OCR Text |
Show S - WILLIAM MACLEOD RAINE'S Us Mi tk& Mm& Mk ... m COPYRIGHT WILLIAM MACLEOD RAINE WNU SERVICE went back to his boarding-house completely bored. He washed up, and went down for supper. At the long table in the dining-room dining-room Ma Presnall put him next a crook-nosed stranger with reddish hair. Presently the man mentioned amiably that his name was Gray. The words were a little shock to Frank. His swift gaze swept the man, down and up. He noted a certain cer-tain pantherish lightness of body, a hard recklessness of face. A chill ran through young Chiswick. His first impulse was to fling out a challenge, chal-lenge, but he remembered his father's fa-ther's instructions. He was not to get into trouble with their enemies. Stiffly he answered, iron in his voice, "I am Frank Chiswick." Two or three of those at the table were watching them. "I reckon you don't feel friendly, Mr. Chiswick," drawled Gray. "Would you expect me to feel friendly with a man who tried to murder my father and later helped to rustle his cattle?" Frank asked harshly. "You've certainly got me wrong, sir," Gray replied, with unhurried courtesy. "But I don't expect I can convince you of it." "Not in a hundred years," Frank retorted hotly. "I don't wish to talk with you, sir, or to know you when we meet." "Short and sweet," Gray said with a smile, his manner cheerfully indifferent. "It's a blow, but I expect ex-pect I'll have to get along without knowing Mr. Frank Chiswick." He turned and began to talk with the man on the other side of him. As soon as supper was over, Frank went to the landlady and asked her to change his seat to the other end of the table. The day after Frank reached Tail Holt, he saw Morgan Norris and Mile High jog into town and tie at lot and walked up the narrow, dusty road leading to a crooked canyon the black mouth of which opened in front of him. In the shadow of a cottonwood he saw the figures of a man and a woman locked in embrace. The murmur of the man's low voice reached him as he passed. At the end of the road, where it terminated termi-nated in a narrow trail running up the canyon, Frank turned and retraced re-traced his steps. The girl beneath the cottonwood ran into the adjoining house and the man came out to the road. He was just behind Chiswick, whistling gaily, "Good-by, my lover, good-by." good-by." His brisk stride presently brought him abreast of Frank. " 'Lo, fellow. How are cases?" he asked cheerfully. His good spirits subsided abruptly. abrupt-ly. Lou Howard did not feel like a conquering hero when he recognized in the man beside him Frank Chiswick. Chis-wick. "So you're at it again," Frank said grimly. There was a false note of heartiness hearti-ness in the glib reply of Howard. "I been wanting to have a talk with you, Frank," he said. "I reckon reck-on you have done heard Ruth's side of the story. You know her better than I do how bossy she is when she gets a notion in her head, and has to have her own way. I tried to talk her out of this eloping business, busi-ness, and finally I did all right. Told her to go home and behave like a good girl, which of course she is, come down to brass tacks." "You liar," Frank said. He had heard gossip since he came to town. Howard bristled. "Looky here. You can't talk thataway to me. I won't stand it for a minute." "I am talking that way. I'm telling tell-ing you that you're a liar and a yellow yel-low cur. Right now I'm going to whale the life out of you." Frank weighed twenty pounds less than the other man. He was only nineteen years old and Howard was twenty-four. In actual physical strength he was no match for the Tail Holt loafer, but he had one great asset. He yearned to get at this scamp who had, according to his view, insulted Ruth and dragged her name into common talk, whereas where-as Howard had gone panicky at the thought of a fight "Don't you monkey with me, fellow," fel-low," blustered Lou. "My friends will make you mighty sorry if you try to do me a meanness." "Put up yore dukes," Frank ordered. or-dered. The larger man backed away, protesting that he did not want to fight. "But you're going to all the same," insisted Chiswick, and he drew his hand insultingly across the cheek of the other. about Ruth. The fellow would keep his mouth shut after this. It would be better to go back to the rooming-house, Chiswick decided. decid-ed. To hang around Main street now would be asking for trouble. Someone very likely would take on the quarrel for Lou. If so, it would be with guns. By morning a more reasonable point of view would obtain. ob-tain. He turned into Main street down the alley beside the Golden Nugget. As he did so, he caught sight of a man at the hitchrack in front of the gambling-house. The man was Jeff Gray. Frank stopped in the shadow and watched him. Gray was examining the hoof of a horse. He put down the foot of the animal, glanced swiftly at the door of the Golden Nugget, and moved to a second horse tied to the rack. He stooped and picked up the left hind leg of the