Show ta n 1 E T pill FM IR I 1 V fa W V iva a wa 7 11 41 WILLIAM mac LED raier r for 21 0 1 N I 1 WILLIAM macleod RAINE SERVICE CHAPTER IV continued lee chiswick broke into his daughters story excitedly hes hanging around waiting for a chance to dry gulch me i ruth shook her head 1 I thought so at first I 1 dont now listen al lucky the wolf do you a meanness when he had a chance the strong jaw jav of the cattleman set ill have him rounded aed up and rubbed out before hes 24 hours older you wont need to round him up I 1 can tell you where he is my story finished do you want to hear it or not where is he demanded chiswick hes at the rimrock line camp with a bullet hole in his leg did pat get him no I 1 did p you what 1 I shot him her father stared at her with blank astonishment good god girl what do you me mean 1 I tried to pass him he caught at the bridle rein I 1 dont know why perhaps he get out of the way and want blue chip to trample him down somehow my gun went off and hit him I 1 want him to die before he could get help so I 1 took him to the camp why you come and got get some of us he asked his voice sharp with anxiety he might have shot you down on the way 1 I was as safe with him as I 1 would be with you father she said he that kind of man I 1 dont like him hes insulting but lie he is not the kind of ruffian who would hurt a woman or wo uld take of a man in a f ight fight he shoot you someone else did crazy talk lee shouted we saw him do it we thought we saw him do it she corrected but we he saw someone fire at you and shot at the man then lie he ran forward to protect you and we all thought he was the killer think it over father from the position you were standing the bullet that creased you must have been fired in the alley but this gray came another direction got it all figured out you with his help lee said angrily 1 if he had been the man would he have run forward into the nest of us it reasonable he was taken by surprise when dan bean tan shooting at him I 1 could see that to save his life he had to get out he doing here then he wants to see you I 1 dont know what about he insisted on my bringing you hell see me all right the cattleman said his voice harsh and grim my opinion is that he saved your life after he had already taken caie of me when a crazy man I 1 was on the shoot then I 1 put a bullet in him and now you want to finish him ruth spoke with sharp bitterness b I 1 tt C anes S ill listen to him lee told her ill hear what he has got to say maybe you are right but I 1 dont believe it if he be comes clean and tells me what he is doing here and if what he says satisfies me hell be as safe with me as in gods pocket ill have him brought to the house and well take care of him here but he cant pull the wool over my eyes he has got to be straight goods fair ruth agreed 1 I dont know anything about who he is maybe hes an outlaw on the dodge hes as hard as iron and he may have gone bad but theres something clean about him he shoot a man in the back id stake everything I 1 had on that chiswick nodded 1 I would have said that myself and im not often wrong about a man when he be ran at me with his gun smoking iwas I 1 was sure surprised maybe youre right daughter hell get a chance to tell his story may alay I 1 ride up to the line camp with you ruth asked no he exploded and slammed a fist down on the breakfast table to emphasize his decision you cant go with vath me mats the matter with you girl you head for trouble like a thirsty steer for water first you run off with a no count scalawag not worth a hill of beans then you shoot another and tote him to hospital without asking me a by your leave no way for a lady to do no wonder folks think youre a wild young hellion you are grown up now nov you got to learn to act genteel would it be unladylike for me to go down with you and take some fried chicken and biscuits to a sick man she wanted to know you fix this fried chicken and ill take it down lee said firmly 1 I aim to be reasonable but im through letting t you behave so ruth gave up she packed the tD tobacco bacco the books and the food for pat she put in a corncob corn cob pipe to replace the broken clay one knowing her fathers impulsive em nature she was full of misgivings over his shoulder as he started he called back a word of reassurance dont you worry daughter im not going off half cocked if this gray can show me hes not a yellow coyote ill not harm him in a natural meadow half a mile from the house he stopped to give dan brand instructions about the daive of yearlings yearnings year lings sold to broderick this done he told his son frank and the foreman what he had just learned from ruth frank asked to ride with him to Sor leys camp the Chi rode up to the rimrock rim rock and skirted the edge of it until they reached a break through this they climbed to the lip of the park where the line camp lay I 1 from the chimney of the cabin a thin