Show lr va ar P 1 ON he ratler by COLE was RICHARDS a gentleman coffee 7 r T THE HE riders three men and a girl burst from ladrido ca canyon nyon like bullets fired into the da dawn wn spurs flashing whirlwinds whirl winds rising from the hoofs of the straining horses they pelted belted down on kansas terry the girl was toni lee the men her foreman chuck mayne and her cowboys slats and jimmy Gwinn outa all new mexico the burly mayne thought exultantly we picked that there canyon to ride through and heres our rustler with a dead calf his exultation was tinged with discomfort embarrassing having a lady with them he could only hope the men on both sides would gloss things over sort of kansas terry the rustler could have grabbed his pack donys lead rope and vaulted into his saddle he could have got away through the high greasewood but he did not he bent over the dead roan call the nickel nicke conchos on his leather roping guard guard flashed with the swift turns of his wrist he wiped and sheathed thea thed his bowle bowie knife tall lanky easy in manner he stood with his back to the party riding toward him the riders circled him at the gallop pulling the ponies to their haunches in sudden stop kansas terrys brown stetson was shoved back disclosing his pile pale eyes with their sly mocking expression he smiled sweetly mornin miss toni M 0 r n I 1 n chuck mornin morin slats mornin jimmy addressing the girl he bowed from the hips kansas terrys good manners never tailed failed urn him chuck maynes bushy brows met over his rugged face like torm storm clouds over the bad lands we got yuh this time kansas now ah say so kanas sea terry drawled gently chuck mayne felt uneasy there was something about the mockery in kansas terrys pale eyes something about the extra silk on his politeness lit eness that said he caught by a long way toni lee drew her fingers across h her er eyes as if a mist gathered there A slim girl with wide set eyes gentility showed on her as plainly as the silver bracelets on her brown wrists that there mayne asserted Is a calf ouan miss tonis herd that there terry returned courteously Is a maverick there aint a brand on it AYNE swung out of the saddle athe dvm the right side of the calf was up the curly roan hair unmarred by branding iron he heaved the carcass over his heart turned over too and stopped on the flank a square as large as K n mans hand glared bright red the calf strictly speaking had no brand the brand had been cut away chuck mayne straightened up with hla his lists fists on his hips outwardly cool inside e he seethed 7 7 v v ile rode up close and whipped the rustlers gun from the bolster stretch the hands high mister regular cactus of a guy aint yuh he drawled amiably sharp and hard to grab his own bowle bowie flashed he cut a similar square of hide from the roan flank this what you done mayne hurled the soggy rawhide as faras far aras as he could git it slats slats transferred the lead horses to toni lee touching spur to his pinto he scooted to the piece of rawhide arriving there he made a slow circle and other cir circles cles inside that slats could pick up a trail with any indian it if the brand had been thrown he would have found it nope he said at last tw S nt th rowed jimmy dangling his loop looked from the cottonwood in the canyon to the lanky confident rustler he shook his head once a rustler cut a bran thet away he stuff it down a prairie dog hole 1 I heard slats put in languidly of one jammin a piece of hide down a throat look for it mayne ordered doggone it we caught this rascal I 1 red handed kansas terry looked at his hands coolly and impersonally he appeared to find nothing wrong with them ills his finger touched his throat bove above the knotted red bandanna as if a hemp noose rasped the flesh the gesture made maynes hopes copes rise but they thudded down when terry folded his arms and stood at ease muttering we 11 find thet brand mayne hurled himself into the search ile Hs drove on slats and jimmy with a fury of energy A sweating trio of men worked over the desert around the calf they looked into mesquite and snarled cactus and prickly pear they investigated tour four prairie dog holes a badger hole and the throat of the calf so th calf aint branded mayne said reluctantly th brand th rowed stuffed nowhere and it sure aint on an yore person or the blood ud give yuh away but some day ill git yuh agin kansas terry smiled sweetly ahll be at yore service he said courteously without a trace of gloating goodbye miss toni goodbye chuck goodbye slats goodbye jimmy addressing the girl he bowed yuh got doggone good manners mayne scowled but yore a rustler jest th same THE HE four riders made a cloud of adust lust along the escarpment kansas terry stood motionless watching them the riders vanished up a draw but terry stood immovable he stared at the emptiness they left on the plain tor for a long long time once he readjusted the bandanna and his fingers slid gingerly along his neck his hand found the bowle bowie knife but left it in the sheath the sun rose until the heat washed all the pale green and orange from the sky leaving it a brazen blue terrys sorrel and the black pack pony grazed farther and farther away still the rustler did not move beyond shifting his feet to ease them and rolling a cigarette at last he drew the bowle bowie and took one step toward the calf he tensed sprang back reached for his gun mayne riding alone from the canyon shouted jimmys got a rifle on yuh dont movel move he rode up close and whipped the rustlers gun from the holster stretch them red hands high mister matters stand jest as they did chuck sho isho dont I 1 know it me an jimmys been a batchin yuh while slats got toni ton away want her to see yuh caught an hung thank yuh suh sub terry said sincerely but the brand still aint in evidence no but I 1 got to th inkin after I 1 left yuh mayne shoved the gun muzzle under the brim of terrys brown stetson n and lifted the hat terrys curly hair had a strange tonsure a square of roan calf hide figured it thet away mayne said softly yuh got too good manners kansas to stand in front of a lady with yore hat on |