The evening world. Newspaper, May 14, 1915, Page 27

=SSos eee ‘ ‘ ? TH | ae @ (~ ‘ \ \ . . 4 any } a Is ; 4 di «t We } Py , , Love bd — wy, \ oun By JACKSON GREG 4 (pin doseab dda coe tebe hela ie dT obs beled DD bdnh ® te ent @ out : A sion aoe Abd ~ 0 , He told me thet be e e eo for bie money, and that if i ine him have at east five 1 the old man i : we when he seat , . i ering we J thet it T fe eh on it be wae veugh with me i 1) What coud t do! I couldn't bi a oy Way UML! Dufresne leughed a oan . *4 we for» bind man de the way And 1 te 1 had * " , = CHAPTER NUL. few that you begun to eel \ ) 1 man's sock on the ely #0 Black Hal Takes Charge. S realee toe J of it, and Keep “6 ee week ee one Ye Ho explained it ali to ine v ® thing Me tuid that sehby of tie through 4 ite goin Would take the cat tbat way, And Vm outa 7 4 them a lt He stooped quickly and picsed up «Thea came Ui § the thing Wat lay ta the bullow at “ is And Gaur Mataniock. on the croasing 1 rode out) +i A La ara ER he alike and threw a rife / buUBD he cried out angrily, ott! Held oy Hil Cutter, It waal't too dark yet back, hesitating to eo clearly. He put up his hands, 6 Money, all right,” grunted Black and Martin, the express agent, put Bal, “A wad big enous to choke @ UP bis hands And the one passenger ¢ @ow! And paper se ; ‘There counted it swiftly His mateh bur hehted another. @nd he lighted a th And at last be Ing. He whistied softly » @reamed of bh sf money in his hands. “Four thousand and dollars! while it 14 Estabrook. H goin’ five hundred was good —in the sam ere mazuma fo: down and he buraed out, x Py 1 finished count- Ile had never so large @ sum ta gun ys there until it And then you and had started back to where Oscar » Martin open the exprese I knew (hat the money waa i that It was going to the Rock 1 made him throw 4, and then I got nd got it and got back on iny It was all so easy that I was rised at it. . vu know bow at (he crossing the road winds on into the canyon? 1 turned and rode tnto the mouth of the canyon, going slowly, making the three of them keep their handy up." snapped Black Hal, when d suddenly, bis tongue and forth between his bitterly, “I think he enjoys letting me Know where it i all the time, He knows how much I need money, and he knows I wouldn't dare touch it without his consent. For a word rom him— “Would put @ beautiful crimp in iL “L knew that they couldn't see now, 1 was ao deep in the shadows of the canyon, But 1 could aee them, and 1 called back to them for the last lime to keep their hands up, And then, just across that pile of rocks sharply. “Does his bidin’-place hap- pen to be anywhere near here?” #tood. from where | was (the one all topped =For answer Oscar went across the Now he broke off sharply and with manzanita), 1 saw @ spurt of room to the old-fashioned bureau. He stopped dead in his tracks, @ fresh iume. dragged it away from its place in the @uspcion upon him that brought a ml the crack of a rifle corner of the wall, stooped and threw 3 from { back the corner the carpet, aud uy Where is you hurling him backward, loughby n in gold. in billet ter down like a dog! bib 66 “L swear 1 didn't kill indifferently. oe @waynes “Yes,” Resitation, desperately. gid man's cattle all aloni ox “Did Dufresne money?” 0. Where 414 you get 1 “T didn't Kill him, I kil him,” after a while, don't couldn't have killed a man, to tell you the truth, a to know {t's the truth! make it a home that Iw give moaned Oscar. thing I did 1 mean, to meant? CHAPTER XIV, Open Confession. P kill Bil Cutter” cried Oscar wildly, the words coming almost inarticulatey from his dry throat. him!" at” you it “Lam going toask you some que tions,” Hal paid at last, very coldl, “You can do as ydu First, nee —eonrer ‘em or not F hold up your own frien’s at ? came the answer, with no t this money?” the other five Im— “ft mean," Black Hal snarled at him, shaking him in a powerful grip and that Wil- er gave you that money. Whatever Willoughby gave you was “And L mean that the man that held up the stage at Bear Creek Crossing got away with five