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Show wOnjUX frank h. (i ; T1' SPEARMAN . IBiUHT PRANK H.SPfARMAN W.N.U. SERVICE rojol in" I , (le' m TenlRon' h Vjy- told him I saw e lone in Madison Sqnii.e Garden, two years ag0. Hfi 1 Tluttlies i Am, h ,v,,ere he picked " p." I Ked what up, the CBaretter whitp I He S!,id t,ley used a white-paper cigarette there on ac- nZ hT 1,16 artinla' t-so he must have seen It" blu'Sy!'8 tlleyr aSked "1 suppose he meant the rider" I wonder If he meant himself. Why. Harry, he's the man that Introduced In-troduced that act at the garden, two years ago last winter." CHAPTER III TP WO years later, back on her old . !?A1,ei"s ranch after two years in Chicago, Jane was riding the possessions one day to be hers. Wandering on her pony far in the .unlock hills, she had lost her way toward the close of the day and had stopped to ask directions from a man standing at the door of a poor-looking poor-looking cabin. "Why, Isn't this Gunlock Ranch?" "Not yet." The man answered the liness, helplessness, and resentment at being ridiculed by a disagreeable stranger, her eyes filled with angry tears. She began to cry as she turned her horse's head to follow him. "Hold on," he said kindly, "hold on. Nothing to cry about, not a thing. You're as safe as If you were In your bed at the ranch. I guess I'm pretty rough-spoken; but my bark's worse'n my bite. So you're from Chicago?" "Yes." "That's quite a burg, I understand." under-stand." "How far have we got to go to get home?" "Considerable ways. If we could go as the crow flies, it wouldn't be so far. How long have you been out here?" "Six weeks." He was too polite to comment, though he had hardly need to ask the question Jane was so evidently evident-ly a tenderfoot. "What's your name?" she asked In turn. "Bill Denison." "How long have you lived here?'' "Here and in the Panhandle most of my life." question hrmly, Jane thought. "When I left the house this morning," morn-ing," she said Indignantly, "they told me I could ride all day without getting off Gunlock Ranch. I must have ridden about a hundred miles. What did you mean by saying, 'not yet'? she asked suspiciously. Bill Denison, before whose door she had halted, looked at Jane with curiosity. "Oh, nothing special," he said casually. "Only, that old man Van Tambel has stolen everything every-thing In the hills except this ranch." At this outburst Jane first stopped breathing then she breathed furiously. furi-ously. Her features hardened. "Why, how outraglous!" she exclaimed. ex-claimed. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself." The young man held his ground. "Let me ask a question. Are you any kin of old man Van Tambel's?" he asked composedly. "I don't care to discuss that question ques-tion with you," was her defiant reply. re-ply. "I admit, If you are, I was kind of rough, speaking as I did," he went on. "I didn't know lie had P SYNOPSIS M desert town of the I I, celebrating the Fourth :li" v n Tambel. beautiful L. ' 76, Vn Tanbel. hated S 'oonlock ranch, has ar-' ar-' VZ East for the first ::AeS the Frontier Day t,, ::',n company with Dr. Vr': clv tender-hearted friend s- I'nliy Henry Bawdy of ?"!fw Anch. tricked In a ':'erace the M e0 : n'rossen, foreman at Gun-;X Gun-;X . revenge. He enters Bill !': "" Handsome young Texas :? m the rodeo which Mc-. Mc-. :' 'Vfavored to win, and lays V ,n blm with Harry Boar- , keeper and crony of Mc-.f Mc-.f r Unknown to the crowd, ' k champion horseman. :. " ,a the young stranger '" "i various events. Denison . -learette carelessly, and It '.'. d tnat he try to pick It up (.,11 tilt. Racing wn ,the -Vi.nd and the Gunlock ranch -- ..'protest to Bill Pardaloe, undone of the judges, but (1 ,T-Ct goes to Denison when IS ' refuses to attempt the r,Mted by the crowd, Den- ...Tes lo perform another trick. MfcPTER ll-Continued " S. - tha lck was cleared and -we again seated, the port- ;g continued: "To show ;is no trick In the cigarette l; to show there's no collu-i; collu-i; ask any lady in the audi-:;. audi-:;. throw any little personal rtof wear out on the track. 'at? lady next to Dr. Car-ii Car-ii pointed "Isn't that a small . see on her left arm? Just ! Lady, if you'd lend us l :let for a minute, we'll 1 ; isome ridin'." f ;, was addressing Jane. L , i won't do it!" exclaimed looked pained, but kept his 1- on the bracelet "Go ,'irl, throw It out !" suggest- ':! ?r! The pony might step on . I rated Jane. t '1 but unwilling to Ignore the J ; clamor of the spectators, .t reluctantly, passed the i gold band over her wrist, 1 f.mf, for an awkward femr. " ' w, flung it out ungraeions-track. ungraeions-track. The crowd applaud-:. applaud-:. blushed. S- i bracelet fell close to, the j biDlslde of the track. Sawdy rfrt- loo close, but the wrangler, jll'ter, nodded that he could l"H ampler wheeled his horse, JJll'utered down the track. t J'? "sain, he patted his pony's headed up toward the J"'- Again the pony took "t leaped ahead, and, with ' ;4ers mostly standing to see h their breath, the