Show SA SADDLE ID 1 E RIDE all 11 7 A HAYCOX W NU by ERNEST pelease s Ws THE STOUT STOR SO go FAR clay morgan has decided to play a lorie lone hand against ben herendeen a rancher bent on running the cattle country his own way the two men have been enemies tor for years having first fought over clays wife llla lila who died hating him and believing she should have married herendeen e n deen morgan la is a solitary figure d devoted to his nine year old daughter janet although two women catherine grant and ann mcgarrah are in love with him they know he be cannot forget ula lila of his former friends lends tr only hack back breathitt has not gone over to heren deens side gurd gard grant catherines brother hesitated about joining keren berea deen but became morgans sworn enemy when he discovered that catherine had been to his ranch learning at the last minute that government valley li is to be auctioned at sage city miles away clay ay rides all night and arrives 1 in tle time to outbid charley in inhouse mouse Hlll house deens foreman when he be learns that herendeen has sent a part to find hack back breathitt and kill him clay starts out to find him first he go goes a to freeport to kern cases store where he be thinks he be win will find hack As he Is talking to case herendeen appears to in the doorway now continue with the story CHAPTER X on the same day morgan returned from sage city charley hillhouse had pulled into three pines and reported his failure to herendeen if wed kept that damned notice down another twenty fo four ur hours herendeen said he was at the dance friday night he ot of seen it why harry jump came to town in such a lather he pay eleven thousand why you keep on said herendeen irritably hillhouse defended himself with blunt warmth irr im no mind reader I 1 cant guess in your head ben charley said herendeen the country aint big enough for both morgan and me so its fight said hillhouse and let the long silence fall fail while he soberly considered the answer he sighed a little and at last shrugged his shoulders been a long time coming herendeen said stay clear of it charley if you feel like that hillhouse shook his head no he mused a man cant be halt half of one thing and half of another hed be a mighty poor man ill do what I 1 got to do if it means I 1 lift a gun against clay morgan ill do it and god take pity on me for it he gave herendeen a searching glance but dont make no mistakes about clay when you call his hand you better be ready to go right on with it what do I 1 say to him when he asks me to move those cows i let him worry about that hillhouse like the answer and was on the point of saying as much when herendeen broke in right now weve got hack breathitt to find take out three four men and beat up the country around deu dell lake hillhouse heard about that he said shuts he done when herendeen told him he considered it over a long interval afterwards his shoulders rose and fell expressively shaking away a good many memories 1 I guess the wild bunch finally got him been teetering tee terin on the edge of crookedness a long lone while well ill find him long as he had known charley hillhouse it astonished herendeen now that his foreman should so calmly accept the dismal chore of hunting down a man who had been one of his deep friends long after hillhouse had lined out across the flats herendeen puzzled it around his head As for himself herendeen had no scruples to explain away he was a cattleman protecting his range by whatever means necessary with an ambition to extend that range by whatever means necessary A man in this land had rights if i he was big enough to hold them if he big enough then he had no rights this was heren deens philosophy entirely but hillhouse had in his long cool head a strange standard of right and wrong and a zeal as passionate as that of a fanatic this kind of man could do terrible things and feel terrible emotions he was herendeen thought like a fellow packing a stick of dynamite in his pocket uncomfortable at times to have around this was the extent of heren deens thoughts on the matter turning to his horse he lined out through the Hay creek hills reaching crowfoot at suppertime he stopped here for his meal and later made a little talk on the porch with gurd and catherine charley pulled out this afternoon to round up a few men and scout the west side of the moguls were after breathitt ive got bones mc geen up on the high trail near ketchelos Ketch ells gurd said believe ill go sit in with charley where you going toward freeport gurd said better be careful a tough district herendeen let out a huge laugh as he went to his horse gurd he said 1 I never saw the man I 1 was afraid of or the piece of brush I 1 ride through late falls twilight began to deepen around the yard it turned the porch gray from his horse herendeen watched catherine who had said nothing at all these shadows quenched the shining of her copper red hair but she was strong and shapely the roundness of her upper body having its effect on him her face was a pale oval against the dark background her eyes were very black when she stirred arms slowly rising behind her head and changing the shape of her silhouette herendeen had his moments intense desire to get down from the horse had gurd not been there he would have done so he only said see 77 lo 10 next time you go over to morgans dont bother to come back you later and fell into the freeport road never forgetting how she had looked As soon as he had gone catherine said to her brother you dont mean that gurd stay out of it hack has done nothing to us gurd walked down