thousand dollars— “And that same man shot Bill Cut- r meanin’ business?” Say had to have money! “Have you been in cahoots with Dufresne and Jordan to steal your th ? tell you T didn’t could 1? And I'm going And if you're lyin’ to » house right, and them for fear that they would tell I saw him jerk board from the a second with his his head, and then plunge straight down uncer his horse's feet. I romember jerking in my horse and staring at him. And then all I know ts that I wi aking with the horror of the thing and fear for myself, and I was running away from it all." the strings at the mouths of the bags, “How would the other man happen poured the contents out upon a pillow, to be there?” candidly cynical, “And There was handful after handful of why would he want to do for Cut- minted gold, all in twenty-dollar or ‘There, lying in a careless heap, were three buckskin bags, each b. filled, “He's comin’ back then.” Black hed Laid rcp St into @ open! and drew the bags out. “Soe if it'a all here.” He went to the bed and, untying ter ten-dollar pieces, I don't know. I know {t sounds He gathered up the gold again, put- like a lie. But now can't you eee I'm ting It all into one Ané then he the truth? And think, man! ‘weighed it Why should I have Vented toe ie ve done that? kuess you know re stan right now so close to end of a rope you oughta feel it The Sheriff ain't “it iovks jie 1% was ail there,” Oscar nodded, “All right, You're goin’ to take care of it to-day, I'll hold on to the rag money, but 1.can't tote this around with me, You put it into a good place and just roost on top of It until I come back. “I guess,” very sternly, as he eur- rendered the bag into Estabrook’s hands, “you won't make any kinda mistake with it. It's your one laa’ bet to square yourse'’f. And you? goin’ to do a iittle ridin’, seein’ round your nec quit on’ the Job, and if you know Dan Nesbitt you know he ain't goin’ to quit until somebody swings. “Ty thought things over, and I ain't goin’ take a hand fn natlin’ the top on your coffin, Why I ain't 1a jes’ my busine nd tt ain't yours, “Pil see that this money gets back where it belongs, and then I'll drop the whole rotten mess. So you don't need to be scared of what I know. You look at it straight, If you're lyin’, 1f you fed Weel ery) a better clear out of this nm Eetabdrook’s The woods.” room, aad dba Dee ere eet “I won" Ig Estabrook hys- car wrote, asking no questions, = terele Fant tll him. And I ful that at last he had some one to lean promised just to-night—that I'd be On--some one who would assume the aquare from now on, and that I'd take responsibility and strive to straighten my medicine,” out his muddled affairs, ‘Then,” brusquely, with a quick ‘1 want a order firs’ to turn them tightening of the lips, “me and you steers back onto the flata and to call haa got some work to do! We're the deal off with Willoughby, It goin’ to find who did kill him; and might come in handy, Write i this we're goin’ to head off the rest of way: this cattle rustlin'’, You're goin’ to “Mr, Dufresne and Mr, Jordan. you're goin’ to write me @ couple nice little letters.” They went back ry very- walk straight with me, and you're “Dear Sirs: I've changed my Tnake right goin’ to open wide up everything a% mind, ‘Tell Willoughby I'm not you § L ix in you, sellin’ any more cows to him, ade it right if. had “And you're goin’ to start in Drive the five hundred steere at right now. When do them jaspers back to the and you've got plan to pull off the atealin’ of them "Got It? Now sign It” Oscar signed the order and handed oy ornate it to Black Hal, “That's what brought Dufresne ney er i) back. It'e to happen to-morrow “Dufresne bas an order, too,” me you're Jos wantin ie very bewin: night.” paid lintionniy, "Ho gai that It would Dene oe eee wiftly, a strange "Then you and me had better be be as well to have it if anything un aoe aT ae now—"things went gettin’ some sleep.” expected canie up. It'ean order to, him oe ce me. Dad gave me some Black RS seroge by him, headed what cattle he thin! ; ; se ho ere. toward the