cow-pony. Long and carefully care-fully he studied the hoof, not forgetting for-getting to look occasionally in the direction of the door. Clearly, he did not want to be caught at this Inspection. He straightened, dusted his hands, and walked into the Golden Nugget. On his way to the lodging-house 1 Frank asked himself questions. . The horses at the hitchrack had been the ones upon which Morg Norris and Mile High had ridden into town a little while ago. What was Gray trying to find out? Why was he interested in-terested in these horses more than any others? He seemed on friendly terms with the outlaws. Yet Frank had sensed a latent hostility between be-tween the stranger and Morgan Norris. Nor-ris. Oh, well, thieves fell out among themselves. Frank went to his room and forgot the incident. Very likely it had no importance. Five minutes later Lou Howard pushed open the door of the Golden Nugget and moved, feet dragging, to the bar. "Gimme a drink a stiff one," he ordered. The bartender stared at his bruised and bleeding face. "Holy mackerel! You been tangling with a grizzly, Lou?" he asked. "He jumped me when I wasn't looking," Howard said, almost weeping with self-pity. "Who jumped you?" Morgan Norris Nor-ris wanted to know. "Frank Chiswick. That's who." "A kid," Norris jeered. "No such thing. An' he lit on my back while I was walking down the road, then beat me up something awful." "You sure look like a tiger had clawed you," Curly said cheerfully. "Frank certainly worked you over considerable." He was immensely pleased at the retribution which had fallen on Howard. How-ard. "Time someone cut the comb of f SYNOPSIS I'lth Chiswick of L C ranch, obsessed ;ear of danger to her outspoken fa- Lee. from a band of lawless rus-headed rus-headed by Sherm Howard, decides ive him by eloping with young Lou lfard, Sherm's son, and comes to the of Tail Holt to meet him. While In ,, Sanger's store, a crook-nosed stran-enters, stran-enters, sizes up the situation, and m a drunken cowboy, Jim Pender, Ds. in and starts shooting, protects while Lou Howard hides. Disgust-'ir-ith Lou's cowardice, Ruth calls off kelopement, and sends the stranger "' her father at the gambling house . i! the street. There the stranger, ji,ig himself Jeff Gray, meets Morgan -J is, a killer, Curly Connor, Kansas, k High, Sid Hunt, and other rustlers, Dt;-Sherm Howard. Lee Chiswick en-Si-' with his foreman, Dan Brand, and Sherm Howard of his orders to M : rustlers at sight. Jeff Gray re- to Ruth and' coldly reassures her V'-sr father's safety. At supper, Ruth 'JL'duces Jeff to her father and Brand, -in Sanger's store later she speaks "ally to Curly Connor. Coming out re store, they are greeted by sudden 1:lay, Lee is wounded, and Jeff Gray v-ars with a smoking revolver. Two lj later, Ruth tells her father of her cted elopement and her disilluslon-). disilluslon-). Later, Ruth meets Jeff Gray, -1 she thinks tried to kill her father. )r. accidentally wounds Jeff. She Tj-'i him to Pat Sorley's camp. Ruth is "c.ilous of Jeff's story of shooting at ssassin rather than at her father, nvlater pleads with Lee to listen to When Lee arrives at Pat Sorley's Ji, he finds only a note to Pat from .Meanwhile, Jeff rides into Tail Holt -f-sends word to Sherm Howard he 3 to see him. He shows Howard a T Ur with his picture, with the name npnt Doke, wanted as the leader of a 'I'1. of outlaws. The rest of the band ?s. Jeff-shows the outlaws the poster lsks their confidence, and tells them ; shot him. They agree to allow -Qo stay. Another raid on the L C causes Lee to line up his men In jt, and to send his son Frank to 1BLT to reconnoiter. Bi " 'U CHAPTER V Continued FIE -8 -11 find out what I can," Frank Ci-e careful about asking ques-Sj'j, ques-Sj'j, and don't get into trouble with .a thieves. If anyone wants to yri' what you are doing there, say "lave come to meet a buyer we Expecting from New Mexico." (jr ank cut back to the ranch while pothers rode up Box canyon, -is already -beginning to drizzle the posse pushed into the high j above the gorge. Before night ryjit was raining steadily. Chis- made camp on Stampede j-;-.,:, well up toward the headers. head-ers. f. through the night rain poured T. The campers rose in the ing wet and stiff. They 'fried themselves at the fire, m,c off as best they could, and "ed as a chill sun broke through il!