trickle of smoke drifted pat is probably line riding and has left this fellow alone frank said As they drew closer lee the house from the boulder field back of it an echo came back to them no other answer sounded A second time lie he shouted still without response get your gun out boy he ordered grimly 1 I dont like this he swung from the saddle and drew the rifle atta attached ched to it frank dismounted hurriedly his horse between him and the house 1 I sure dont want to get blasted out of my saddle he said the two men worked toward the cabin using their horses to screen them as much as possible from any sharpshooters who might be in the building or among the rocks above nobody stirred except themselves frank felt a strange prickling sensation run up and down his spine any moment there might come a crash of guns lee maneuvered close to the door then made a bolt for it his son s 0 n was inside a second later the cabin was empty wheres the fellow gone lee asked 1 I reckon he as bad hurt is as he was making out frank said this lee picked a piece of wrapping paper from the table he read aloud something that had been scrawled on it with a pencil much obliged doe doc for fixing my leg sec you later maybe jeff gray rode into tail holt two days after leaving the rimrock line camp his broad shoulders sagged with weariness the eyes of the man were sunken the lean face was haggard and unshaven at the alamo corral he dismounted stiffly the owner of the place jim reynolds squinted an outspoken question at him from under slanted eyebrows there was an arresting quality about gray that held attention the fatigue the strains of travel did not conceal his dominant force he unsaddled the sweat streaked roan gelding with a competent economy of motion when he moved a ripple ran wavelike his well muscles yore brone bronc some reynolds said some gray agreed he watered and fed the animal himself reynolds watched him observing that he knew how to treat a hot tired horse the corral owner wondered who this stranger was ill put up at ma Pres nalls if she has room for me gray said could you send word to sherm howard that im there and want to see him what name shall I 1 say asked reynolds jeff gray im obliged sir gray limped up the street toward I 1 the boardinghouse boarding house I 1 ma had her muscular arms bare to the elbows there was a splash of flour on one temple she had been baking baiting her fa face ce was leathery and wrinkled the challenge of her washed out eyes direct and hard for she had lived in frontier camps and held her own he could have a room and board she said for a dollar a day or five dollars a week strangers paid in advance A five dollar bill passed from gray to her and she led him to his room V after w washing ashing the caked dust rom face and hands ands h he lay down on the bed the wound in his leg was wag throbbing for the better part of sixty hours ho he had been in the saddle and he was almost worn out when the opportunity came he be would bathe and dress the hurt just now he be had not time he was expecting a visit from sherman howard and perhaps from others it was unfortunate that his entry into tail holt had been so melodramatic probably he would have to light out ain again ga if they gave him a chance to go with his pocketknife pocket knife he ripped open the lining of his vest and drew out a folded paper he expected to need it shortly the paper was a printed poster offering a reward of 2000 for the capture of clint doke the leader of a band of outlaws who had held up and robbed the texas and southern flyer A description of the desperado was given with it was a picture taken from a cut the face that looked back from the poster at jeff gray was his own through the door ma called information some gents to see sec you who are they gray asked putting the paper in his vest pocket sherm howard curly connor and morg norris there was a barely perceptible pause before gray said ask them to come up mrs if you will he pulled on his boots and swiftly t examined his revolver that the weapon rested lightly in its holster so that there would be no hind 1 ranee rance to a quick draw he made I 1 sure this invasion in force might or might not mean trouble curly had probably come with a chip on his shoulder norris was a killer of the worst kind on the other hand band sherman howard had the reputation of doing his fighting by proxy he might have brought morg merely as a defensive precaution jeff hoped if they did not open up with a blast of guns to talk them out of any thought of vengeance it would not be easy now not with curly all hot to rub him out in his throat there beat the pulse of excitement that always accompanied deadly danger I 1 his fingers trembled A knock on the door sounded grays gray s nerv nervousness ou s n e ss v vanished a n aishe d instantly stan st t I 1 y H he e s said ai d C come 0 m e in h his is drawling voice cool as ice water to be continued |