bunk-house, . money to build a range house here, fowan the eine ocmorrow 18 ote’ “The dete as that man misses ain't Tt wasn't enoue > the thing right, to to bea real busy day! worth takin,” was the cowboys As rab I could bring In the dim half light before the grunted comment, T dawn Black Hal opened the front door “Well, we'll try tt on, anyway. =my wife to in a couple of years house, and, going quick. And you date this one, date it for to- Geant to steady Gown BAe Loan a the cane. HC ge d gently. day; It'll be Inter than his'n, anyway, OU MeO nD eae ee rant I thought tabrook,"” mi And ‘now, for the other order. Oe ery He oon ee ae ene oo happy ter-of-fact tones you Make it to Club Jordan, and tell him tee whenewhen we were ™ up ail the time for a fool rather than in tt that he’ fired, and that I'm fore; ' inn fir bad man, I told you that, So tt “That was the beginning, Dad ab: bucks at the firw order J can alip this wouldn't give mo enough money, and ain't hard to belleve what you told Sina me about the hold-up at the crossin’ Now, what I want to know 1s, have you any Idea who the other man in Again Oscar wrote, dated and signed, And Black Hal, blotting and folding the two p a of paper care- ng OR ee ear fully thrust them into his vest pocket, has iat'a one question, and your an- Phen he gave a few ordere-one to hed te, Hee ene Tt ae iistit you Knowed 116 went atralght to the wreck of a him te cama ou that the stage would be carryin’ alot cabin and, sitting down upon the old gouple of we ee ne ite tck Cresk Mine” How bunk, took out the scrap of paper That was a . Slate know (cet PP. and stub of pencil which he always silo he’s ea hiftesne happened to drop tt carried nowadays, and wrote a brief BRU TROUT BAW Eye Nts” Wer wore together—the ‘There was little time for carefut plave 1 aol ; it us—when Dufresne men- Composit io he wrote hurried) * ven ‘< rom the A 1 owan "hed tn i ibe Me one of fem had been mn rocks, When Durlre told on 1 mako it eorter for on he drew off bis boot, thrust been losing } that b ! || trail that down after the paper into the toe, and pulled the ony 4 While. ‘First thing Is to put @ stop poor on again. Hy pay him, Just before co the deat with Willoughby to-night. "Te ‘anything happene to me,” b mother the girls ¢ wrote, Let's wake the prince up aud have thought grimly, “they'll find that bi BAY is 1 1 rt-to-heart talk with him." fore the funeral, Now we'll cacne the the ' fl trod Dufresne was gone, His room jong green and hit the trail again.” @iliars Tf wt y yw that just behind the eabin hin he 1 year to out where the down- ta tad. ‘Th Ira ost on Hal " night had swept nv svnd with a sudden thought and deadwood that i f tried to @ ° } about upon Estabrook— ed down from the mountain money. from them at Swayne's, T you happen to know where he above knew that fey could spare it and not koops the money you follers has al- And his thought was to scoop out a miss it, but I didn't dare botiu, Som ready took from Willoughby?” Uttle hollow just as he had seen Oscar “Yes, I do know,” answered Oscar doing, to put the bank-notes in it, and your gue!” interrupted Black Hal §} as the prince beat us to it’ And ¢ The Evening World Daily Magazine. Frid cover then with @ few etones, sont- tered tn seeming carelesanens, He glanced about bim quickly, mak- ing certain that there waa no one to eco, And then he went swiftly be- hind the cabin, into the washout, and dropped to his knees, He saw where the bank had crum- bled y, and where the rushing, rocky avalanche had swept It across the little Wabie-land, huriing it toward the cliffs below Here, where he knelt, not ten feat behind the cabin, there had evidently been a narrow belt of loose @oll, for the cloudburst had carried it away, #0 that It looked now almost as though 4 neat housekeeper had been over It with her broom. The cut was six or eight feet wide and @ couple of feet 6 © sought about until he found a little hollow that the water had ed out and set to work to clean itout and make ita littiedeeper. Into the bole he had made he dropped the Toll. of