Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, June 14, 1917, Page 9

THE CASPER DAILY TRIBUNE | HEART ASLhe |} SUNSET ) @/REX BEACH ! Author of The Spoilers,” “The Iron Trail,” “The Silver Horde,’ Caer et y Marpe © Sinton SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I-—Set afoot and alone by an Sccident in the desert near the Rio Grande | Mrs. Alaire Aust mistress of Las Pal- | mas and La Feria ranch meets Dave Ww, Texas Ranger, at a water hole and is compelled to spend the night there with him, as he is in amb: for a murderer and cannot leave his post CHAPTER II—Next day at evening the murderer appears with « companion. CHAPTER IlI—Law captures the mur- @erer but Is compelled to kill his compan jon, Panfilo Sanchez, who happens to be @ cousin of Mrs. Austin’s horsebreaker, Jose Sanchez. CHAPTER IV—At Las Palmas Alaire| tells her husband, Ed, that his carousals | and inebriety must’ stop. Her cattle at La Feria, the Mexican ranch, are con- fiscated by Longorio, Mexican federal general, and she finds that it is because Ed has been helping the rebel junta. CHAPTER V—On her way to La Feria in Mexico Alaire meets Longorio, who falls in love with her and agrees to settle for the confiscated stock. CHAPTER VI-—E: home by Paloma, e hears si Pe Tad Lewis outfit, wh cattle stealing. With F his boys Dave and B) after cattle thieves. tertained at their s and his daughter mething about the h is suspected of rdo Guzman and aze gO ON & Scout CHAPTER VII—Law catches two of the Lewis outfit branding a stolen calf and in @ fight kills one and has his horse shot under him. He trails the other thief to Las Palmas, where he is insulted by Ed Austin, whom he knows to be very friend- ly with the Lewis outfit CHAPTER Vil. A Ranger's Horse. Onward through the dense follage the two friends wound. Now and then they stopped to listen, but the rain was heavy enough to drown all other notses, Encountering fresh tracks finally, Dave ned from his saddle and studied them. He had gone perhaps half a mile when Bessie Belle raised her head, and he noted that her nostrils were working sensi- tively. Law fancied that he could de- tect the smell of a wood fire. Farther along they came to a place where the ; brash was low, and there, rising through the treetops beyond, he saw a wavering plume of blue smoke. The Ranger rode into sight of the branding fire with his repeater across his saddle horn and his thumb upon the hammer; what followed eame with almost. the blinding sud- denness of a lightning crash. First there was the picture of a sandy glude, In the center of which burned a fire With the First Jerk of His Horse’s Head His Own Gun Leaped to His Shoulder. | fellow. He we Ms WY | these gringos?” After a time he ap: | H | prouched cautiously and Inquire y i “What shall we do with this homl Reha ne senor? Pedro has found his hors | hands he gently removed Bessie Belle’s | with branding irons in it, and a spot- ted culf tied to a tree, but otherwise no sign of life. Then, without warn- ing, Bessie Belle threw up her head in that characteristic trick of hers, and | simultaneously Dave saw a figure rise out of the grass at his left with a rifle leveled. With the first jerk of his horse’s head his own gun had leaped to his shoulder—he was not conscious of having willed it to do so—and even as he pressed the trig ger he felt Bessie Belle give Way. The next instant his feet, still in the stir rups, were on the ground und his horse lay between them, motionless. That nervous fling of her head had / Saved Dave's life, for the rustler’s bullet had shattered her skull in its flight, and she luy prone, with scarcely 4 muscular twitch, so sudden had been her end. For a moment the Ranger, wus Cazed. He stood staring down at his Pet; then the truth engulfed him. He realized that he had ridden her to her death, and at the thought he be- came like a woman bereft of her child, like a lover who had seen his Sweetheart slain. A shout—it was a hoarse, inarticu- late ery; a swift, maddened serutiny that searched the sodden scene of the ambush; then he was down beside the | mure, calling her name heartbrokenly, his arms around her neck, his face, against her warm, wet, velvet hide. ; Law knew that two men had en- tered the thicket, gnd therefore ond | band. Not only so, but the sharp con- | but phis health, his saddie and his | | No; no horse now, she was gone. The