wrang-1 wrang-1 '4 for the bracelet, i 'we he swung over to the ; saddle till he could trail I taslly along In the dust of 2J -i With eyes straining and - e taut, the wrangler, ..j ;'' shining object, struck UN 1 the same Instant, out of 111 ce a sudden vicious yell somewhere about the The pony, startled, '.'"Wit sldewlse, throwing nfif Nd first Into the dust, W :!1 'woss the track, drag- int y' e"ght by one i! stirrup, ;r rose, breaking Into ,e" ,,BSM and shame SJi' for the Inside his way out of the gathering crowd and, stretching out his arm, yelled at the three Circle Dot cowmen standing on the track beside the contrite pony. "Look-a-here, Texns 1" yelled the bnUl-liond, beckoning. "Come here, you I You too, Lefever' Quick !" "It's Juke Spotts," said the excited ex-cited Sawdy. "Come on, boysl" With Lefever, and followed by the wrangler, Sawdy hurried to the Irate barber's side. "There's the skunk that yelled," cried Spotts, almost beside himself as he pushed the wrangler forward, and pointed, "That yellow-faced skunk right there, Barney Reb-stock Reb-stock !" "You're a liar," shouted the man accused, a slender, shrill-voiced, sharp-faced ranch hand. "I never did it." A long haired, mild voiced Indian standing near him spoke up: "Yes, you did. I stood right behind you." Jane was sitting so close to the altercation she could have touched the nearest man. She rose In alarm. Dr. Carpy pushed her to his other side. She heard Sawdy thunder, "No more lyin', Barney! There's two witnesses." That was almost all she could remember. re-member. There were a few more sharp words. Then the dusty wrangler, wrang-ler, shortening his quirt, sprang at Rebstock, knocked off his hat with one hand, and with the other brought the heavy handle down od Rebstock's forehead. There was Instant uproar. Mc-Crossen Mc-Crossen sprang forward to defend Rebstock. He was too late. His hand slipped to his gun holster. Carpy, jumping up. stood almost over the brawlers. "Hold on, there! Hold on!" he thundered. "The first man that draws a gun here, I'll run out of Sleepy Cat!" Dr. Carpy was the only man In Sleepy Cat who could have done It. But his word was the last word In Sleepy Cat. No one cared to face his wrath. He turned to Jane. "Don't be frightened, girl. It's all over." Cheers greeted the wrangler as he walked back with his cronies to where the contrite pony stood on the track. Although his attire was in much disarray, his manner put his hearers perfectly at ease. "I know," he said to those who had returned re-turned to the grandstand, and patting pat-ting his mount, "that this generally well-behaved little Texas pony Is as much ashamed of his conduct as I am, and I know he would like to apologize !" He had the crowd with him. While they cheered, the wrangler remounted, remount-ed, cantered leisurely up the track and down, and brought the gelding to a halt in front of Dr. Carpy and Jane Van Tambel. Patting the pony affectionately on the neck with his left hand, and speaking softly, the wrangler tapped the little fellow with his doubled quirt on the right shoulder. The pony pawed the dust In protest pro-test but gradually crooked his right foreleg, then his left, and knelt in apology to the grandstand. The crowd gave him loud applause. Meantime, throwing his lines, the wrangler stepped off the pony, laid his hand on the guard rails of the grandstand track-fence, cleared It, and, picking his way among the spectators up to where Carpy sat, stopped before Jane. He was covered with dust and sweat. Jane started. She saw a pair of keen brown eyes inspecting her from behind long dusty lashes. r.i - -.nln. nhlnf- In his l Iff IPS ttff "And how many years is that?" "Nigh onto thirty years, I figure it to be." "What are you so sore for on everybody at Gunlock ranch?" "Lady," returned her companion, "If I told you, you wouldn't believe it. But I don't say I'm sore at everybody. And I'm not sore at you. I'm glad there's one decent person now at Gunlock " Jane bridled again. "One decent person! I like that!" "Hang It, I didn't mean to make another break. Please excuse, and I'll hog-tie my troublesome tongue." "Is It very much farther?' asked Jane, alarmed now by approaching darkness. "Not a whole lot. But maybe you'd better mount off and rest a little If you need it. It's rough going from here on, for I'm trying to take a short cut." "You're not lost, are you?" she demanded suspiciously. "Not yet." "But you might get lost?" "Not tonight. And if you'll stick to the saddle a little ways farther, you can have a drink at a spring to freshen you up." "How can you find It?" "If you'd drunk from It as many times as I have, you could find it in a sandstorm, blindfolded so could these horses, either of 'em." The two were silent for a while. Presently Denison checked his horse. "Here's your spring, lady. Are you thirsty?" "Choked. If you hadn't been so mean, I'd have asked you for a drink at your house if It Is your house." "It's mine so far, but there's a hang-over lawsuit of Van Tambel's on it. Can you get down, lady?" "I don't know whether I can or not. I've been in this saddle so long." Her companion eased her to the ground. Jane refused to drink without a cup till he told her to cup her hands. Then she would not drink until she could see there were no snakes in the water. "Nothing gets into that water; It would freeze a snake to death. But I can strike a light so you can see the water in your hands." "I'd have offered you a drink at my house if I'd thought, of It," he said, helping her to remount. "I didn't aim to be mean. You kind of took me by surprise." There were lights everywhere when Jane knocked, very late, at the ranchhouse door. Kindly old Bull Page, one of the ranch hands, greeted her In the kitchen. The girl was jaded to death. 