bank-notes, covering them Awiftly with the loose dirt he had re- moved to make their hiding-place. Where his boot had struc! & ragged edge had broken of: bling like dry clay. a in the light J the sun just oping over the ri above, ‘the Broken eurface pleased | into bis eyes with @ eoft, dull, or glow. hie Pure, yellow, soft crumbling vlad! He sought with pounding temples for the particle that had beeu broken off, and found it lying among the strewn pebbles. le rul it LS vow) his wiping it clean the dirt thee had ®atbered upon it. Tt was es large as the snd of hie thumb, it was heavy ip the palm of bia hand, its on edge whone ip sunlight with the same dull yel- low glow, With fingera which he could not make altogether steady he drew out his knife, opening the little blade, aad scratched at the surfaces dulled by Weather and accumulated goil, And he know then that the thing he had discovered because of the lese stroke of a boot-heel was the big Gest nugget he had ever seen. Already he had forgotten the four ppgusend five hundred dollars he had in. He ran here and pat Up and dowa washout, snatching up pebbies, digging with his hands or with the blade of his knife, muttering to him- @elf. There was only one thing tn his brain, just one questilon clamoring to be answered, And while he sought feverishly, his imagination leaping to new, wonder- ful heights, he was half afraid to come to the answer, ‘a this the one bit of gold the storm bad brought down from the Mountains, or had the landslide here uncovered the old vein of the Yellow Boy? In a little he was standing with his back to cabin wall, gone suddenly weak, his body shaking like a man with @ chill, And still he felt hot, feverishly hot, and little drops of @weat stood out on his forehead, Hia mind went back to the night of he the storm. It had shown him the true gold of @ woman's nature. It had un- covered for him the old, lost lode upon Death Trap Mountain! He stared ahead of him, sesing Bothing. A moment ago he had been a cow. Duncher for the Boar Track, with nothing tn the world but hie horee and his dally wage. And now--why now he had found the richest gold mine that had ever been worked and lost in the State— now he was a millionaire! Still he stared, seeing nothing, And then, little by little, there came something to take form before his eyo, It wap not the scarred breast of the Mountain rising before him, It was a log cabin in the Valley of the Waterfalls, n cabin built of graat logs, with wile doors and a blg rock flreplace--with little shelves for dishes and big shelves for books-—— “And she won't know Until {t's all done!" he whispered. "Until the shelves 1s all filled and the fire's goin’ a the fireplace, And then, some CY dered But there waa the day's work atill ahead of him, a grim, merciless thing that rose up to cast its shadow over glitter of gold and the softer, warmer glow of a woman's love! Hack Hal slipped the nugget he had broken from the rock into his ocket, thought @wiftly of the likell- 00d of another man coming here be- fore he could come back and stake out his claim, and then hurried down the trail to the Colonel. He realized that hoe had lost time alrendy and that he must hasten if ha would come to the herd of steers before Dufresne Again, now with a thousand thoughts riding at his elbow, he rave his horse his head and made what speed be might along the rocky trail, ay. May 1 —— Killed Young Holloway.” threstening Boras, awinging there to TikUL OF loft Where he saw an ope sing, for the eoattor them until the four men ot ¢ Mie way rom through behind him grew bot with thei own the litte valleys Curse* and (hele borsew aides \pped And as he went wondered if with sweat Bperry had found the wher and if in the uitok of them he fit hte they were even vow Chundering along joxe being crushed into the Co behind bim panting sides Where the gulley waa harrowest, Just before he. cms CHAPTER XV. the fence, It seemed am if he could never figh hiaow teht packed bod Black Hal Wins a Trick. ee leat be ran Geni} T was not yet noon when Colonel in the gap with h