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diff --git a/old/67823-0.txt b/old/67823-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b2cd710..0000000 --- a/old/67823-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8662 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Lone Trail, by Luke Allan - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Lone Trail - -Author: Luke Allan - -Release Date: April 12, 2022 [eBook #67823] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Al Haines - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LONE TRAIL *** - - - - - - - - THE - LONE TRAIL - - - BY - LUKE ALLAN - - - - HERBERT JENKINS LIMITED - 3 YORK STREET LONDON SW.1 - - - - - A - HERBERT - JENKINS' - BOOK - - - Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London - - - - - CONTENTS - - I. THE MURDER AT THE T-INVERTED R - II. MORTON STAMFORD: TENDERFOOT - III. CORPORAL FAIRCLOTH ARRIVES - IV. THE SHOTS FROM THE BUSHES - V. DAKOTA RUNS AMOK - VI. STAMFORD MAKES A DECISION - VII. AT THE H-LAZY Z - VIII. A LAMB AMONG THE LIONS - IX. COCKNEY'S MYSTERIOUS RIDE - X. STAMFORD'S SURPRISES COMMENCE - XI. THE FOSSIL-HUNTERS - XII. STAMFORD GOES FOSSIL-HUNTING - XIII. THE CONSPIRACY - XIV. RIDERS OF THE NIGHT - XV. ONE MYSTERY LESS - XVI. AN ADVENTURE IN THE MOONLIGHT - XVII. THE HOWL OF STRANGE DOGS - XVIII. A CATCH OF MORE THAN FISH - XIX. TWO PAIRS - XX. THE SECRET VALLEY - XXI. THE RAFT IN THE CANYON - XXII. PINK EYE AND THE ENGLISH SADDLE - XXIII. PREPARATIONS TO FLIT - XXIV. THE FIGHT IN THE RANCH-HOUSE - XXV. COCKNEY'S STORY - XXVI. THE CHASE AMONG THE CLIFFS - XXVII. THE BATTLE OF THE CLIFFS - - - - -THE LONE TRAIL - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE MURDER AT THE T-INVERTED R - -Inspector Barker, of the Royal North-West Mounted Police, raised his -frowning eyes from the weekly report he was scrawling, to watch -absent-mindedly the arrival of the Calgary express as it roared out -from the arches of the South Saskatchewan bridge and pulled up at the -station. - -It was a morning ritual of the Inspector's. Three hundred and -sixty-five days of the year, relatively at the same hour--if Rocky -Mountain slides, foothill floods, and prairie snowstorms -permitted--the same train broke in on the mid-forenoon dullness of -the "cow-town" of Medicine Hat; and the same pair of official eyes -followed it dully but with the determination of established -convention, clinging to it off and on during its twenty minutes' stop -for a fresh engine and supplies to carry it on its four days' run -eastward. - -But on Mondays the transcontinental was favoured with a more -concentrated attention. On that morning Inspector Barker prepared -his weekly report. A pile of letters and staff reports scattered his -desk; a smaller pile, the morning's mail, was within reach of his -left hand. His right clumsily clutched a fountain pen. Thirty years -of strenuous Mounted Police duties, from Constable to Inspector, -during a period when Indians, rustlers, cattle-thieves, and the scum -of Europe and Eastern Canada, were held to a semblance of order only -by the stern hand of the "red-coats," had robbed his chirography of -any legibility it ever possessed. - -His iron-grey hair was rumpled by frequent delvings of his left hand, -and the left needle of his waxed moustache was sadly out of line. -His tunic was open--he never removed it when on duty--more in -capitulation to mental than to physical discomfort, though Medicine -Hat can startle more records in July than in the depth of winter, -cold-blooded official reports to the contrary notwithstanding. His -pipe lay cold beside the half-spilled tobacco pouch that always -adorned the corner of his blotting pad. - -Over on the station platform before his window the crowd thinned. A -man ran along the top of the cars with a hose, thrusting it into a -tiny trap-door, flicking up a slide in the nozzle, holding it a -moment till the tanks below filled, flicking the slide down again, -and then on to the next-trap door. A butcher's boy with a heavy -basket on his arm scrambled down Main Street, crossed the track, and -galloped with shuffling feet along the platform to the diner. The -conductor drew his watch, examined it critically, raised his hand, -and the fresh engine started noisily for its relief at the next -divisional point, Swift Current. - -Any morning that the Inspector was on duty the arrival of the Calgary -express produced a similar scene in and out of the Police -barracks--except a few of the trimmings indicative of mental -irritation; any _Monday_ morning you would find trimmings and all. - -Yet throughout the tangle of that summer's special Police task -Inspector Barker's mind reverted in his moments of leisure to the -passing of an innocent daily train. - - -He was lowering his eyes reluctantly to the completion of his weekly -irritation, when the desk telephone rang sharply, peremptorily. He -jerked it to him. - -"Yes, yes!" - -"I'm sorry, sir, to have to report----" - -"Drop the palaver, Faircloth!" snapped the Inspector. "I take that -for granted." - -"A murder was----" - -"Hold on, hold on! Hold the line a minute!" - -The Inspector dropped the receiver, scrawled an illegible but -well-known "Barker, Inspector," at the bottom of the sheet before -him, jammed it into an envelope and sealed it. At least he would -have a week of freedom for the task implied by Corporal Faircloth's -interrupted disclosure. - -"Now!" he shouted into the telephone, one hand instinctively -buttoning his tunic to more official formality. - -Faircloth restarted: - -"Last night, shortly after midnight, at the T-Inverted R----" - -"Bite it off, for Heaven's sake!" broke in the Inspector. "Who, and -how, and by whom?" - -"Billy Windover--shot--cattle-thieves!" the Corporal chipped off. - -For just the fraction of a second Inspector Barker waited. Then: - -"Well? Nothing more?" - -The Division knew that tone. - -"Two hours before we were informed," apologised the Corporal. -"Trouble on the telephone line. Followed the trail--they got the -cattle as well--till lost it in fresh tracks of the round-ups." - -The Inspector laughed shortly. - -"Did you expect a paper-chase trail?" - -The Corporal made no reply. Usually it took him a sentence or two to -remember the Inspector's impatience, but for the particular interview -concerned he observed the training well when he did recall it. - -"Why didn't you telephone right away? Why did you give the trail up? -Oh, damn it, wait!" - -For a moment or two the only sound in the barracks office was the -buzzing of the flits on the dirty window glass. Thereafter he was -himself. - -"Any strangers seen out there in the last couple of days? Any -cowboys off their beats?" - -"No time yet to enquire, sir." - -"Get Aspee and Hughes out immediately. Did the tracks lead toward -the Cypress Hills?" - -"No, sir." - -"Hm-m-m!" - -"A bit north-east--far as we could follow." - -The Inspector paused. "What's your plan?" - -"Going to scurry round--to look for the cattle." - -It came with just a suggestion of defiance, as if the speaker were a -little ashamed of the sound of it but was prepared to defend it. The -Inspector laughed. - -"God bless you!" he mocked. "How did you think of it?" - -"The very cattle themselves," Faircloth persisted. "It happens----" - -The Inspector's laugh became less pleasant. "And you think----" - -"Pardon, sir; but it isn't quite as silly as it sounds. I know this -particular herd almost as well as their own punchers--and I think I -know something of brands." - -"Lad, your optimism is contagious--but this dairy-maid tracking is -such a new stunt in the Force. When you come across Co-Bossie and -Spot give them my compliments and ask them to drop in some -afternoon----" - -He sickened of his own banter. - -"Get Aspee and Hughes out immediately," he rasped. "Remain yourself -within reach of the phone for fifteen minutes. I'll have a campaign -then.... Do you happen to recall that this is the third case of -cattle-stealing in your district in a month? ... By the way, know -anything about dogs--tracking dogs? I expect a couple of rippers -from down East in a day or two. I'll get them out to you. See what -you've let the Force sink to! Now hustle!" - -He slammed the receiver into its place and sank back in his chair, -chin resting on breast. A constable, receiving no reply to his -knock, opened the back door softly--and closed it again more softly. -He knew that attitude of his chief. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -MORTON STAMFORD: TENDERFOOT - -Corporal Faircloth hung up the telephone receiver and strolled to the -door, still bridling at the Inspector's ridicule. For several -minutes he stood looking thoughtfully out on the familiar prairie -scene, where not another spot of human life or habitation was visible -as far as the dark line of hills to the south-east. But an -incongruous telephone line, stretching a zigzag course of rough poles -away into the south-eastern distance, told of isolated ranch-houses -cuddled in far-away valleys. - -A dark spot moved into view over a southern rise and crept along the -top. Faircloth instinctively seized a pair of field-glasses from a -case hanging beside the door and focused them on the distant rider, -then, content, dropped them dreamily back. Away off there lay Dead -Dogie Coulee, just now, he knew, full of cattle. - -The telephone behind him rang, and he hastened to it, trying to -compose himself for the Inspector's orders. But it was not Inspector -Barker. - -"Hello, Faircloth!" called a laughing voice. "How's the Cypress -Hills hermitage?" - -"Oh, Stamford!" Faircloth was thinking rapidly. "What's the little -editor got on his mind now? Make it brief: I'm expecting the -Inspector to call up." - -"Why has who been murdered by whom?" - -Faircloth laughed. "The brevity of it deserves more than I can tell -you. Who told you--anything?" - -"The Inspector." - -"Then why not get it all from him?" - -Stamford chuckled into the telephone at the other end. - -"I got the impression that my arrival at the barracks was -inopportune. The extent of the particulars I got was a particular -request to betake myself elsewhere. I betook. I came to a friend." - -"And the friend must fail you. You're too hopeful for the West, -Stamford. I'd tell you all I dare--you know that. No, not a bit of -use pleading." - -"Then," said Stamford, "permit me to tell you to your face that when -next I see you I'll----" - -Faircloth cut him short with a laugh. "No threats to the Police, -little man. I'll tell you what I'll do. On Thursday I'm coming to -town for the Dunmore Junction cattle shipping. By the way, as a -tenderfoot you should see it. Drive along out and hear the latest. -Bye-bye! I'm busy." - -* * * * * - -Dunmore Junction, bald, bleak and barren, four miles from Medicine -Hat, consisted of nothing more than a railway station, a freight -shed, and a commodious freight yard, marking the connecting point of -the Crow's Nest branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway with the main -line. It could not well be more and remain the principal shipping -station for the vast herds that roamed the prairies for eighty miles -from Medicine Hat. The open spaces about the Junction were necessary -for the herding of the steers awaiting their call to the shipping -stockades. Even the station staff lived in Medicine Hat, the shifts -changing with the arrival and passage of the trains to town. - -Thither Morton Stamford, editor of the _Journal_, directed the only -trustworthy horse in town and a good-enough buggy. As a new -experience he could not afford to miss the cattle shipping, though -the following day was publication day. - -Morton Stamford was a tenderfoot. What was more deplorable from his -point of view, he looked it. He was small, fair-haired, mild and -inoffensive of manner, and from stiff hat to cloth-topped boots was -stamped as a fresh arrival from "the cent-belt," as Western Canada -termed the petty East where the five-cent piece was not the minimum -of exchange. - -Two months ago he had dropped from the train at the town of the funny -name, attracted as much by the name as by the advertisement in _The -Toronto Globe_. When he had succeeded in steeling himself to the -general atmosphere of disdain and suspicion, as well as to the rival -occupancy of his room at the hotel, he discovered sufficient -enthusiasm left to inspect the newspaper he had come to look over. -And, having decided that the introduction of modified Eastern methods -would be profitable, he had come to terms with the disgusted English -proprietor whose stubborn adherence to the best traditions of _The -Times_ and _The Telegraph_ "back home" had, at the end of his -resources, convinced him that Huddersfield or Heaven was his home, -not the riotous, undignified, unappreciative Canadian West. - -Already Stamford had seen more of the real life of the West than many -an old-timer citizen of Medicine Hat. Such portions of a spring -round-up as were within range of a buckboard, a bucking contest, and -limited visits to four ranches had almost made him an authority on -Stetsons, chaps, and cowboy slang. He simply doted on cowboys, -without discrimination. He loved the Mounted Police, too, who had -quickly discovered in him a soul above steers and bronchos; and at -his fingertips was a motley assortment of stories of doubtful and -certain unauthenticity that painted the future in rosy colours of -excited hope just round the corner. - -He was small of stature, but imagination and a capacity for thrills -are not corporally circumscribed. - -When he arrived, Dunmore Junction was no longer lonely. Within two -miles of the station platform was more life than Medicine Hat had -seen since the buffalo drifted drearily to other hunting-grounds -before the civilisation of the rancher and the barbarism of gory -hunters. Out there in the rolling folds of the prairie two thousand -head were looking for the last time on their limitless pastures, kept -under control by a cloud of cowboys, in herds as distinct as possible -according to ownership. Scarcely a steer was visible, but at -intervals a wildly riding cowboy dashed from a coulee in pursuit of -protest against the extended restraint. - -Back of the station, where his livery horse was tied with the care -and insecurity of a tenderfoot, a dozen bronchos dozed, a few tied to -the rail, most merely with reins thrown to the ground. About -Stamford the platform was alive with lounging cowboys in every style -of cowboy dress; and among them the station-master and his staff, a -couple of brakesmen from the shunting-engine crew, and three or four -ranchers--scarcely distinguishable from their own punchers -to-day--were more alertly eyeing the preparations for the coming task. - -For two days it would continue. During that time several score of -cowboys would sleep and eat on the prairie, fed from their own -mess-wagons, with here and there a bed-wagon, though in the semi-arid -belt about Medicine Hat there was little danger of rain from June to -September. - -It was a Red Deer River shipment. The thin line of ranchers along -the Red Deer, sixty miles to the north of Medicine Hat, had combined, -but most of the herd belonged to "Cockney" Aikens, of the H-Lazy Z -ranch. - -Stamford recognised Aikens immediately. Only a blind man would fail -at least to see him. - -Cockney Aikens, his nickname derived from an aggressive English -origin he did his best to flaunt, stood well over six feet without -his riding boots, his big frame wrapped in a wealth of muscle no -amount of careless indolence could conceal. Handsome, graceful in -spite of his lazy movements, he seemed to have gone to brawn. Laughs -came easily to his lips, and the noise of them made other sounds -pause to listen. "Cockney" was to him a compliment; if anyone -implied otherwise he was careful--and wise--to conceal it. - -"Hello, you little tenderfoot!" he called, as Stamford wound humbly -and unseen through the indifferent wall of Stetson hats, flannel -shirts, and leather or hairy chaps that blocked the end of the -platform. "Where's that girl I advertised for?" - -Stamford grinned. - -"You're an optimist, Cockney. Just as I get some innocent female -rounded up to clean your boots, grill a coyote steak, and wield a -branding iron between times, she finds out the semi-lunar location of -that unearthly ranch of yours. I warned you that the _Journal_ might -find the missing link, a mother-in-law, or the street address of a -Cypress Hills wolf, but a 'general' for the Red Deer--impossible!" - -"About all I see for it," growled Cockney, "is to kidnap one--unless -you open your eyes to the only possible use for a man of your -dimensions and come out to wash my dishes yourself. I'll pay you as -much as you can hope to make from that mangy sheet of yours--a more -honourable living than robbing a struggling rancher of two shillings -for a hopeless ad." - -Stamford solemnly produced a large leather purse and extracted a coin -from the cash department. - -"Here, you overgrown sponge! I figure that ad cost me a quarter in -setting, make-up, run, and paper--a shilling, if you can understand -no other values. Here's the other quarter. But bear in mind -this--if you take it I'll show you up. I'll camp on your trail, rout -out your past crimes, and publish them to the last drop of blood. I -feel sure you've committed burglary, murder, or arson somewhere in -your dark career; and, besides, you're an arrant bully." - -Though Stamford knew as much--or as little--of Cockney Aikens' past -as the rest of Medicine Hat, and the big rancher's merry and -spendthrift ways belied suspicion of irritation at the loss of "two -shillings," the blatant exaggeration of the editor failed somehow to -carry off the banter lightly. Cockney's face went grim, and a -strange silence fell along the platform. - -Then Cockney himself smothered it by a physical retort. Reaching -over, he seized Stamford's shoulders and lifted him by the coat at -arm's length until their faces were on a level. - -"If I had this much added to my stature," blustered the editor, in -affected fury, vainly striking out his short arms at the face -opposite, "I'd punch you on the nose." - -"If you were this size," grinned Aikens, "I mightn't take liberties. -Just the same," he added, with a ring of boyish disappointment in his -voice, "it would be one h--l of a fight. You've got the white -matter, I guess, but I'm just spoiling for a rough-and-tumble. I -haven't had what you might call exercise since--" he flushed through -his tan, "--oh, for a long time." - -It so happened that everyone, including Cockney, was thinking of the -"exercise" he had once, largely at the expense of the police, town -and Mounted; and the memory of it to the one most concerned was not -sweet. - -A long line of cattle cars rolled quietly down the track before the -corrals, a brakesman on the top keeping up a steady signalling to the -engine. When the first two cars were opposite the gangways from the -two loading stockades, his hand shot out and the train came to a -violent halt. Almost instantly the gates at the bottom of the -gangways opened and two lines of steers from the crowded, -white-fenced pens rushed up the slope to the open doors of the cars. - -The lounging cowboys sprang to life. Throwing themselves in excited -abandon on their bronchos behind the station, they tore across the -tracks and disappeared in the folds of the prairie, shouting, -cracking their quirts, laughing taunts at each other, to reappear a -few minutes later, little less noisy, behind a small herd of -galloping cattle headed for the emptying outer stockades. - -It was a scene of blazing life and colour, clamorous, swift, -kaleidoscopic. Stamford's eyes blazed. The East seemed such a dull -spot in his past. He thought with a cynical smile of how unfitted he -was, by nature and acquirement, for a life so deliciously thrilling. - -Cockney struck his hands together explosively. - -"There's good old beef for good old England, my boy!" - -"If you don't mind, Cockney," Stamford grimaced, "would you give me -warning when you have those thunder-claps in mind? You jar me out of -focus, mentally and optically.... I wish we had some of that 'good -old beef' down at my hotel. I often wonder where the West gets the -beef it eats." - -"Get a herd of your own, man. I didn't know as much about ranching -when I started as you do. There's a million miles of grazing land -out about the Red Deer yet." - -Stamford made a wry smile. He drew out the large purse and counted -three dollar bills and sixty cents in silver. - -"Would that start me?" he asked. "Guess I'd have to steal the herd." - -"Lots have done that before you," said Cockney, staring over the -prairie. - -A loose-limbed cowboy, whose chaps seemed to be about to slip over -his hips, had drifted over from the stockades as they talked. - -"Yes," he exclaimed, slapping Cockney on the back, "good old beef for -England, and good old gold for you!" - -The jeer in the tone might have passed, Stamford felt sure, but the -slap on the back was another matter. He understood Englishmen rather -well, Aikens in particular, and he knew that even the King would -require a winning smile to gild such familiarity. - -Aikens stiffened. - -"Once or twice, Dakota," he warned quietly. "I've _looked_ what I -thought of this particular form of playfulness; now I've _told_ you. -The natural progression is the laying on of hands--and that'll come -next." He turned his back. - -Dakota Fraley, foreman of the H-Lazy Z and part owner, tried to laugh -it away, but he did not move. - -Stamford was apparently absorbed in the procession of steers up the -gangways. - -"Aren't they a bit thin, Cockney? A month or two more on the ranges -would have rounded them out a bit, eh?" - -"There are thousands more out there getting the extra month or two," -returned Cockney, with an expansive gesture. - -Dakota laughed. - -"Somebody musta told him," he said to Stamford. "He don't see the -herds twice a year." - -"Why should I?" demanded Aikens lightly. "You know all about them. -Why do you think I gave you a share in the H-Lazy Z?" - -Stamford was unnecessarily embarrassed at the scene. He knew about -both men what was generally known. Cockney Aikens was a -good-natured, irresponsible fellow, completely ignorant of ranching -and as little concerned to learn, quick of temper as of smile, with -an unfortunate passion for gambling and a reckless thirst that was -sullying his reputation. Dakota Fraley was a cowboy, by instincts -and training, with the untypical addition of a reputation as a "bad -actor." Though there was nothing more definitely disreputable known -about him than unconcealed disregard for law and order, a few -instances of cynical brutality made even ranchers sometimes forget -what a profitable enterprise he had made of the H-Lazy Z. - -The association of the two men was inexplicable, except for the fact -that Aikens, arriving four years earlier from none knew where, with -no qualifications for a rancher but the money to start a herd, was -just the sort of tenderfoot to swallow Dakota holus-bolus as part of -the operation--and then to sit back with the conviction that he had -done his share. - -A few, including the Mounted Police, knew something of Dakota's past, -but in a country where a man's present is all that matters, the story -that might have been told died from lack of interest. In a general -way it was common knowledge that Dakota had drifted over from the -States, a born cow-puncher, broncho-buster, and prairie-man; and at -his heels had come a motley assortment of kindred spirits whom Dakota -had rounded up as his outfit at the H-Lazy Z. No one could say that -the results in cold cash had not justified him. - -Dakota stood flipping his quirt against his chaps, a slight frown on -his forehead but a forced smirk on his lips. - -"It _is_ early," he explained to Stamford, "but the prices is good -now--good enough to pay to ship. They'll come down, shore thing--and -it saves in outfit, thinning out the herds." - -"If that gang of toughs we keep about the H-Lazy Z aren't enough to -handle twice our herds," observed Cockney, "then I know nothing about -ranching." - -"You've shore said it right that time, boss," jeered Dakota. "You -don't." - -"We've the biggest outfit on the Red Deer." - -Dakota faced him squarely with angry eyes. - -"Say, who's running that end of the H-Lazy Z?" - -Cockney's head turned slowly, and Dakota decided to modify tone and -language. - -"Ain't I getting result? That's all that counts, ain't it?" - -All Stamford's experience warned him that they would be at each -other's throats in a moment, but his Western life had been too -limited to allow for the greater licence where emotions crowd so -close to the surface. - -He was relieved when both men turned toward the dusty black trail -down the grade to Medicine Hat, from which came the soft pad of a -cantering horse. - -A stodgy little broncho was loping easily along, a woman seated -astride its broad back. At such a distance Stamford's only -impression was of a perfect equestrienne, mingled with some surprise -that a woman should appear in such a scene. Then he became aware of -her perfect physique, an overflowing vitality, and an intense -pleasure in the very act of riding. It attracted him strangely, for -modesty of stature had all his life imposed an undue modesty of -manner in his relationship with the other sex. The uncouth shouts of -the cowboys, the rumbling trample of the cattle up the gangways and -in the sand-strewn cars, the threatened explosion of the past minute, -sank into the background of his mind as he watched. - -The longer the silence in his little group, the more the approaching -woman looked to him like a studio arrangement that must utterly fail, -in the incongruity of its essential parts, to melt into a natural -picture. It was impossible to fit her into that background of -untilled hills, dead grass, barren waste, though there could never be -awkwardness where she was concerned. - -Cockney Aikens raised his head with a jerk and stared, frowning in a -puzzled way. - -Dakota merely glanced at the supple rider and transferred his eyes to -Cockney's lace. - -"Here's your Yankee, Mr. Aikens," he grinned, and lounged across the -tracks to the loading pens, laughing as he went. - -The look on Cockney's face warned Stamford to silence, but he trotted -to the end of the platform and offered his hand to assist the woman -to alight. With a quick flick of her body she stood beside him, -rewarding him with a gentle smile as she rearranged her skirts. - -"Thank you. Matana will stand by herself." - -Her eyes had scarcely paused on Stamford before passing on to the big -rancher. Aikens had not moved. With lowered head he was staring at -her. She stooped in some confusion and brushed her skirt to smoother -lines about her limbs. Then her head went up, and with a nervous -laugh she moved swiftly along the platform. - -"Mary, what are you doing here?" - -"I got tired waiting out there, Jim," she pouted. "It's so lonesome." - -Her voice was appealing, yet charged with a nervous independence. -Cockney's reply was to stare down on her for a few moments, and turn -his back without another word and follow Dakota to the loading cars. - -Never had Stamford longed so intensely for the physique to squeeze an -apology from a bully's throat, but the greater desire to hide from -the hurt wife what he was thinking made him turn to her with a smile. - -"These must be trying days to the shippers--ah--Mrs. Aikens, isn't -it? I suppose you've had breakfast? I have, I believe, a bit of -chewing gum in my pocket." - -"I stopped in town for breakfast," she replied dully, her eyes on the -big man climbing lazily to the roof of one of the cars before the -gangways. "When I need more I'll go out to our mess-wagon. It'll be -out there somewhere with the cattle." - -"They've just commenced loading," Stamford went on eagerly. "This is -my first experience. You see, I'm the sample tenderfoot in this -district. I believe," he added, with a whimsical smile, "I've been -that ever since I came." - -Her eyes were on him now, and Stamford saw a gleaming smile, behind -which lay an ever-gnawing worry. - -"You seem to enjoy the distinction so well as to be jealous already -of your successor," she said. - -"It has its advantages, especially to an editor. It gives me access -to the sources of news----" - -"Thrusts them at you, in fact," she smiled. - -"I trust my news sense culls out the wheat." - -"I read the _Journal_," she told him slyly. - -"That's the first encouragement I've had since my arrival. Might I -give such commendation a fitting place on the front page?" - -"Since your arrival," she returned lightly, "the _Journal_ has surely -added a new zest to local existence." - -He extracted an enormous notebook from a capacious pocket. - -"I must make a note of that," he said. "My friends will probably be -seeking an epitaph for me shortly. You see, this week I start to -collect two months' bills. If I survive that I've announced my -intention of learning to ride--rather _starting_ to learn. If an -indulgent Providence still leaves me on earth, there remains the fare -at the Provincial Hotel to seal my fate. Any one of the three, I'm -told, is enough to make a man wonder what his friends may select for -his tombstone." - -Her laugh tinkled spontaneously, so that Cockney rolled over on his -elbow to look at her, and a couple of cowboys peeped shyly round the -end of the cars and ducked to cover when they realised they were seen. - -"A course in ranch-life is what you need, Mr. Stamford. It's only a -case of nerves. At the H-Lazy Z, for instance, we have air that -can't be beaten, food that will certainly sustain--even salads now -and then--and there are a million square miles of soft grass to fall -on. Let the collecting out to someone who totes a gun." - -"The suggestion is so good," he replied solemnly, "that I take it as -an invitation. When the worst threatens, I'll remember the H-Lazy -Z--and its--ah--charming mistress." - -"Right-o!" she laughed. - -"That's your husband speaking," he said. "I suppose living with even -an Englishman is contagious." - -Her face suddenly went wistful. - -"Yes," she agreed absent-mindedly. - -Stamford thought he had never before heard so much in a single -innocent word. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -CORPORAL FAIRCLOTH ARRIVES - -As the loading fell to a routine it quickened its pace. Every seven -or eight minutes the two loaded cars were replaced by empty ones -whose floors had already been strewn with sand. When the outer yards -emptied their live freight into the loading pens, the cowboys whose -duty it was galloped off into the low hills for more. Sometimes -Dakota Fraley rode with them, but for the most part he busied himself -hastening the loading operations. - -Brand-Inspector West, small, wiry-haired, nervous, with worry in his -eyes and a semi-apologetic manner he tried in vain to conceal, had -much to struggle against in the performance of his duty. Wherever he -got he was in the way, principally Dakota's. From the edge of the -gangways near the car doors Dakota brushed him unceremoniously; on -the stockade fence near the gangways he was a nuisance to the -prodders. Here and there he darted, peering through the bars, -reaching over the railing of the gangways, snatching hasty glances at -the jumbled herds in the outer pens, as inefficient as he was -conscientious. - -Cockney Aikens lounged on the roof of the loading cars, where he -overlooked everything, moving lazily from car to car as they filled -and were shunted back. He saw the bewildered efforts of the -brand-inspector, and his eyes followed Dakota from place to place, -altering their focus sometimes to the pens and gangways below him. -As the largest shipper, his foreman, Dakota Fraley, had charge of the -operations, and all but a couple of the cowboys about the yards were -from the H-Lazy Z outfit. - -Mrs. Aikens and Stamford crossed the tracks and stationed themselves -near the gangways. - -Many of the cattle were of Texan breed, their long white horns -swaying awkwardly up the gangways to catch now and then in car door -or fence, momentarily holding up the line. The faster the loading -moved, the more disturbing these breaks in the swing of the work. A -tremendous steer, its horns projecting over the gangway railing, -lumbered up the slope and paused at the car door, doubting the width -of the opening. At a vicious prod from Dakota it dashed forward, -jammed the point of one horn in the side of the car, withdrew it, and -in a panic drove the other horn in the other side. - -The line behind, a solid mass, jammed tighter and tighter. Two -cowboys leaped to Dakota's assistance, but the steer only closed its -eyes to their blows and stood braced. - -Cockney, looking down at first with some amusement, saw what was -happening back in the gangway and heaved himself upright. Dropping -to the side of the gangway, he tossed Dakota and another cowboy to -the ground and reached a hand across to either horn. Without -apparent effort he forced the steer's head sideways so that its horns -ran diagonally with the opening, and, swinging a leg over the -railing, kicked the brute forward into the car. - -Catching Stamford's admiring gaze he paused only long enough to -thrust an unlit cigarette between his lips, before sidling down the -outside of the railing to the stockade. There the brand-inspector -had stubbornly installed himself, refusing to make way for the -prodders and protesting at the speed of the loading. Cockney, -holding to the railing with one hand, reached across the backs of the -cattle and lifted the little man clear over the gangway, depositing -him laughingly on the ground. - -"Such a little fellow," he bantered, "yet so much in the way!" - -He winked at Stamford and his wife. - -West exploded in a typical volley of Western oaths. Cockney waved a -finger at him. - -"Oh, fie, West! And before ladies! Mary, that's not part of his -duties. It's only an accomplishment that has gained him more -notoriety than his official capacity. He wants to give the -impression of guarding the Great West from cattle-thieving and -rustling." He pointed to West's flaming face. "That's not anger. -West never gets mad. It's shame at losing control before ladies." - -West's hat came off with a sweeping bow to Mrs. Aikens. - -"We don't expect ladies at these little affairs," he apologised. "At -the same time"--turning to Cockney--"I must insist on being permitted -to do my duty--else I'll order the loading to stop." - -Dakota came blustering under the gangway. - -"West's got his job to do, Mr. Aikens. Let him alone." - -Cockney lolled against the railing, looking with twisted lips down -into Dakota's sullen eyes. - -"Shall I lift him up where he can see everything, Dakota, and protect -him from your bullying?" - -Something about it made Dakota's eyes drop. - -"Don't mind him, West," soothed the foreman. "You come over here and -stand on the fence. As long as you don't get in the way about the -gangways you're all right." - -Stamford failed to see how any one on the fence, except at the -gangways, could see more of the cattle than their backs. - -Cockney Aikens watched Dakota thoughtfully as the latter pulled -himself to the other gangway. Then he climbed to his old perch on -the roof and lay on his elbow without lighting his cigarette. And -Mary Aikens watched her husband. - -"Poor West!" sympathised Stamford. "He leads a dog's life. I can -feel for small men." - -He saw she was not listening. "I was saying----" - -"I'm afraid I wasn't listening, Mr. Stamford," she said -apologetically. "What were you saying?" - -"I don't believe I remember. I never say much worth while." - -"It wasn't--that," she explained uncomfortably. - -Stamford yielded to her embarrassment. "West and your husband should -change jobs." - -A gust of laughter broke from her lips. It startled him, but he went -on: - -"I don't think Dakota Fraley would stop Cockney Aikens----" - -"Do you think Dakota was doing it purposely?" - -Stamford stared. "I didn't think of that. Perhaps---- But why -should he----" - -"Of course," she laughed, "why should he?" - -"Your husband would make an admirable brand-inspector, and West's -size would be no handicap to a rancher." - -"Jim isn't a rancher; he wasn't born with the first qualification.... -I don't believe that's to his discredit, do you?" - -She was challenging him with her eyes, facing him squarely. - -"Cockney Aikens possesses the greatest qualification of all," he -replied, "--the capacity for picking the right man to boss the -job--and the right woman to make such a job on the Red Deer -endurable." - -"That is very eastern of you, Mr. Stamford," she smiled. "I have -known the social life that sort of thing springs from." Her face -went dreamy. "The right man, you say--yes--perhaps he has -picked--the right man. I suppose--that is a qualification." - -Stamford felt constrained once more to change the subject. - -From the corner of his eye he saw Cockney suddenly raise himself and -look away to the hills. Stamford turned in the same direction. - -A Mounted Policeman was seated motionless on his horse on the crest -of a rise, looking down on the station yard. For only a moment -Cockney looked, then slid from the roof to the gangway railing, a -frown on his handsome face. At the same instant Dakota dropped from -the fence surrounding the stockade and whispered to a companion, and -the two sauntered away round the corner of the cattle pens. - -A moment later Cockney sauntered carelessly after them and peered -away into the Saskatoonberry and bulberry bushes that filled a coulee -extending from close to the tracks. In long strides he retraced his -steps, crossed the tracks to his horse behind the station, and loped -off over the prairie toward the herd-filled coulees. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE SHOTS FROM THE BUSHES - -Presently the policeman gathered up his reins and came on, casting -his eyes about him. While still some distance away, Stamford -recognised Corporal Faircloth, his favourite in the local Force. - -Their friendship was closer than the ordinary, especially in the -West. A couple of months earlier, within a week of Stamford's -arrival, the tenderfoot had yielded to the tug of the clear prairie -evening and launched himself thoughtlessly on the great stretches of -soft moonlight that looked so brilliant from the town, but altered -every guide where landmarks were few. So effectively did he tear -himself from the rude haunts of men that when he thought of bed he -had not the least idea in which direction to seek it. It was an -early lesson in the supreme helplessness of being lost on the prairie. - -A dim light in the eastern sky was tinging the moonlight when a -Mounted Policeman came on him seated hopelessly beside the Trail. -Corporal Faircloth was riding in through the night from Medicine -Lodge. From that meeting had sprung a friendship that helped to fill -a want that now and then oppressed the editor in the unconventional -and thoughtless friendships of the prairie. What a bearing the new -companionship would have on his future never entered his head. - -Now the Corporal rode slowly along the side of the stockades, staring -into the four filled yards, and jogged across the track to leave his -horse with the others. Returning on foot, he stopped a moment to -greet the two spectators before mounting the gangways. - -For a few minutes he stood on the fence, moving from gangway to -gangway, making way for the cowboys in their work, but always keeping -the operations under his eye. The brand-inspector studied him with -covert envy, as the Corporal climbed along the outside of a gangway -and placed himself close to one of the car doors. At intervals he -strained forward to examine a passing steer, and for an obviously -unsatisfied two minutes he lay at length on the roof, head extended -over the gangway. - -All the time Mary Aikens' eyes followed him as they had her husband a -few minutes before. - -Suddenly he dropped to the ground and hurried to the stockade fence. -For what seemed hours to Stamford's rioting imagination he peered -through the heavy rails, restrained excitement in every move. A -couple of cowboys moved away, conversing in whispers. - -With equally sudden purpose the Policeman climbed the fence, at the -same time shouting to West, who, having found a post from which he -had not been ousted for five minutes, obeyed reluctantly. - -At that moment two rifle shots snapped from the shrub-filled coulee. - -Corporal Faircloth straightened up on the fence, and dropped limply -outside the pens. - -Instantly every cowboy sank to cover, reaching for his gun. Only -little Brand-Inspector West scorned danger. He leaped across to the -fallen Policeman and raised his head. - -The thing had happened so suddenly that Stamford was too bewildered -to move, until the woman at his side dashed beneath the gangways to -West's assistance. Stamford turned and ran across the tracks to the -station telephone. - -As he reached the platform a third shot cut the silence that had -fallen about the stockades. Stamford could see the cowboys lying -close to the pens glance anxiously about for trace of the third -mysterious bullet, and then questioningly to each other. A pair of -leather-chapped fellows squirmed round the corner, revolvers poised, -and, crouching low, rushed the shrubbery from which the shots had -come. - -By the time Stamford was back at the tragic group Corporal -Faircloth's eyes were opening--such hopeless eyes. He smiled up into -the woman's face and seemed suddenly to remember what had happened. - -"Tell the Inspector--stop----" - -A gush of blood stilled his tongue for ever. - -Stamford, staring incredulously into the face of his dead friend, -grated his teeth, tears dropping down his cheeks. - -"By God!" he hissed. "By God!" he repeated, gripping his fists. It -was as if he were taking an oath of vengeance. - -Mary Aikens turned her wet eyes up to his with a shudder and burst -into violent sobbing. - -A dozen cowboys, galloping up with the next herd for the stockades, -dashed into the coulee, Dakota Fraley most eager of all. Stamford -bent to the body of his murdered friend, and they carried him -mournfully over the tracks to the station platform. - -As they laid him down on the rough planks, his poor blind eyes turned -to the sky he had worked under in every season with the glorious -conscientiousness of the Mounted Police, a silent group of cowboys, -hats in hand, crept across the tracks, bearing another body. - -Back in the coulee they had come on him, one of themselves, Kid -Loveridge, of the H-Lazy Z outfit, shot through the neck. Only one -rifle had they found--for they carried rifles only on special work on -the prairie--and it lay beside Kid's limp hand, an empty cartridge -near. - -Round the corner of the stockades Dakota Fraley dashed, pulling up as -the second procession laid its burden beside the dead body of the -Corporal. He leaned over and looked into the bloodless face of his -comrade, seemingly dazed. Then he bit his lip and shifted his head, -struggling to face down the grief and horror of it with the grimness -fostered in the life he knew best. - -"Who did it?" he demanded fiercely. "Who murdered the Kid?" - -His revolver was clenched in his hand, pointing skyward. They only -looked at him sadly and sympathetically. - -"The Kid!" he whimpered, his lip trembling. - -Brand-Inspector West spoke: - -"Back in that coulee two rifle shots and one pistol shot. We've -found only one empty rifle cartridge, a Winchester." - -That was the problem that faced the Police when they -arrived--Sergeant Prior and Constable Woolsey--riding like mad up the -steep trail from Medicine Hat. Not five minutes behind them came -Inspector Barker on a light engine, having commandeered it in the -station yards as a quicker means of transportation, and as an -ambulance for the Corporal, whose death Stamford had not telephoned. - -For hours the Policemen ranged the hills, searching, searching. If -they found any clue they said nothing of it, but the Inspector's face -was ominously grave. - -They told their stories, but in the crowding tragedy of it much was -omitted, much of no consequence included. Dakota Fraley swore before -them that he himself would find the murderer of Kid Loveridge, if the -Police failed. - -"The Kid and I," he burst out, "went along together there just before -the shooting to where we'd left our horses, and there wasn't a -blessed sign of anyone. The Kid struck back for our own bunch, and I -climbed the rise to join the drivers. Nobody out there seemed to -hear the shots, what with the shouting and the rush of the cattle.... -And--and there's the Kid!" His face twisted, ana he struggled to -hide it with a curse. - -Inspector Barker listened without a word. - -"Why was Loveridge carrying a rifle?" - -"I didn't know he was. I don't believe it's his." - -"That's easily proved," said the Inspector. Dakota said nothing more. - -Cockney Aikens had ridden in with the Police from their search. He -reported that Kid Loveridge had never reached the H-Lazy Z outfit, of -course; but his replies were sullen and brief, and Inspector Barker -did not press him. At the end Cockney addressed his wife. - -"This is less than ever a place for a woman. Go in to town now. -I'll be spending the night at the Provincial." - -She flinched before the tone of command. - -"I'd rather stay here, Jim. I'm not tired. I can get enough to eat -at the mess-wagon till you're ready to come with me." - -"Best go to town, Mrs. Aikens," Dakota broke in. "We haven't much to -spare out there. The boys'll be hungry." - -She frowned slightly on him, surprised as much as annoyed. Cockney, -too, was watching the foreman. - -"Yes, Mary," he said. "I'll be in during the afternoon." - -"You shore might as well go too, boss," began Dakota. "There ain't -nothing you'd be----" - -"Mind your own damn business, Dakota!" Cockney exploded furiously. - -Stamford, riding back the down trail to Medicine Hat, was so wrapped -in the mystery of the double murder that he forgot next day was -publication day. That night his sleep was broken in the cramped -little bedroom in the Provincial. When the last form was on the -press and everything ready for the newsboys and the mailing, he hired -again the unimpeachable horse and good enough buggy and drove out to -Dunmore Junction. - -The last cars were facing the gangways. A cloud of cowboys was -clustered about the stockades, wearily watching the thinning lines -move up the gangways, their desultory conversation constantly -reverting to the tragedies of the previous day. A thousand times -they had reviewed and discussed every phase of it, but the excitement -still clung. - -Dakota Fraley, raw of temper and untidier than ever, was making -notes. With a sigh of relief he snapped the notebook shut and looked -out over the prairie. From the low hills was streaming down a line -of rocking wagons, their drivers lashing the horses and shouting -defiance at each other. - -The ranchers from the Red Deer were grouped at one gangway comparing -notes--all except Cockney Aikens, who was lolling on a station bench, -smoking hard, speaking to no one. He seemed to have aged during the -night; in his eyes was a gaunt, wild look, and his clothes were -seedy. Stamford read the record of one man's night in town. - -The wagons rattled up. Dakota singled one out, stopped it with a -peremptory wave, and engaged the driver in low conversation. -Stamford moved carelessly nearer. The driver was expostulating, -pleading--Dakota obdurate. - -"You'll take the north trail right here, see?" he jerked, pointing to -where a dim break in the dead grass announced the direct trail to the -Red Deer, avoiding the town. - -"An' ain't I to have no time in town?" whined the driver. "It ain't -my fault that----" His voice sank away. - -"You've had two nights of it already. Now git that wagon away as -fast as you know how." - -The last picture in Stamford's mind of the Red Deer shipping was a -stream of swaying wagons rattling down the deep trail to town to the -cheers and whip-cracking of their drivers. And off to the north one -lone wagon rolled silently and slowly northward over the dead grass -toward the lonely stretches of the Red Deer. And Stamford wondered. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -DAKOTA RUNS AMOK - -Cattle shipping, as any other event that collected cowboys, was a -time of some anxiety in Medicine Hat. Stores closed early, citizens -with any claim to being old-timers--and that was the leading ambition -locally--retired unobtrusively to their homes, and even the bars, -which stood to profit materially from the visit of lively young -bloods whose veins had been swelling for months without outlet--or -inlet--contemplated the occasion with misgiving amounting almost to -trepidation. - -The daily life of the West in those days, especially the part of it -that dealt with law enforcement, was sufficient training in itself to -arouse something like indifference to ordinary perils. Still, -everything considered, it was well not to be associated with the -maintenance of peace when broad-brimmed sombreros and sheepskin, -angora, or leather chaps careered down Main or Toronto Streets on -bronchos that seemed as appreciative of the excitement as their -riders themselves. - -At such time it was no matter of regret among the Mounted Police that -the policing of incorporated towns in the Canadian West was in an -equivocal position to which they bowed. According to the strict -interpretation of the law, the jurisdiction of the Mounted Police was -without geographical limits within the prairie provinces; but no town -policeman would admit that such a reading was not blind prejudice. -Thus it came to pass, to avoid endless squabbling and overlapping, -that the red-coats confined their attention to the great stretches -where man was seldom seen breaking the law--until such time as the -town police, in shamefaced recognition of their physical limitations, -called in their better known brethren. - -When the cowboys ran amok in town, he was a tenderfoot red-coat who -envied the town policeman his monopoly. - -There is little inherently bad about the cowboy. Normally he is -fairer, more gallant and honest than the ruck of Westerners who have -gone West with their eyes blinded by dollars. Often a shocking -cold-bloodedness marks his revenge or anger, but it is usually frank -and fair, according to his lights, a development of the hard life he -lives. - -Out there on the prairie no house is locked. There, where the -nearest neighbour may be hours of hard riding distant, no decent -woman need be afraid. - -But lope the same gallant, honest cowboys into town in a group of a -fine evening, and it is best to be where they aren't. To them town -is the visible epitome of all they contemn: luxury, inexperience, -flaccidity, nervousness; the source of that impending peril, the -farmer. Town has its uses, the admissible ones being the amusement -and accommodation of visiting ranchers and their outfits. - -And one of the readiest amusements, and usually the cheapest, is -impressing the townsman. - -Dakota Fraley and his gang were peculiarly trained to enjoy this form -of amusement. Over in Montana, where they came from, the law was -less confining--a mere matter of solitary sheriffs, probably -recruited from among themselves after the excitement of punching -palled. This side of the border it was more relentless, depending -upon straight-shooting, fearless, hardriding, uniformed officials who -scorned the assistance of posses and were only the human -representatives of an overwhelming force that could not be stayed by -a thousand rifles or reputations. To have a chance to break loose in -such a tight-laced country was like rolling out a pent-up oath when -the parson's back is turned. - -Dakota and his mates hated Canada, as a burglar hates an electric -alarm, because a flesh-and-blood gunman hadn't a chance. They hated -the townsman especially because of his insulting confidence in the -protection of the law. - -Most of all they hated the Mounted Police. - -When the last steer had lumbered up the gangway and been locked in -the last car, Dakota and his companions lingered on the trail to -town. They knew their unpopularity with the other outfits and -resented it. The Mounted Police knew, in the course of their -intimate investigations into the past of everyone who ever came West, -that this feeling was no novelty to Dakota's comrades. They were -almost as unpopular in their own country. Indeed, under adequate -pressure Inspector Barker might have told an interesting story of the -reason for Dakota's change of climate. - -On South Railway Street the H-Lazy Z outfit pulled up. Here were the -most bars, and since these were crowded they split into small groups -and divided their patronage. The Royal, the Commercial, the -European, the Cosmopolitan were treated impartially, for they all -served equally potent liquid. Disregardful of toes and elbows and -prior rights, they dived into the crowds and for fifteen minutes kept -the perspiring dope-slingers busy on recklessly juggled concoctions. - -From Inspector Barker's window across the tracks four Mounted -Policemen sighed; they read the story of the night ahead, without -being within sight of the labels on the bottles. - -After that a breathing space of ominous quiet, for the cowboys were -gorgeously hungry after two days of mess-wagon fare. - -Every hotel in town was prepared, though they had nothing to fear but -hunger. Not one of the cowboys was likely to impose in the -dining-room. They might, within the last two minutes, have been -shooting up the town, filling themselves on rot-gut, cursing each -other and everything else with fraternal abandon or fighting with the -ruthlessness of fiends. In the dining-room they became more formal -than the freshest "remittance-man" from "back home." They might -hanker to seize their soup plates and gulp the contents into -impatient throats, but they genteelly spooned it up, tilting it -daintily to the last drop. They might tackle poached eggs with a -knife, but they contemplated their comparative failure with gravity -and patience. They never smiled or spoke above a whisper; and before -they appeared at the table each and every one had stood in line in -the hotel lavatory for a turn at the common brush and -comb--unchained, because there was no danger of theft. - -As befitted his rank, Dakota selected the Provincial, taking with him -his crony, Alkali Sam. They would meet the others in the -market-place after "dinner"--for the Provincial alone, run by a -venturesome and popular Englishman, insisted on that untimely -designation for its night meal. - -Having introduced to their plated interiors all the liquid -refreshment the remainder of the evening's entertainment could handle -with steady aim, they recalled the assignation. Thither they -repaired, solemnly studying legs and hands to verify their good -judgment, nevertheless exhilarated by anticipation. - -In the market-place Bean Slade, Muck Norsley, General Jones, the -Dude, and a few lesser lights of the H-Lazy Z outfit, together with -kindred spirits from other ranches, were impatiently cursing the -wasted time, with the bars still open and their thirst unquenched. -When the foreman arrived they cursed him and his companion with -unaffected impartiality, tightened the cinches, rubbed the noses of -their mounts, and climbed to the saddles. - -When they dashed through the narrow exit to Toronto Street the fun -was on. - -Dakota struck straight for the Provincial opposite--a brilliant idea -that staggered them all. - -Now, the front door of the Provincial was attainable only by climbing -fourteen steep steps and crossing a deep verandah. The height -enabled loungers to expectorate in comfort over the railing to the -sidewalk without inconveniencing themselves, and to some extent -discouraged the visits of the too heavily loaded, who naturally -gravitated to the more accessible bar door, situated lower down the -street and on the street level. - -Those fourteen steps had acquired a reputation that subdued the -wildest spirits--like a Mounted Policeman's uniform. But one of -Dakota's favourite amusements back in Montana--a stereotyped one in a -cow country--was to ride through the saloon doors. To-night he was -in the precise humour for shocking convention. Accordingly eight -confirmed loungers were much scandalised by the nose of Dakota's -horse thrusting itself in their midst. - -Judas--Dakota's own name for his mount, because, as he said, you -never know when he's going to sell you--lowered his head in response -to the swift lash of Dakota's quirt, fixed his eyes on the centre -step of the flight and ate up the climb in two leaps, drawing up with -a slide as nose and neck protruded through the front door. Thereupon -Dakota gently urged him into the rotunda, dodging the chandelier, and -pulled up before the dining-room door, where he leaned forward, -Stetson in hand, to see what the diners were making of it. - -Somewhat subdued by the simplicity of the proceeding and the -loneliness of the adventure, he lay back on Judas' rump to negotiate -the descent, and a bit shamefacedly rejoined his companions in the -street. - -Perhaps it was to cover his embarrassment that he opened the night's -performance without loss of time. - -Whirling Judas on his hind legs, he dashed spurs into him and roared -down Toronto Street, shooting into the air as he went, with eight or -ten shrieking, shooting companions behind him. - -At the corner of South Railway Street the gas-lamp caught his eye. A -quick shot scattered the globe, but Medicine Hat's gas, that gushed -from an unlimited sea of natural supply six hundred feet down in the -earth, continued to blink at him from an undamaged mantle. - -"Thunder!" he snorted. "I must be drunk." - -The next shot re-established his self-confidence. - -Someone beside him banged a bullet through the transom of a store -entrance, another brought down fragments of a telephone insulator, -and two or three, catching sight of an open window, imprinted their -valentines on the ceiling beyond. - -Every door was closed and bolted, not for fear of looting--no cowboy -would stoop to that--but in instinctive exclusion of lawlessness. So -that the few