'Where's everybody. Bull?" she asked, dropping Into a chair. "Why, Miss Jane, they're all out lookln' for you." "Looking for me !" exclaimed Jane scornfully. "Well, they must be loafing on the job. Where's Quong?" "Quong's gone to bed, but I'll get some bacon and fried potatoes for you in no time," declared Bull. "Coffee?" "Yes, and strong." "Same as I take It. Well, well how'd you manage to find your way home?" "I didn't find it. I found a man and a cabin about a hundred miles from nowhere, and he brought me home. That coffee smells grand, Bull," sighed Jane. "Hurry up with the bacon !" As she said the words, in stalked the ranch foreman, Dave McC'ros- sen. . , At the sight of the missing girl he struck an attitude of resentful astonishment. "Hell's bells. Jane!" he exclaimed. "Here you are home and we've been riding all over crea tion !" (TO BE COXTiyUED) Again the Pony Took the Quirt. any relations. I worked for him a year once, and I never heard him tell of any. So I guess I have to apologize." "I should think you would apologize," apolo-gize," declared Jane, scandalized. "But," he countered, and the "but" was emphatic, "to tell you the truth, lady, I can't take everything back. Sou 'living over at the ranch?" he asked. "I live in Chicago." "And you're lost?" "If I were not, I shouldn't be here." "Now no matter how you and I may differ on some subjects," he said, "I'll start you on your way home, providing you want me to. Will you wait a minute while I sad- dle UP?" A T11 fl,l "I won't wait a second. 1 11 Ana my own way." So saying, Jane jerked her horse around. "Well, I like your spunk, anyway, Tenison called out to her, "and I'll catch you In a couple of minutes. "You can stay right where you are," she shot back. "I don't want you near me, anyhow." As she rode away, Jane heard In an incredibly short time the clatter of hoofs beside her. She bristled Inside. . , "What are you chasing me for? she demanded as Tenison rode up. "I was afraid you'd fall oft your horse" he retorted dryly. "Now skip he hard words," he countered easily as Jane angrily objected to Ms taunt and to his company "You know you're used up ; you Low how to ride. Tou ve J ed up your horse, and you don't know the country, and I've got to Jet you home, so turn around and follow me-do you know- where wat tolerated to speak. "YouVe -headed for the desert, aid thart a poor Ph." for a stran- :r.a;n,cted-Janet awful desert she baa . to keep awaypnf.r00rae"'lier. she was ?, 'fSrVnoo Ho drop off h,r .., ' track fence. ifll! tJ! panlcky spectators fl . ch', the wrangler, ..; breakneck speed! s'rl f00t an3. rolling UK 1uen,UB1 over and over KeS ul t0 hls'eet, cov-Pi cov-Pi The siting pony m ., 'Uce and dashed across p: I.. U,7ng,er Readied him-l him-l two- bl es S": lfK,ces before hlm. n V" breath- with ?H 1 Z mslne from bis rumpled aQ3 his dust-seared, his B. '?C h,s back. and lo cn3 rai8ed hls c'ear drawl; rl 'Zil bellowed for )tf Cn," a coward to ' 3 ith ,Eree t0 bottle- VT" " SlJ nm. applauding orU "UrS'and a ;';a,Bneas'ness: among 'tetofa-rlot , "ear T. 6 na of the f?ne came a clash y, ''C lth keen -gray M6, J stache, scaUer kW left, pushedl one saw a luminal jv. right hand, as he held It out to her and heard bis low words: "Lady, your bracelet 1" "Oh !" exclaimed Jane completely complete-ly surprised. "Thank you !" He tried to fade away among his boisterous following of uproarious Circle Dot men. But not every one was disposed to let him escape easily. Harry Tenison. who paid the stake money ever to Sawdy at the Circle Dot quarters, Insisted on meeting the Texan. He was dragged, reluctant, put of the sleeping tent and shook hands slowly with the Medicine Bend sport magnate. "Where did you pick up that cigarette trick?" demanded Tenison. "I never saw it done but once, lhat was at Madison Square Garden. -How long ago?" asked the wrangler. wran-gler. ' ' '" "Two years ago last winter. - "It was done' there that winter, I understand," said the Texan evenly. "Of course, It was under artificial light, so they had touse white pa- "You been In New York,' then?" "Once- or twice, sir." "You've seen It done, then? "I have, sir. And I'm mighty glad I met you," drawled the Texan, cutting cut-ting the interview short. He was not ungracious, but was somewhat fatigued. |