feet vod his eare laid back, Black Ifa! came to the oreat of the hilla looking down upon Léve Oak Valley, Hore he knew the steers y oF eighty atoors had Club” Jordan was. yelling things { filack Hal could not make out, reaching him tn @ blur of soun he sought had been grazing, here through the din in the @uich about where It had been possible for @ very him. fow men to keep them from breaking But he Russsed thelr import ae with the tu oye he saw ENSY BEG)SOASTHTIRS SHRINERS CARs Fe bronlan OF ths ONON. OPUA tne yeas, rear of the herd, and ho smiled He had ridden slowly am he came grimly, deeply pleased at the anger up the steepening trail; he drew rein which he knew to be burning in the when he could catoh his fret «iimpae “TAN 200" snowing no ateer to of the rolling floor of the valley be- pana him, wat, the brain of t Dufresne, unitke Jor: no word and hia habitual «mile h not left his lips. He was riding for- ward, « little before Willoughby, and « 48 he rode drow slowly at a freshly lighted clear, Yes, the smile was atill on his Ips, on to th® Rut now he was near enough for A man to look Into his eyes—and they were not smiling. “So you've mixed into the game at last, have yout” ‘There was only a quiet, polite inter- 7 est in bis voice. He filcked « bit of he's swallered!" cigar ash from his vent with the little It was but three miles further t finger upon which his biggest diamond the boundary line running between shone, the Bear Track and the Double Tri- es,” just as quietly, just as ex- angle, and from here on a man MIZht pressionioaily, with eyes as l.amiling let bis horse run and not miss the and watchful as the other's. “I've broad trail the big band of cattle bad gure mixed in. left behind. “I've half way expected it.” through the valley, heft it Bening, Rim, and atlas leaving the , Dufresne sighed and broke off to of an- low him. And bia eyes were very grave aa they swept from end to end of the hollow shut in by the mountains and ‘em y’ ‘Triangle! “and he shook out his reine nto the valley, “if ‘9 got ‘em on the run al goin’ to bring ‘em bac! goin’ to cough up all fibeuind his nok ees ee draw in at hia cigar, ratl @ cam “I told Jordan to get rid of you. other rise, from which he could look yorqan'e @ fool and always will be down upon the pass where the old Orin north trail crossed into Willoughby’e territory. And "how he saw Rint be he tvh4 to save Oscar Estabrook from 8 last at criminal blunder be Bad not @® moment too soon. Oe Sa is tie morn wuily fifty yards across whero It de- houchad into the Double ‘Triangle, Willoughby had come up to them ond sat heavily in bis saddis, atlent, ton big face flushed a litte, bis eyes going from man to man. Aas for @ second Black Hal glanced a from Dufresne he saw that there was @ buckskin bag tied at Willoughby‘s saddie-horn, “The days are getting short,” Du- ith ep clay anks, the bills rising Bye are ee) be shorts o Sender, wha R caine clos- 00d deal to do before sundown. Yonder, where the bunks caine clos- & i A aera ‘ eet together, they had builded a bixh fence freshly cut timbers from the hillside, leaving in the middie a gap through wihch a single steer wight pase at a time, or two when they pressed their big bodies close together and crowded each other for room. Beyond the gap, on Willcughby’s range, there was 4 slight rive, @ flat- topped knoll, upon which two amen on horseback. we can look at your band. "Your little game's up, Dufresne,” returned Black Hal, turning just a Ittle in the saddle, bis eyes never leaving Dufresne's now, the memory upon him of the ending of things for young Andy Holloway. “And I cucss you know when you're beat, and ain't goin’ to try to make things worse'n you've made ‘em already. Them stecrs is goin’ back to the Hear ‘rom where ho looked st them rack.” Black Hal, wae quick to recognize the "Your long sult in surprising people, tg, burly frame of Willoughby upon Fal, ughed Dufresne. “Why are &@ sorrel mare, and he caught the glint of the sun upon @ diamond in the ether man's te. Down in the gully, on the Bear ‘Track side of the