mist and an early dusk prevent- | gated fields. A few moments 1 ; Dave made himself known, and Be jing of a sorrel horse or a strunge rider, ,bur he had just come in himself. Doubtless they could rn more from Juan, the horse-wrangler, who was proved strangely recalcitrant He ad- }e@ him from seng Las Palmas Itselt | e | when he rode up to the outbuildin he encountered a middle-nged Mexican, oO @) u e a 4 | who proved to be to Gonzalez, the | |nito unswered his questions with ap somewhere about mitted that he had seen a horse of until he was well in among the tIrri- That the Success of the ; parent honesty. No, he had seen noth- | Juan was finally found, but he | the description given. Probably it be- | ° Fite is dependent upon longed to some stranger. still remained to be reckoned with Dave changed his tueties. “ ar he but he guve no thought to that nn! said, sternly. “Do you want to ge to | the corner of his eye he could see a! jaily’ Juan had no such desire. “Then pair of bootsoles staring at him out} tell the truth. Where is the horse | of the grass, and they told him there} now?" | was not need for investigation. Near) Juan insolently declared he didn't | the body he heard the calf stirring, but) know and didn’t care ! he let it stru . ‘Oh, you don’t, eh?” Law reached S Bessie Belle’s bright eyes were glaz-| for the boy, and shook him until he} ing; she did not hear her lover's! yelled. “You will make a nice littl voice. Don Ricardo and his son burst | prisoner, nito, and we shall find a ° ° ° iG 2 out of the brush from opposite direc-| way to make you ere | If this Loan sa failure, we face hard times and a serious tions almost at the sume moment, to Gonzalez was inclined to resent such find the Ranger with his face buried | high-handed treatment of his unde in his horse's mane. ling, but ri et for the Rangers was | Business Depression. “Caramba! What is this?” The old | deep-rooted, and Juan's behavior was} man flung himself from the saddle) inexplicable, 2 and came running. “You are injured? At lust the hurseboy confessed He | Our Big Corporations Have Responded Nobly Pedro, too, bent over the officer, his) had seen both horse und rider, but brown face pale with apprehension.) knew neither. Mr. Austin and the} “Mother of God!" breathed the latter.) stranger had arrived together, and the} “It was a wild thing to do, to ride] latter had gone on. That was the} Bie ieee: Uc Sa ea | The Government Needs Your “Bueno!” Law released his prisoner, | stiffly, whereupon both Mexicans! who stunk away rubbing his shoulder. | Ee ee ea a $50 and $100 Subscriptions “Si! What happened? There was | A volce answered from the dusk:/ a shot! Did you see nothing? TAWUSENARIAS Honalialehe (aire |/Aeeunluliasale ertargaaleour aaaTebe Subscripiton Books Close Friday, June 15th, 4 tion of the fallen man at his back and} door. “Well, what do you want | if iro uttered a loud ery. |} “You are Mr. Austin, I reckon?” — | FT 5 “Look!” Father and son ran through; “Tam. What d’you mean by abus-| ONLY TWO DAYS LE $. Mex & the grass, then recojled and broke! ing my help?” ‘The master of Las Pal- ; into a jargon of oaths and excluma-| mas approached so near that his} e . . . : tions. : | threatening scowl was visible. “I don't| in Which Milloins Must Be Raised 3 i “Right in the mouth! The fellow! allow strangers to prowl around my| $ was in death before he renlized it.”| premise “See! It is us we thought, Pedro; | Amuzec | | hy this hostile greeting, Law| Have You Done Your Duty? one of Lewis’! Tse! Tse! Tse!) explained in a word the reason for his! peek. ee eran ee I RL DON’T DELAY; Subscribe NOW Through Your Banker anything about your! oe Garza, one of the worst!" in. What d'you want him for, anc} | | chimed the two Guzmans. who sre you?” Ricardo was dancing in his excite-| Dave introduced himself. “I want! ment. “I told you that Lewis knew! him for stealing Guzmun's calves. I} something. The other one got pust! ‘ 1 me, but I cunnot shoot like—this.” a e@ It was difficult to secure a connected } Midwest Hotel Building stery from Ricardo, but he finally} H made it plain that at the first report the other thief had fled, exposing him self only long enough for the old mun! to take a quick shot in his direction. | Ricardo had missed, and the miscre- | ant was doubtless well away by this time. He had ridden a sorrel horse,} that was all Ricardo could