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‘ , GRIT. -srorw SECTIO 3,45? f: .‘
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God I hadn’t.nothin’ to do with them
fe1lersl’l- ’ ' .
“I ought to kill you anyhowl’.’.replied
Longstrethu And his voice now astound-
. ed Duane, it was so full ‘of power. '
I Upon; examination Duane found that
his bullet had furrowcd tho robber’s
temple, torn‘ a great piece out of his
scalp, and. as.Duane had guessed, had
glanced. He was not seriously. injured,
and already showed signs of returning
consciousness. . ’ .. , ,
’ “Drag' him out’ of here!” ordered
‘ Longstretli; and'.lie‘turncd to his daugh-
ter. ' ‘ ‘ .
Before the innkeeperreached the rob-
ber Duane)had secured the money and
gun taken from him; and presently re-
covered the property of the other men.
Joel helped the innkeeperp carry the in-
u ‘ jured man somewhere outside.’ ‘
Miss Longstreth was ‘sitting white but
composed upon the couch,- where lay Miss
1, ‘Ruth, who evidently had beenycarried
there by the Colonel.’, Duane did not
think sho;had wholly lost consciousness,
and now she lay..very ‘still, with eyes
dark and shadowy, her face pallidvand
wet. The Colonel, now that he finally
remembered his women-folk, seemed to
be gentloand kind.
nerve out hero.wherc things happened.
- “Can Ibo of any service?” asked
Duane, solicitously. V
“Thanks; I guess there's nothing you
can do. Talk to these frightened girls
while .I go see what's to be done with
that thick-skullcd robber,” he replied, .
and, telling thovgirls that there was
no more danger, he went out.‘ ' . -
Miss Longstrethsat with one hand.
holding her torn waist in place; the-
other she extended to Duane. He took
itmawkwardly, and he felt a strangoj
‘ thrill., , Q
“You saiged iny life,” she said, in
grave swee seriousness.
ph “No’,tnol1’<’ Dunn; egclaim:d.t“He might
ave s me you or you n no more.
“I saw murder’ in his eyds. He'thought.
I'had jewels under my dress. I couldn’t
hear his touch. -The beast!-' I’d have
fought. Surely my life was in peril.”
1‘1‘Dild you tlzill him?” asked Misszftuth,
w o ay is ning.
.“Oh no. He's not badly hurt.”
“I'm very glad h;a's alive,” said Miss
Loiigstreth rshudder rig. j
.“My inteiition was bad enough,” Duane
went on. “It was a ticklish place for me.
; ' You see, he was half drunk,‘ and I was
afraid his gun might go oE. Fool care-
less he was!” ’ - a < ’
‘ “Yet you say you didn’t save me,” Mis
Longstreth returned, quickly. ‘
"‘Wcll, let it go at that,” Dunne re-
sponded. g“I save you something.”
“Tell me all about it!” asked Miss
.Ruth, who was fast-recovering.
Rather embarrassed, Duane briefly
‘ told the incident from his point of view.
., “Then you stood there all the-time
with your hands up thinking of nothing
--watching for nothing except 9. little
moment when you might draw. your.
gun!” asked Miss Ruth. ' .
' “I guess that’s about it,” he replied.
“Cousin,” said Miss Longstreth,thought-
fully, “it was fortunate for us that this
gentleman happened to be here. Papa
scouts-laughs at danger. He seemed to
think there was no danger. Yet he raved
after it came.” , - -
‘ He talked sootha
‘ ingly to‘Miss R1itl1,"nade light of thcE
‘ , adventuro,xs'aid she must learn to have
4
‘his honesty. -
events of the evening.
“Go with us all the way to Fairda1c-
please?” asked Miss-Ruth, sweetly of-
feringher ‘hand. ‘tI am Ruth Herbert.
And this is my cousin, Ray Longstreth.”
' “I’m traveling V that, way,” . replied
Duane, in great confusion.’ ..He did not
know how to meet the situation.
"Colonel ‘Longstrcth returncdthen, and
after bidding Duane a-good night, which
seemed rather curt by contrast to-the
graciousness of the girls, he led them
away. - .- - w
, Before going to bed Duane went out-
side to take a.‘look at the injured rob-
ber and perhaps toask him ii. few ques-
tions. To Duane’s surprise, he was gone,
and so was his horse. The innkeeper was
dumfounded.. He said that he left the
fellow on the floor in the bar-room.
“Had he come to?” inquired Duane. ‘
“Sure. He asked for whisky.” "
“Did he say anything else?” - . >
, “Not to me. I heard him talkiu’ to
the father of them girls.’i ’ =
.“You mean Colonel Longstrethi” '
“I reckon. He sure was some riled,
wasn’t he? Jest as if I was to blame
fer that two-bit of.a holdupl”’
“Whatdid you make of the old gent’s
ragoi” asked Dunno, watching the inn-
kcepcr., He scratched his head dubiously.
He was sincere, and Duaiio,believcd in
“Wal, I’ni doggoued if I know what to
make of it. -, But I reckon he’s either
crazy” or got more nerve than most
Texans.” . - -. .
“More nerve, maybe,” Duane replied.
“Showme a bod now. innkeeper.”