line, were (our men —Club Jordan, Yellow Jim Gates, Shifty Ward, and a man they called Dandy Miller, @ man whom Club durdan had hired with the other two. They rode upon the outskirts of tho Berd that waa p ng into the guich, thelr swishing ropes and short cries urging the cattle toward the wap. Already a soore of the frightened Lrutes had found the opening |n the high fence and were running cut to- ward the east, across the Double Tri- angie. And it was easy to see that Willoughby and Dufresne, sitting sido bv side, were counting thom as they "AL w sucrifice” Dufresne lifted the black ines of Lis brows. “Willoughby ts paying all they are worth to him at this time of yoar, with winter coming on. And it's a fair price. We don't have to waste time talking, Willoughby,” he sald, turning @ Uttie to the Doulie Tri- angle mi “But you can spare a few minutes, can't you Willoughby nodded heavily, but 414 not speak, the eyes under his shaggy brows still going back and forth he- tween the two men, waiting the out- oom "You would seem to give the tm- pression,” once more to Hiack Hal, “that thera was something irre«ular in this #ale "T didn’t f hts steady deal was off" vu've Kot {n wrong somewhere, ” = hopin’,” grunted Black Hal, “that 1 got a slow to work my new mine! Go to it, Colonel.” And the Colonsi asked nothing bet ter than to «o to It. aay so"—with no rising Volce, "I fest sald the He carried his master down the ‘0 short slope am though they had been Hal out upon the level lands, the odor ris- Dufresne was very pleasant about ing from the hot bodies of many it; if one had looked at his lps bi have seen that the «mile ther cattle in bis nostrils, asa range Wo broade Wut horse always ts to't ng them, had good humoredly, working his will and bis master's the cowboy saw only hia eyes, and upon them. saw that there was no change tn ‘The six men down below him bad them ears only for the bawling cattle, eyes only for the plunging bodies and tome- ing horns, and knew nothing of the coming of Black Hal until he was down among the bindmost steers, “and you are putting Jordan and the bovs out there to a lot of troub! Now look here, Do you happen t know that these cattle belong to old Then he had shot into the be: I come shouting at them, urcing , carelessly right and left, making bis path “And do you happen to know that through them, and Club Jordan had Pompey Estabrook has made his son seen hun first, and was yelling curses at him, calling to bis men to head off the steers that were breaking back from hia onrush and making for "Yon." the canyon behind or the wooded “All rieht You nea, slope: we are Ketting along Ike Jordan, yoll!" he muttered in learning to swim! Do Dis representative here, authorizing him to make what sales, forced or otherwine, that ho thinks advisable?" Willoughty, te ducks happen to his at. “You've given Jes about know also that Oxcar Estabrook has the las’ orders you'll cut loose on this empowered me to make this sale, to rane!” iver the cattle to Willoughby, and And he rode on, the Colonel carry. viect for them?" ing him with what speed he could es." through the jam of cattle, ploughing “Then what's the matter? Where through them here, where they fell do you get any authority to tell us to back to each side with lowered, stop? Why ehoulda’t Willoughby buy 4. 1915 enthebabhhhennhh dnt nh bphanbeanned ) WEXT WEEK'S COMPLETE WOWEL OTHE EVENING f tf be & reed) wer # ain't ready te breeds with the remourees ond Pree “1. de, bho the berd that aot pau + hee of four mmo lo keep In Ce awlly Cy And only then did they come | vpen Mack Hale a bia place ty you realiee ious infleetic k, sharp glance at Wi act le & trifle strange have entrusted yo of thie kind? You had much to A man who well, 1 were iytng! Then ie good you bi weil, Dufreane n't “Hut Just the ame, I have my or- ‘The male ta go. at can got tice that there Us and (he boys back (here are xetting tired of fooling—do you vutt ders from Matabrook Are yo you'll n ne to cattle want ua to mak not met herd of Mal, hy “Wille what E aatd tryin’ to buy them ca I've