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Show flips rat SOalan lemay r-V-Vl r L At , SEIWCt evth fc - 1 TER X-Contlnued .Mrteny7u found Mm.- Ken-5 Ken-5 pointed out, "there was no Vfore the snow began to -L't account for that. Maybe under hiffl melted, or gome- nnlly t Kentucky. -. he did not Interrupt. ':, was a couple furlongs away. ..w admitted, continuing. -Rut --t tell me I made a mistake. I ow jolin Mason used to sit. , of hslif crooked In the saddle; j mind the round of his shoul-,s shoul-,s he sat his horse, and the I.',; us hat. I'd know Mra nn-v L out of a thousand men." ?m was something peculiarly .."liar ahout I.ee Bishop's claim 'recognition. Suddenly Kentucky . hy. He had heard Joe St. -;e nse almost the same words plaining to Jean Rngland the it they found Zack Sanders, that ;iad seen a ghost II isn't hardly likely," Kentucky -red speculatively, "that you'd :ske that pinto horse Mason :t that day." They was wrong about that," jp said promptly. "Mason Ml riding no pinto horse. He : riding a little blood bay pony :i S3 pony they call Three Spot" Tell me one more thing," Ken-Sy Ken-Sy said. "Did this did Mason yon?" He ought to have seen me. I a In plain sight But he didn't Mtt my wave." Mucky rose and went about i work of keeping up the fires, i the signal fire he stood listening : i long time, suspicious of small -;ds far away; but he could make rain of no Indication of nearby nan life. Be went back to Lee ana. 'Ire you there, Kentucky?" Td!ht here. Lee." 'Kentucky, I'm sorry I never told !s'. If only I'd told some people : it It, It would clear you. But f II any way you can." 'Ion never told anybody at all?" 'Jnstnne person In the world, Ken-';y; Ken-';y; and that Isn't liable to do . much good." 'Who was that?" 'Jean Ragland. . . . She'll back sour wora lr you tell 'em what But I don't know as It will '7 much weight Anybody can ' tot she's dead gone on you, -suck. Most likely they'll dis-l dis-l that Bhe says In your favor, tat account" ntncky Jones said gently, N're wrong there, Lee." Vre a fool If you think I am. ;! her about seeing Mason, and 'made me promise not to tell Hv else. I disremember what "sht was her reason for that ; ied a reasonable thing to ask. I'te lime." (tucky Jones sucked In his through his teeth. "Lee," he !v,tr'y' "yu 8Ure ,on got thls 'sff, Kentucky. I wouldn't dls- Old Iron" T don't mean that. Lee. I mean " told Jean about seeing this, ye told you not to tell any- beat me, Kentucky. How H would a man get a thing ''"at mixed np?" fight, Lee." Jtat's the matter with you, J1" a link or two missing !, Kentucky said. "But I'm ;: In my own mind, now." , t are you talking about?" got me the killer of 11a-1 11a-1 Kentucky said. Blshnp 8tartedi w,nced and aR!,ln' more llmP aDd ; "II than before. "You mean," '" at last, "you know who , ' Mason J" on i you?" '-isten I" silent for a long mo-" mo-" Lee Hlshop lay with onoeandfora.L .""1 t last COmlDS'" B'Sh-.v B'Sh-.v listened, but could hear " ihe 11 g0t Up and w,,,kei1 . ,. ,f"'ly' P"8' the signal fire. ' Cfr IT he co,,hI '.'on n,,. nt 6now to the Here the fireligh, !!l WPor o! ih! an,i the : conrl m e eros could te , ,,ears: nd present-filp; present-filp; ' Wln that he dlsrln-hJe dlsrln-hJe ? w,"""Ple of a walk- 2 , "" hlle the s,ur,d "ol'l ? d,s" and un-"e un-"e u!m: Knn dle(' away !,ill"rh, , llf convinced that n',(1 turned and drawn, off. Then the sound of the walking hoofs suddenly became sharp und close nt hand. Three hundred yards awny Kentucky made out the movement move-ment of a shadow In shadows, and knew that the rider was sitting his horse In the mouth of the notch. Kentucky Jones freed his rifle's safety catch, carefully, without any click of metal. I'"or nearly five minutes the rider In the notch sat motionless, and Jones knew that their visitor was watching the signal fire, trying to ni;ike out figures near It, or other sign of what the builders of the tire Intended. The rider moved out of the mouth of the notch at last, turned uncertainly uncer-tainly to the right, and began to skirt the foot of the canyon wall so slowly that for a little while Kentucky Jones was Inclined to think that there was no rider there at all, but only an unrldden horse wandering about In search of Its bunch. Moving slowly It circled the signal fire, as If trying to pass at the greatest possible distance. Then the pony passed before a drift of gullied snow which stood like a panel of white set Into the gray rock ; and against this Kentucky Jones saw the unmistakable silhouette sil-houette of the figure In the saddle. "Is That You, Kentucky?" The rider turned now, cutting back to circle the signal fire more closely; and at last, as lf suddenly Impatient, turned directly toward the fire Itself and rode to the edge of Its circle of light. At a distance of no more than fifty feet, Kentucky Ken-tucky Jones slid his rifle over the lip of the coulee and brought It to bear upon the mounted figure. Then the rider turned; and the firelight showed him Jean Rag-land's Rag-land's face. "Hello, Jean," he said. Her horse jerked as If it would shy, but Its rider sat steady, leaning lean-ing down