-iist. swick divided his men. One "f them he sent with Dan Brand nb the Flat-Tops. His son Bob Jorley stayed with him. They wed in on half a dozen moun-janches moun-janches on the far chance they ,i hear or see something of the ng stock. The owners of two ree of these were away from At1. The others showed no pleas- t sight of the L C men. jyj questioned them sharply. The ;rs were either evasive or They had no information to .lim. For all he knew his cat-" cat-" 'ight be hidden in some gulch ! I t " Howard reached for a gun. The fingers of Frank's left hand closed on his wrist and twisted the arm. With a yelp of pain Howard dropped the revolver to the ground. He broke free and tried to run. Within a dozen strides Frank landed on his back and brought him down. As he scrambled to his feet, Chiswick Chis-wick crowded him against an adobe wall and lashed out at his frightened fright-ened face. Feebly Howard put up his arms to defend himself. He took forv five minutes a hard drubbing, drub-bing, then collapsed to the ground. "For God's sake, don't!" he whined. "I've had enough. You're killing me." "I've heard about yore talk," Frank panted, still hot with anger. "Listen. If you ever mention my sister's name again I'll beat you till you can't stand." He turned on his heel and walked down the road. Frank had no feeling of elation at what he had done, but he could not blame himself. To thrash a man who was too cowardly to fight was no pleasure. Yet he had at least stopped Howard from talking those Chiswicks," Norris growled. "I'll go along with you any time you say to fix this fellow's clock, Lou." "How much help do you reckon Lou will need, Morg?" Curly inquired, in-quired, with intent to insult young Howard. "You throwin' in with the Chiswicks, Chis-wicks, Curly?" murmured Norns derisively. "Would I have to ask yore permission, per-mission, Morg?" the black-haired man demanded coolly. ' "Or am I free, white, and twenty-one?" The eyes of Morgan Norris flickered flick-ered over Curly. The killer leaned negligently against the bar, his body slumped, his eyes sleepy. But in him was the suggestion of violent eruption one sees in a crouched tiger. ti-ger. "I like to know who my friends are, Curly," he said softly. "Don't get you, Morg. When a kid whops a loose-mouthed scalawag bigger and older than he is, do we all have to get on the prod about it?" (TO BE COXTIMED) now less than a mile distant h-h in the day he joined Brand is men at an appointed spot. m jtoreman had made a wide ' of country without seeing any itufl. Wearily the riders re-K-ll to the ranch, getting in late ht. Pjlit1 knew from her father's de-1 de-1 that they had been unsuc-1. unsuc-1. She waited until after he jaten to ask questions. While ' ioked his pipe he told her of pedition. V"is fellow Gray was in it," he Abruptly, when he had appar- ""hushed. was clearing away the dishes nntc;ul'rl0d' slim fiSure alertly up , to find out how he knew. 1 sl't had checked up on his horse jljjicw the hoofprints," Chiswick r0iicd. "They must have sent ' ?re ahead of them to locate a lunch to run off." Frank stopped in the shadow and watched him. the hitchbar in front of the Golden Nugget. Young Chiswick sauntered up the street and turned in at Curt Dubbs' place. He knew he would not be exactly welcome there, but the objection to his patronage would probably be expressed only in pointed point-ed hints. Morris and Mile High were at the bar slaking thirst after a short visit to a hidden cache. A poker game was in progress, but the wheel and the faro table were both deserted. It was too early in the day for them. Inside of an hour they would be going full blast. Around the poker table sat six men. Curly and Jeff Gray were two of them. To Mile High his companion said, out of the corner of his mouth, "Tail Holt sure is being honored these I believed his lies," Ruth Witlcrly. l't blame yourself for that. Lmht have fooled me too. The Jl looks you right in the eye -fe talks. He doesn't look like iQ&king coyote. Well, we live Fyarn, girl." y'k Chiswick took a room at IfJ -esnall's, the only place at jlyolt which odered accommo-" accommo-" .. He could see that he was y.'ith surprise by one or two rjho knew him, but he took no 'lotice of that. To Curly he lUlried casually that he was itliJJ: for an expected cattle-buyer Ojhe was going to take back to the ranch. This in-YtL in-YtL on. he felt sure, would reach Howard and his rustler S ) he caught sight of Lou How- (, the distance, and at that $ ' man's strutting arrogance I ''fists involuntarily clinch. He I urge to change the contour I 'arily of the man's vapid, yking face, but he was under to keep out of trouble, yjpfe end of the second day he days. Mile High- glanced at Chiswick hastily, to see if he had caught the slur. "What's eatin' you, Morg?" he said hastily. "No use raisin' a rookus." "Am I raisin' a rookus because I'm grateful the big moguls have started drappin' in on us?" he asked offensively. Frank moved away. He heard Norris Nor-ris say, without troubling to lower his voice, "I was aimin' to ask him how his old man is getting along putting down the rustlers." The tall cowpuncher laughed, then tried to cover his mirth with a decorous dec-orous cough. Chiswick flushed angrily. The rage was still simmering in him when he passed the poker table and met the bland smile of Gray. He felt the disadvantage of youth. He was not philosophical enough to ignore ig-nore insults without letting them burn him up, nor neat enough of tongue to answer them with a stinging sting-ing retort that could not be construed con-strued as a challenge. Out of the back door Frank passed into a night roofed by a star-pep-( pered sky. He cut across a vacant |