been Hatenin’, loughd: with Rinti way for Dufresne t me the stock, works, but I'm ready You Rat o to money for them cattle Jen’ as soon ae Double Triangie they're runnin’ aint “Duftreane,” wi thumt “T ain't lookin’ on ni overalls, neither, ng else to 4 do with was! lowahby: tor Bat u wit twe move r you've’ heard atill countia’ on ler rumbled Wil. “Tve talked I've heard fo ahead an’ weil 1 ain't out for no fire. pay good on Black Hal, hooked in the belt of his for trouble T thought maybe you might reckon as L hadn't understood Kata. brook right, so T fetohed this along.” Wi ) the fingers of bis left hand he drew a bit of paper from hia veat and held uid wee It, it out” Dufresne pushed his horse a little leaning from his saddle, nearer an it out #o that the I'm keepin’ It in my hands in handy tf there’ akin’ into court. wrote big, so I guess you can make any It’s read the brief order at « glance. And having read it he sat back and shrugged his shoulders, “Very pretty, Hal. nicely to your iKht as we ‘o and He took from noke it.” You've drawn hand, haven't you? Only that txn't worth anything, You roll it around some to- hie ooat pocket @ thick wallet, opened it and drew out neatly folded piece of paper. “Hore’s an order, signed Oscar by Fatabrook, autho: xing me to sell what cattie t thought wise to sii, te any purchaser and at any think” an upon bia lipe—“that we can whead? Black Tal amtled at tim, “It Jew’ happens, prince, price! 1 the amtte in eyes now an well oo that card tops youra Thie here ia dat this mornin'!* ov" N fremno'a amiling face, He took from his vest hade of annoyance crossed Du- pocket a fountain pen, removed the cap, shook out a drop of ink, laid the pape hia wallet, and wrote In a @mall girlish, neat band. upon date in a “When | made this out"—between Puffa of his cigar—'T left out. Now"—and he waved back and forth to dry the uyler Place } By HOWARD FITZALAN etalk ALLL A EAGER de dete me Jordan aod with « cortaia in bie yoke and @ him dan. he to bin “Eberee « Sheri headed (hie way real fag! Mem A her snapped fb rift gol Wo do with it ater the man ae killed Holloway one night wp om re\orted Hack something Jerking jet a half dosen seers boene of iim. What do you meant he Manded, his tone one of biuster, at ue time with @ bint of 1 anniety in it i ean that there's been @ ot crooked Vusiness un the Hear lately, ‘Theres bean crooked eattle kK, but you've got a chance to A1Virm OULD that, mein’ ae you took crders from Batabrook all the tae, “There's the holdup at the erogsia’ as Was did by somebody on the the kiddin’ of BIL C “You Raow when Dan Neabit gets a hot on the rai as be is now there's mighty apt to be hell poppin’. Here's en order from Katabrook to ture them sleers ba If you go on with ‘em you're steal un, With « aberi® as ineans business campin under rift’ —with deep etenifi- ‘4s counts on cleanin’ out thle heck of the woods while he’ “it you didn’t do ac things | mentioned, some ona of jong did. Lf you go on atickin’ with vem, if you put this cattle deal through with Willoughby, you're makin’ things look pretty bad for yourse’f. And the law's got jes’ about An quick @ wey handlin’ a mao ae puta in with 2 mura it bas Rend- lin’ the murderer bimae't. Jordan sat for a moment staring into Diack Hal's eyes, And aa be mared he bit bis lips and thougl thought fast. “Let's see that order,” Black Hal held it out LI shown It to Dufresne and Wil- Joughby, slipping back into his pocket when Jordan's frowmnag eyes had finished with it “Remember,” he sald quietly, “we ere all goin’ to have a chagoe to talk with Nesbit before sundown. Ain't you figgerin’ you got enough on your ehes’ to explain already without goin’ ahead with thie thing?” Jordan’a face hi gone merely stern. The little wave of surpriee aad enxiety had left his eyes, his jaw had squared, bis expression Was euarded and told nothing. Hiack Hal, eyeing him keenly, eould form no idea of What the man was going to do aa for a little he eat, bead down, frowning at the grouud, Then suddenly the big foreman lift- ef hin head. “Hey, there, Jim!” he