caught on the street had no way of escape. Dakota -recognised it first. Two or three well-directed shots into the -pavement about their feet invariably drove pedestrians back against -the wall, hands raised, a mere act of polite acceptance of the fact -that the cowboys owned the town. - -Two women scurried in a panic for a locked door, screamed, and turned -blanched faces to the terror. Dakota raised his arm, shouted, and on -the instant every mouth closed, every finger was held. With doffed -Stetsons, guns pointing to the sky, a band of dare-devil cow-punchers -trotted meekly past the terrified women, bowing as they went, and -twenty yards beyond broke loose with redoubled vigour. - -At the corner of Main Street every eye flicked across the tracks to -the barracks, but things seemed lifeless there. - -Up a deserted Main Street they blazed their way. A couple of small -store windows "holed" before them, one, struck at an angle, falling -to pieces. More gas lights went dark. - -Morton Stamford, busy in his scrubby little office on the weekly -accounts of publication day, heard the shooting and threw up his -window to watch the cowboys thunder past. When Dakota whirled in his -saddle and sent a bullet on either side of his head, Stamford -cudgelled his panicky brain for a reasonable and dignified excuse for -retirement from the limelight. Failing to find one, he stuck there, -with his head through the window. After the clamour had passed on -into Main Street he carefully traced the bullets through the -partition to the outer office and tried to hoke them as souvenirs -from the brick wall with a paper knife. Then he tiptoed to the -window and, standing well back, pulled it down and locked it, though -by that time the shooting had dimmed away. - -Thrilled with the incident, Stamford hastily planned a letter to an -old newspaper friend down East who could make use of vivid little -bits like that, with sundry touches of imagination that would be -certain to rouse an Eastern outcry. He could draw pictures like that -any time he wanted, and his friends back East had long since decided -that he was either a fool or a hero. - -Suddenly he remembered that he had not dined. It was then he became -aware of a revival of the clamour in another direction. And as it -did not seem to be coming to him, he went out to it. On Toronto -Street he stood for a minute to locate the disturbance, but, hunger -getting the better of his curiosity, he began to trot toward the -Provincial Hotel. - -Round the corner above him careened the cowboys into Toronto Street, -now lifeless save for the little figure of Morton Stamford hurrying -to dinner. - -Dakota saw him. It was nothing short of insult, this indifferent -little tenderfoot waggling his legs down the street before them. -Stamford was only half way to safety when Dakota whirled up behind -him on the sidewalk and, expecting him to duck to the shelter of a -doorway, wheeled off to one side only in time to escape riding him -down. Judas' sides brushed Stamford's shoulder, so near a thing was -it for the editor. - -In a flash Dakota was around, and three shots in quick succession -close to Stamford's feet were sufficient to warn any but the rankest -tenderfoot what was expected of him. A fourth removed his stiff hat. -The next struck the edge of his boot sole. Something told him he was -dangerously unconventional. He looked up with a smile into the faces -of the crowding cowboys. - -"You don't seem to like me, Dakota." - -"Like you, you little sawed-off! Never paid so much 'tention to a -tenderfoot in my born days afore. I fair love you. Same time, I'd -like to see you back again that wall and h'ist your hands. These is -our streets to-night." - -Stamford continued to grin about him. - -"I was just on my way to dinner, Dakota," he said, and stooped to -pick up his hat. - -"You won't need any--ever!" yelled Dakota furiously, reaching for his -second gun. - -But certain slow processes in the brain of the solitary town -policeman had evolved the decision that the town's peace was being -breached at last. From the shadow of an adjacent doorway he stepped -and seized Judas' bridle. - -"Stop it, Dakota! You get right away home. There's a good-sized -bill against you already. There'll be another not so easy to pay if -you don't vamoose." - -But Dakota's anger was riding the crest of his liberal potations; and -anyway this was only the town policeman. Clubbing his gun, he leaned -over Judas' neck and struck. As he did so, he was bumped into on the -off side and in the effort to retain his seat the gun dropped to the -sidewalk. - -"Cut that out, Dakota, you tarnation ijut!" growled Bean Slade. -"This ain't no skull-crackin' holiday. Neither it ain't Montany. -Not by a damn sight!" he added, with sudden excitement, pointing down -the street with his quirt. - -Round the corner from South Railway Street four Mounted Police were -riding nonchalantly. - -Dakota looked from the red town-uniforms of the Police to the little -figure hurrying up the Provincial steps. But the sudden burst of -life behind him decided him for discretion. Up the street, faster -than they had ridden in their orgy, a group of satisfied cowboys tore. - -Medicine Hat reopened its windows. The loungers reappeared on the -Provincial verandah. Evening strollers returned to the streets. -Inspector Barker locked his office door and went home to a tardy -supper. - - -Three days later a khaki-coated Policeman loped up to the cook-house -door of the H-Lazy Z, stooped to look inside, and spoke: - -"Dakota, I want you." - -Six cowpunchers gasped. Dakota opened his mouth and closed it -without speaking, but his face reddened. - -"Come here!" - -Dakota stumbled to his feet and came to the doorway. Constable -Hughes handed him a blue paper and waited for the reading. Dakota's -anger flamed. With an oath he tore the paper in two--but as the two -parts separated, his hands stayed. - -"Now you're coming with me, Dakota Fraley!" - -The Policeman dismounted without haste and stepped up to the -part-owner of the best paying ranch in the Medicine Hat district, the -boss of the toughest outfit of cowpunchers in Western Canada. - -"Well, this is one h--l of a country!" growled Dakota, putting on his -Stetson and starting for the stables. - -"It _might_ be," said Hughes. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -STAMFORD MAKES A DECISION - -Morton Stamford sat in his office staring at a blank sheet of copy -paper. Already he was an hour behind his schedule for the day, and -the compositors upstairs had sent down twice for copy. According to -schedule this was his morning for preparing the week's editorials, -but, though the town bell would announce noon in less than half an -hour, he had not yet written a word. - -What he should like to say he dare not. A certain diffidence, -impelled by his Western experiences, held his pen from an attack on -the Mounted Police. Back East as a newspaperman he had worked in so -closely with the local police that he knew their every move in the -development of their cases. Yet in the ten days since the murder of -his friend, Corporal Faircloth, the Mounted Police seemed to have -done nothing. Stamford knew of no clue, no sleuthing, and only vague -suspicions. As a dignified newspaperman there was deep within him an -instinct that he should, therefore, accept it as evidence of official -inertia. - -As a newspaperman, too, he had struggled to arrive at definite -deductions as to the murderer, only to be confronted with a blank -wall that drove him to the beginning again to reconstruct his case. -It was the dead body of Kid Loveridge that upset all his -calculations. The Kid's reputation was more along the line of -proving him a murderer than the murdered, and that there was any -connection between the Corporal and one of the wildest cowboys in -Western Canada was impossible. - -Hitting in and out of his conjectures were the forms of Cockney -Aikens and Dakota Fraley, two men apparently as antagonistic in -inclinations as they were intimate in business interests. Cockney's -careless, good-natured ways appealed to him in a way that denied -belief in inherent badness. Yet he had gathered the impression -during the Police investigations on the spot that the big Englishman -was not outside their suspicions. He resented that. Cockney was a -friend of his. If the Police were working on that line he was -prepared to stake---- - -His ruminations were interrupted by the opening of the door to the -outer office, and the clumsy tramp of a heavy man. For a moment he -waited for the familiar tap on his own door. All Medicine Hat knew -where to find him. Not hearing the expected summons, he went out. - -A great hulk of a stranger was standing in the middle of the office, -feet braced, peering about him through large horn spectacles. His -shoulders were stooped, his hands limp and awkward, his whole -attitude and appearance more than hinting at anæmia and flabbiness. -On his long black hair was perched a ludicrously small stiff hat; and -he wore a high white collar and loose black bow tie, a suit built in -a factory, and a pair of "health" boots that could not possibly -possess any other attraction. - -He seemed entirely oblivious of Stamford's presence, continuing to -stare about at the untidy arrangement of tables and chairs, and over -the partition that separated the office from the "job" room. He was -interested; also he was accustomed to concentrating. - -Stamford wanted most to laugh. The fellow filled the office with -such an air of innocent curiosity that he felt no resentment at his -own small share in the scene. - -Someone laughed from the doorway, and Stamford started. It was such -a merry, chuckling sort of laugh, so much in line with just the -feeling Stamford himself had, that, though the laugh was a woman's, -he vaguely thought of some uncanny echo that repeated what was in his -mind. - -When he turned to the doorway he was more doubtful than ever of the -reality of the scene. A girl stood there--a beautiful girl--Stamford -realised that first of all. Under her soft felt hat, with a sprig of -flowers slanting nattily up toward the back, a fluffy bit of dark -brown hair protruded. Stamford saw that next. He had a curious -feeling that it would be nice to touch--and he flushed at the -entrance of such unaccustomed thoughts. - -She was looking at him, quizzically, still laughing. One little step -forward she took. - -"Amos," she said, and in the tone was the indulgence of a mother, -though the man was years her senior, "Amos, don't you think you two -had better meet? This is my brother Professor Amos Bulkeley, of the -Smithsonian Institute," she said, turning to Stamford. - -Her brother swept his big frame about with the cheeriest of smiles -and extended his hand. - -"You're the local editor, I suppose," he said, in a gentle voice. -"We've come to you for help--naturally. Appealing to a newspaper for -help is a habit we all have, from politicians up to ordinary -burglars." - -"So long as you're not collecting," grinned Stamford, "my resources -are at your command. My week's accounts show that last week my -charity expenses were seven dollars and twenty-five cents. To date -that's about my net income per week." - -"It's only information we're collecting," explained the girl. -"We----" - -"Excuse me, dear." Her brother stopped her sternly. "You haven't -yet met Mr.--Mr.----" - -"Morton Stamford," said the editor. - -"Mr. Stamford, my dear. Mr. Stamford, this is my sister Isabel, as -yet possessing the same ultimate name as myself. But there's still -hope." - -"I'm certain of it," murmured Stamford over her hand. - -"Ahem!" said the Professor. "That's not starting badly." - -"If you imply by that that we're to see more of each other----" began -Stamford gallantly--and went crimson with wonder at the strange -things his tongue was saying. - -"Ahem again!" said the Professor slyly. "Isabel, I have always -thought, has such a strange effect----" - -"I'm sure Mr. Stamford has other uses for his time, Amos, and so have -we." Isabel Bulkeley was blushing a little herself. - -"I forgot," apologised the Professor. "This is strictly business. -I'm here--_we_'re here in the interests of the Smithsonian Institute. -You may not suspect it, but you have history embedded in you--in the -form of fossils that should have disappeared when your much-removed -grandpa was scuttling through the tree-tops by his tail. I'm in -hopes that the geanticlinal discoveries of my predecessors among the -argillaceous cliffs of the Red Deer River will support my contention -that somewhere the course of the river to the north of you may yield -up the secrets of the Triassic, or at least the Jurassic stage of the -Mesozoic period. Perhaps the Palæozoic. Who knows?" - -"I confess _I_ don't," said Stamford. "In fact, except that you seem -to be using the language my mother taught me, I wouldn't know what -you're talking about, were it not that I happen to be aware of the -palæontological discoveries on the Red Deer. But that was three -hundred miles west of here." - -"I'm anxious to get beyond their tracks," said the Professor. "It -was the New York fellows worked there--our deadly rivals. I contend -that the Red Deer River did not in those days boast of circumscribed -summer resorts. Why, a megatherium could lunch at Red Deer town and -dine in Medicine Hat--at least the one _I_ want to find could." - -"And how can I help you?" asked Stamford. - -"We don't know a thing--how we get there, where we can stay, what we -can do." - -"At last," sighed Stamford, "there's a tenderer tenderfoot than -myself. For two long months I've been the baby of the Western -family. Now I'm ousted from the cradle." - -The Professor examined his own huge body doubtfully. - -"How big's this cradle?" he asked. - -"It'll hold you and your sister," replied Stamford gallantly. "But -the man you want to see is Inspector Barker. In the West it's -different: you don't consult the newspaper, but the Mounted Police." - -He tapped a bell, and the "devil" stumbled down from the -composing-room overhead. - -"Give these to Arthurs," Stamford ordered, grabbing a handful of -clippings from the pigeon-hole. "They'll keep him busy. I'll be out -for a while. Watch the office till Smith comes back." - -"I'm taking you down to the barracks myself," he explained to his -visitors. "The Inspector might suspect you of ulterior motives. I -confess," he added whimsically, "that you're different enough to -justify it." - -Inspector Barker and the editor of the _Journal_ were on the best of -terms. In Stamford's little body was all the romance of men -physically unfitted to play a part in the pictures of their -imagination; he had a scalp that tingled easily. And the Inspector -had experiences to tell that would tingle any scalp not -fossilised--as well as little reluctance about clothing his -experiences with what might have happened. It wasn't often he was -free to let himself loose to such an appreciative audience whose -ideas could expand several sizes in response to a good yarn. - -But it was plain enough that Professor Bulkeley was more susceptible, -less inclined to question the reasonableness of the wildest yarn. -The Inspector received him and his sister with generous hand, and a -smile that took them to his heart. And their summer plans only added -to his eagerness. This was something new in an extended experience -popularly considered to have covered every possible phase of Western -life. - -"All the way from Washington, D.C., eh? Special visit to our -benighted town, eh? Flattered is too mild a word. Bringing your -sister adds the last drop to our overfull bucket of gratitude." - -"Isabel," asked the Professor gravely, "did he put it as nicely as -Mr. Stamford, d'ye think?" - -The Inspector gurgled into his moustache, but Stamford was annoyed. - -"You'll stay at the Double Bar-O," said the Inspector, getting down -to business. "I think that'll give you a good centre to work from. -Westward is only the H-Lazy Z. I don't think you'd care to stop -there. Cockney Aikens is a queer fish. You mightn't understand him." - -Stamford, in thought, came valiantly to Cockney's support. He was -certain the Police had ideas about the big rancher that they did not -care to disclose. - -"'The Double-Bar-O!'" repeated the Professor. "What is it--a hotel?" - -Stamford and the Inspector laughed. - -"A ranch," explained the latter. "My dear man, your nearest hotel, -when you get to the Red Deer, is over there on South Railway Street." - -"But will they--will they take us in?" - -"Professor Bulkeley," said the Inspector proudly, "this is Western -Canada. You can lift the latch of any ranch in the country, any day, -any time, and there's a plate and a bed for you as long as you wish -to remain." - -"But--ah--the pay? How much--about how much----" - -"The only thing I forgot," interrupted the Inspector, "is to warn you -that your welcome is limited to the period during which you don't -mention pay." - -"But we're strangers----" - -"That's the only excuse for your suggestion. There are no strangers -in the West in that sense of the word." - -"So hospitable--so generous--so utterly natural!" beamed the -Professor to his sister. "I suppose there's a livery here--with a -nice buggy and a gentle horse that I can rent for two or three -months." - -Inspector Barker stroked his moustache thoughtfully. - -"There are liveries--yes--but they won't let you have a horse for -that long." He looked up suddenly. "Let me supply you. I've a -couple of horses out there eating their heads off. It's cheaper for -us to hire the few times we need them. But for goodness' sake, leave -the buggy out. This is not a country for driving--not if you can -ride. But perhaps your sister----" - -"Isabel," declared the Professor proudly, "is a centauress." He -added with a deprecatory grin: "I've never been on a horse in my -life." - -"Amos is going to learn some day," said Isabel hopefully. "Aren't -you, Amos? Perhaps this is his chance--out on the boundless prairie." - -"Miss Bulkeley," Stamford warned, "I wouldn't speak of the prairie as -boundless. They'll think you're a poetess--and try to unload on you -a parcel of worthless real estate. We're just hungry for people like -that out here. But," he added dryly, "I don't believe they'll -succeed." - -"Is it a compliment, Mr. Stamford?" she asked gaily. - -"No," he replied solemnly, "it's the truth." - -"How ingenuous! How simple and sweet and natural!" gushed the -Professor. And the little editor bemoaned his lack of inches. - -"Ah, man, man!" teased the Inspector, when brother and sister were -gone, the cumbersome Professor passing before the window a foot -behind his quick-stepping sister. "In the West it's always Spring. -A country that hasn't women enough to go round----" - -"What in blazes are you driving at----" - -"I didn't think it was in you, Stamford. I'm delighted to see -something of the gallant again; I thought the West had lost it all -these many years--or never had it. The poor Corporal had traces of -it---- Ah!" as Stamford frowned, "I thought you had something -heavier than a pretty girl on your mind when you called. Now, let's -have it." - -Stamford brought his fist down on the desk. - -"Who murdered Corporal Faircloth?" - -Inspector Barker readjusted the ink-well. - -"If you don't mind, my boy, keep your thumping for your own desk. I -have this one reserved." - -Stamford, stubborn as small men can be, threw himself into a chair, -his hands thrust deep in his pockets. - -"In ten days--what have you done? That's what I want to know. What -are you planning to do? I'm going to sit here till you tell me." - -The Inspector frowned, then smiled grimly. - -"We close at six. Those who stay later--spend the night in there." -He indicated the door leading to the cells. - -Stamford's scowl drifted into a shamefaced shaking of the head. - -"You don't seem to realise that your third in command was foully -murdered, almost under your very nose! You don't----" - -"Listen, Stamford! Did you ever hear of a murdered Mounted Policeman -unavenged? Did you ever know the Mounted Police to drop the -chase--even for shooting an antelope out of season?" - -"But you've done nothing--nothing." - -"We don't report to the _Journal_--it's not in the regulations." - -"And there's Billy Windover," Stamford stormed on. "You haven't -discovered his murderer." - -"Wrap them in the same parcel----" The Inspector stopped abruptly. - -"But I thought you suspected Cockney Aikens." - -The Inspector turned on him fiercely. "Who said we suspected -him--anyone? Stamford, Faircloth was your friend; he was not only my -friend for five years but my third in command for two. Don't you -think you'd better consult an oculist? We _always_ -suspect--everyone." - -"Then why didn't you round up the whole gang that day?" - -"Including yourself and Mrs. Aikens, Inspector West, four ranchers, -sixty cowboys----" - -"But I----" - -"Yes, I know. Same with the others. It isn't always the obvious -that explains. Suppose we'd arrested Cockney--or anyone at that -time, where would have been our proof? We didn't even find the -rifles--except Kid Loveridge's. Clues don't grow on bulberry bushes -in a country where everyone can shoot--and so many do." - -Stamford was thinking rapidly. The repetition of Cockney's name -seemed to confirm his suspicions of the direction of the Police -search. - -"The thing has got a bit too much for my nerves--or something," he -declared abruptly. "I've got to get away from it for a time--take a -holiday. In reality it was to tell you that I came down." - -"It isn't in the Police regulations, you know." - -"Perhaps not, but I wanted you to know in case--in case anything -happened." - -"Nothing will happen--if you mind your own business." - -But Stamford did not seem to hear; he was examining himself in a -broken-framed mirror above the desk. - -"I need bucking up. Meals--change of air--new methods and -manners--something doesn't agree with me. I can't sleep." - -"Never mind explaining," grunted the Inspector. "I'm not interested -in your health. Here's West now. I've an appointment with him." - -"By the way, West," he said, as the brand-inspector entered, "the -local scribe is enquiring why we didn't arrest the whole countryside -for Faircloth's murder that day." - -West smiled in some confusion. - -The Inspector laughed mirthlessly. "Yes, West, you're as critical as -he. But if you--or Stamford here--had given me that day the details -you've remembered since, other things might have happened." - -"But I knew--I saw everything!" stammered Stamford. - -"And told so little," snapped the Inspector. "So many after-thoughts -are too late!" - -He waved Stamford out. As the editor passed through the door he -turned. - -"Honest now, Inspector, whom do you suspect?" - -But the Inspector was already talking to the brand-inspector. - -The door closed--and opened again to admit Stamford's head. - -"By the way, Inspector, I didn't tell you where I was going to take -my holiday." - -"You don't need to. The H-Lazy Z's as good as anywhere. Tell the -Professor--if you see him; the Double Bar-O's only ten miles -away--that I'm of the opinion that the schistosity of the -stratification in the flexure of the Cretaceous period exposed -thereabouts will simplify his investigations--or words to that -effect. Give my love to his sister." - -When the door closed again the Inspector ruminated. Then he -scribbled a message to the police back at Stamford's Ontario home and -called a constable to despatch it. - -"West," he said, wheeling suddenly on the brand-inspector, "you don't -happen in your wanderings to have come across two large dogs new to -the district--part Russian wolf, part greyhound, I believe? A week -ago they were under lock and key in the barracks corral. One night -they disappeared. Nobody seems to have seen or even heard them -go--and they were wild as wolves, with a howl that would shame a -husky on a Labrador island on a moonlight night." - -"Hm-m-m!" grunted the brand-inspector. "Large tracking dogs in the -Police corral--deductions obvious." - -"I don't care a hang for deductions. It's the dogs I want obvious. -I was depending on them to run down these measly cattle-thieves -who've been fooling my men all year. I thought maybe a good hound or -two----" - -"So did the cattle-thieves apparently," laughed West. - -"Therefrom comes one interesting deduction; the cattle-thieves are -local. But the stealing is too persistent and small to be otherwise." - -"And now, I suppose, you'll get another pair to track the first?" - -"No-o," replied the Inspector cheerfully. "It only makes another -mystery to solve. At one time this looked like being a dull summer." - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -AT THE H-LAZY Z - -Cockney Aikens was striding up and down the little gravel walk before -the ranch-house--the walk that Mary herself had built from the loose -rock of the river-bed--his hands thrust deep in his pockets. Mary, -raising her head sadly from her work to peer at him through the -window, read the symptoms. So did the cluster of grinning cowboys -from the darkened depths of the cookhouse. - -Presently Cockney stopped in his stride to stare off over the valley -to the opposite cliff, his eyes returning slowly to the trail and -away up it toward town, sixty miles away. - -Muck Norsley, from far back in the cook-house, looked through the -window, watch in hand. - -"Yer winning, Gin'ral, o.k. Jest about seventeen minutes now, I -reckon, and he'll be saddling--unless he has to black his boots and -crease his pants." - -Cockney turned suddenly, kicked two innocent stones into the grass, -and pushed open the ranch-house door. - -"Mary, I'm off to town." - -He spoke roughly. She lifted the sock she was darning and set it on -the table. - -"You'll take me this time, won't you, Jim?" - -"Haven't you enough here to keep you busy?" He would not meet her -eyes. "A fellow don't want a woman tagging after him every time he -goes to town." - -"He doesn't have her," she replied with quiet dignity. - -She might have told him that one of the troubles was that she had -_too much_ to do about the H-Lazy Z. Most of her married life had -been a drudgery, girls refusing to drown themselves in the isolation -of the Red Deer--sixty miles from town, without a living soul -between, and the nearest ranch ten miles to the east. Westward was -nothing but wilds for further than anyone had travelled. - -A tear squeezed into her eyes. He saw her struggling to hold it -back, and hastily retreated outside. - -The H-Lazy Z ranch may not have been quite equal to its reputation in -a district where not a dozen citizens had ever visited it, but it -could boast of luxuries--especially its ranch-house--that few other -ranches considered worth the trouble and expense. This ranch-house -was a two-story structure of numerous and ample rooms, erected by one -with money to spare and English ideas of expenditure. - -When Cockney Aikens selected his wife in a mid-Western American town -on one of the many unreasonable and indefinite trips he made in those -days to distant parts, he insisted on leaving her at her own home -until he had built for her a residence his uncertain conscience told -him was fit for a woman. - -In those days Mary Aikens wanted her Jim more than _any_ house but -Cockney was obdurate, with a stubbornness that hurt her lovesick -heart early in their married life. He had won her rapidly, with his -big, joyous, reckless ways, and his pictures of the life in the -Canadian West. With four years to look back on since she left the -Eastern seminary, her little body crammed with romance, his pictures -were all the more alluring from the monotonous similarity and -repetition of the letters of her late schoolmates, each of whom, -according to her own story, had captured the one and only sample of -real American manhood. - -When a girl's friends write month after month of home magnificence -that radiates largely round the conventional "carriage and pair" that -is the dream of schoolgirls, a whole ranch of horses and cattle looks -like the earmarks of a fairy prince, especially when they belong to -such a stunning big chap as Jim Aikens. - -Mary Aikens often looked back on those days now with a sad smile. -Jim was still the stunning big chap--at times. At other times---- -But that was the effect of Western haze. In the two years of their -married life she had never become really acquainted with her husband. -At the very moment--it happened again and again--when the sympathy -she craved was lifting the latch, Jim Aikens kicked it from the door -with brutal foot and rode madly off on the southern trail on one of -his periodical sprees in town. - -The ranch-house stood half way down a long slope that stretched -northward to the Red Deer River. A half-mile away, across a valley -that might have been a garden in a wilderness, rose a sheer line of -jagged cliffs, before which ran the tumbling river. Up and down the -stream, on both sides of it, sometimes crowding the current, -sometimes set back of a deep valley filled with weirdly protuberant -mounds of rock from about which the soft clays had been washed by the -rains and currents of ages, the cliffs were