the base of these hills following the ruts of a casual road clay morgan took his way to his left a half mile another string of hills lifted up so creating the long and narrow valley he followed this was his range emerging slowly from the ink gray twilight when first sunlight burst across the eastern heags peak s morgan was assia six miles down the valley and the end of his own range A I 1 mall n an ridge lay in front of him at the summit he be reined in to have his look at the round bowl of government valley ducking in and out of the small ravines of the land he be came upon cattle and young stuff occasionally grazing herding these before him and throwing them back toward the roundup crew three men were working this section charley hill hoise and two other three pines hands he drove his small collection of beef into the held bunch and started I 1 on another circle hillhouse Hlll house accompanying him around ten having dragged the north end of the range all of them started the held bunch back for the main roundup the sun pun was a copper red flare in he e middle sky and the dust began 0 thicken behind the herd morgan dropped back to the drag throwing his neckpiece over his nose charley hillhouse motioned one of the other men to take his place and joined morgan and made his first speech in two hours 1 I been th inkin over last night clay hard to figure let it slide charley charley hillhouse Hlll house retorted it wont slide and stared before him he was a compact capable man not given to much talk the type to worry a lot of things around in his head to reach his own answers ans vers and hold his bis own conclusions herendeen and his men cleared the Hay creek hills ot of the last straggling stock gurd grant cleaned up the edge of the potholes potholed Pot holes and came in running W had scoured Fano lango pass and at twilight this day the job was done the brands segregated and held in separate herds aft er supper morgan started harry jump back to the mogul range with the long seven beet beef and the crowfoot and running W cuts went away lumbering shadows in the moonlight the scrape of feet and the click of those long horns and the W plaintive lain tIve baw of the last calf riding back through the night still air dust and heat beat were gone and the campfires camp fires same flame so still was this air tapered upward to blue ble yellow almost stationary point charley hillhouse who was wagon boss said well move over and work the antelope plains tomorrow the cook swore around the shadows harnessing his team afterwards the mess wagon went bumping away conits on its tour hour ride to 0 on n the antelope plains by daybreak lying on his blanket head athwart the seat of his saddle clay morgan listened to the dry groaning of the wagon wheels faded nto into this enormous night he rolled cigarette and savored its keen smell stars crowded the sky they k was washed hed that limitless sweep of I 1 I 1 black with a diamond glitter all down to the black horizons edge until they seemed to fall fail below the rim of a flat world here and there in the pine summits coyotes began to hark bark up their mourning plaint hillhouse and clay morgan and lige white sat by the fire their cheeks sharply taciturnly graved by light and shadows and men lay blanketed in the background weary and relaxed and cradled by their inward thinking herendeen walked forward from the to stand high above this sprawled group he tossed toned a sage cage tern steni into the fire are and Z 7 4 i i 7 1 4 LAU 3 he sent his deep blunt call at the shack hey come out here watched the pale and heatless heatle qs flame rise he was across from clay morgan his eyes dyes searched the crowd the edges ol of his vest tell fell away from the rounds ot of his shoulders and the deep stretch of 0 his chest his bigness was all in proportion legs and arms and torso it was a muscular bigness a bigness of thick bones alge he said 1 I hear theres a new homesteader come to the spring jim used to squat on 1 I heard so said lige white well warn him out of 0 there tomorrow said herendeen but when he stopped talking clay morgan knew he finished her en deens thoughts were on his face for everybody to see or maybe weve got some great big soul in this crowd whose heart bleeds for people like that seems to be a hell ot of a lot of 0 charity around here lately morgan swayed forward to lift a burning sage stem from the fire its oil bright glow flickered against his cheeks against his eyes this silence held its waiting and its reserve morgan tossed the sage stem back into the fire drawing a sharp glance from charley hillhouse lige white uncomfortably crossed his feet gurd grant crouched by the blaze and revealed nothing on his scrupulously neutral face morgan relaxed gently on his shoulder blades and pillowed billowed pill owed his head against the saddle he said nothing but he saw the changing expression on her en deens cheeks herendeen had braced himself for trouble he had maneuvered this talk around to make a break but nothing happened and he stood a moment uncertain and displeased and afterwards walked away instead of turning west to his own ranch herendeen traveled due south toward a low range of hills which separated running W from three pines an hours ride brought him within sight of a far shining light which was the mark of a homesteaders steade ste aders r a cabin against the hills but when he came upon the homesteaders cabin drifting into the heavy shadows at the base of these hills a dog began to bark and suddenly the light died lie he reined in before the cabin feeling his contempt tor for the evident