shouted. nifty! You, Miller! Turn them cat- tle back! abrook has seat word © call the deal off. Bring them other steers back off'n the Triangle, Put every dam’ bead of ‘em on the run Bear Track flaw ing his spurs Into ble aici horse's flanks, he shot through the attering herd to where Dufreame ink-—"my hand tops yours, It's dated—thin aft- ernoon! Mack ‘fal, without turning in his without moving his eyes from rook's ore der so that Willoughby could aee It, It's uletly, for male, mornin’, Tf you go on with n order, Willoughby,” ‘sayin’ that them steers ain't Estabrook wrote ho said it th this deal it'll Jes’ be buyin’ atolen cattle, Do you fewer as you want to do that?" Willoughby lifted his heavy ahoul- ders and hesitation and without hast “I'L be glad to have them my price. I seen your order awered, equally without steers at i! seen Dufresne’s. [ don't know nothin’ about tt, If tho cattis ta delivered on my land, an’ delivered damn quick, I'm ready to pay for ‘em. “They'll be delivered as you can count them Dufresne crisply. u 6 polite to each other. Now, Hal, we've { up all the time we o an apare, There's a bunch of money in this thing for Wil- Joughby, and there's something tn tt for Jordan and his men out there— and for me You've shot your wad and it haso't doue any damage. Have zation of t nough to pull out mow although odanger of ‘as gulng to say other; Dan Nesbit's «ied thin Way on a dead run. He's akin’ for yebody and he's got od in his Ho's after the man s held up the stage at the crossin’ and he's after the man as did for Andy Ho “HL rway Dufresne frowned as though he did not Jerstand, and ther ulver of an eyelid, no tr show that "What's th “Nothin ly he's Black Hal quietly rt eo one of & bunch of catt mon’ likely did for him. did understand, matter with him? answered “He's been dead » time, and he didn’t die natural le thieves If you fellers want to make things look worse for you than they off stock when Matabrook bring ‘em ack, go to It.” Ho gathered and threw the Colonel ab and back upon Me Holl Ev » gap's open!" are already, runnin’ saya to up his reine quickly nt on his par Track i then as he went back through the jam of cattle he did not let his eyes wander from Dufresne, Not until he had ridden a hundred verde and had come to where Club Already had these other mem seea that something had gone wrong, end ‘hey knew Jordan well encugh te cbey his snapping command. An each steer ran by them, beige 7 ing back through the cut to their stamping grounds on the home raage, Yellow Jim and Shifty Ward end Dandy Miller saw the money running out of thelr pockets, and there was lust of murder In the black facee they turned upon the man who had come at the eleventh hour to block the final Tove, Kut they did not hesitate, for they knew that the money was running faster out of thelr foreman’s pockets than out of their own, and that there must be @ strong reason for the order he had shot at them. They drew together tm the gully, Jetting the running cattle seek thelr own devices, and spoke in short, angry tones which came in a confused rum- ble to where Black Hal sat making his cigarette and watching them from under the lowered rim of his hat. And then, riding three abreast, they raced on through the cut and toward the Kap in the fence where Club Jor- dan had already jerked in bis horse beside Dufresne and Willoughby, Jordan had cried out something to Dufresne, and the two men drew a little aside, leaving Willoughby to stare at them with curious, watchful ys Hiack Hat thought that he could it was Jordan was saying 6 oth ‘n came up, and nh ¢ harply to Yellow lod nd for the oth it Ang loway, spe on what Black’ Hal knew, knew, and if others knew what he did “I thought it would stop ‘em,” mused Rlack Hal, as he saw that no of them moved to head off the varie that were already scattering wise: along the Bear Track forth! tls, (To Be Continued.) FOR THE SUMMER? Remember The Eve- ning World prints each week a complete up-to-date novel —a week's reading! Have The Eve. ning World sent to your sum- mer address. GOING AWAY