repeated. Only at long -intervals did the banks slope to the river as they did before the -H-Lazy Z ranch buildings, and that only on the southern shore. -Elsewhere the Red Deer rushed through hundreds of miles of a -hundred-and-fifty-foot canyon. - -Two hundred yards from the house--Dakota Fraley had insisted on the -distance--the cook-house, bunk-house, stables and corrals began, and -spread out over the eastern end of the valley in conventional -disarray, the bottom corral touching the rough beach that there lined -the river. Dakota had no stomach for skirts about the place, -especially the kind he imagined his wild master would bring. In that -he failed to understand Cockney. - -Before the ranch-house door Dakota met his partner retreating from -Mary's tears. Behind the foreman two or three cowboys lounged in the -open doorway. Three others rolled off toward the stables. - -Cockney stood still, watching them with lowering eyes. - -"Why the samhill, Dakota, do we need such a bunch of roughnecks about -the place?" he exploded. "Every time I see them they make me think -of a gang of Whitechapel foreigners fresh from Russia, or Hungary, or -Poland. If they hadn't guns on their hips, there'd be knives in -their bootlegs or stilettos up their sleeves." - -Dakota laughed in a nasty way. - -"Best bunch of cowpunchers in Alberta--in America, for that matter. -Look at the ranch they've made for you." - -Cockney made a wry face. "Gad! I could do without some of the -dollars for cheerier countenances about me. They look as if they'd -murdered their mothers and were looking for the rest of the family." - -"What's it matter to you," Dakota growled, "so long's they fix you up -for your gambling and boozing? You better cut butting in on -personnel. That's _my_ third of the partnership." - -Cockney was in a vile humour--that always came with his craving for -town; and his wife's wet eyes had not improved matters. - -"Don't forget, Dakota," he said, with deadly calmness, "it's only a -third. I provided all the capital." - -"And don't _you_ forget, _Mister_ Aikens, that I purvided all the -experience--and I'm still purviding it, far's anyone can notice--and -all the work and the worry. You better go and get drunk. We don't -need you. We got _real_ work to do." - -Cockney restrained himself. - -"What are you on now?" he enquired. - -Dakota's eyes fell. He turned about and looked back toward the -cook-house. - -"Oh, nothing special; just the usual rush. This time it's a lot of -riding, looking up a bunch of mavericks that uv been kicking up the -devil. Missed 'em in the round-up and they've got chirpy." - -"You're sure they're ours?" - -Dakota swung on him angrily. - -"What the h--l you mean? Think I'm rustling? _Shore_ they're ours. -They've gone rampaging down Irvine way with a little bunch of steers -that broke from the nighthawks a couple of days ago." - -"Be away long?" - -"Four or five days, I guess. You needn't worry your head. You -couldn't help none." - -Cockney made no reply, though he winced a little at the sneer. - -"Off to town, I see," jeered Dakota. "Best place for you--when you -feel that way. Taking the missus?" - -Cockney remained silent, thinking. - -"Or are you leaving her to us?" - -Without moving his feet, Cockney's great fist shot out and caught the -side of Dakota's head. As his back struck the prairie the cowboy -reached for his gun, but Cockney was on him with a bound, wrenching -one gun from his hand and another from a loose pocket in his chaps. -With one hand he lifted Dakota to his feet and released him. - -"I don't like the way you speak of my wife," he thundered. - -Dakota, helpless and a little cowed without his guns, glared his fury. - -"It's as good as you _treat_ her," he snarled. - -Cockney started. - -"She's my wife," he said, with a new dignity. - -"I don't know what you was brung up to, but in this country we'd -think that something to _show_, not just to talk about." - -"Don't let me hear you talking about her," warned Cockney, "or anyone -else," he added, raising his voice and looking over Dakota's shoulder -to the cook-house. - -He tossed the guns contemptuously at Dakota's feet and wheeled about. -The cowboy muttered oaths at his retreating back, and rubbed the -cords of his neck where the strain of the blow had come. - -Mary Aikens had seen nothing of the incident--her eyes were too wet. -With a dead weight at her heart she sank her head in her arms on the -table and let the tears flow. - -Cockney came on her that way and softly retreated, drawing the door -gently behind him. After a few noisy crunches among the gravel and a -preliminary kick to the outside step, he took a long breath and -entered. She was darning then, her head held low. He passed quickly -through to the bedroom door, but there he stopped, and, without -turning, stood with his hand on the knob. Then he disappeared. Ten -minutes later he reappeared in town attire. - -In Cockney Aikens' ways were so many strange conventions that his -friends had ceased to marvel at them. One of them was the formality -of his dress for his visits to Medicine Hat. His boots were soft, -light-soled, and natty, with drab cloth tops, like nothing ever seen -on the prairie before; his socks silken, with white clocks. A -delicate grey suit enclosed his huge frame in graceful lines that -betrayed their Bond Street origin. His collar was a straight white -upstanding affair with delicately rounded corners, and his cravat -Irish poplin or barathea--always one of these silks, the former with -a coloured diagonal stripe, the latter adorned with clusters of -flowers. Above it all rested a light grey hat. From his breast -pocket peeped the tips of chamois gloves, and on one little finger -was a curious ring of triple cameos. - -Mary Aikens always gasped when she saw him thus. It was thus she had -learned to love him, thus he had turned the heads of half the girls -of the northern United States towns from Seattle to Duluth. For -Cockney Aikens wore his clothes as one accustomed to them. One suit -he always kept in town at his tailor's, pressed and cleaned, changing -at each visit. - -His wife drew a sharp breath, forgetting that she was staring at him -with uplifted hand. The evil temper had left his face with his -leather chaps and neckerchief. He regarded her with an embarrassed -twist to his face. - -"Better get into your grey," he said, looking anywhere but into her -eyes. "I'll be ready for you in fifteen minutes." - -"Oh, Jim!" - -That was all. She dropped her darning on the table and fled -ecstatically to the bedroom. And big Cockney Aikens picked up the -ball of darning wool and kissed it furtively. - -By the time he was back from the stables with a lively team hitched -to a buggy, she was almost dressed, and a suitcase stood packed -outside the bedroom door. He drew a second suitcase from beneath the -bed and began to fill it with his ranch clothes. She watched him, -surprised. - -"Why, Jim, what are you taking those for?" - -He muttered something about going to do some riding perhaps, and -snapped the catches, hurrying out with the suitcase to the buggy. - -Mary bustled to the kitchen and began to lay various tins on the -table. A side of bacon she wrapped up and suspended from a hook in -the ceiling. When she was finished she stood back and struck off a -list on her fingers: - -"Bacon, flour, cheese, oatmeal, matches--there, I forgot the matches -again." - -He laughed. - -"Lord, Mary, you're still expecting visitors to this corner of the -moon!" - -She tilted her head. "You never know. We couldn't leave the house -with nothing to eat in it. Some day--perhaps---- We _should_ have -visitors----" She ended the sentence by a noisy clustering of the -tins, and ran to her suitcase. - -He took it from her hand and carried it out. One of the horses was -trying to get back into the buggy, but he quieted it with masterful -hand. With one foot on the step she paused. - -"Why--that's Pink Eye! He's never been harnessed before, has he?" - -"I've been breaking him to it. Good time to try him out on a long -trip like this. He'll have the spirit taken out of him in that sixty -miles--seventy by the Double Bar-O. We're going across there first. -Maybe Cherry Gerard would like to come too; you may be lonesome." - -"I don't want Cherry, Jim," she pouted. - -He lifted her in and took his seat beside her before he replied: - -"It's possible I'll be leaving you for a couple of days in there." - -She was looking straight ahead without a word of what was in her -mind. But as the horses galloped madly up the sloping trail to the -east her spirits rose, and she laughed exultantly. - -"Seventy miles won't tire Pink Eye," she gurgled. "He's steel." - -Dakota, standing before the door of the cook-house, watched them go, -scorning to reply to Mary Aikens' waving hand. It was Bean Slade, -emerging hastily from the interior of the shack, who returned it, as -Pink Eye and his mate tore along the indistinct eastern trail over -the edge of the prairie above. - -"Hoorah!" shouted Dakota, when the moving speck had vanished over the -ridge. - -"Hoorah!" responded a half-dozen voices; and the Dude and Alkali -seized each other for a musicless dance. - -"Dassent leave her t'yore tender mercies, Dakota, ole sport," chaffed -Alkali. "Yo're a reg'lar lady-killer, that's what yo are." - -"Oh, I dunno," grunted the Dude jealously, buttoning the loose front -of his brilliant vest. "There's others." - -"Go 'long with you, Dude," jeered General. "She never looks at you. -Jest about two days o' Dakota's slippery manners, and the missus ud -be shore climbing his neck." - -Bean Slade unwound his lanky legs from a chair and spat through the -doorway. - -"Yer a tarnation liar, Gin'ral. Not a doggone neck ud the missus -climb that she hadn't oughter. An' you're a dang lot o' sap-heads to -talk it." - -"You oughter know, Bean," grinned General. "Y'ain't licking her pots -fer nothing, I bet." - -Bean was on his feet so quickly that no one else had moved by the -time a chair whirled aloft in his hands. General slid to the cover -of the table in desperate haste. - -Dakota flung himself between them. - -"Drop it, you fools! Nobody's saying nothing again the missus, Bean. -They're just joshing you. You needn't get so touchy anyway; she -ain't _your_ wife." - -Bean, whose anger rose and fell with disturbing unexpectedness, -dropped the chair. - -"No sech luck!" he growled. "If she was I wudn't risk her where you -slimy coyotes was." - -Alkali broke in: - -"And now what's the agendar, Dakota? Takin' on that Irvine job this -week. 'T should be a good time with the boss away." - -Dakota screwed his eyes up thoughtfully. "That's what I had in mind." - -"No rifles this time," protested Bean Slade. "We've toted 'em once -too often--I don't know but _twice_ too often. Br-r-r! I won't ever -forget----" - -"Shut your clap, Bean! You've had your man in your day, heaps of -'em." - -"They allus had their chance," growled Bean. "No rifles, I say, or I -don't go." - -Three or four insulting guffaws greeted the threat. - -"The Reverend Beanibus Slade, him of Dead Gulch memory and Two-Shot -Dick fame, will now lead us in singing the twenty-third Psalm!" -scoffed General Jones. "Come along with us, Reverend sir--and bring -yore burial service." - -"I've said it," repeated Bean stubbornly. - -Dakota tried to oil the surface. "We don't need rifles this -time--it's an easy job.... But we'll shore miss the Kid. He shore -was the handy kid with the blinkers on a dark night, and he'd hold a -close second to yours truly with a gun. Poor Kid! I'd give my left -ear to get even with the guy that got him. I've a bit o' lead -resarved for him." - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -A LAMB AMONG THE LIONS - -"There y'are, mister. That's your place." - -Stamford unlimbered his stiffened legs and raised himself in the -buggy to look out over the valley of the H-Lazy Z. - -"It's my place all right," he moaned. "I don't care what ranch it -is. I didn't think Canada was so wide as that sixty miles of -prairie. Sixty miles! Humph! I've a complete set of disarticulated -bones that's ready to go into any witness box and swear it's at least -umpteen million miles, and then some." - -The youthful driver grinned. - -"Oh, you'd get used to that. I 'member when _I_ was raw----" - -"Look here, young man, for about eighteen hours you've been rubbing -my rawness into me. Lord knows you didn't need to! This rattly, -lumpy, jumpy bone-shaker you call a carriage would make any body raw -that's not made of cast-iron. How the dickens Cockney Aikens, to say -nothing of his wife and the ranch outfit, can contemplate that sixty -miles with sufficient equanimity to stick the job is beyond my -limited experience." - -"Golly, mister, Dakota Fraley--Two-Gun Dakota--bosses the outfit. -He's fit for anything." - -"Huh! Dakota seems to have a rep." - -"Dakota Fraley," confided the driver, "is a gunman, a dead shot with -either hand. He's lightning on the draw and was never known to miss -his man. He's the toughest of the tough, a broncho-buster that takes -all the prizes at the contests--and they say he's got so many men he -lost track years ago. But, say, he's a dead-game sport. Ju hear -about the police-court case--for shooting up the town that time?" - -Stamford knew every word of it, but the lad's story was worth -hearing, so he only looked interested. - -"He just ponied up seventy-five simoleons without a wink. I think -old Jasper was hoping he wouldn't have it, so he could send him down -for a couple of months. Gee, I wouldn't send Dakota Fraley down, not -by a long sight--least, not unless I was dying or something and -wouldn't be there when he got out. I wouldn't fool with Dakota -Fraley, no sir-ee!" - -Stamford heard it with fitting solemnity. - -"I suppose," he murmured, "that's how the books put it. I mustn't -blame him." - -"What d'you mean, mister?" - -"Oh, excuse me, lad. Don't mind me when I get wandering. I'm often -taken that way. The doctor says I'm not really dangerous." - -"Don't you go to wandering about _here_ or you'll get plumb lost." - -Stamford cast a furtive eye back on the sixty miles and shuddered. -Almost at daylight--and that meant about two-thirty a.m.--they had -pulled out of Medicine Hat, for he was determined to run no risk of a -night in the open. One he had had already, and was content. That -sixty miles of prairie hung behind him like a pall, too oppressive to -be relieved by its varied monotony. Here a line of unaccountable -sand-buttes, there a landscape of rolling sweeps like the billows of -a petrified sea, and sometimes a stretch of dullness that melted into -the horizon uncountable miles away; and over all but the sand-buttes -dead whispering grass, trembling in the blazing winds of midsummer, -and a lifelessness that was uncanny. - -His nerves were jangling still from the memory of it and, delighted -though he was at the end of his journey, sundry and impressive qualms -that resembled fear made him question his ability to cope with the -problem he had set himself. - -He raised himself on his arms before the house and tentatively -extended one dead foot, drew in his breath painfully, and held -himself erect by the buggy as both feet touched the ground. - -"There are the stables, I guess," he pointed out. "I confess I don't -know the proper thing to do with you. Will they feed you there or -here in the ranch-house?" - -The driver gathered up the reins. - -"They ain't going to have a chance to keep me neither places. I'm -not taking chances where Two-Gun Dakota is--me with no gun or -nothing. These broncs are good for another ten miles. I got a -friend over at the Double Bar-O. That's good enough for me." - -He tumbled Stamford's suitcase out, chirruped to the horses, and -rattled away eastward up the slope. - -Stamford was suddenly oppressed with the loneliness of things. About -the ranch-house was not a sign of life, and the ranch buildings two -hundred yards away seemed to be equally deserted. He glanced -hurriedly about and launched himself on the noisy gravel walk to the -door. He was thrilled with the vastness of things, the tremendous -silence, the frowning cliffs across the river, the pettiness of mere -man; the gravel crunched pleasantly under him as he walked. - -Receiving no reply to his persistent knocking, he lifted the latch. -The evidences of recent life within pleased him mightily, especially -the signs of a woman's presence. Mary Aikens' darning lay on the -table where she had dropped it. A pile of folded newspapers and -magazines covered the top of a smaller table against the wall, almost -crowding off a smoker's tray and pipestand. The pictures on the -walls, the shiny stove, the cushions piled with attractive abandon on -couch and chairs, and, above all, a piano--Stamford felt his spirits -rise. - -Here were luxury and art as he had not before seen them on the -prairie. Here was more than temporary makeshift. Here, he read, was -a woman determined to make life out there, sixty miles from the -nearest post office, railway station, and store, independent of its -isolation and inconveniences. - -He spied the open door to the kitchen and passed through, gathering -from the array of tin boxes that his host and hostess were more than -temporarily absent. It made him uncomfortable. His mind refused to -grasp the full significance of the situation in which he found -himself. - -He was wondering vaguely what to do, when the outer door burst -violently open, and he started like a thief caught in the act. -Dakota Fraley was standing in the doorway, peering about with an evil -frown. Through the kitchen doorway he caught sight of Stamford and -strode quickly across the sitting-room. - -"What you doing here?" - -Stamford's attempt at propitiation was a wan smile; his heart was -pattering uncomfortably. - -"Just as you entered, Dakota, I was wondering the same thing. Mr. -and Mrs. Aikens are not at home, I take it." - -"And won't be for a week, maybe," barked Dakota, standing with legs -wide, his thumbs caught in his belt. - -"I gathered that from the lay-out." - -"Tell 'em you was coming?" - -"No. I knew the rule of the prairie." - -"What rule?" - -"That a visitor is always welcome. Have they been pulling my leg in -that, too?" - -Dakota thought over that a moment. His dislike for the little editor -since the shooting-up scene, as well as for any visitor to the ranch, -inclined him to kick Stamford off the place. But there was Cockney -to reckon with. - -"There's nobody here to welcome you--you can see that," he grunted. - -"I was noting it," said Stamford quietly. - -"Look here, you two-by-four, none o' your insults. This is a mighty -big prairie to be alone on of a night ten miles from the next -stopping place. There's nicer things for a tenderfoot, I warn you." - -"But one of them isn't forcing myself on your society, Dakota Fraley. -Yet, at the moment you're my host by proxy; my lips are sealed." - -Dakota calmed. He was uncertain of the efficacy of anything but a -gun in dealing with insults, but to draw on such a little tenderfoot -was not to be thought of. - -"Driver coming back?" he asked. - -"By the way he galloped away I came to the conclusion he hoped never -to have to," smiled Stamford. - -"We'll lend you a horse." - -"Thanks, but I can walk better without one." - -"I see you walking ten miles at this hour o' the night, I do?" jeered -Dakota. - -"I wouldn't think of taking you from your own comfortable ranch for -such a trifling spectacle. I won't mind if you take it for -granted.... But perhaps a horse would be company. Lead me to it." - -He pushed past Dakota and started toward the ranch buildings, the -foreman following, obviously ill at ease. As they neared the -cook-house door a sly smile crossed the latter's face. Several -cowboys came out. - -"I've found it, boys!" yelled Dakota, with a wide grin. "The only -and original tenderfoot--guaranteed to eat peas with a fork, crease -his pants every month, say 'fudge' when he means 'damn,' and take a -saddle-horn for the back of a rocking chair. Only he doesn't like -us. He's decided to move on. We're bold bad men. Alkali, trot out -Joe-Joe." - -Dakota's grin repeated itself in several faces. Stamford, aware that -silence was safest, said nothing until Dakota was through. - -"It's a shame to inflict myself to the extent of a horse on your -already overtaxed hospitality," he said. "I promise to pay livery -rates." - -"Best put it on yer will, ole hoss, an' right now," drawled Bean -Slade through the whiffs of a cigarette. - -Stamford looked up with a glint of understanding. - -"My executors will naturally pay my debts first--if my estate is -equal to it." - -"Yu seem to like Heaven best, kid," muttered Bean. "It's close up to -here--the way yu're going." - -"One might be forgiven for preferring the other place," replied -Stamford. "At least there's only one devil there." - -The cowboys grinned appreciatively. - -"Best call it off, Dakota," suggested Bean. - -Dakota frowned. - -"If you geezers know of any quicker way of getting off the H-Lazy Z -than by Joe-Joe, trot the idea out and let's look at it, and -precipitous-like." - -Joe-Joe, a mule-faced, conscience-stricken creature, with a scraggly -tail that never stopped flicking, came humbly up at the rear of -Alkali, bridle and saddle having been adjusted in the stables to an -accompaniment of clatter that confirmed Stamford's suspicions. Still -he had no thought of funking. He reached out for the rein. - -His hand was pushed roughly aside, and Bean Slade vaulted into the -saddle, cigarette between his lips. With a touching appeal in his -wandering eyes Joe-Joe looked about on the unsympathetic audience, -then, with a jerk that was startling even to see, he lowered his -head, arched his back, and leaped straight up with stiffened legs, -all part of one movement. - -When he landed, every bone in Bean's lanky body rattled; and before -they had time to rearrange themselves Joe-Joe was in the midst of a -new gyration that loosened Bean's sombrero and cigarette. - -The cowboys looked on, laughing, darting sly glances at Stamford to -see how he was taking his escape. Dakota was divided between anger -at Bean's interference, and satisfaction at the trepidation on the -little editor's face. Joe-Joe continued to leap and twist and kick, -Bean shouting encouragement and slapping the steaming thigh behind -him; but when the horse straightened out for a run, his rider freed -his feet and slid over his rump. - -"Our show outlaw," he explained to Stamford, stooping to recover hat -and cigarette. "Yu can see why yu'd need to say yer say in yer will." - -Dakota accepted his defeat with a laugh. He had had his fun, and the -sympathies of the outfit were against him. - -"Any other ladylike nags about the place you'd like to break for us, -my little man?" he gibed, clapping Stamford on the back. "The H-Lazy -Z's at your disposal." - -"Thanks, Dakota, then I'll stay a while." - -Bean Slade shoved out a long, limp hand. - -"Bully fer you! Yu've got the guts!" - -"If you're going to kick about till the boss comes back," said -Dakota, "you'd better shake hands with the bunch. Give your hoof to -Alkali Sam. Alkali wasn't christened that--if he was ever christened -at all. Somebody musta been reading a wild-West story and thought -Sam looked like the leading villain. It's commonly hinted he -christened himself. He's a would-be devil, a gen-u-ine bad actor--in -his own mind. Alkali'd rather be called that than get his man on the -draw. It saves a lot o' shooting--and it's less dangerous, a rep -like that. - -"And this one--where's your flapper, Muck?--he's Muck Norsley. -Nothing's too dirty for muck--hence, Muck. - -"The Dude there has been known to take a bath, comb his hair with -axle grease, and change his shirt, all in the same year. Dude, you -ain't doing us justice. Your neckerchief--well, it's a bit mussed, -and a tailor might improve them chaps. Look nifty for the gent. - -"General Jones derives his cognomen, so to speak--not from the army, -bless you, no, but because he's generally drunk, generally loafing, -generally a cuss. No one thinks his name's Jones, least of all the -Police. And that's why General's so popular. - -"Bean Slade, here, forced his name on us. He has to stand up seven -times to make a shadow. When the wind's ripping things to -kingdom-come we send Bean out to do the punching; he just turns -sideways. Truth is, Bean's the lady-killer o' the bunch, that is, -when Dude's not in glamorous garb. Oh, Bean's the sly one. There's -only one lady in ten miles here, and Bean's her lady's-maid. Meaning -nothing vulgar," he added hastily at sight of Bean's glowering brows. -"Even in town Bean looks at every female as if she's val'able china -and li'ble to be broke." - -Stamford, conscious of his incapacity to reply in kind, solemnly -shook the offered hands; which tickled them. The Dude first rubbed -his palm on the side of his chaps, General Jones pumped his arm until -his head shook, and Muck Norsley murmured something he'd heard -somewhere about being glad to meet him. Bean Slade muttered a -sheepish "Ta-ta!" and preferred his package of cigarettes. - -The frowsy-headed cook thrust his face through the back doorway and -announced that "chuck" was on, and, in the fading light of a late -summer night--where the sun sinks about ten o'clock in -mid-summer--Stamford seated himself before his first meal with a -family of cowboys, a bit uncertain of the good taste of dining with -an unwilling host, but determined now to carry the adventure to the -end. - -Throughout the meal, which seemed to Stamford's hungry but as yet -fastidious taste to consist largely of pork and beans, with a later -stratum of pie, there was a disposition among the others to show off, -developing quickly, as Stamford's interest grew, to an effort at fun -at his expense--not meanly, but with a twisted idea of sustaining -their reputations before a tenderfoot. Stamford felt something of it -but, not knowing how to receive it, concentrated on the meal. In -that he unconsciously did well; so that when the pie was well washed -down with strong coffee he remained the butt of their fun, but with -less malice than before. - -Muck Norsley's appetite seemed insatiable. When the others had drawn -back and were smoking the package of cigarettes that was a special -recognition of visitors, he continued to munch at the last piece of -pie--his fourth, Stamford was certain--swallowing noisily from his -coffee cup, the spoon held in the practised crook of his first finger. - -"Muck always was delicate," said Dakota, by way of apology. "Don't -you know, Muck Norsley, that it ain't good manners to eat when -everyone's through?" - -"Everyone ain't through," replied Muck. "I ain't. It mightn't be -good manners, but it's good pie. Anyway, this is supper, not -sassiety. If that isn't so, tell yer pal and fellow-villain to take -his feet outen my coffee." - -Alkali pushed his feet further on the table, brushing aside the -dishes, and relit his cigarette. - -"You big lubber, you!" yelled Muck. "Can't yer see this is comp'ny? -You know yer dassent do it when we're alone, you--you insult ter -decency!" - -"Muck," warned Alkali gravely, tossing the match over his shoulder, -"yo know how easy I'm roused. I've et bigger men'n yo fer breakfast." - -"Alkali Sam," returned Muck, with equal gravity, "I ast yer tuh -remove them blots on the innercent habits o' the H-Lazy Z seminary -fer perlite young ladies. I don't often ask twice." - -Alkali ostentatiously loosened his Colt. - -"Here, Dakota, take this toy while I'm good-tempered. We ain't got -time fer no funeral." - -Stamford caught the wink that accompanied Alkali's toss of the -revolver before his face, but it did not prepare him for the -explosion that filled the room the instant it touched Dakota's hand. -The bullet whistled so close that he ducked. - -When he straightened, Dakota was looking into the smoking muzzle of -the Colt with an air of intense surprise. - -"Funny things, guns!" murmured the foreman. - -"Darn funny!" growled Stamford, taking fresh hold of himself. - -The smile he saw flitting over the faces of the cowboys had warned -him that he was the victim of a bit of gun-play dangerous in the -hands of less expert gunmen than Alkali and Dakota. - -Muck Norsley swept his hand over the table, scooping up a sample of -the flies that had all through the meal been robbing Stamford of some -of his appetite, fished two from his coffee, and carried them to the -door, where he gravely released them. - -"I never did like the flavour of them flies," he muttered. "Now over -in Dakota they come----" - -During his absence at the door Alkali had liberally replenished the -supply of flies in his cup, and Muck, noticing the disturbance in the -liquid as he was about to swallow it, promptly despatched it into -Alkali's face. - -Before he could defend himself, Alkali was on his shoulders, punching -wildly. Muck heaved himself to his feet, caught Alkali about the -waist in a bearlike hug and, burying his face in his tormentor's -stomach, seemed to be eating him alive. - -Alkali beat himself free, howling all the time, and rubbed his -stomach as if in terrible pain. - -"Gi' me the gun, Dakota, gi' me the gun! Quick! I'll fill the -ring-boned, wind-galled, spavined son-of-a-gun so full o' holes----" - -"Alkali always was fluent," applauded Dakota. - -The two men were fighting round and round the room, striking -awkwardly, cursing, bunting with their heads. The others retreated -to the two doorways and the corners, making no move to separate them. -Stamford circled the table with bulging eyes; he had never seen -anything so furious and brutal before. - -Alkali fell over a chair, and Muck, seizing another, whirled it -aloft. But Alkali squirmed beneath the table, grabbed Muck by the -feet, and brought him down with a crash. Seated astride him, he -leaned over his victim, punching with both fists. Muck struggled -vainly for a moment, then seemed to give up in sheer weariness. -Alkali gave a blood-curdling yell and jabbed his fingers at the -helpless man's eyes. - -In the dimming light Stamford seemed to see the horrible gouging as -in a dream. - -"Stop him! Stop him!" he screamed. - -Alkali whooped his triumph and reached to the table for a knife. -High above his victim he drew it back, gloating over the blow that -would clench his victory. - -"Not by a darn sight!" yelled Stamford, hurdling a fallen chair and -kicking with all his might at the uplifted wrist. - -Alkali uttered a howl of real pain and clambered to his feet. To -Stamford's bewilderment Muck followed him, grinning, but sidling -between the irate Alkali and his new foe. The injured man cursed -volubly, holding his wrist with the other hand, then he plunged -toward his gun, which lay on the table. But Bean Slade's long leg -flashed out, and the gun rattled away to a corner. - -"Yu got what was comin' tuh yu, you goat. Swallow yer medicine. -Thought yu was puttin' it over on the li'l fellow, eh? Looks 's if -he's got the last laugh." - -"He's broke my wrist!" howled Alkali, hopping about. - -"Get out!" jeered Bean. "Yer shure a soft bad-man. A li'l scrunt -like him put yu out o' business! Haw! Haw!" - -Stamford was squirming beneath a burden of chagrin at the revelation -that all the time they had been poking fun at the tenderfoot. - -"Funny thing, feet!" he murmured, contemplating his small shoes. - -"Darn funny!" growled Dakota. - -Stamford slept at the ranch-house and took his meals in the -cook-house. It suited him perfectly--in spite of flies and -mosquitoes. His search for health was accepted without question -among cowboys who imagined that poor health was the curse of every -tenderfoot, the dose being multiplied in one of such limited -proportions. General Jones expressed the conviction that a month of -roughing it would make him so eager for "home and mother" that bad -health would look attractive by comparison; and Bean slyly suggested -that what Stamford needed to buck him up was a few more -rough-and-tumbles like the lickin' he gave Alkali. - -Dakota looked into his guileless eyes and ridiculed himself for -having tried to get rid of him. - -Early next morning, before Stamford had made up for the sleeplessness -of the first part of the night in a lone house on the prairie, -surrounded by a million shrieking coyotes, a conference took place in -the cook-house. The result of it was reported in part to him by the -information that he and Bean Slade and the cook would have the ranch -to themselves for the next few days. Stamford asked a few questions, -but his ignorance of ranching deprived the replies of most of their -significance. For four days, therefore, he and Bean developed the -strange friendship that had commenced with Dakota's personal attack -in the shooting-up of Medicine Hat, and had been strengthened by the -scenes of his first evening on the ranch. - -At the end of that time Dakota returned with three strange cowboys in -the best of spirits. The three strangers, Stamford learned, were -other members of the outfit whose work was in more intimate touch -with the herds. - -"Ten bucks for you, Bean!" Dakota announced jubilantly. - -Stamford looked his enquiry. - -"He's raisin' my wages fer lookin' after you," Bean explained; and -everyone laughed. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -COCKNEY'S MYSTERIOUS RIDE - -Long after midnight of the short summer night, Cockney Aikens and his -wife drove up to the Provincial Hotel, the team in a lather but Pink -Eye with lots of the devil left. Mary climbed down and pounded up -the night clerk, and Cockney, given the stable key, took the team -back himself. - -As he emerged from the lane leading to the stables, a Mounted -Policeman, riding in late from patrol, pulled up before him and -stooped to see his face. - -"What's on at this hour, Cockney?" - -The big rancher straightened furiously. - -"Say! Some day I want to get somewhere where a bunch of interfering -red-coats aren't dogging my steps." - -The Policeman laughed. "I'm afraid you'll have trouble doing that in -this country." - -"Then I'll go back home, where a man's his own boss." - -"It didn't seem to suit you so well when you were there." - -"What do you mean?" Cockney's tone was almost a bellow. - -"Sh-h!" soothed the Policeman. "Everyone's in bed but ourselves. I -suppose if you'd liked England so well you'd have stayed there. No -one in Canada sent for you, did they?" - -Cockney wheeled about and stalked up the Provincial steps, the -Policeman watching him until the door closed behind him. - -Cockney Aikens hated the Mounted Police. In all his life nothing had -so roused the depths of hatred usually dormant in his big body. If -one came within sight he swore beneath his breath--or aloud, -according to the company. He thought and spoke the worst of them, -and his unqualified dislike was unwilling to accord them any credit, -would grant no conceivable purpose they fulfilled. On the trail he -passed them without so much as nodding, and the very few patrols that -wandered at long intervals to the vicinity of the H-Lazy Z avoided -the sullen hospitality of its owner. - -The cause of this settled hatred was as simple and unreasonable as -that which lay at the root of most of Cockney's emotions. - -Early in his career in the Medicine Hat district, when he was "going -the pace" more recklessly than since his marriage, one of his -uncontrolled orgies of drinking and gambling had brought him hard -against the red-coats, and he had learned what a ruthless wall they -are for wrong-doers to butt against. - -Medicine Hat was not a wild town, as cow-towns go. Drinking that -threw a man on the street in a condition dangerous to himself or -others was discouraged with a firm hand, but gambling, so long as it -kept under cover, was winked at by the town policeman as the least -objectionable of the many vices common to a section that lived -largely on its nerve. - -Whether there was more in it than that for the policeman was open to -question. Poker, and other card games of less skill and more -manipulation, were available to anyone who knew the ropes. A daring -stranger to town had reported to a local friend, who happened to be -an usher in the Methodist Church, that the town policeman himself had -directed him to a game in progress--but this was challenged when it -came up before the town council. One resort, the basement under a -barber shop on Toronto Street, was Cockney's favourite den; and, with -the gambling instincts of the Englishman, and copious additions -developed within himself, his evenings in the fetid atmosphere of -smoke and whisky were times of fever to more than himself. - -One night, unlucky, urged to stake more than he had ready money to -meet, he emerged from the den in a vile temper, convinced that the -cards had been stacked but unable to prove it before a crowd of -blood-suckers frankly hostile to him. At the moment the town -policeman happened to be on his rounds in that quarter, and in sheer -wantonness, Cockney banged his helmet into the roadway; and when the -policeman seemed to show resentment, he was tossed after his helmet. -But a Western policeman, town or Mounted, faces such contingencies -with the donning of his uniform, and Mason returned to the attack -with drawn baton. Mason, baton and all, proved scarcely exercise for -big Cockney Aikens. - -Unfortunately two Mounted Policemen, attracted by the crowd that had -trickled up from nowhere, arrived on the scene. - -It was a brave struggle while it lasted, and four bodies ached from -it for several days, but it ended with Cockney securely locked in the -cells. _In the cells!_ The big fellow came to himself and cried -like a child. - -But his shame was only commencing. Next morning the scene of his -disgrace was transferred to the police court, where Cockney, with -bowed head, scarcely heard the sentence of fifty dollars or thirty -days. He realised it when he discovered that his account at the bank -was drained to the last ten dollars to pay the fine, owing to heavy -recent drafts thereon in settlement of his winter accounts and the -purchase of new stock for the ranch. - -_And there remained unpaid his gambling losses of the previous night._ - -That was most terrible of all. When that afternoon he slunk from -town with forty dollars of gambling debts recognised only in IOU's, -his shame was complete. - -In his mind the Mounted Police were entirely to blame. Before they -interfered he was having only an exhilarating frolic with Mason. It -was that strange hold of one of the red-coats--it almost broke his -neck, and twisted his arm so that it still ached--that did the thing. - -And so, with the capacity for stubborn hatred that required much -rousing but defied conciliation, he never forgave them. They had -besmirched his honour--for four months he was ashamed to show himself -in the den under the barber shop--and nothing could remove the stain. -He would grind his teeth and swear that if a Mounted Policeman were -dying at his feet for a glass of water he would not stoop to give it -to him. - -When Cockney entered their bedroom in the hotel he was too angry to -speak. Mary was waiting for him, thoughtfully rocking in an old -rocker that was supposed to make cosy a room that had outlasted its -decorations and furnishings years ago. He glanced at her swiftly, -but whatever she had in mind, his sullen mood seemed to alter it. - -The clerk knocked and enquired if anything was wanted. - -"Yes," cried Cockney, "a big whisky--straight." - -His wife studied him anxiously as she went about preparing to retire. -The hideous life that would be hers for the next few days was -commencing earlier than usual. Yet she was thankful to be there to -look after him. - -Me seized the glass when it was handed through the crack of the door, -stared at it a second, and placed it on the washstand untouched. - -"I'll be away for a few days," he told Mary casually, as he washed. -"You'd better sleep in; it's been a stiff day for you." - -"You've had seventy miles of Pink Eye to hold," she reminded him. -"You need the rest more than I do." - -He laughed bitterly. "Rest? There's no rest for me now for--maybe -for months. I'll be back about--about Saturday, I think." - -She knew the folly of asking questions, but she noticed that the -whisky was not touched. - -She seemed to have been asleep only a few minutes when she felt him -lean over and gently kiss her. She did not open her eyes until he -was fully dressed in his ranch clothes. - -"Don't worry," he muttered, seeing she was awake; and went out on -tiptoe. Though it was broad daylight, no one was yet stirring about -the hotel. - -When she awakened later and realised how thoughtlessly in her -weariness she had let him go without trying to wring from him his -destination, she dressed hurriedly and went to the stables. Pink Eye -was gone--Pink Eye, like his master, untirable. It made her -thoughtful, and with thought came a sigh that deepened the lines -about her eyes. - -On Saturday he returned. He rode quietly into the stable yard, -handed his horse to the ostler, and sought his room. He was -clear-eyed, but heavy with fatigue. Without undressing he dropped to -the bed and was asleep before Mary could draw the curtains. - -Out in the stable Pink Eye was as weary as his master. - -Mary Aikens went into the streets, and in the post office heard the -latest gossip--a new case of cattle-thieving off toward Irvine. For -hours she walked up and down the streets with a terrible ache at her -heart. - -That night her husband sent her to a show in the "opera house," while -he broke loose up in the Toronto Street den and lined the pockets of -the usual sharpers on the look-out for reckless fools. Through a -wretched performance she sat without grasping even its general idea, -miserable, lonely, trembling with indecision. On her return to the -hotel she borrowed a railway time-table from the hotel clerk and took -it to her room. For a long time she sat rocking, staring into space, -her face pale, her little fists clenched in the fight she was making, -and at last carried the time-table down unopened. - -She hungered to get away from it all, to sink her streaming eyes in a -mother's lap, to feel about her arms that sympathised without -questioning. But her pride, and a curious feeling about Jim, kept -her to the duty she had undertaken when she stood beside Jim Aikens -at the altar. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -STAMFORD'S SURPRISES COMMENCE - -Cockney and Mary Aikens returned home to find Morton Stamford -established at the ranch. He had enlisted Bean Slade's special -interest in an effort to maintain himself in a saddle long enough to -sink asleep at night, sore but happy, with the thrill of having -ridden a horse. For his use Bean had selected a broncho burdened -with the name of Hobbles, "because she acts that way," Bean -explained. Not a cowboy on the ranch would bind himself to Hobbles' -limited capacities--more correctly, to Hobbles' mild manner of -getting about. When Stamford had learned that the horn was not a -handle, he discovered, as he thought, unsuspected resources in -Hobbles. He confided it to Bean. - -"Humph!" replied the cowboy. "Yu can't tell me nothin' about -Hobbles' speed. She can cover the ground, but look at the way she -does it. No self-respectin' cow-puncher wants to get about in a -rocking-chair--an' that's about how much life _she_ has." - -So Stamford was content to reserve Hobbles' unconventionalities for -himself, convinced that under his developing horsemanship Hobbles and -he might yet be able to face a ten-mile ride without quailing. - -His reception by his host and hostess was bewildering in its -fluctuations. At first Mary welcomed him with enthusiasm that was -almost pathetic. Cockney closed his lips and went about the chores -in the house necessary after a protracted absence. - -"I guess the Provincial meals got too much for me," Stamford -explained. "My doctor prescribed rest, exercise, no worry. It's the -cheapest treatment I ever took. I remembered your invitation, Mrs. -Aikens." - -Cockney examined his wife with raised brows. - -"Or rather," Stamford hastened to correct, "the invitation I twisted -your words into that day at Dunmore Junction. Already I feel -rewarded, not only in a new vigour that has made me almost -reckless----" - -"Don't let your recklessness run away with you." advised Cockney -quietly, pausing in his efforts to blow the kitchen fire into a flame. - -"Already," continued Stamford, "I can ride--_ride_. At least, to-day -I stuck to Hobbles for ten minutes, and almost chose my spot to fall -on. Only I didn't see the cactus. If you don't mind, I'll eat off -the piano to-night." - -"I can assure you, Mr. Stamford," said Mrs. Aikens, "that the H-Lazy -Z will be your debtor as long as you can stay. Jim will say the -same." - -But Jim did not say the same--at least not then. Though Bean Slade -and the cook had arrived from the cook-house, Cockney bore the brunt -of the kitchen fire. He remained bent over it, blowing and watching, -until the flame burned bright. - -"There isn't a ranch in the country closed to strangers at any time," -he said, slowly rising from his knees and bending to brush them off. - -A sensible embarrassment filled the room. Stamford felt the chill of -it, but the look he surprised on Mary Aikens' face prompted him to -ignore it. - -"Of course there's danger of a tenderfoot out-Westing the West when -he gets started," he said lightly. - -"Don't worry," said Cockney, more genially. "We'll hold you to the -conventions." - -Stamford was indignant inwardly. Though he had made himself -Cockney's guest to prove his faith in his host justified, he felt a -twinge of shame at accepting such lukewarm hospitality. - -"You know, Mary, I thought I noticed a difference in the last issue -of the _Journal_." Cockney's spirits were unaccountably rising. "It -seemed newsier, better written." - -"I suppose," said Stamford, "like an old employer of mine, you -consider editors necessary evils to justify the existence of the -advertising man. Smith will get along all right with the _Journal_. -I figured that an anæmic paper for a few weeks is better than a dead -editor for a long time--at least from my point of view. In my -efforts to uplift Western journalism I seem to have pitted a puny -constitution against a vigorous tradition that all stomachs look -alike to the Provincial. This little body was beginning to buck." - -Mary Aikens had brought from town another visitor, a small -fox-terrier that Cockney had picked up somewhere, he did not remember -where. He only knew that when he woke one morning he was forty-seven -dollars out and a fox-terrier in. Mary was delighted. It surprised -her that she had not thought of it before. Cockney was less -enthusiastic. He was oppressed with sundry misgivings of the manner -in which he had come by the dog, and out there on the Red Deer was no -place for a miserable little creature no decent coyote would make two -bites of. - -Imp had accepted the ranch from the moment of his arrival as his own -special possession, and its occupants as created for his exclusive -amusement. He was as keenly interested in the rousing of the kitchen -fire as was Cockney, considered Bean Slade a rather boring plaything, -favoured Stamford with a tentative sniff, but for his mistress had a -deep though undemonstrative affection. - -Dakota Fraley lounged over from the bunk-house and stood in the front -doorway, tapping on the frame to attract attention. - -"Here's something you'll be interested in, Dakota," called Mrs. -Aikens. "I managed to get a couple of Montana papers for you. Why, -look at Imp!" - -Imp, christened more in hope than descriptively, was crawling to -Dakota's feet, head outstretched, tail invisible. - -Dakota smiled. "They all do it. Never seen the dog yet didn't get -on his belly to me. Here! Up you get! Better go back to your -missus; she's jealous." - -The dog raised himself obediently, but with cringing body, and slunk -back to Mrs. Aikens, where he seated himself sideways in the shadow -of her skirts, watching Dakota. - -"Just came to tell you, Mr. Aikens, that I'd best get Pink Eye out of -harness instanter or he'll get himself out, and mess up the ranch in -doing it." - -Stamford remembered then that, in the fever of his new ranch life, he -had forgotten to shave that day. He excused himself and retired to -his room, which adjoined the sitting-room on the ground floor. -Cockney went with Dakota to the front door. - -"Thanks, Dakota!" he was saying. "Pink Eye's going to make a driver -all right. I may use him a lot. He's got----" - -The rest of the sentence was drowned in the closing of the door, but -more of their conversation came to Stamford through the open window. - -"Get those cattle, Dakota?" - -Dakota shouted to Pink Eye before replying: - -"Found a dozen or so." - -"Far away?" - -"Down toward the railway--east." - -The cowboy busied himself pulling Pink Eye to an even keel. - -"Funny thing happened," he said. "Spooky rider got through the -night-hawks the first night and pretty near stampeded the bunch. -General got a shot at him--a big fellow, the boys say, riding a devil -of a broncho--but we couldn't find any trace of him when it got -light.... We found some tracks though," he added slowly. - -There was an appreciable period of silence before Dakota went on: "I -got my eye peeled for him. He'll be bucking better shooting eyes -than General's next time." - -The whip cracked and the buggy rattled off to the stables. Stamford, -peeping through the window, his cheeks in a lather, saw Cockney look -after the retreating team a moment, then strike away to the stables. - -Shaved and freshly clad in a white tennis shirt, Stamford emerged -from his room and found Mary Aikens superintending the preparations -for the night meal. Bean Slade was peeling potatoes, a big grin on -his blushing face, and a large blue apron before him that Mary had -insisted on tying under his chin. The cook from the ranch cook-house -was mixing something on the table, while the mistress was diving into -cupboards and shelves with the stores she had brought from town. - -She hastened to meet Stamford in the sitting-room, a strange -constraint in her manner. While she nervously set about laying the -table, he occupied himself with Imp. He wondered what she had to say -to him that required so much courage. - -"I'm afraid you'll find time hang heavily on your hands here." - -She was leaning across to straighten a corner of the tablecloth, and -he could not see her face. - -"I'm not afraid of that," he replied, giving Imp a poke. - -"We've--we've never had visitors before." A flush stole softly into -her cheeks. "You've selected the last ranch to suit your -purpose--though it's healthy enough, I suppose. The Double Bar-O -now--there are young people there. And the Circle-Arrow further -east." - -Apparently he was busy poking Imp's fat sides, but beneath his brows -he glanced at her again and again as she spoke. For some sudden -reason she did not wish him to stay. That suspicion determined his -course. - -"In five days," he declared, "there have been no premonitory twinges -of lonesomeness. And if, with only three of us on the ranch for -three days----" - -"Only three? What do you mean?" - -"Bean Slade, cookie, and I--that was all." - -"Weren't---- Where were Dakota and the others?" - -"Down south somewhere--Irvine way, I think they said, in search of -strays." - -"O-oh!" - -She stopped on her way to the kitchen and turned into her bedroom. - -Stamford became suddenly aware of Bean Slade's lanky, blue-aproned -figure lolling in the kitchen doorway. - -"Yer shure lucky," said Bean, "gettin' the missus to cook yer meals, -'stead o' cookie. Mebbe we'll miss yu--fer the meals. Not to say -cookie here ain't a real shuff when he likes, but he don't like -nowhar 'ceptin' here at the ranch-house. Look at that, now!" He -turned to watch the cook relentlessly pursue a stray fly that had -managed to squirm through the screen door at the back, where a great -number of its fellows, attracted by the odour and heat, were -jealously prying about for entrance. "One measly li'l insec' gi's -him the pip here; out at the cook-house he can sarve flies -twenty-seven different ways without overlappin'. But lookee here, -Mr. Stamford"--he leaned into the room and spoke in a whisper--"don't -yu go fer to tell all yu heard us croakin' out there. The boss -mightn't like it." - -Stamford felt a glow of elation that Bean, in his innocence, had -furnished him with a clue, but before he could follow it up, Mary -Aikens came thoughtfully back and went about her work. Bean slunk -back into the kitchen and nosed about for his own special fly. - -Mary was in the act of reaching to a cupboard, when her hand stopped -and she turned to the window. An exciting sense of nervousness and -unrest about the ranch made Stamford's heart leap. He moved -restlessly in his chair. - -"Listen!" - -The dull thud of hoofs and the rattle of wheels drew them both to the -door. A buckboard was coming drunkenly down the eastern trail, its -horses, under the direction of an inexpert--or drunken--driver, -uncertain of what was expected of them. The smallest deviation from -the beaten track meant that one horse was mounting the ridge and the -other the prairie at the side, the wheels following them in jerks -from the deep ruts in the black loam worn by the unanimous track of -every previous vehicle and horse. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE FOSSIL-HUNTERS - -Stamford raised his eyes from the wobbling wheels to the seat of the -buckboard. Instantly he felt, rather than saw, that it was the -Professor and his sister. Beside him Mary Aikens was puzzled, with a -nervous mingling of surprise and amusement. With the instinct of her -sex her hand went to her dark hair, and a quick eye fell to the -spotless apron and moved on to her neatly clad feet. - -When the buckboard was near enough to make out the Professor's -extended hands on the lines, his fierce concentration on the horses' -ears, his braced feet, and the threatening bounce of his body as the -wheel mounted the ridge, the spectators in the ranch-house could not -control their laughter. For the sake of politeness Mary temporarily -withdrew. - -With several stentorian and anxious "whoas" the buckboard came to a -stop at the end of the gravel walk, and Isabel Bulkeley, with a sigh -of relief, bounded out. - -"Amos," she announced, "hereafter _I_ drive." - -The Professor, an amusing figure of mingled satisfaction and relief, -protested. - -"Now _I_ think I did that rather well. Take the exact end of the -walk and the centre of the buggy--I'm not more than a yard or two -out. It's that left horse that dislikes me. I feel as if I must -expend myself on that line--and the other horse responds too. When I -get time I'm going to invent a separate line for each horse--if only -for the use of amateurs. As it is now, if one horse is of a contrary -disposition----" - -He had leaped over the wheel and was diving a hand into a box in the -back of the buckboard, rummaging among bits of rock. - -"Isabel! Isabel Bulkeley! Where's that Allosaurus vertebra? -Oh--yes, here it is. Goodness, how it frightened me!" He raised his -head and beamed on them through his large spectacles. "Do you know, -I don't believe I've lost a thing--except confidence in my driving." - -An enormous handkerchief emerged from his coat pocket and mopped his -forehead. The hand that held the lines gripped them so firmly that -the horses were backing on him. - -"Whoa!" he shouted, pulling harder. "Mr.--Mr. Stamford, will you -give to this equine problem the touch I seem to lack? If you don't, -I'm going to drop these flimsy bits of leather and take the brutes in -my arms. - -"Some day," he went on, when Stamford had taken the reins, "I hope -posterity will unearth the bones of that brute on the left--and grind -them to dust. Yes, I do. Sometimes I can be really blood-thirsty. -But," he grinned, "I wouldn't be surprised if they found mine at the -same time, with Gee-Gee--what funny names you give your horses!