the steps never mind weve got to stick together she said do you realize it is is clays friend youre trying to kill then he had better pick better friends youve changed she said happened he came back up the steps and stopped before her sure ive changed his voice was monotonous and odd morgan had his chance to stick with us and do it then let him go to the devil hes not my friend now listen she said better understand me there will never be a rider of the crowfoot outfit sent after hack or used to run errands for herendeen he said chos running this outfit you are as long as you stick to business the matter with you lately he seized her arm then his face drawing near enough for her to see distrust on it next time you go over to morgans dont bother to come back I 1 she pulled free of his arm and hit him across the face with her hand she said youre a small little boy gurd why dont you try to be a man he shouted well see and jumped off the porch A moment later he raced out of the yard bound over the Hay creek hills toward the west flank of the moguls the clay dust of the road was a ghostly glowing ribbon unrolling between the shadowy timber banks and as herendeen traveled he made a perfect target for the rustlers and the fugitives and dispossessed nest ers who made camp in the lost hideouts of this section they hated all cattlemen he knew this perfectly well and watched the black margins of the road with a sharper attention than usual but it never occurred to him to turn back in this man was a belief strong as a shield of steel that no bullet would ever reach him this belief completely governed ben Heren deens life the road rising from the timber reached a small burn on which the black and gray snags of once living timber showed a stripped gaunt pattern against the swelling entering this barren spot ben herendeen caught the smell of dust and at once squared his heavy body on the saddle meanwhile dropping a hand to the butt of his gun over by the far margin of the burn bum he saw a horseman drift into the pearly diffused light and halt by the road herendeen let his horse sing lefoot forward and so came upon the waiting shape then he slowed down the man said ben herendeen hauled in nothing wrong with your eyes pete pete borders chuckled how could a man miss you throw a shape big as the side of a barn herendeen said late for you or maybe a little early pete borders said in his easy amused mus ed way just enjoying en joyin a pretty night 1 I want to talk to you fire away I 1 guess we have done some before herendeen said 1 I trust you out of sight pete and if I 1 ever caught you with one of my cows id hang you higher than a kite aint ever caught me ben remember what id do if I 1 did retorted herendeen do your steal in in other places and well get along I 1 propose to run every haywire rider out of this country in short order but if you stay clear of me no thins going to trouble you at all I 1 can use a fellow like you once in a while he thought about it letting the silence settle gently between them then he said go up to government valley and work over Morgans stuff hes too shorthanded to watch that end of his range ben said borders indulgently da you sure make me ashamed for bein a piker youre a bigger crook than I 1 ever thought of bein you grind your coffee in one mill and ill grind mine in another said herendeen taking no offense 1 I can make it hard for you or I 1 can let you alone just work along like I 1 said sure said borders but keep your riders away from that district at night so I 1 wont be bulpin into em I 1 got to cross your range morgan stood with his back to the stove gently rubbing his hands along the seat of his pants kern case grave and unmoved murmured everlin evenin ben for the moment nothing else was said herendeen ignored case studying morgan with his r round hazel eyes half shut he filled the doorway with his heavy legs and high huge shoulders morgan brought his hands forward reaching for his tobacco to make up a cigarette this was the length h of the silence when jie he st struck ruck a match and cupped it to hs his face he stared over the rim of his fingers reading herendeen with a steady interest the man had gwun swung 9 into the room quickly as though to surprise somebody and he stood now with his thoughts pretty much on his face his glance rummaging all the dark corners of the room morgan thought he knew the answer to that herendeen had expected to find breathitt here herendeen abruptly crossed the room his weight squealing against the worn floorboards and walked to a rear door returned he turned the doors knob gently he kicked the door open kern cases voice e echoed his dislike get out of there ben I 1 my room herendeen was in it moving around slowly he came out again somewhere above them a board snapped throwing Heren deens head instantly upward herendeen stared at the ceiling and back at morgan if youre here hes here herendeen stared at morgan his lips pressed together he was faintly smiling hard and certain and slowly keyed up by his temper hes here he grunted he walked on to the front door he put his back to morgan watching the street morgan said keep your eyes open ben herendeen turn he saidi 1 see bothin to be afraid of clay As far as youre concerned I 1 never did he stepped to the porch and wheeled around looking upward at the second stor story windows of the store he held the hard creased smile on his lips he teetered teet ered on the balls of his feet and drew his g gun un he fired at the window breaking the glass and walked into the doorway again swinging around to watch the street s t TO BE CONTINUED |