fear which had caused the homesteader homesteader to kill the light they were all alike these homesteaders little mei men crawling as near the range as they dared a ticking sticking their plows into the unplowed soil and slowly starving while th the e sun burnt up their crops and ruined the land ever afterward tor for graze he could not tolerate this breed or their sun blackened wives or their tow towhead head ed children lle lie sent his bis deep blunt call at the he shack illey hey come out here they were talking inside A boys voice said pa dont go A woman was talking quickly and with suppressed excitement the door squealed open and somebody stood blood in its black square speechless what you doing here demanded herendeen this place Is on lige whites range we drove jim away from it last year you lige white said a man in a dim drawn tone what the hell is that to you my names herendeen and I 1 asked you fou a question oh said the man im jack gale I 1 bought jim mans rights to this place he never had bad any rights to sell he built the house bouse mr herendeen then the roan man added quietly its tree free land aint it I 1 understood it was I 1 also understood mr white mind herendeen was nettled by the argument you damned nesters desters are all alike trying to stand on this freeland bust business ness you stick your plow into it and ruin it and starve to death and steal cattle to keep your kids alive and move away were not in the game of pro providen meat ineat to nesters desters ne gales wife called from the interior of the house cocome ja Jack come in here come in herendeen heard her run over the floor she caught hold of her husband and these two were gently wrestling around the doorway with gale say saying ing now aule allis stop tt it stop it but she pulled him inside and slammed the door A child very young began to cry in a thin startled rhythm herendeen pushed his horse over the yard bound away for his ranch As he followed the net of trails leading upward to the mogul hack back breathitt had no cares and no serious thoughts this was a fine warm day ahead of him on the pine shadowed trail occasional golden shafts of sunlight slanted through the tree tops here and there a swirl of dust showed where an antelope had been a moment before the silence was thick and held its rank scent of resin and at intervals intern als hack sang incomplete bits of such su ch songs as he knew the sound of that going out around him in widening waves dusk caught him in this rough land still without any thought of direction at full dark he turned a bend of the trail and saw firelight pulse against the side of a nearby near by ravine the fire he be found was at the base of a bare rock wall running up the side of mogul there anybody within the range of firelight but hack reined in and held his bis seat knowing that somebody had stepped into the shadows and wa was watching him A moment later pete pet borders came forward you make enough racket to raise the dead hack pull off your saddle if you yo aint coln any place hack said indolently amused now where would I 1 be coln he stepped to the ground and relieved the horse of its gear he watered it put it out on picket he he had his own frying pan and coffeepot and presently was crouched at the fire with borders borders said Noth Not hLa ln new A man reflected breathitt that never goes any place never hears anything he tossed a fresh stick into the fire the flare of it heightening the rusty shine of his hair he had a dry smart face double wrinkles crossed his forehead his eyes on the edge of being green were nar row bright he had been watching the livid heart of the flame but his head rose and his eyes stared into the surrounding darkness he was a tight close listening shape and presently he rose and stepped into the shadows somebody rode along the nearby near by trail slowly and stopped hack breathitt held his position too clear of conscience to move he poised the cigarette between his fingers hearing the rider poke up the ravine the rider said just me just old parr gentry lookin for horses he came to the fire tills this owner of the livery stable in war pass he rolled in the saddle staring star nr down at hack breathitt a long moment before recognizing him why hello hack know id find you on this side of the mogul thought you liked the othar other side best any sides all right drawled breathitt parr gentry shifted his bis weight again a little heavy to find comfort in his saddle his face by firelight was round and solid fleshed and darkly dull his eyes rummaged this little clearing and saw pete borders saddle and blanket on the tar far e edge dge of the fire and the two horses p picketed i near the spring breathitt realized gentry knew borders horse he held his silence he took a long drag on the cigarette cli arette late for you aint it parr been braggin drag gln gin this section all day lookin for horses you seen a band around here wild ones be clear to the top of this weather lookin tor for tracks murmured gentry Y thought they might come down dd tor for water well ill be goto goin long way to war pass he wheeled about groaning softly as he went away pete borders stepped into the light his face showed its smart disbelief he hes s ben chasin horses long enough to know they aint down here and he pointed tor for war pass when he left either afterwards he added want to show myself wont do you any good to be seen campin with me old boy H he e saw your horse borders shook his head he settled in his blanket just beyond the light the fire died away and a small breeze rolled down the face of mogul TO BE CONTINUED |