--with -Gee-Gee sitting on my chest enjoying his last laugh." - -Mary Aikens, her eyes brimming with tears, had rushed to meet Isabel -with a hungry welcome that was pathetic, seizing her hand in both her -own; and Isabel, after a moment of surprise she could not conceal, -flushed a little and responded with moisture in her eyes. But the -few moments of the Professor's dilemmas had served to conceal the -little scene that recorded more of the story of Mary Aikens' lonely -life than she would willingly have exposed. - -They were standing now, hand in hand, laughing on the two men. To -Mary it was enough that, for the first time, another woman was to -cross the threshold of the H-Lazy Z. Isabel was still, Stamford -thought, the fond sister who took as much amusement as anyone from -her brother's artlessness. - -She turned to her hostess. "This is not merely a flying visit, Mrs. -Aikens. Amos--my brother--was dissatisfied with his searching down -the river. We hoped you wouldn't mind letting us camp on your ranch -here while he pokes about the banks." - -Beside the buckboard Professor Bulkeley was making the same request -of Cockney, who had come hurriedly up from the stables. - -"The Double Bar-O--that is, I believe, the technical name--seems to -have been unpopular among dying dinosaurs and their forbears. -Whether one should infer from that that they avoided the locality as -unhealthy, or found it so healthy they couldn't die there, does not -appear in the evidence. All I found there we know as much about -already as about last year's weather or the origin of mumps. The -further I prodded west, the more promising the outlook. This bit of -bone, for instance, is, I believe, of the Upper Jurassic period. The -Double Bar-O region is by comparison disreputably modern--not earlier -than the Miocene. This bone appears to be blood-cousin to a -megalosaurus we received once from England. It has all the----" - -"I'm not quite following you, Professor." Cockney was struggling to -keep his face straight. - -"No, no, of course not. I'm--I'm apt to forget there are _people_ -live in the nineteenth century. I suppose they have their purpose in -the scheme of life--for our progeny of the five-hundredth century to -worry about, perhaps." - -As he was speaking he was pulling from the buckboard the canvas and -poles of a tent. - -"What's that?" asked Cockney, with a frown. - -"Our tent. If we could pitch it somewhere along the bank of the -river here----" - -"You can pitch it into the river--and that's all." - -"But we----" - -Cockney kicked the canvas off the trail, drew a cigarette and match -from his pockets, lit them in a leisurely way--and dropped both into -the canvas. A second match he struck and calmly held to a loose -corner. The cloth, dry and brittle in Alberta air, smouldered a -moment, then burst into flame. - -Stamford solemnly leaned over the blaze to fan it with his hand. -Mary stood laughing. Isabel was divided between alarm and wonder. -Only the Professor seemed undisturbed. He stood watching the growing -blaze with interest. - -"As a raw backwoodsman I would suggest starting the blaze on the side -toward the wind." - -Stamford followed the suggestion with success. - -A heavy smoke rose and swirled about them, pungent and stifling. The -Professor whiffed it once or twice and turned his back on it. - -"Fancy, my dear, thinking of living in a tent that smells like that. -I can't imagine any other form of fumigation being sufficient." - -"Now," ordered Cockney, "take your suitcases into the house." - -The Professor looked at him admiringly. "I wish I could express -myself like that. Sometimes I find the language of the lecture-room -not exactly suited to buying oatmeal or getting a tooth filled. He -means, Isabel, that we must be his guests, in spite of ourselves. On -him be the blame." - -Cockney burst into a laugh that startled the horses. - -"I don't see why you shouldn't find old bones about here, Professor. -We seem to have pretty nearly everything else anyone wants. We've -opened a sanitorium." He nodded at Stamford. "Might as well add a -seminary. From to-day the H-Lazy Z ranks as a public institution." - -There was nothing offensive in the tone, but about the laugh was a -suggestion of recklessness. - -"Of course," stammered the Professor, "I'd be delighted if--if----" -He cleared his throat. "General--I mean, Inspector Barker warned me -not to suggest it, but I feel I owe it to myself and to the -professional nature of my visit to express the hope that--that if -there's any consideration----" - -"If you suggest such a thing again," interrupted Cockney, angrily -looking the Professor up and down, "I'll carry you down and drop you -in the river." - -The Professor, retreating before the blaze of indignation, tripped -over the board edging of the gravel walk and fell. - -"I meant no offence," he stammered, where he lay. "It's only my -Eastern ignorance, you know." - -Cockney reached down and jerked him to his feet. - -"Gad!" he exclaimed. "What a waste of muscle! You fellows with -brains teeming with junk scorn the good things the Almighty has given -you. Here's Stamford dying to have one little fibre of the sinew you -ignore--and you thinking only of a lot of old bones that can't affect -the price of cattle. Well, heigh-ho! Give me a month of you and -I'll show you new things in life to glow over. You've the stature. -Maybe you'll learn out here to use it." - -The Professor turned to bow over Mary Aikens's hand, and she flushed -with embarrassment and pleasure at the courtesy. - -"Your husband has offered to share with me some of the fine things of -life on the prairie," he said. "It is a prophecy of the scope he -has, that I see before me the woman who shares that life with him." - -Stamford recalled with a malicious twinkle a moment of intense -chagrin in Inspector Barker's office. - -"How ingenuous!" he murmured sweetly. "How simple and sweet and -natural!" - -The Professor's face went red. Isabel's eyes were dancing. - -"I owe that to the Professor," Stamford explained to Cockney and Mary. - -"One of the things I don't share is my wife," Cockney observed -abruptly, and drove away with the buckboard. - -Dinner--the night meal was dinner where Cockney gave the orders--was -such a time of pleasant chatter and merry banter as the H-Lazy Z had -never dreamed of, though there was a recurring element of constraint -that puzzled Stamford. Cockney was a mass of varying moods, now -laughing uproariously, now moody and watchful; and all the time Mary -Aikens was rent by the conflicting emotions of delight, and of -sensitiveness to her husband's humours. Afterwards Bean was -dismissed, and the two women undertook the kitchen work. Cockney and -Stamford smoked, the former the inevitable cigarette, the latter his -short curved pipe. The Professor did not smoke; he seemed to have -missed most of the habits of man. While the two others talked in the -detached but perfectly satisfied periods of smokers, he drifted to -the piano and turned over the music. - -And presently, so softly and smoothly that no one seemed to know when -he commenced, his fingers were moving over the keys to a quiet -refrain he had picked up from the pile of music on the piano. When -Stamford looked up, suddenly conscious of the melody of it, it was -not the Professor he saw, but Mary Aikens standing in the doorway to -the kitchen with the dish-towel in her hand, tears in her eyes. So -close to the surface had the unexpected arrival of guests brought her -emotions that she did not know she was showing them. Stamford heard -Cockney draw a sharp breath, and the next instant his host stumbled -up and went into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. - -A gentle knock interrupted the Professor before he noticed the -consternation his wandering fingers caused. The latch lifted and -Dakota stepped inside, fumbling his hat, his hair oiled flat from a -centre parting, and a pair of fluffy angora chaps held up by a belt -several holes tighter than was his wont. He stood there, -embarrassed, looking from one to another. - -When the music ceased Cockney came from the bedroom. He laughed -noisily when he saw Dakota. - -"Come in, come in, Dakota. This is civilisation as the old H-Lazy Z -never looked for it, eh? Guess you and I will have to take to our -glad clothes to keep in line." - -There were no introductions--that would have added to the -embarrassment of the uncomfortable cowboy. - -"'Dakota!'" repeated the Professor interrogatively. "Does it so -happen that you come from my own country, the land of the free, where -floats--but, ahem! this is not Decoration Day. I can see from the -light in your eye that you understand. May I have the honour of -shaking your hand?" - -Dakota intruded no objections, though he grinned foolishly. - -"Your parents little thought," rambled on the Professor, "that the -name they gave you in the cradle would be your password the world -over. With no offence to my host and hostess, and this eminently -agreeable gentleman on my left, I feel that I can take you to my -heart--or wherever people take their friends. I must see more of -you, my countryman." - -Though the flamboyancy of it was flagrant, and delivered with a -twinkle, Dakota felt an inclination to expectorate, but bethought -himself and coughed behind his hand. - -"By the way, Mr.--ah--Dakota, now that I have you two residents -together, I must take advantage of it. We have long known that the -banks of the Red Deer River are replete with interest for the -paleontologist. The region around the Double Bar-O was -disappointing. Perhaps your acquaintance with the rocks about here -will prepare me for what I will find." - -"Looking for old bones, Dakota," explained Cockney, with a grin. - -Dakota turned his eyes suspiciously from one to the other several -times. - -"Seen a few bits o' stone that might 'a' been bones once," he -growled--"not such a lot o' them." - -"You no doubt are as familiar as anyone with the banks hereabouts?" -suggested the Professor. - -"I shore oughta be. Seen every blessed foot on both sides for a -matter of fifty miles or so a million times." - -"Ah! And you've seen the fossils? Where, may I enquire?" - -Dakota felt for a cigarette, found he had neglected to put them in -his new clothes, and put a match between his lips instead. - -"Seen a few to the east----" - -"But I've covered the ground myself rather well in that direction. -It's the west I'm most interested in. It was several hundred miles -to the west, this side of the town of Red Deer, where my hated rivals -of the American Museum of Natural History made their discoveries----" - -"Not a da--I mean a durn thing to the west, mister," Dakota broke in -firmly. "All I ever seen in that direction was within three miles, -or at least four. Lots o' them down here just where the cliff -starts, enough to keep you going a dozen summers." - -"Do you mean you'd advise me not to go further west?" - -"You'd be wasting time, that's all." - -"Where are the fords--or the ferries--or however one crosses the -river?" - -Dakota glanced furtively up into the Professor's guileless face and -looked across at Cockney before replying. - -"Course there ain't no ferries. Never saw a blessed bone on the -other side anyway." - -"The only ford about here," volunteered Cockney, "is a mile or so to -the east." - -"West it's all canyon," added Dakota. - -"By the way," asked Cockney, "do you ride any better than you drive?" - -Professor Bulkeley shrugged his great shoulders. - -"I regret to admit that it's not one of my few accomplishments." - -"Not ride?" Dakota broke into a relieved laugh. "Then you don't -need to worry about anything further away than four miles--you'll -never get there. You can't drive over these prairies, you know. -They ain't as smooth as they look. Wait till you've tried it." - -"I _have_ tried it," groaned the Professor feelingly. - -"Dakota," said Isabel shyly, "_I_ ride--only a little, I suppose, -compared with your Western girls." - -"I knew you did, miss," said Dakota gallantly. "I could tell from -the cut o' you. But I bet"--he looked the Professor up and down with -professional eye--"I bet I could have him riding in a week--only I -ain't got time," he added hastily. "I know the shape when I see it. -Now, the tenderfoot here"--Stamford squirmed--"he'll never make a -rider. Ain't got the right-shaped legs, nor the body-swing. The -minute I seed you----" - -He became conscious of his unusual loquacity and stopped. - -"If you'll teach me Western ways of riding. Dakota," smiled Isabel. - -The cowboy grinned and rubbed his hand across his lips in sheer -delight. - -"Shore, miss." He looked up at the clock. "Is it too late now?" - -"They're going to be with us for months, Dakota," laughed Mary -Aikens. "We mustn't unfold all our pleasures the first day." - -Dakota rose to go, started to stretch, bethought himself, and -addressed Cockney. - -"About them staples, Mr. Aikens. We can't do much more to the new -corrals till we have 'em." - -"I forgot them in town, Dakota. We'll have to send one of the boys -in for them." - -When Dakota was gone Cockney addressed the Professor. - -"I wouldn't advise you to try to ford the river in that buckboard." - -"I wouldn't advise me to try it without the buckboard," laughed the -Professor. "A bath-tub of water gives me a panic. And I'd never -feel satisfied if I didn't cover all the ground." - -"If it wouldn't be too late then," said Cockney, "I'd let you find -out by trying. It's safe enough if you know the trail, and the river -isn't high. Better learn to ride." - -The Professor glanced guiltily at his sister. - -"Amos," she reminded him sternly, "you said you'd learn." - -"Isabel," he replied, "I'm funking." - -"Let me give you the recipe," said Stamford. "You take Hobbles--it -must be Hobbles; she's used to it by now--you take Hobbles to where -the ground's soft. You get one able-bodied cowboy to hold her head -and another--_you_ might need two--to lift you into the saddle. -Close your eyes, breathe the quickest prayer you know ... and brush -the dead grass off your clothes where you landed. The cowboys'll -catch Hobbles. One little secret I haven't yet told anyone: sneak -your feet from the stirrups while you're praying. It's far easier to -fall then." - -But the Professor shook his head stubbornly. - -"It wouldn't be fair to the Institute to risk losing those old bones -out there on the rocks by risking these bones. That, you see, is the -comparative values of the products of the Mesozoic and the Quaternary -periods. It may be a distortion, but it's my job." - -"Then," declared Stamford firmly, "you're not going to save your -bones and risk your sister, until we've tried the ford without her. -I'm going with you myself." - -"How ingenuous! How sim----" - -Stamford raised a warning finger. - -"Not that, Professor, not that! To date we're even. If you reopen -the feud, I swear I'll have the last word, if I have to leave it set -in type." - -The Professor's eyes twinkled about the room. - -"If my dead body is picked up among the cliffs, here's the murderer. -I can't always be sure of having Isabel along to protect me." - -"I'm afraid, Mr. Stamford," said Isabel, "he's grown rather dependent -on me." - -"Then he can't learn independence earlier," persisted Stamford. - -"And he's going to need it some day," laughed Cockney. "There are -other men, Miss Bulkeley." - -"The necessity for concentration in a task like mine----" began the -Professor. - -"Doesn't excuse selfishness," Stamford filled in. "To-morrow I'll be -your assistant. We'll risk our valueless lives together on that -ford. The little man has spoken." - -"Such a quaintly practical way of expressing his devotion to your -sex, my dear!" said the Professor to his sister. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -STAMFORD GOES FOSSIL-HUNTING - -They did not go fossil-hunting on the morrow. Instead, the Professor -preferred to spend much of the day with his countrymen at the -cook-house, while Isabel hunted Dakota up and took her first lesson -in an art of which she had little to learn. Stamford, feeling -unaccountably out of things, sulked under the pretext of reading. - -He was oppressed with a sense of the futility of his mission, where -so many side-issues were so much more vital than the purpose of his -visit. Just what that purpose was he had to revive by sundry -uninteresting reminders. Of mysteries about the H-Lazy Z there were -enough to encourage the hope that some day the big thing he was -searching for would stumble into the light--and he must be there to -see it. Cockney's innocence was not so assertive now as it once was; -perhaps in his foolish idea of proving the Police wrong he would only -convict himself. - -The Professor was frankly extending his information about ranch-life, -and the humorous twists to his queries and replies immediately made -him a favourite with the cowboys. They tried to express their -approval by teaching him to ride, hunting out Stamford at last to put -him through his paces as a sample of one week's lessons. The -Professor shook his head. - -"The difference between us is in the results of failure. A man of -his size scarcely ruffles the grass where he lights. The -seismometers at my own Institute would record my unseating as my only -epitaph worthy of note." - -Dakota and Isabel whirled down the slope, Dakota liberally applying -his whip without gaining ground. Right on top of the group about -Hobbles and Stamford they drew up, so close that Hobbles herself -reared a little. Stamford promptly slid off on his back. - -"Hobbles," he chided, "we were showing off. I'm disappointed.... -I'm also surprised. I'd clean forgotten a horse rears, though I've -seen it in pictures. Dakota, should I wrap myself round the pommel -when she does that?" - -But Dakota was too busy with troubles of his own. When the two -riders pulled up, Isabel was off first. With an angry flush she -snatched Dakota's quirt from his unresisting hand. - -"If you use your whip once more, Dakota, I'll never ride with you -again. I don't want to call you a brute, but I got quite as much -speed out of my horse without punishing him." - -Dakota was staring down into her indignant eyes, too surprised to -speak. - -Stamford cocked an eye at him. "When you hang and quarter him, Miss -Bulkeley, I'd like you to save those chaps. I think they'd become -me." - -Isabel's anger had already fled before Dakota's helplessness. She -laughed apologetically. - -"It's all right, Dakota. I suppose I'm not used to Western ways. -But I won't get used to that." - -Dakota took off his Stetson. "Not used to them! By Samson, miss, -there's nothing in the West can beat you! If you could come along -with us on the ranges we'd show you life. We're going to be busy out -there for the next couple of months." - -"Couldn't I come?" asked Isabel innocently. - -Dakota looked at the other cowboys, and they all laughed, without -explaining. - -"Can I come along in my buckboard?" queried the Professor. - -Dakota elaborately explained the work of the ranges--_too_ -elaborately, it seemed to Stamford--and the Professor and his sister -listened with evident interest, the former asking foolish and wise -questions that brought equally varied replies. - -"I'm coming out here to the cook-house often," gushed the Professor, -as the call came to lunch. - -"Shore!" chorused a half-dozen voices. - -"And bring your sister," said Dakota. - -"We're your debtors for the summer," bowed the Professor, backing -away. - -"I do love the native," he enthused to Stamford, on the way to the -ranch-house. - -"The funny part of it is," laughed Stamford, "that Dakota and the -H-Lazy Z outfit are the only cowboys about who _aren't_ natives. -They're your own countrymen." - -"Mr. Stamford," chided Isabel, looking slyly at her brother, "you -have a drab soul. Why can't you let Amos enthuse? It's what he -grows fat on." - -"Is it a prescription you're giving me?" asked Stamford. - -The next morning, feeling a little foolish in his new rôle of -gallant--as the Professor called it--Stamford stretched his -five-feet-odd on the seat of the buckboard beside the towering -six-feet-three of his tormentor. Down the river trail, and thence -along the edge of the rough beach rock below the corrals, the -skeleton buggy bounced eastward to the only ford west of the Double -Bar-O. The one consolation to the injured pride of the smaller man -was that his companion insisted on letting him drive. Stamford had -always considered his accomplishments with the reins as born of -necessity rather than of experience, but the Professor frankly -refused to expose himself to his own driving. - -"I'd even let Isabel do the driving," he confided, "if it weren't -that I'd rather die a man's death than live a male baby with a female -chaperon." - -The ford was used only at long intervals as access to pastures across -the river. It was plain enough at its southern entrance to the river -flood, but to those who did not know it the course thereafter was a -matter of conjecture. Stamford drove into the water with more -trepidation than he allowed himself to show, anxiously searching the -torrent ahead. Mid-stream the water bubbled through the slats of the -buckboard, and the team, terrified by the prospect, pulled up. -Stamford urged them on, but Gee-Gee leaped against his mate, forcing -him into deep water. The buckboard would have overturned were it not -built for almost any situation into which a horse might force it. -Stamford stood up to get a shorter hold of the lines, but the -Professor swept him back to the seat with one strong arm and took -control. Immediately the team seemed to find bottom and courage -together. - -As they climbed the gently sloping grade on the north side, the -Professor lifted his hands and stared at the reins. - -"Goodness! How did I get them? Did you--did you give them to me? I -hope I didn't use force. Honest, Mr. Stamford, I never did such a -thing in my life before. Was I very frightened? Don't tell the -women, please. I'm horribly and disgustingly proud." He squared his -shoulders. "Say! with practice I believe I could get on to the hang -of the thing. Let's get the practice right now when my spirits are -high. We'll do that crossing again. It looks shallower up this way." - -Before Stamford could voice his protest the team was around and -re-entering the water. With much waving of arms and shouting they -completed the double passage of the river in safety by a better route. - -"There!" The Professor handed the reins back and mopped his forehead -with the big handkerchief. "I'm more puffed up than when they -Ph.D.'ed me. Will you be good enough to steer for that bulge in the -cliff? I like the looks of the flexure there." - -All day Stamford yawned and slept and tried to read, and opened his -eyes to the blazing sky and heated rocks. The Professor, his round -spectacles pressed close to the ground, poked off among the rocks. -At lunch-time he reported his delight at the prospects and could -scarcely stop to eat, though he managed his share easily enough when -he started. In the evening they drove back over the ford, Stamford -hot and irritated, the Professor gushing with anticipation. - -"You know," he said, "I wonder _more_ neurasthenics don't give this -climate a chance at them." - -"Good heavens! You don't think I'm a neurasthenic?" - -"No offence, I hope. I knew you were here for your health, and I -couldn't see---- You'll forgive me, my dear fellow, but I've dabbled -a little in medicine too." - -Stamford had not prepared for enquiry into his symptoms. - -"I'm just generally run down--overworked, I suppose, trying to -stiffen the legs of a dying newspaper." - -"You were lucky to have such old friends as the Aikens to see you -through." - -"But they're _not_ old friends--very new, in fact. I happened to -meet Mrs. Aikens one day at a railway station; she invited me out." - -"Ah, Mr. Stamford! Those railway stations!" The Professor's big -finger was wagging in his face. "Must I remind you that Mrs. Aikens -is married? Oh, you bachelors!" - -Stamford jumped. "Great Scott, man! What in thunder has that to do -with it?" - -The Professor coughed apologetically. - -"I thought--well, anyone can see that Mr. Aikens is none too--too -eager, shall we say, for visitors. I'm sure it can't be for fear of -his wife. She seems much more--more thoughtful of him than he of -her--if one may be permitted to discuss his host and hostess. I'm -sure I'd rather pay--or live in a tent, and be independent. Dakota, -too--though he's a countryman of mine, doesn't seem overjoyed at our -presence. May I ask if you received the same impression?" - -Stamford chuckled. "_You_ were lucky. I had to face Dakota alone. -I'm sure my hair went a shade lighter from the first impressions _I_ -received." - -"Ah--I thought so." - -The big fellow settled back in deep thought. Stamford tried to -reassure him. - -"There's no need to mind Dakota. He's only a third partner and -doesn't really count when it comes to a show-down." - -"But I'm vastly interested in Dakota," murmured the Professor. "He -seems to have something on his mind--some worry." - -"They _all_ do," Stamford blurted out. - -"Ah!" - -Stamford glanced from the corner of his eye at the Professor. He -wanted to confide in someone. Dare he tell his suspicions to the -simple friend beside him, who seemed to be stumbling on things. He -decided against it; it would be no relief to himself and only add to -the Professor's worry. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE CONSPIRACY - -After dinner the Professor announced his intention of strolling -across to his friends at the cook-house, but learned from Cockney -that only Bean Slade was about the place, the rest having gone out on -the ranges for a few days. Bean was finishing some needed repairs -about the ranch buildings, and was going to town in a couple of days -for the staples. - -"Dakota has made a place for your team in the stables," Cockney said -casually. "He's afraid to let strange horses loose in the corrals at -night: they might hurt themselves." - -"That's thoughtful of Dakota," replied the Professor. "I don't know -what Inspector Barker would say--he lent them to me, you know, as the -safest in Medicine Hat--because it must be stifling some nights in -the stables. If I relieved Dakota of all personal responsibility I -suppose he'd let them run loose in the corrals? Gee-Gee seems to -have a temperament that requires airing." - -"The stables are not stifling," said Cockney shortly. "Besides, -Dakota looks after that part of the ranch; I don't interfere." - -Stamford took it outside and thought it over. - -"I'd almost forgotten my daily ride," he said, entering the -sitting-room a few minutes later. "I have a premonition that should -Hobbles lose track of me for a day she'll forget my weaknesses. Will -you come and see I get fair-play, Miss Bulkeley?" - -"Hobbles is in the stable, too," said Cockney, "also Miss Bulkeley's -horse. The key's hanging inside my bedroom door. Help yourself." - -Bean Slade suggested that he, as teacher, accompany the two, but -Stamford waved him away with mock rudeness. - -"You make me blush, Bean. I'm taking Miss Bulkeley for an evening -ride--showing her the sights. One of them may be when Hobbles -decides to trot, but I must chance that. I usually last only three -trots. Hobbles has the habit now of stopping at the third to let me -remount." - -He bumped away, the perfect seat of his companion giving his -inexperience the laugh. - -"I don't see how you do it, Miss Bulkeley, but if I could ride like -that I'd be a Mounted Policeman--if they'd take me in. Too bad to -waste it in Washington. If everyone in your city rides like you----" - -"Don't talk about civilisation, Mr. Stamford," she rebuked. "It -sounds so funny out here." - -"Can I really be funny so easily? Speaking about civilisation, did -you ever see anything to beat this locking up of our horses? What's -Dakota afraid of anyway? I'm a funny critter, Miss Bulkeley. I -never had an ambition to ride Hobbles out of hours before. Now I'm -wild to tear about this lonesome prairie at the most unconventional -hours. If you'll turn your back you won't be accessory to a crime. -I'd ride away and turn my back to you, only Hobbles wouldn't leave -your horse now, and I couldn't make her. I'm making a drawing of -this stable key. Yours not to reason why." - -He turned himself from her as much as he could and outlined the key -in his notebook. - -"I was watching the sunset all the time," she told him when he had -finished, "and wondering." - -"Don't wonder," he warned, with a sigh. "I've started to, and I'm -getting more tangled every day. Life was never like this before." - -That night he made arrangements with Bean to go to town with him two -days later, and retired to bed with a virtuous satisfaction at having -beaten his favourite enemy, though when he thought of Cockney he had -twinges of conscience. - -The second day of fossil-hunting with the Professor was even less -interesting and more wearying than the first. There was a limit to -the hours Stamford could sleep, and the scorching heat among the -rocks made eyes and face sting. After lunch he ended an -uncomfortable hour of dozing by hunting up the Professor. - -He found him curled in the shadow of a rock, sound asleep, hammer and -chisel by his side. Stamford struck the rock a ringing blow with the -hammer. With a bound the Professor was on his feet. - -"Oh--you, Stamford! This heat--I guess I must have succumbed to -it--that and the drone of the mosquitoes. Did you ever feel such a -blistering heat, or see such armies of mosquitoes? I believe they've -been here all these years probing into these old bones under the -impression that they're succulent. They've discovered their mistake -since I came," he added ruefully. "Six weeks ago one must have had -to hack a way through them in this Edmonton formation. In one short -week I've learned that the guiding star to some antediluvian monster -is the modern mosquito." - -He seized his tools and began to hack a crevice. - -"There's a rib here, a big fellow. I'm having a great time tickling -it--but the big brute never quivers a hair--if he ever had any. Down -there is a tooth. Would you mind taking a look and reporting on the -quality of dentistry prevailing in B.C. a million?" He sat back on -his heels. "I envy the advantages of those to whom my bones will be -fossils. Present palæontological graveyards have not to date yielded -up a single gold filling. If you wouldn't mind chalking off any -outlines of bones on that patch of rock down there, you could feel -that your day was not wasted." - -Stamford yawned, made a few desultory marks, and sat down. The -Professor continued his hacking without bothering him further. - -That night there was music at the H-Lazy Z; the banks of the Red Deer -canyon echoed for the first time to sounds prophetic of the day when -ranches will give place to farms, farms to towns. Professor Bulkeley -played, until he felt every eye fixed breathlessly on him; then he -rose in confusion and insisted on Mary Aikens taking his place. To -her accompaniment a chorus formed, but in a few minutes it had -dwindled to a duet. Stamford and Isabel withdrew to a corner. -Cockney sat smoking in gloomy silence. Even the yelping coyotes out -on the prairie ceased their shuddering clamour to listen--a space of -silence Imp did his resentful best to fill. - -Stamford, seated by the screen in his room before climbing between -the sheets, heard the voices of brother and sister over