to peer Into the shadows. Jean called out sharply, "Is that you, Kentucky? Are you hurt?" "They hit Lee Bishop, Jean." She slid out of the saddle, tossing toss-ing the reins over her pony's head, and came to the edge of the coulee. "Where's Lee?" "Drop down and I'll take you to him." He held up his arms and she let herself drop Into them, but freed herself Immediately. "Is he hit bad?" He whispered, "He can hear us from here, I think. I don't know but what they've finished him, Jean. He's shot In the side of the back and Lord knows where the bullet stopped. You shouldn't have come here don't you know that? "Somebody had to come. Campo -my father is back from Waterman; Water-man; but Harry Wilson quit when Campo wouldn't bring out more riders. Tou and Campo and I are all that's left And now poor Lee He0ledbe7jown the cut to where Bishop y. The r.lnf.e bnss openp( his eyes and turned his face toward her. Ms that you, Jean?" She dropped on her knees beside him. "Yes, Lee." "Didn't know but what I mMit be hearing things. Where's Campo?" "He's making a sweep of the upper Bench trail. Lee, you must be plumb frozen." "1'retty near," Bishop admitted. Jean slipped off her coat, and carefully wrapped Bishop's legs. Then she scrambled out of the cut. ran to her horse and, loosening the cinch, jerked her blankets from under un-der the saddle. When this was placed to suit her, she made ready to go. "It's sure a shot-to-pleees outflt you bought Into, Kentucky." "That deal Is off," he told her. "I own no share In the Ttnr tti- nor any part of a jhnre." Jean looked at him but there was no expression In her face, nor In her voice as she answered. "So you're quitting, too." "No, not quite yet," Kentucky told her grimly. "I'm Just going ahead In a little different way than we figured I was going to; that's all." Jean dropped beside Lee Bishop again, and for a long time studied the mask of his face, yellow In the firelight. He seemed asleep. Irrepressible Irre-pressible tears appeared on Jean's cheeks, glinting In the light of the fire. She bent over Lee Bishop and kissed him. "Good-by, Lee," she said softly. "I'll be back pretty quick." Lee Bishop smiled faintly. "Take your time, kid." Jean caught Kentucky's wrist and led him a little way down the cut. "Do you think there's any chance ' of moving him?" "I don't know as we better try, Jean. When you get back to the house, phone to Waterman for Doc Hopper. Then pack a horse and come back. Get hold of a tent lf there's any on the place, and all the bed-rolls that come handy, and grub, and bandages, and stuff. You know what we'll need." Jean Ragland scaled the side of the cut, re-clnched her saddle, and rode off at a sharp trot. Lee Bishop said, "There goes a great girl, Kentucky. You're lucky, all right." "Lucky? Me?" "She'd ride her horse square off the rim," Lee Bishop said, "If you told her to." He was talking in a queer and somehow childish tone of voice which Kentucky had never heard him use. "Listen, Kentucky. Get this can you hear me all right?" "I can hear you, Lee." "You're worse off than you think, Kentucky. Campo believes you killed Mason." Kentucky said slowly, "I don't know but what Campo has almighty good reason to know better than that, Lee." "What lf he has?" Lee demanded. demand-ed. "What you don't know is, he's been gathering up stuff against you tracing guns, and the like of that In a pinch he'll turn on you, Campo wllll But believe in that girl. She believes In you ; and she'll stand by you." "The pinch will come quick, now," Kentucky said. "But she'll not be with me, Lee." Lee Bishop said In a curious hoarse whisper, "She'd Jerk the heart out of her, lf you needed it She's got a faith In you that you don't have for her." "Faith?" Kentucky repeated savagely. sav-agely. "If she'd trusted me only half way, only quarter way, you and I wouldn't be sitting here tonight." Lee Bishop looked at Kentucky a long time, and his mind seemed to be turning vague. "You ain't licked, Kentucky," he said at last In a weak voice. "You can beat this game yet." "Sure I'll beat It," Kentucky assured as-sured him. "Lee, I'll beat it In spite of her!" Lee Bishop said in a queer voice. You you couldn't go against that girl, Kentucky." "I'd sooner cut off my right hand, Lee; but I've got to go square against her now." For another long moment Lee Bishop fixed staring, vacant eyes upon Kentucky's face. "You love her, huh?" Kentucky Jones shivered; he felt as lf the grip .of the night cold was getting the better of him, so that his body had a core of Ice. He covered his face with his hands I twnk," he said, "I hate her as I've never hated any living thing In my "Le'e Bishop's words Jerked out of him incoherently, but unexpectedly rp and strong. "God I help you, Kentucky-don't say thatl "All right, Lee. JeanRagland made the round .urreptltiously passe, to Ke ni J ev(dence. Kentucky ge I owner of the 88 nc"' Ragiand'i ranch boss exp Estounded by ss"AS."A ST:- srq. fr -.: action mystifies him. ac announces hi. l;noy.,e B Humphrey., dead, murdered. Sherin n of th8 8S ran (of was murdered. In a gun b... gjjjy Petersen woum.. Jones seeks to Bar