Once in bed in the; dark, Dunno coni-
posed himself to think over the several
He called up
the details of the holdup and carefully
revolvedpthein in mind. The Colonel’s
wrath, under circumstances where al-
most any Texan would have been cool,
nonplusscd Duane, and he put it down
to a choloric temperament. He pondered
[long on the action of the. robber when
Longstreth’s bellow of rage burst in up-
on him. This riillian, as bold and-mean
a type as Duane had,ever encountered,
had, from some cause or other, been
startled. From whatever point. Duane
viewed tho-inan’s strange indecision he
could come to only ‘one conclusion-his
start, his check, his fear had been that
of recognition. Duane compared this
effect with the suddenly acquired sense
he had gotten of Colonel Longstreth’s
personality. Why had that‘ desperate
robber lowered his gun and stood para-
lyzed at sight and sound of the Mayor
of Fairdalet This was not answerable.
There might, have been a number of
reasons,all to Colonel Longstreth’s credit,
but Duane could not understand. Long-
streth had not appeared to see danger
for his daughter,.even though she had
been roughly handled, and had advanced
in front of a cocked gun. Duane probed
deep into this singular fact, and he
brought to bear on‘tho thing all his
knowledge and experience of violent
Texas life. And he found that the in-
stant Colonel Longstreth had appeared
on the scenetherevwas no further dan-
ger threatening his ‘daughter. Why?
That likewise-.Duane could not answer.
Then his rage, Duane concluded, had
been solely at the idea of his daughter
being assaulted by ‘a robber. . This de-
duction was indeed a. thought-disturber,
but Duane put itaside to crystallize and
for more careful ‘consideration.
‘patch in the mass of gray, For the
.Neiit‘inorning Duane found that the’ 2' .
little town was called-Sanderson.’ ’It- was‘
larger than he had at first supposed. He
walked up the main. street and‘.back
again. Just as he‘ arrived some horse-
nicn rode up to the inn and dismounted.
And -at this -juncture the Longstrelth
party, came out. ‘ Duane heard Colonel’
Longstreth utterlan uexclamationu Then
he saw him shake hands with a tallman‘. ,
Longstreth looked surprised and angry,. ‘
and ‘he spoke with‘ force';. but -Duane
could not hcarwhat it was he said. The.
fellow laughed,‘ yet somehow he struck
Duane as sullen, until suddenly he
espied Miss Longstretli, .Then his.face
changed, and he removed his sombrero.
Duane went closer.. , 4' . - ’
“Floyd, did you comowith the teams?”
asked Longstreth, sharply. , ,
’“Not me. I rode a horse, good and '9 ‘
hard,” was the reply; ‘ ,, t
“Hllmlllll 'I’ll have a" word to say to
you later.” Then Longstreth‘tu'rncd-to
h1s.d:1ughtcr.’- “Ray, here’s the cousin
I’ve told you about. You used to play
with him ten Years 3804Floyd Lawson.
Floyd. lnypdaughter--and my niece, Ruth '
Herbert.” L . 7- .-
Dlltliq always scrutinized ‘every .one
he met, and now witha dangerous game
i0 D151)’. Wltha consciousness’ of Long-
Stfetha unusual and significant person-
-’-llli-)’. he beat ‘a keen and searching
E1-‘Inca upon this'Floyd Lawson;
He was under thirty, yet gray at his
ltcgnplt-‘3“".ll11Fk. Smooth-sliavcn, with lines.
do 1'. byguldncss, dissipation,shadows un-
9’ 1 31‘ eyes. a mouth strong and bitter, ‘
and a square chin--3, mckless careless
I o ’ J
handsome, sinister face strangely, losing
the hardness when he smiled. Tho grace of
it gcntleniaii clung round him seemed‘ ’
like an echo in his mellow voicd Duane
doubted not.that he, like many ii young
man’: had drifted 9m; to the .f,.0mie,.’.
where rough and wild life had wrought
sternly but had not quite etfaccd the
mark of good family. ' ‘-
Colonel Longst th . - ‘
ggsmgtflgi ‘nfllhe ‘-“1VQnt of ‘this cousin.‘
3 ' fngeil on this meeting. .
D“?-"0 grew intensely curious but as
. I ,
:32‘; tor au-
gratify it. ‘ " 0 urther oppgstunlty ‘to p
CHAPTER xvi (
IJt;'iNE followed the stage through:
a town, out into the open, on
: to a wide, hard-packed’ road show-,
"13 years of travel. It headed north-['
west. To the left rose “a range of law,
bleak mountains he had noted yesterday
and .to the right sloped tho mesquite:
patched’ sweep of ridge and flat. . The
driver. pushed his team ‘to a fastvtrot
. . ,
fvhmh gm‘ 5“’01Y.C0Vered ground rap-
idly.. p I y -
f TM 59388 made three stops in the
01’‘“10011. 0119 ,i1t a place where’ the
horses couldpbc watered, the second at
a chuck-wagon belonging to cowboys who
were riding after stock, and the third
at a. small cluster of adobe and stone
houses-constituting a hamlet tha driver
Eal]led]Longstrcth, named‘ after the
0 one . From that point on to Falrdale '
there were only a fcwranches ‘each one
controlling great acreage,’ " - . V
Early in the aftcrnoonfrom a ridge.
top Duane sighted Fairdale, xi, green