Show CC fa 5 tda if sm amm CE or of THE BORDER aa 01 ZAN E GREY K V a OF THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS DERS OF THE PURPLE i SAGE ETC confuo MT ay y giuna MIO AND 7 SYNOPSIS CHAPTER I 1 in wellston te TOTOS cas it becomes with buckley duane a case ot of or run from cal bain duane kills lits als roan man and becomes an out outlaw lav CHAPTER II 11 ho he meets aulce stav ens an outlaw CHAPTER irr in stevens stevena goes acs into tile town of 0 mercer to buy supplies and is 19 shot chot by a rancher duano duane buries him CHAPTER rv IV duane goes eroes to blands blanda outlaw stronghold in the rim rock and titter after shooting shoo who quarrels with him oer stevens death decides to stay stav there euchre takes duane for a partner and tells him about bland the outlaw chief and his band CHAPTER V duane practices es gun throwing and hears bears more about bland and his gang CHAPTER VI NIT euchre and duane call on an kate blands wife and jennie a girl whom benson kian aped and bold to bland CHAPTER VII 1111 euchre and duani conspire to take jennie away duano duane prevents prevents a wanton murder CHAPTER VIII mrs bland makes love to duane and he uses her to further his bis plans bland returns from a trip he asks duane to join the band ile he Is jealous of 0 duane and abuses kate kat Q and jennie aich i t CHAPTER XI xa i i A hundred miles from the haunts most familiar with duanes deeds far up op where the ran a trickling clear stream between yellow cliffs stood a small deserted shack of cover led mesquite poles it had been made long jong ago but was well preserved A door faced tile the overgrown trail and another faced down into a gorge of dense thickets on the border fugitives from law and men who hid in fear of someone they had wronged wrong edi zever never lived in hou houses houes es with only one door it was a wild spot lonely not fit for human habitation except for the bulc outcast t i on clear days and rare indeed were cloudy days with the subsiding of the wind at sunset a hush seemed to fall around the little hut but far distant dim blue mountains stood gold rimmed gradually to fade with the shading of light at this quiet hour a man climbed up op out of the gorge and sat in the westward door of the hut tills this lonely watcher of the west and listener to tile the silence N as duane and tins this hut was the one where three years before rennie jennie had nursed him back to tc life the killing of a man named sellers tind tend the combination of 0 circumstances that had made the tragedy a memorable reg regret gret had marked if not a change at least a cessation in duanes activities he had bad trailed sellers Seller sto to 1 hill 1111 him for the supposed abducting of jennie vague rumors ors a few words here and there unauthenticated stories were all that duane had gathered in years to substantiate ills his belief that jennie died shortly after the beginning of lier her second captivity sellers might have told him dunne expected if not to force it from him nt at the end to read it in his eyes but the bullet went too unerringly it locked liis ills lips and fixed his eyes after that meeting duane lay long nt at the ranch house of a friend and when lie he from tile the wound sellers had given him lie started with two horses and a pack for the lonely gorge on the queers chete he had been hidden for months a prey to remorse a dreamer a victim of phantoms jhan Than toms it took work for him to find subsistence si El in that rocky fastness ali and work action helped to pass the hours but lie he could not work all the time even if lie he had found it to do then in his idle moments and at night his task was to live with the hell in ills his mind the sunset and the twilight hour made all the rest bearable the little hut but on the rim HUI of the gorge seemed to bold jennies presence it was not as it if he felt her spirit it if it had been lie he would have been sure of her death dealt he be hoped jennie had not survived her second misfortune and that laten intense se hope bope had burned into belief it if not surety A strange feature of this memory of jennie was the freshness of it till failure of yours years toll strife death dealing to dim it to deaden the thought of what might have been lie he had it a marvelous marv clous gift of visualization he could shut his e eyes yes and see sec jennie before him just as clearly its as if 1 she had stood there in the flesh for hous hours lie did that dreaming dreaming of life lie had never tasted lasted las ted and now never would taste he thought of her beauty and sweetness of the few things gs which had come to mean to him that she must have loved him and retrained he trained hini himself self to think of these jn in preference to her life lit at blands 1 the escape with him and then her recap recapture turp because such meni mem oric ORe sed sled to bitter bittera pain lie liddo lid I 1 to eglit ng lit suffering because it was locating t atin out ut his heart sitting there eyes wide open he dreamed of tile the old homestead and his white haired mother he saw the old home life sweetened and filled by dear new faces and added joys joy go on oil before ills his eyes with him a part of it then in the inevitable reaction in the reflux of bitter reality he be WO would U I 1 send out a