Hook cowboy, s d countermands the oraer. on the fighting wmen' "guJ "found on Zack Sanders, a . r h,m trace the I0Wne"h,'Phnl heV .hare In the Bar Hk ncealed evidence mystery. Jean sells him n of that Jean engaged to trace a free hand with Elliot. Jones nr. , wnom he ha enojri Joe St. after him. The foreman 1. shot iro trip and loaded a mule at he urh er end in a little over four hours which was wonderful time on those night trails. But she niisht as well have saved her animals; for an hour before she readied Trap canyon Lee Bishop was dead. When Kentucky had packed the body to the Bake Pan camp of the j Bar Hook, where he placed it with that of Jim Humphreys, he faced his horse Into the steep switch back trail up the rim, and started for the main ranch. He felt no weariness, but only a black temper. Now that he knew for the first time what set of ugly circumstances cir-cumstances he was up against, he knew what he had to do; It was not easy, and he wanted to get It behind him. The voices of the guns and the tiituujsLauLTs 01 L.ee ijisuop s ueaiu had brought him an odd new alertness, alert-ness, an almost painful consciousness conscious-ness of everything that moved within with-in the limits of the rimrock horizon. It was as If he had found himself returned to the days of his forefathers, forefa-thers, when an awareness of far-off details had a lot to do with keeping on a man's scalp. And long before Jean Ragland came In sight, he knew that two horses were coming toward him along the trail, that they had but one rider, and that second horse was not driven, but led. As they met In the trail he saw that her face was quiet with the resignation res-ignation which had characterized It for the last two days ; but her eyes were alive. There was a touch of feverish light In them which told him that she was still fighting, though what she was fighting, or how, he was no longer sure that he knew. "I've brought you a fresh horse," she said immediately. "Maybe It doesn't look like much horse, but It Is a whole lot of horse. Pretty near any Bar Hook horse would give down under you before this plug "I suppose I kind of ought to appreciate 'that," Kentucky said; "but, Jean, how come you think I am going to need such a long-traveling horse?" "Kentucky," she said, "Kentucky " She drew her hand across her eyes, as lf what she was trying to say was almost beyond her ability. abil-ity. "Look here. I've asked a lot of favors of you, Kentuck; a lot more than I ever had any right to ask. I have to ask you one thing more. If you'll do this one thing more for me, I'll be grateful to you all my life; and I swear I'll never ask anything of you again." "Jean, girl," Kentucky said, "what's happened here?" "Take this horse, and the mule, and such of the stuff as you need. I don't need to tell, you where to go or how to get there, nor how to get along; but do as I say! Go a long way, and go fast, and lose yourself; and never come back until some day this ghastly thing Is over with and forgotten !" Kentucky Jones stared nt her a long time, studying her face; but her eyes did not flinch from his. At last a crooked one-sided smile changed his mouth. "I know this Is a terrible sacrifice for you, " Jean said, i wouiuu i us you this, Kentucky, I swear I wouldn't. If I wasn't so positive that there's no other way. Believe this I'll be your friend, always; It may be later that I can help you, and send your money to you, or something some-thing like that That will work out later. All I can say now Is that I'd rather be dead than sitting here telling tell-ing you this; but there Isn't any othe way." "Why do you ask this?" Kentucky said curiously. "Kentucky God forgive me ! 1 can't answer thatl But I tell you that there isn't any time to lose! Not an hour, not even I can't tell you any more! I can only " "You'll have to tell me, I think," Kentucky said. "You've got to do what I say," she told him passionately, "without any question of why about It." You hardly expected me to do that, I think," he told her. Jean cried out sharply, "Don't! Take the horse and go. Kentucky, as you love me but you don't love me; I know that." "I think," he said, "Just now It doesn't matter a whole lot who loves who, or who doesn't" There was a touch of hysteria In her voice as she answered him. "No, not to you I think you don't care anything about anybody in the world !" "God help the man who does," he said. "As for taking that horse and making a run of It, I'm sorry not to do something that you ask. But I can't Imagine anything on the face of the tartn mat wouiu miue ine do that now." "Then," she said quickly, "I'll tell vou why you must My father my father " It seemed for a moment as lf she were unable to go on. But she pulled herself together and spoke evenly, her words distinct and quick. "You know by this time why Bob Elliot Is swamping the Bar Hook range. You have eyes that see tnlngg j don't think anyone tan hide from you what a thing means. You can't make me think that you don't know why Klliot has no fear of Campo, nor the Bar Hook." "No," he said slowly, "I wouldn't pretend that I can't see that" (TO BE COXTISUED) |