remember, Law looked only briefly at the grue- | some results of his marksmanship, then he turned back to the body of his beloved mare. Ricardo noticed at! length that he was crying; as the Ranger knelt beside the dead thor- oughbred, the old Mexican whispered | to his sen: “Valgaine Dios! ‘This is a strange! ps like » woman. He} must have loved that horse as u man, loves his wife. Who can understand BUY A Law ronsed himself. With his own! “! Don't Know Anything About You." frailed him from where he and his partner cut into your south pasture.” ) Benito stirred and muttered an oath “Til take your horse, Ricardo, and ys 2 2 an aa cae : P ; A te but Anstin was unmoved, “I reckon zou tuke sas ek iw ®. 6 ta wugen | you must be a bad trailer,” he laughed. | SO AIO Banta ony OLEEY INE: “We've got no thieves here, What/ “And you : mukes you think Guzman lost any! “Tn going to follow that man on the Guivess ay sorrel,” saddle, bridle and blanket, then he gave his orders, WE WILL ALLOW “$91.0 ON YOUR ACCOUNT, OR GIVE YOU ‘ $51 WORTH OF MERCHANDISE FOR EVERY $50 LIBERTY BOND YOU PRESENT AT OUR STORE | Da temper, never too well con- | trolled at best, begun to rise. He could , not Imagine why a person of Ed Aus tin’s standing should behave in this | extraordinary manner, unless, perhaps, be wus drunk. | “Well, I saw the calves, and I left! the fellow that was branding them with a wet saddle blanket over his fhe dend man’s saddle was left be- si the body; then when the ex- change of mounts had been effected, | and all was ready, Law’ made a re- quest that amazed both father and son. “If I'm not back by morning, I want you to bury my mare.” His voice broke; he turned away his fuce. “Bury | her deep, Ricardo, so—the coyotes | Yes can’t dig her up; right where she fell. | T'll be back to see that It’s done right. Understand?” “Bueno! I understand perfectly. She was a pretty horse. She was your —bonita, eh? Well, you have a big) heart, senor, a8 a brave man should | have. Everything shall be done as you wish; I gtve you my hand on it.” Ricardo reached down and gripped , Law’s palm. “We will name our pas- ture for her, too, because it is plain you loved her dearly. So, then, until | tomorrow.” ? What's that?” Austin start-| | ed, and Gonzalez uttered a smothered exclamation. “You killed him? He's } dead?” | “Dead evough to skin. I caught hin | with his irons in the fire and the calves | necked up in your pasture. Now Yj want his compunero,” | “I—hope you don’t think we know anything about him,” Ed protested. “Where's that man on the sorrel horse?” Austin turned uway with a shrug. You rode in with him,” Dave per- Law witched his two friends ride | gicted, i away, then, with a miserable ache in Ed wheeled quick his throut, he mounted and rode off) ynow 1 dia?’ to pick up the trail of the man on the sorrel pony. The fellow had ridden in the diree- | tion of Las Palmas, which Dave judged must be fully twelve miles away, and “How do you “Your boy suw you.” The ranchman’s voice was harsh as he said: “Look he my friend, you'fe| on the wrong track. The fellow I was| with had nothing to do with this af- when they continued to maintain this air. Would you know your man? Did! course the Ranger became doubly in- you get a look at him? terested. He risked his own interpre- “No. But I reckon Don Ricardo tation of the rider's intent and pushed | eoyid tell his ho on without pausing to search out the trail step by step, At the second gate | apry. » just for that you come! the signs indicated that his man was prowling around threatening my help, | little more than an hour ahead of him. | gn Trying to frame up a case, mny-| The prospect of aguin seeing the | pe? Well, it don't go. I was out with ruddy-haired mistress of Las Palmas | no of Tad Lewis’ men.” stirred Law more deeply than he cared “What was his name to admit. Nevertheless, he was uncom- aged to Inquire. fortably aware that she had a hus- “Urbina. He had a sorrel under him, there are thousands of sorrel horses.” | | “Humph!” Austin grunted, disagree-| Webel Commercial Company The Big Busy Store :: :: Watch Our Windows q ” Dave man- | trast in their positions was disagree- able to contemplate; she was unbeliey- “What time did you meet him?” ably rich, and a person of influence In | «{ met him at noon, and—I've been the state, while he had nothing except with him ever since. So you see you'ra