voiceless cry no less poignant because it was silent poor fool foell I 1 no I 1 shall never see mother again never go home never have a home I 1 am duane the lone wolf A group of specters trooped out of the shadows of dusk and gathering round him escorted him to his bed every one of ills his victims singly and collectively returned to him for ever it seemed in cold passionless accusing domination they did not accuse a OU ac TO I 1 for hours he did that dreaming him of dishonor or cowardice or brutality or murder they only accused him of death it was as if they knew more than when they were tn ere alive had learned that life was a divine mysterious gift not to be taken they thronged thron ged about him with their voiceless clamoring in 9 drifted around him with their fading eyes after nearly six sis months in the gorge the loneliness and inaction of his life drove dunne duane out upon the trails seeking anything rather than to hide longer alone a prey to the scourge of liis its thoughts the moment he be lode iode into sight of men a remarkable transformation n occurred in liviu A strange warmth ethred in him a longing to see sec the faces of people to to hear their voices a pleasurable motion emotion sad and strange but it was only a precursor of ills his old bitter blee ples and eternal vigilance mercer mercur was the firt village lie he rode into lie he had many friends there mercer claimed to owe dunne duane it a debt on oil the outskirts of the village there was inns a giarve giave overgrown by brush so that the rude lettered post which marked it was scarcely visible to duane as he rode by lie ile biad in never read the inscription but ili he thought now of II ardin for many deais hardin had harassed the stockmen stoc kmen and lancheros lan chers in and mound mercer on an evil day for him lie he or his outlaws had beaten and robbed a man who once ruc succored cored duane when soro sore in need dunne duane met nardin in ili the little plaza of the village called him every name known to order border men taun taunted teI him to draw and killed him in tile act acl duane went to the house of one jones a texan who had known his father anti and there ito ho was warmly received the feel of an honest hand ban the voice of a friend the prattle of children who were not afraid of him or his gun good wholesome food and change of clothes these things for the time being made a changed man of duane to ile be sure lie did not often speak peak the price of ills head and the 1 eight of ills his burden made him silent but eagerly lie he drank in all the news that was told him in the years of his absence from honie home 1 lie I had never heard a 11 word about his mother or uncle those who were ills his real friends friend on thu the border would have been the last to make inquiries to write or receive letters letter that might give a clue to dearies Du aries aties whereabouts duane lenin ined all day with this hospitable jones and its as twilight fell was loath to ga and yielded to a pressing invitation to i cinalli overnight it wits was seldom indeed that duane slept under a loot early in the evening while duano duane sat on the porch with two awed anti and hero bero worshiping billing sons bonfi of tile the house jones returned fro froan m q a quick visit down to 0 o the hinr lly ily he sent scat the boys off he labored under jaten e excitement dunne duane theres rangers in town he whispered its all over town too that youre here you rode in long after sunup lots of people saw you I 1 dont believe theres a man or boy that d squeal on you but the women might they gossip and these rangers are arc handsome fellows devils with the women what company of rangers asked duano duane quietly company A under captain macnelly that new ranger ile he made n big name in the war and since hed been in the range service lies hes dono done wonders lies dos cleaned up some bad places south and lies hes working north macnelly ive heard of liim him describe him to me inc slight built chap but wiry and tough clean face black mustache and hair sharp black eyes hes got a look of authority a fine man duano duane belongs to a good southern family id hate to have him look you up duane did not speak Mac macnellis Nellys got nerve and his bis rangers are all experienced men if they find out youre here come collie after you Mac macnellis Nellys no gunfighter gun fighter but lie he hesitate to do his duty even if lie faced sure death which lie he would in tills case duane you meet captain macnelly your record is clean if it is terrible you never met a ranger or any officer except a rotten sheriff now and then like rod brown still duane kept silence he was not thinking of danger but of the fact of how fleeting must be his stay among friends ive already fixed up a pack of grub went on oil jones til ill slip 0 out ut to saddle addle 5 our horse you watch here I 1 he had scarcely uttered the in last st words when nhen soft swift footsteps sounded on the hard p path ath A man turned in the gate the light was dim yet clear enough to disclose an unusually tall figure when it appeared nearer lie ni as seen to be walking with both arms raised hands high he slowed his stride does bur buri t jones live here he asked in a low hurried voice 1 I reckon im burt what can I 1 do for you replied jones the stranger peered around stealthily came closer still with his bis hands up it is known that buck dunne Is here captain mac nellys cani camping ping on the river just out of town he sends word to duane to come out there after dark the stranger wheeled and departed as swiftly and strangely as he had come bust me duane whatever do you m make ake of that t exclaimed jones A new one on me replied duane I 1 thoughtfully first fool thing I 1 ever heard of macnelly doing cant make head nor tails of it id have said offhand off hand band that macnelly double cross anybody he struck me a square man sand all through but hell he must mean treachery I 1 cant see anything else in that deal maybe the captain wants to give me a fair chance to surrender without bloodshed observed dunne duane pretty decent of him it if he meant that ile he invites you to come to ills camp after dark something s strange tr q about this dunne duane but Mac macnellis Nellys a new man out liere here he does some queer things perhaps lies hes getting it a swelled head well whatever ills his intentions intention ills presence around mercer is enough for us duane you hit the road and put some nilles miles between you and tho timi amiable able captain before daylight to mairow ill go out there and ask him what in the devil lie ho meant that messenger lie he sent lie he was a ranger said duane sure lie was and a nervy one it must have taken sand to come collie bracing bencin you that way dunne duane the fellow pack a gun ill swear sear to that odd till this trick but you cant trust it hit the load duane A little later a black horse with muffled hoofs bearing a tall dark rider who iio peered keenly into every shadow sli adow trotted down a pasture lane back of jones house turned into the load and then breaking into swifter gait rapidly left mercer behind CHAPTER XII next nest morning duane was oft off again working south during the next few lays days lie paid brief visits to several Il lages that lay in ills his path and in each sonic some particular friend had a piece of news to impart that mado mada duane profoundly thoughtful A ranger had made a quiet unobtrusive call till upon these friends and left this message toll tell buck duane to ride into captain macnellis Mac Nellys camp some time after night dunne duane concluded and ills his friends all agreed with him that the new rang rangers ors main in tin purpose in the country was nas to capture or kill 1111 duck buck duane and that this message was simply tin an original and striking ruse the daring of which might appeal to certain outlaws but it did not appeal to duano duane his curiosity was aroused it did not however tempt him to any foolhardy act lie ile turned southwest and rode it hundred miles until lie again readied the sparsely settled s country here lie he heard no more of rangers he got into rough country rode for ahlee days without coveting much ground but believed that he was getting on hafer territory tu ice he came to a wide bottom land green NN with ith willow and nd cottonwood and thick as cha chaparian somei somewhere here through the middle of which ran a river lie decided do must ile be the lower one evening ns as he stole out from a covert where re lie baa ca lie ile the lights of a 11 village he tried to pals oil eli th t LP kit but milf 1 R n ridge he be noted that the road made a sharp turn anti and lie he could not see sec what hat was beyond it he slowed plowed up and was making the arn which was downhill between high banks of yellow clay when his mettlesome horse heard something to frighten him or shied at something and bolted the few bounds lie he took before duanes iron arm checked him blin were enough to reach the curve one flashing glance showed duane the open once more a n little valley below with a wide shallow rocky stream a clump of cottonwoods cotton woods beyond a somber group of men facing him and two dark limp strangely grotesque figures hanging banging from branches the sight was common enough in southwest Sout invest texas texa but duane had never before found himself so unpleasantly close A hoarse voice pealed out by hell theres another one I 1 stranger ride down an account fer yourself yelled another hands uell up right jack dont take no chances plug him these remarks were so swiftly uttered littered as almost to be continuous duane was wheeling ills his horse when a rifle cracked the bullet struck his left forearm and lie he thought broke it tor for he be dropped the rein the frightened horse leaped another bullet whistled past duane then the bend iu in the road saved him probably from certain death like the wind his fleet steed wont went down the long hill duane was in no hurry to look back ile he knew what want to expect his chief concern of the moment was for ills his injured arm he found that the bones were still intact but the wound having been made by a soft bullet was an exceedingly bad one blood poured from it giving the horse ills his head duane wound ills his scarf tightly round the holes and with teeth and hand tied it t tightly that lone done lie ho looked buck back over ills his shoulder riders wore were making the dust fly on the hillside road there were more coming round the cut where the road curved duane needed only one glance to tell him that they were fast and liard hard riding coN |