his head. -After a minute he started to a guilty consciousness that he was -straining to hear what they said. Noisily he jerked the window down. - -It seemed to him that he had just dropped to sleep when Bean hammered -at the screen to waken him for the trip to town. - -On the long drive Stamford found the cowboy little more inclined to -talk than was the youthful driver who had brought him out. It was a -keen disappointment to the self-appointed detective, for he had -counted on Bean's affection for him providing the clues that were -evading him. The lanky cowboy was willing enough to talk on subjects -of no possible interest to Stamford, but of the ranch he had nothing -to say. - -However, when, the second day afterwards, he and Bean floated on the -ferry across the South Saskatchewan and climbed the cut bank toward -the northern trail, Stamford felt that his trip was not wasted. For -one thing he carried in his pocket a duplicate of the stable key. -Also he had had a short conversation with Inspector Barker that clung -to the fringes of his consciousness. - -"For an invalid, Stamford," mocked the Inspector, "you strike me as -no friend of the undertaker's. If I didn't know your holiday was a -real loss in dollars and cents, I'd say it was undiluted laziness. I -can't imagine anyone, after three months in this dollar-chasing -country, sacrificing cash for chronic fatigue. Or is the fair Isabel -there?" - -"How did you know?" asked Stamford amiably. - -"That's the little birdie that tells secrets to us married men. If -she hadn't come to the mountain, then the mountain---- How's the -Professor getting along with his new friends, the Red Deer dinosaurs? -What's more to the point, by the way, have you come across a pair of -big dogs that don't seem at home?" - -"There's Imp," suggested Stamford. - -"Who's Imp?" - -"Imp is several degrees short of big--though he certainly doesn't -seem at home--unless Dakota's about. Legally he belongs to Mrs. -Aikens. As a matter of fact Dakota has him eating out of his hand. -The little chap attached himself to our rowdy friend at first glance. -Love at first sight. Took to him like a mouse to cheese." - -The Inspector was more than amused. He asked so many questions that -Stamford realised how easy it was to make the little terrier -entertaining. Some of the brightest things he determined to repeat -to Isabel Bulkeley. - -On the return Bean was more talkative, without saying anything of -value for Stamford's purposes. - -As they rolled, in the late afternoon, over the gently waving prairie -toward the Red Deer, Stamford's weary eyes caught a movement on the -top of a rise to the west. It came once, and went, furtively, -Stamford was convinced. Without seeming to watch he kept his eyes -fixed on the ridge, and after a few minutes was rewarded by the tip -of a Stetson, as if someone were lying down, peering over at them. -Bean was sleepily flicking the broncos. - -When two more Stetsons appeared beside the first, he made his mind -up. Calling Bean's wandering senses back to earth, he waved his -arms. Instantly the Stetsons disappeared. A moment later Dakota -loped over the ridge and down the slope. He drew up several yards -away and beckoned Bean to him. From the furtive glances in his -direction Stamford knew he was the subject of their early -conversation, Dakota questioning, Bean explaining. Then they turned -their backs on him. The owners of the other Stetsons did not show -themselves. - -As Bean clambered back over the wheel Dakota shouted a last word: - -"Get cookie to hustle a snack for you. But hurry. We'll wait. You -can do it in a couple of hours." - -Bean flicked the whip and they started for home on the canter. - -"They aren't giving you much rest," sympathised Stamford. - -"Naw," replied Bean shortly. - -"The work about a ranch is certainly a surprise to me. What does -Dakota want you for?" - -"It's a hell of a life!" grumbled Bean. Thereafter he kept his lips -closed. - -An hour later Stamford was eating in the ranch-house, trying to -answer with intelligent flippancy the questions poured at him. The -promise of the stable key burning a hole in his pocket was filling -his mind. To outwit Dakota was his sole ambition at the moment. If -he could get Hobbles from the locked stables---- - -Pleading fatigue, he retired early. For some time he heard the -conversation in the sitting-room, subdued for his sake, and then the -stair door closed behind the Bulkeleys. The sudden Western night had -fallen. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -RIDERS OF THE NIGHT - -Stamford, softly lifting the screen from his window, with the thrills -of a conspirator, climbed through and looked about. Once before he -had stood in the midst of the darkened prairie, with no thought then -than that he was temporarily but not dangerously lost. What lay -before him now he thought he had seen under every aspect from his -bedroom window. But there was a difference--a very disturbing -difference. - -Now, in the eeriest part of the vast prairies he was stepping into an -eery and illegitimate adventure. Deliberately he was involving -himself in a situation that could bring no satisfaction but that of -counter-plotting, and, were he discovered, would expose him to even -worse suspicion than he deserved. Most of the exhilaration fled with -the touch of the cold night air on his face; the rest of it went -before the vividness of his imagination. He marvelled that a mere -key should have uplifted him so much, that a prospective ride at such -an hour should have gratified one to whom riding was at best nothing -more than an unpleasant education. - -Had his knees not trembled he would probably have climbed back -through the window with a grin of shame at his foolhardiness, but -with terror tingling his scalp---- He closed his teeth and struck -out stubbornly round the corner of the house, avoiding the noisy -gravel walk. Up the slope diagonally he crept, pointing above the -stables. A sense of the necessity of concealment, and a dim thought -of future needs, impressed him so strongly that he scouted about for -a long time back and forth in search of the deepest of the scarcely -visible rolls he knew to mark the prairie everywhere. - -Dropping down the slope then from above the stables, he applied the -key to the padlock. His heart was beating fast, his fingers -trembling. The night was crammed with terrors, and anxiety about the -fit of the key made him wonder what kink in his brain clothed an -adventure like this in attraction. - -The key fitted. He realised then that there was no honourable escape -but to go on. Fate was a funny thing. He looked back once toward -his window in the ranch-house, took a long breath, and stepped into -the utter blackness of the stable. The horses sniffed, and for a -moment he tried to convince himself that he had accomplished all he -wished. - -He knew Hobbles' stall, and, speaking gently, advanced in the -darkness. By the light of a sulphur match which he struck under the -cover of his coat he found saddle and bridle and clumsily fastened -them in place. Once off the wooden floors, the horse's feet met only -hard, soundless clay, and when he emerged into the night, leading -Hobbles, he was satisfied that he could not have wakened the cookie, -who alone, he thought, remained in the ranch buildings. Pushing back -the loop of the padlock without locking it, he led off to the -south-east, avoiding bunk-house and ranch-house. - -In the saddle he was more satisfied. No longer was he alarmed, but -the exhilaration of exercising a new art alone in the night -determined him on one burst of speed. Stopping suddenly at the end -of a few hundred yards, he turned his ear back with tingling veins. -Back there somewhere in the darkness he imagined the beat of a -horse's hoofs--and then sudden silence. Twice more he repeated it -with the same result. - -Convinced now that he was really frightened into foolish fancies, he -rode on. - -Out before him a strange lightness in the sky attracted his -attention. Five minutes later he could see dimly the lines of dead -grass on the crest of a ridge. Riding slowly up a slope, he looked -over. - -Four hundred yards away, in a deep coulee, a fire was burning. The -bottom in which it was kindled was carefully chosen for concealment, -and Stamford thrilled with excitement. Between him and the flames a -bunch of cattle was kept in hand by a temporary corral, two -silhouetted cowboys seated on the top rail. About the fire more -cowboys were struggling with a steer that lay on its side, and the -smell of burning hair carried to Stamford's nose the work of the -branding irons. - -He wondered what mystic night rites he was invading. - -Seeking a nearer approach than was possible from that direction, he -rode back down the slope and skirted about to the opposite side. -That side, the south, suited him better, too, for the reason that, if -he were detected, he would not seem to have come from the ranch. - -Leaving Hobbles with dropped rein in another coulee, he climbed to -the ridge. There he could see everything. Though he knew next to -nothing of branding, and nothing whatever of its dishonest forms, the -hour of the deed, the silence of the operations, and the choice of -location, convinced him that it was intended only for the eyes of -those immediately concerned. - -He had just settled down to watch the thing through, when from only a -few yards away rose the startling howl of a coyote. The sound -galvanised more startling life into the group of cowboys. Those at -the fire dropped their branding irons and rushed for their horses, -and the two at the corrals were in their saddles as the howl ceased. - -Stamford tumbled down the slope and raced for Hobbles. As he -clambered into the saddle he realised with a gasp how hopeless flight -was. Even with such a short start he had confidence that Hobbles -could hold her own in the dark--but _he_ couldn't at such a speed. -Fifty yards convinced him of it--fifty yards of giving Hobbles her -head and concentrating on the horn in front. - -He was considering what would happen when they caught him, when a -horse raced out of the darkness behind him and shot past--so close -that a skirt blew against his legs and he could hear a woman's voice -whispering to her mount. - -So Mary Aikens, too, was out that night! He forgot his fears and -raced on. - -But escape was hopeless. From the ridge came the thunder of the -pursuing cowboys--and then, close behind him, another horse. It was -gaining rapidly, the quirt lashing again and again--Stamford could -hear its gushing breath at his hip.... And then he felt himself -pushed from the saddle with a force that threw him clear of Hobbles' -flying heels. Over and over on the soft earth he rolled, uninjured -but too mystified and angry to appreciate it. He was rising to his -feet to face his captor, when he realised that the rider who had -unhorsed him had not even paused in his pace. Twice he heard the -quirt fall, and he remembered that as he left the saddle that quirt -had lashed over Hobbles' flank. Without a rider Hobbles would make -the ranch. - -A short hundred yards back pounded the feet of the pursuing horses. -Stamford crept swiftly out of their path and lay still. - -When they were past he rose and started on the run for the ranch. -Vaguely he felt that in the speed of his return lay safety. Reaching -the trail, he ran until his heart threatened to collapse; but he -would not stop to rest. - -It was still dark when he topped the rise overlooking the ranch -buildings and crept carefully down toward the house. Though there -seemed little danger of discovery, he kept to the depressions, -zig-zagging downward. He was thankful to his instinct for -concealment when he suddenly became aware of someone standing before -the ranch-house looking up the trail--a woman. He could make out no -more than the outline, but it must, of course, be Mary Aikens. He -knew that she could have no desire to be discovered by him, and he -moved more slowly, waiting for her to go. - -His foot struck an unexpected mound and landed him on his face. As -he lay in the grass he saw her move swiftly away round the corner of -the house. Both the front door and the window of the Aikens' bedroom -were in plain sight, but she did not enter either. He ran on openly -then. - -On the other side of the house no one was in sight. He hastened to -the back, but the peg left by the cookie on the outside of the screen -door when he departed after his evening's work proved that no one had -entered there since. - -Stamford leaned against the wall, completely mystified. He looked -around, poking in the grass, yet without hope. The woman had -vanished. - -He remembered Hobbles and, gulping down a desire to cuddle into the -bedclothes, hurried to the stable. The mysteries increased--_the -stable was locked_. From the bunk-house came the noisy snoring of -the cookie. With his duplicate key he let himself into the stable -and found Hobbles--_unsaddled_--as if she had never been out, though -her sides were still slightly warm. - -Stamford crept out. It was uncanny. - -The soft padding of a horse down the slope to the east, far from the -trail, brought him to a sense of his exposure. Diving between two -buildings, he waited. The rider turned off toward the corrals, -evidently moving with caution, and a few minutes later Cockney Aikens -came round the corner of one of the buildings that concealed -Stamford, stopped a moment to listen to the snoring of the cook, and -passed on to the house. - -His steps were still audible when another horse came along the same -course, but it did not turn off to the corrals. Stamford slunk -further into his hiding-place as Dakota Fraley rode past and drew up -before the bunk-house. - -To Stamford's amazement Bean Slade came out. - -"Who in h--l's been riding about here to-night?" Dakota demanded. - -"Nobody--not that I've heard," returned Bean in a whisper. - -"You been sleeping so tight, I guess, it ud take a kick on the ear to -wake you." - -"I heard _you_ far enough," returned Bean sharply. - -"Bring the lantern." - -Dakota dismounted. Bean was a long time with the lantern, striking -several matches in vain. - -"No ile," he growled, with a curse. - -"Never mind. I have matches." - -Dakota tried the padlock, unlocked it, and entered the stable. -Stamford heard a match scratch and saw a momentary flare through the -cracks where the mud had dropped out. - -"That shore beats me," muttered Dakota, as they came out. "They're -all there. Let's take a look at the corrals." - -They went off around the stable, and Stamford, creeping out, slunk up -to the depressions in the slope that had become in one night such -good friends to him, and returned to the house. He discovered that -he had left his screen out, and a few hardy mosquitoes that defied -the chilly night were buzzing within. Imp's snuffling grunt came -from beneath the door and he opened it noisily and let the little -terrier in. As he did so he thought he heard a gentle creak of -Cockney's door. He smiled into the darkness and crept into bed, the -dog curled up at his feet. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -ONE MYSTERY LESS - -It was after nine the next morning when Stamford's eyes opened on a -world that seemed out of focus. He examined his watch incredulously; -the dink of breakfast dishes and the rumble of lowered voices -convinced him that it was wrong, and he dressed without hurry. - -As he opened the door, the Professor, Isabel and Mrs. Aikens were -rising from the table. The sitting-room clock told him that his -watch was right after all. - -"These prairie nights seem too much for all of us," said Isabel, in -answer to his puzzled look. - -"Except our host," corrected her brother. "He's been gone an hour." - -"It _does_ affect strangers that way," said Mary Aikens, without -looking up from the table she was rearranging for Stamford's -breakfast. - -"It wasn't that with me," explained Stamford. "I didn't sleep well." - -"The drive was too much for you," suggested Mrs. Aikens. - -"Perhaps Mr. Stamford had too successful a day in town," laughed -Isabel, watching him. - -"Yes, it was successful," he replied, looking straight at her. - -"Perhaps they're serving stronger stuff than they did a couple of -weeks ago," hazarded the Professor. "By a chronometer that never -deceives, you've been in bed for the circle of the clock. My limit -is eight hours. Simple mathematical progression in comparative -physical proportions would grant to Imp here the whole twenty-four -hours, and a mosquito would overlap on the week after next and still -be the creditor of time. But, lord knows, they never sleep. In the -meantime some gently dead but brutally fossilised Trachodon is kept -waiting beyond his preconceptions of Doomsday for the resurrective -hand of the Smithsonian Institute." - -Stamford yawned frankly. - -"Really, Professor, I'm not quite up to that so early in the morning." - -"Some day," said Isabel, "Amos will have had his say. And the world -will be so still then." - -"And so will science, and brilliant conversation----" - -"Even our hostess is laughing at you," said Stamford. - -"Me?" Mary Aikens was colouring. "I--I like this new life about the -ranch. I wish I could keep you all--always." - -Isabel leaned over and patted her hand, and a tear was behind the -smile. Stamford, uncomfortable at the display of emotion, changed -the subject. - -"And so you've been exposing your sister to that ford while I was -away?" - -"My dear fellow," replied the Professor, "when did you come to the -conclusion that Isabel was here for someone else's amusement than -mine? Of course, Mrs. Aikens, if she can be of real service to you -here----" - -The door had opened. - -"Don't worry about Mary," Cockney broke in harshly. "Since Stamford -and the _Journal_ let us down in the matter of help, we're getting -accustomed to doing our work ourselves. At any rate we haven't -fallen to depending on our guests. Mary, where's the large pair of -wire-cutters?" - -His wife loaded herself with dirty dishes and started for the -kitchen. The Professor leaped to her assistance. - -"I wouldn't disturb myself so much if I were you," said Cockney in an -even tone, so full of meaning that the Professor turned aside through -the stair door without a word. - -"We'll have to go now." Isabel started to follow her brother. "The -ford's perfectly safe, Mr. Stamford," she threw over her shoulder. -"Anyway I can swim." - -"What can't you do? But you'd drown trying to save that blundering -brother of yours." - -"But he's a perfectly nice brother, don't you think?" - -"No," he snapped. "I don't. I wanted you to come for a ride." - -"Thank you," she called back from the stair door. "My next -engagement's with Dakota, I believe." - -When the buckboard had disappeared round the lower end of the corrals -on the way to the ford, Stamford, more than a little uncertain of the -wisdom of it, made for the stables in search of some light on the -previous night's scene. But no one was about, and he saddled Hobbles -and rode for an hour. - -As he turned back, a solitary mess-wagon came into sight far along -the eastern trail. Stamford's thoughts flew back to the cattle -shipping at Dunmore Junction, when the same mess-wagon, at Dakota's -command, drifted away into the lonesome northern prairie, leaving a -half-dozen of its companions rattling off down the trail for a night -in Medicine Hat. - -Stamford found himself wondering now, as he had then. He swung -Hobbles off to the south, and when the wagon had turned down the -slope to the ranch stables, he rode slowly back to the crest of the -slope. The wagon had just pulled up before the bunk-house. - -The driver was lifting several rifles from the wagon to carry them -inside, the other cowboys, who had returned while he was riding, -looking on. Stamford's eyes gleamed with a sudden revelation. - -That lonesome mess-wagon of the H-Lazy Z on the day of the double -tragedy had concealed the rifles the Police could not find. Its -puzzling departure--Dakota's objection to feeding Mary Aikens at the -ranch mess-wagon--it was all clear now. - -Down the slope he could see Dakota, Bean and several strange members -of the outfit watching him. Whereupon he promptly fell off, -scrambled into the saddle again, and rode in clinging to the horn. - -"You're shore conside'ble of a horseman," chaffed Dakota. "If I was -you I'd patent that style and sell it to a circus. Barnum's got -clowns not half so funny." - -"We're always funniest when we don't suspect it," returned Stamford. -"I hope nobody will tell you the truth about yourself, Dakota; it -would spoil things for the spectators." - -Dakota forced the frown from his face with a smile. For some reason -he preferred to be friendly. - -"You and me should mate up. We could put on a show for the ranch -folks some night. But you seem to be having fun without it. We can -hear you out here. Say, that Bulkeley gal shore can sing some, eh?" - -Stamford resented words and tone. - -"It happens that she never sings." - -"Then it's the only thing she don't do. You don't mean to tell me -it's the missus?" - -"Mrs. Aikens has done all the singing you've heard." - -"Holy Smoke!" Dakota turned to his companions. "Think of that. -It's more'n a year since she's opened that piano. 'Member when she -came first, boys? Wasn't them fine concerts she gave us? Then she -stopped. Say, d'ye think, Mr. Stamford, they'd mind if I drop around -some night and just sit quiet-like where I can hear and see? Us -punchers don't get much chance with music, 'cept what we make -ourselves." - -"I'm not the one to ask, Dakota. But I don't imagine----" - -"By Samson! I'll take the chance. I don't think I look so awful raw -in them angoras, eh? They cost me a handful of bucks in the days -when I was a gayer spark than I have time to be these days. It's -about time I got something back for my money." - -And so that night, after the singing commenced, Dakota sidled humbly -to the open door and stood outside the screen waiting to be invited -in. Mary Aikens called to him. - -"It sounds purty fine out there," he apologised. "It's a heap sight -nicer close." - -He carried a chair to the corner of the room, clutching his Stetson -nervously. When Stamford thought of him again he discovered him deep -in conversation with Isabel Bulkeley, a wide grin on his face. -Stamford liked it so little that he looked no more until Dakota rose -to leave. - -The next day, after his morning ride on Hobbles, Stamford had a lunch -put up for him and set out for the river to test the fishing. A few -goldeyes fell to his rod in the first half-hour, and after that he -grew sleepy and leaned against a rock. Across the river the cliff -towered raggedly above him, its strata a confusing repetition of -lines that merged into monotonous chaos. Great clefts, gorges and -inclines cut the face of it into a less inaccessible wall than it -looked at a distance. He became interested. He dropped his pole and -sauntered up the bank. - -Reward came suddenly. Through a fissure in the cliff, that seemed to -open into a wider cleft further back, he caught a glimpse of a -familiar grey dress. He was thankful then for the idea that had -struck him on his visit to town--that he might find use for his -pocket field-glasses. - -Isabel Bulkeley was seated on a ledge, her back against a straight -wall, her hands folded idly in her lap. Evidently she was dreaming, -though slight movements of her feet showed she was not asleep. The -tools lay beside her, and, though Stamford watched for almost an -hour, she did not use them. Of the Professor he saw nothing. He -returned thoughtfully to his fishing, cast his line, and almost -immediately hooked a big pickerel. Thereafter he forgot for a time -the very existence of the Bulkeleys. - -On his way to the ranch-house Imp darted from the cook-house and fell -in at his heels. - -"At any rate," he said to his hostess, "I've earned my feed to-day. -Four gold-eyes, one real pickerel--and Imp." - -"For the fish, thanks!" laughed Mary Aikens. "But for Imp I fear we -can lay the credit to Dakota's absence more than to your attractions. -We're alone again on the ranch, and even Imp, the traitor, finds the -ranch house preferable to a deserted cook-house. No," she scolded -down at Imp, "I'm not prepared to receive you into my heart on such -short notice." She turned suddenly to her husband. "Where have -Dakota and the others gone this time?" - -He shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me. My ignorance of ranching -is notorious. Ah--by the way, it's good we have friends with us. -I'm going away myself for a few days. I want to see how the -Circle-Arrow dogies are standing the gaff. They've been on the -ranges for two months now. Next summer I'm thinking of improving the -strain from the east.... You'll be all right with such brave -companions as the Professor--and Stamford." - -A forced smile was scarcely wrinkling his face. Mary Aikens made no -reply, but whistled to Imp and went out to frolic on the little patch -of dry grass she had once fondly hoped to be able to call a lawn. - -Dinner over, Cockney rode away to the east. They stood in the -doorway and watched Pink Eye race up the slope and sink out of sight -over the ridge. - -"A wonderful man on a wonderful horse!" Isabel Bulkeley voiced the -thoughts of them all. - -"And yet you've seen me on Hobbles!" chided Stamford. - -"That's why." The Professor ducked beyond reach. - -"Pink Eye is as vicious on occasion as he is powerful," said Mary. -"Cockney doesn't ride him much, but when he does I know there's a -hard trip ahead." - -That evening a strange silence brooded over the valley; even the -coyotes failed to greet the falling darkness. The Professor played a -little, but his fingers were lifeless, and, after a few bars, he -closed the piano and pulled his chair before the door to stare into -the night. The women were busy with needlework; Stamford smoked and -thought. - -Cockney's repeated absences, always coinciding with those of Dakota -and the others, puzzled him. His instincts refused still to link the -big rancher with the subterranean work in which Stamford suspected -the cowboys were engaged, but---- Stamford closed his lips tight; he -was there to prove Cockney's innocence in the teeth of suspicion. - -When he went to his room. Imp shivered in at his heels and curled up -on the foot of the bed. Once during the night Stamford was awakened -by the dog's muffled bark, and against the window he could see the -ears pointing stiffly out into the night. Far away a big pack of -coyotes yelped, and, half-asleep, Stamford followed their rapid -passage along the crest of the cliff across the river. Yelps and -barks and howls burst out in a score of places over the prairie. -Stamford reached down to rub Imp's ears and sank to sleep. - -It was three days before Cockney returned. They were at the dinner -table when they saw him ride up to the stables, unsaddle, rub Pink -Eye down with straw, and lead him away to the lower corral. - -"Any of the boys back yet?" he asked, as he joined them. - -When they told him only the cookie was about the place: - -"Better keep quiet about where I've been. Dakota's sensitive on the -dogie question. Every year we fight about it. He considers dogies -the blight of the West--that they lack more in stamina and size than -they make up in quality of beef. My idea is to improve the quality, -not only the bulk." - -Stamford was watching him narrowly. That he was weary and hungry was -evident, and about his talk was an abstraction that belied the -seriousness of his subject. - -"You have a few more ideas about ranching than you care to show," he -said. - -Cockney served himself a third helping of pork and beans and said -nothing. - -"Large men always wear masks," observed Isabel. - -"And small men are as transparent as water, I suppose," complained -Stamford indignantly. - -Cockney was playing with his knife. "Perhaps Stamford knows he -couldn't deceive if he tried. My personal experience of small men is -they're seldom up to what they wish to appear. For instance, -Stamford is physically broken. Would anyone suspect it? He seems to -enjoy the aimless life out here, yet in town he works twelve hours a -day with gusto. There's nothing to do about the Red Deer but loaf, -yet he's never indolent. I don't try to understand them." - -He had resumed his eating, but Stamford was uncomfortably conscious -of more than banter in his words. Isabel spoke quickly: - -"Anyone can see that Mr. Stamford's job is to sleep--and doze--and -sleep again." - -"In order not to give offence----" - -"You wouldn't willingly give offence," she broke in, with a laugh so -indulgent that to accept her words seriously would have been -impertinence. - -"I wish you'd teach Mary how to say that," said Cockney. - -"Perhaps," suggested the Professor merrily, "she knows you better -than Isabel does Mr. Stamford." - -"Too often guessing is mistaken for knowing," said Cockney, looking -at his wife. - - -Dakota and Bean returned early the next morning, the others following -in the afternoon. The Professor greeted them with unaffected -pleasure as he returned from his day's work; and after dinner he made -his way to the cook-house. Imp was already installed at the -foreman's feet. Cockney lit a cigarette and wandered off toward the -corrals, and Mary called for Matana and went for a wild ride, leaving -Stamford and Isabel to keep the ranch-house. But Dakota drifted -across from the cook-house, whereupon Stamford was quite certain that -henceforth they were bitter enemies. - -Indeed, Dakota developed such an annoying habit of spending the -evenings at the ranch-house that Stamford's hatred of him assumed -enormous proportions. The cowboy took to daily shaving, and even -Stamford was forced to admit hitherto unsuspected traces of an -elemental comeliness. When Isabel also seemed conscious of it, he -cursed beneath his breath with a small man's jealousy. - -Dakota responded to the poorly veiled dislike in the safety of the -cook-house, whither Stamford repaired at every opportunity for the -purposes of his quest. - -"You don't seem to like me, Dakota," smiled Stamford. He knew the -memories it recalled. - -"I always did hate dwarfs," snorted Dakota. - -"You see," said Stamford, with mock humility, "there was so much good -left after you were created that it wouldn't have been fair to put it -up in big bundles. I must have been turned out just after you were -patched together." - -Dakota was not soothed by the loud guffaw from his companions. - -"Some day," he warned, "I'll get you where we can talk it over real -friendly-like. Let me invite you over to Montana, where the -shooting's good." - -"Thanks! I'm safer here." - -"You're dead right there, youngster," agreed Dakota vehemently. - -August was hastening to its end. Stamford, in a panic, began to -realise how little he had accomplished. He was oppressed with the -depth of his inexperience, and at moments considered seriously the -wisdom of handing over to the Police all the information he had -collected and getting back to his paper. Though, the longer he -remained, the more he was impressed with the mysterious undercurrent -at the H-Lazy Z, he had arrived no nearer the solution of the murder -of Corporal Faircloth. His tentative ventures to direct the -conversation to informative channels, whether with the cowboys or -with Cockney, were blocked by sullen silences or suspicious glances; -and it spurred him on in his most discouraged moments, though it told -him nothing of value. He knew he was in the right place, but he was -growing less confident that he was the right man. - -One day, having wandered far up the bank of the river with fishing -tackle in hand but a keener intentness on the opposite cliffs where -he knew Isabel Bulkeley was working with her brother, he saw, far to -the south-west, a galloping Policeman. He mentioned it at the dinner -table. Cockney bit off an oath in time and expended his fury on his -meat. Professor Bulkeley did not seem to hear, expressing a regret -that he had been denied an opportunity of meeting "these fearless and -sparkling guardians of the law." - -Cockney gave an audible sneer. - -"You don't admire them, Mr. Aikens?" - -"I hate them," Cockney exploded. "If I saw them driven into a corral -and shot out of hand----" - -"Jim, dear," Mary broke in gently. - -His anger directed itself against her. "Yes, you've been swallowing -the dope, like everyone else. You women! You can't resist the -glamour of them. But, for Heaven's sake, keep it from me in my own -house! I won't have it!" - -He was almost shouting at the last, the very unreasonableness of his -outburst increasing his anger. Mary sat cowering a little before it, -and Professor Bulkeley rose abruptly and disappeared upstairs. -Cockney's eyes followed him in a sudden silence, then he, too, got up -and stumbled out. - -Mary Aikens, returning in the early darkness that night from a mad -gallop on the prairie, brought with her a bundle of papers handed her -by a rider from the Double Bar-O. From copies of the _Journal_ -Stamford learned that the cattle-thieving was becoming bolder. -Evidently Smith was doing good work on the paper, and the advertising -was holding its own. - -He went across to the cook-house, the Professor strolling in later. -The Dude was induced to bring out his guitar, and accompany himself -to one of the sentimental ditties of the Montana saloons, the -Professor proving himself possessed of a remarkable ear for songs new -to Stamford and not in the tenor of Smithsonian Institute circles. -There were several mouth-organs among the outfit, and Bean Slade's -high tenor was a not unpleasing addition to the part-singing. The -Professor was so exuberantly delighted with the entertainment that he -went to the door and whistled across to the ranch-house for his -sister. - -She came immediately, laughing her way into the group with the subtle -touch of companionship that always breathed from her. Stamford -immediately retired into his shell, resenting her frank friendliness -with these rough fellows, resenting their half-shy acceptance of it, -resenting more intensely Dakota's assumption that he represented the -things she liked about them. Isabel looked at him under her brows -two or three times, with a sly smile about her lips that did not add -to his good humour. And presently, when she and Dakota were talking -and laughing together, while the others went on with the desultory -entertainment, Stamford rose to leave. - -"Oh, Mr. Stamford," she called. "Don't leave the tenderfeet -unprotected. We're going in a minute. I was almost forgetting Mrs. -Aikens." - -She smiled on Dakota and the others, and Dakota bowed low, hand on -heart. In his enthusiasm he shook hands with the Bulkeleys, omitting -Stamford. Bean's shy but inevitable "Ta-ta" was quite as full of -gratitude, and Imp barked a farewell that, by his snuggling wriggles -against Dakota's legs, was meant to say: "I appreciate the friendship -of the ranch-house, but it mustn't presume to interfere with my -_real_ love." - -"What fine fellows those chaps could be!" muttered the Professor, on -the way to the ranch-house. - -"They're that now," replied Stamford,--"except Dakota." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -AN ADVENTURE IN THE MOONLIGHT - -Stamford climbed into bed with a feeling of discomfort. He always -knew beforehand when he would not sleep. Even as a youngster the -aftermath of indigestible luxuries, nightmare, was heralded before he -closed his eyes by a feeling of oppression. To-night he longed for -Imp's watchful ears at the foot of his bed. Outside, the world was -dominated by the hideous yelping of the coyotes. To Stamford they -were a symbol of Red Deer mysteries: though hundreds of them by day -lurked within the horizon, they were seldom visible; at night, when -only their eyes could see, they filled the darkness with raucous -clamour. - -For a long time he struggled in vain to sleep, and at last put on his -dressing-gown and seated himself before the window. The mosquitoes -had retreated before the cool nights, though the sun still brought -them to life in clouds by day. He removed the screen and leaned from -the window. Beyond the shadow of the house the prairie was yellow -now with a brilliant moonlight. - -A distant sound of disjointed conversation drew his eyes to the -bunk-house. A light still burned there. - -Urged by sudden recklessness, he hastily donned part of his clothing -and climbed outside. - -He found the prairie in another of its moods. To-night the moon -blazed a spirit that ridiculed the proportions of darkness and day. -It seemed inconceivable that the slightest movement could pass -unnoticed in such brilliance, but this that he looked on was a new -world of silent majesty. There were the old landmarks, but they were -altered in size and distance and relative location. So plainly did -the cliff across the river stand out that it seemed within a stone's -throw, yet any attempt to decipher the familiar strata, the recesses -and projections, was defeated by a bewilderingly new mass of shadows -and high-lights. The ranch buildings were crowding closer, and the -lazy movements of the horses in the corrals came sharp as pistol -shots. - -Stamford stood for minutes, gripped in the clutch of the prairie by -moonlight. His mind refused to turn from the scene; he was restless, -unsatisfied, undecided. The light was still there in the bunk-house, -and at intervals he could hear the sound of voices. - -Bringing himself back to realities by sheer force of will, he moved -round to the front of the house, clinging to the shadows. Where they -ended he paused a moment to fix in his memory the concealing -depressions that stretched further up the slope toward the stables, -and then struck swiftly through the moonlight. - -He was conscious of an ill-defined desire to conceal his movements -from the ranch-house as well as from the bunk-house for which he was -making, and he sank to the first cover with a sigh of relief. After -a careful inspection in both directions through the long grass he -began to crawl forward. - -Nearer and nearer he approached the bunk-house, though on a higher -level, without having once exposed himself--he was confident of that. -The voices grew audible, certain excited words coming to him, then -phrases. A wordy quarrel was in progress, from which Bean Slade's -high-pitched voice projected itself frequently. - -Stamford moved nearer, crept over several rolls to a hollow before -the bunk-house, and lay down to listen. - -"Yah!" he heard General sneer. "_You_'d 'a' let him go, _you_ would, -and got a bellyful o' lead fer yore trouble, you would." - -"There was other ways o' gettin' out of it," protested Bean shrilly, -"besides doin' fer him. It was damn brutal murder, I call it." - -"Just 'cos _you_ cain't sleep, Bean," jawed Alkali, "don't mean yo -need to growl the rest of us awake everlastingly." - -Dakota broke in imperatively: - -"If you fellows don't shut your heads there's going to be trouble. -Here you been on that ole song, Bean, for the last hour. What's the -good? It can't be helped now. Somebody had to shoot--not to say it -was meant to plug him for keeps. Now shut up both of you. We got -enough excitement ahead for a month or so without worrying about a -measly bullet or two." - -Stamford hugged the ground, scarcely breathing. Once more Dakota had -blocked him. Another minute and he would have heard something of -moment, he was certain, though what it was he did not stop to -consider until, in obedience to Dakota's orders, the quarrel ceased. -He was not sure then that it was a case of any personal interest to -him. Someone had once shot someone. All he knew was that Bean -resented it, and that General was its strongest defender, whether as -the shooter or not was uncertain. - -He knew of only three deaths by shooting since he arrived: Corporal -Faircloth, Kid Loveridge, and Billy Windover. Corporal Faircloth's -death was not involved, since there could have been no danger of a -bullet had he been spared. Kid Loveridge? It was almost as -difficult to imagine that it concerned him, since he was one of the -outfit and its most popular member. Of Billy Windover's death he -knew too little, and was too little interested to follow the -connection. - -The light went out; silence reigned in the bunk-house. But Stamford -lay there, forgetting where he was, riveting the conversation to his -memory for future reference. - -A sharp, muffled bark from the bunk-house roused him. He raised his -head cautiously and peered through the grass. That was the precise -warning the dog had given twice from the foot of his bed. What had -disturbed it this time? - -The door of the bunk-house opened and Dakota came stealthily but -swiftly out, clad only in his shirt. In his hand was a rifle. - -His first glance was toward the ranch-house, but all the time he was -moving rapidly to the corner of the bunk-house, the rifle -half-poised. Imp was there ahead of him, ears cocked, looking off -down the valley toward the corrals. Stamford sank into the grass. - -A burst of flame startled him, and then the crack of the rifle. It, -too, was pointing down the slope toward the corrals. Stamford forgot -caution and raised himself to look. But he could see nothing save -the melting moonlight that never fulfilled its promise of exposing -details. - -Dakota returned to the bunk-house even more quickly than he had come. -A few excited whispers followed, and then silence once more. -Stamford began to work his way back to the ranch-house, suddenly -aware of how shivery he was. - -He had but started, his eyes searching the line of retreat, when he -saw Cockney, fully dressed, appear from the shadows of the house, -pass into the moonlight-bathed side where his bedroom window was, and -climb through. Stamford hurried on. But before he reached the point -where he must cross the open, Cockney reappeared and slunk into the -shadows. An instant later Mary Aikens, in a dressing-gown, clambered -through the bedroom window and crept timidly along the moonlit wall. -At the corner she cautiously peered round after her husband. - -Stamford could see Cockney outlined against the moonlit prairie -beyond. He was standing with his face turned to the ranch buildings, -as motionless as the other shadows. After a moment or two, with -sudden decision he wheeled about and began to retrace his steps in -long strides. - -Mary Aikens turned and ran for the window, but she was too late, -unless---- - -Stamford stood upright and spoke: - -"Did you hear it, too, Cockney--the shot?" - -Cockney stopped in his tracks, hand on hip. And his wife disappeared -over the window-sill. Stamford stepped across the moonlight to the -shadow of the house. - -"Stamford"--Cockney's voice was full of menace, though it was quiet -and low--"you'd better not butt in." - -"I'm sure----" Stamford recognised the futility of talk. "I heard -the shot and----" - -"I've warned you," said Cockney, and entered the house by the front -door. - -Stamford stumbled thoughtfully on to his bedroom window. He was -throwing one leg over the sill when Isabel Bulkeley spoke suddenly -from over his head. - -"I was wrong, Mr. Stamford." - -He was as much startled by her presence there as by anything else -that had happened that night, and he did not reply until he was safe -in his room. - -"You--you frightened me, Miss Bulkeley," he gasped, leaning out to -see her. - -Her low laugh made him himself again. - -"How _could_ you be wrong?" - -"You certainly do more than sleep--and doze--and sleep again. Here -you're strolling out when everyone else is asleep." - -"It's very lonely," he hinted. - -He felt that she was laughing in the silence that followed. - -"There are more reasonable hours for a moonlight promenade than ten -minutes to one in the morning--even in _such_ moonlight." - -"Any hour of the moonlight will suit me," he said,--"if I'm not -alone. What wakened you?" - -"When two men stand outside one's window quarrelling, a light sleeper -is apt to waken." - -"Didn't you hear the rifle-shot?" - -"Sh-sh!" she whispered. "I think I hear Amos. If he wakens he'll -not sleep for the rest of the night. And he must have his eight -hours. Good-night, Mr. Stamford!" - -The little man cursed the petty weaknesses of the big brother. - -"Miss Bulkeley! Miss Bulkeley!" - -But her window lowered, and he could hear her move away. - -With throbbing heart, unaccountably happy, he threw off his clothes -and crawled between the sheets. The clandestine good-night echoed -sweetly in his ears. He could die like that---- But that was -getting maudlin. He pulled up an extra covering and settled to sleep. - -As in a dream he seemed to hear, far to the west, the thud of a -horse's hoofs. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE HOWL OF STRANGE DOGS - -Sleep trifled with him--beckoned him on, only to elude him -maddeningly. He spoke sternly to himself in language favoured by the -cowboys. The fact was that he was frightened, and he knew it. A -sense of impending events held his body tense and his ears strained. -Reasoning with himself that it was only the result of the night's -rapid sequence of mysterious incidents did not calm him. - -For minutes he strained away to the west after those strange hoof -beats, only to relax, disgusted at himself for yielding to the -imaginings of his tingling nerves. - -From the direction of the bunk-house he imagined he could hear at -intervals Imp's muffled bark--and then the gripping silences of the -most silent places in the world. - -After a long time the coyotes gave tongue again in their long, -shuddering yaps. Strange how reassuring they were that night--that -hideous yelping that always before made him shiver! Stamford sank -into a sense of momentary security. He slept. - -He wakened to find himself seated upright in bed, trembling, -straining with eyes and ears. Something terrible was happening -outside. Yet there was not a sound. In a flash he knew. His -sensitised ears were still echoing with the comforting yelps of the -coyotes, but at the moment it was as silent as if not another force -but himself existed in all the world. He knew that he had wakened at -the moment when a great hand seemed to have gripped a thousand wild -throats to silence. A hundred times before he had heard the same -uncanny burst of silence. But now---- - -On his elbow he rested, scarcely breathing. - -Outside--in the house--even down in the corrals where several -restless bronchos always hitherto in these startling moments of peace -had spoken audibly of life, was a breathlessness as strained as his -own. The world was waiting--waiting. - -Suddenly into the hush burst a solitary howl, a shattering roar that -seemed to mass all the wild things of the prairie behind one -tremendous throat. - -Stamford's blood ran tingling to his scalp. Every muscle was tense -against the inclination to shut the awful thing from his ears. And -as the howl pulsed through the listening night, a second joined it. -Taking a deep breath, Stamford bounded from the bed. - -He knew that cry. It was the night-baying of huge dogs gone wild on -the trail, of such dogs as he had never seen. Shivering before the -window, he listened. They were running swiftly across the prairie -above the house, drawing nearer and nearer, their clamour shutting -everything else from Stamford's mind. What were they doing there? -Where were they making for? - -A commotion in the bunk-house brought his eyes in that direction. A -pair of figures, trailing saddles, flashed out and ran to the -corrals. And even in their haste their movements were furtive. As -they galloped madly up the slope toward the oncoming dogs, Stamford -heard Dakota Fraley curse under his breath. The hoofs of the horses -struck the prairie at first with only the hiss of dead grass, and -then the thud-thud of distant galloping. - -The dogs were coming fast from the upper side of the house. Stamford -braced his trembling legs, climbed through the window, and ran to the -back of the house where he could see the slope upward to the prairie. -Yard by yard he could follow their advance. Almost as vividly he -pictured the rushing of Dakota and his companion to meet them. Half -the world then for Hobbles beneath him! - -Across the broken howls cut Dakota's bellow, and silence fell like a -blow. A few seconds later came two sharp yelps of pain, and then -nothing more. - -Stamford still stood in the cold night air, one hand pressed against -the wall of the house. It was that hand warned him of movement -within the house. With a vivid memory of Cockney's warning only an -hour before, he darted back for his window. - -As he turned the corner a flicker of movement passed between him and -the lighted prairie beyond; but it was too quick to place. Dragging -his fingers along the wall as he ran, his hand struck something that -gave before him. Without stopping, he glanced upward. - -A rope ladder was hanging from Professor Bulkeley's window. - -A crunch on the gravel walk before the house sent Stamford on, -scarcely pausing to think. Throwing himself over the window-sill, he -straightened up within his room and waited in panting excitement. - -Fear crowded him in--threatened to stifle him. Someone was out there -before the house--his ears told him that. But a more thrilling sense -warned him that someone was in his room--that if he but reached out -his hand he would touch a living body. - -"Sh-sh!" The low hiss from beside him dissipated every element of -personal fear. "It's Bulkeley!" - -Stamford gasped. Most prominent in the medley of feelings gripping -him was a desire to laugh hysterically. It was so like the big -innocent fellow to present himself like that, as if they were meeting -in a game of hide-and-seek--nothing more. - -"I'm f-frightened," came the stammering whisper again, as the -Professor's huge hand fell on Stamford's arm. - -The steps before the house moved lightly round to the window. - -"Are you awake, Mr. Stamford?" - -Close to the house, just beyond range of the window, Mary Aikens was -standing, terrified, pleading for companionship and comfort. The -Professor's grip tightened so convulsively that Stamford almost cried -out. - -She must have heard the movement. - -"What is it, Mr. Stamford, oh, what is it?" - -Stamford wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her like a big -brother. - -"It's only dogs, Mrs. Aikens--somebody's dogs on a coyote or antelope -trail." - -He was trying to reassure her with his tone even more than with his -words. - -"But it was so terrible--so threatening!" - -"It's the way of dogs at night. They're apt to revert to type at an -hour like this." The Professor's grip relaxed. "To tell the truth, -I'm far more thrilled than I sound. It reminds me of sheep-hunting -dogs back East." - -A low sob broke from her. At the same instant the Professor hissed a -warning. - -"But there are no dogs on the Red Deer," she sobbed, "none like that." - -"The night magnifies them. But where's your husband?" - -"He went out--long ago----" - -A gruff voice from the corner of the house stopped her with a gasp. - -"Mary, when you've finished your midnight conversation with a man -through his bedroom window, we'll go to bed." - -"Oh, Jim! I was frightened. I couldn't stay in there alone." A -double terror was in her voice now. - -Stamford ground his teeth in his impotence. Cockney's big bulk -loomed before the window. - -"Go to bed," he ordered. "I've something to say to this -fellow--right now." - -She moved quickly before the moonlit square of the window and threw -her arms about the big man. Cockney made no resistance. - -"Don't, Jim, please. Come to bed. Can't you see that I----" - -The Professor's lips were close to Stamford's ear. - -"For God's sake get him away; he'll murder us." - -Stamford stepped to the window. - -"Cockney," he said, "whatever you think of me is no reason for -forgetting yourself. I'll be here in the morning." - -The big rancher turned his head to look down on the small figure of -his pleading wife, took her arm without a word, and started away. -Stamford stood listening as they crossed the sitting-room and closed -their bedroom door behind them. - -"Now," he demanded, turning on the Professor, "perhaps you'll explain -at least _one_ of the night's mysteries. A little light might help." - -He was fumbling about the dresser for the matches. - -"No, no, please!" pleaded the Professor. "There might be others -around. I'll go back to my room in the dark." - -"First of all you'll explain why you're here." - -In the darkness his five-feet-four was not dwarfed by the extra foot -or so of the Professor, and the smaller man was in his own room and -had himself under better control. - -"I'm afraid you'll--you'll laugh at me, Mr. Stamford. I have -my--ah--little fancies. We all have. I suppose I'm more sensitive -to ridicule." - -"There's a good deal more of you to be sensitive," Stamford sneered. - -"Perhaps that's it. Would it be--ah--too much to beg of you not to -insist? You don't suspect me of intentions on your purse, I suppose. -As a matter of fact"--he giggled in a silly way--"I was on my way to -the furthest corner under your bed when you came in." - -"Considering the fact that I found you in my room in the dark when -you are supposed to be in bed," persisted Stamford, "you'll agree -that not insisting is little likely to dismiss the affair." - -The Professor cleared his throat gently. - -"I throw myself on your mercy, Mr. Stamford. I don't believe you'll -betray me. When a lad of eight my home was burnt down. My little -dog, Tony, and a pet kitten went with it. It was terrible to me. -The fear of fire has clung to me ever since. At home I always sleep -downstairs. When I travel I carry a rope ladder. If you look you -will see it dangling now from my window." - -"Yes," said Stamford drily, "I did notice it." - -"I know it's disgustingly foolish, but--ah--I was practising on it. -I've done it once or twice before since we came. And then those -awful dogs--or were they wolves?--completely unnerved me. I must -have lost my head. You see, I've always with me such valuable papers -on my work, the destruction of which would be a loss to the whole -nation----" - -"It doesn't happen to be _my_ nation," Stamford broke in coldly. - -"Mr. Stamford, can I trust you?" - -"That depends." - -"I was going to crave that you'd take the responsibility of looking -after my notes--in this room." He laughed apologetically, "In case -of fire they could be saved here." - -Stamford had a sudden idea. - -"And your sister--does she share your fears and--and practise on the -rope ladder?" - -"Never, never! Fear is a matter of mind, and to Isabel is not that -peculiar delicacy of mind that----" - -A slight scraping sound against the side of the house stopped him. -There was a dull thud on the ground, and Isabel Bulkeley came swiftly -before the window. - -"Mr. Stamford, I can't find my brother." She was almost as agitated -as Mary Aikens had been a few minutes before. "He's not in his -room----" - -"Here I am, Isabel." - -The Professor stepped quickly to the window and touched her on the -arm. She laughed, with a tinge of hysteria none would have connected -with her. Then the chaperone came uppermost. - -"Amos Bulkeley, you come right to bed! Don't you know you never -could stand the night air? You'll catch your death of cold. Is it -any wonder, Mr. Stamford, that I lose patience with him sometimes? -No, not a word, Amos! You march!" - -And Amos marched as he was told, his long, awkward legs struggling -through the window with ludicrous contortions. Stamford, watching -with a smile in which was amusement and contempt, saw him carefully -place his feet in the ladder rungs, test the ropes, and begin to -climb ponderously upward. - -He could not resist the opportunity. Isabel was holding the ladder -for her brother to ascend. - -"Miss Bulkeley, I'm so glad you came to me for help. This is the -second time I've seen you to-night. It's been a lovely night. If -ever I can----" - -"Thank you," she whispered back. "I'll remember." - -"Isabel, Isabel!" The Professor was leaning through his window. -"Come right along now. I'll hold the ladder. Don't be a bit afraid, -dear. Nothing can happen. Just close your eyes and climb." - -Stamford snarled up at the cooing voice. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -A CATCH OF MORE THAN FISH - -Long before the guests appeared at the breakfast table next morning -Cockney was away on Pink Eye; so that there was nothing to fear from -him. A singular and confusing reticence was on them. Several times -the Professor cleared his throat as if he would speak of the things -they were avoiding, but he thought better of it each time and -continued his meal in silence. - -Imp was there, slinking close to Mary's skirts wherever she went, -cowering, every bit of his chirpy impudence gone. His mistress -reached down and rubbed his ears. - -"He leaped through my window this morning and ran under the bed. He -would scarcely come out. If you'll tell me how I can keep you, -little fellow, I'm willing to try. It's home in a storm, isn't it? -Dakota doesn't wear, does he?" - -Imp waggled a lifeless tail and relapsed into obscurity. - -A heavy knock startled them, and Dakota walked in. - -"Mr. Aikens here?" - -"He went away early, Dakota--perhaps across to the Double Bar-O. I -know he was intending to see Mr. Gerard soon on business." - -Dakota's eyes were roving about the room. Imp tried to slink to the -other side of the concealing skirts, and Dakota's face lit up. He -reached over and prodded the terrier with a forefinger. - -"Scared o' the wolves, little shaver, eh? I don't wonder. We don't -hear 'em often up here." - -"Were they wolves?" asked Stamford, eager to believe mere dogs had -not so shattered his nerves. - -"Come down from the north, I guess," explained Dakota. - -"But how could they cross the river?" queried the Professor. "They -must have a better ford than I use." - -"Hm-m! Perhaps they drifted up from the Cypress Hills, or across -from the west. Maybe they smelt the little shaver here. If they -ever got after him they'd shore peel the bark offen him. I'll be -warning the boys to keep a look-out on the calves. I wouldn't like -to meet the beggars on the prairie without a horse, no, not even with -an arsenal on me. They're dangerous devils." - -"Isabel!" The Professor was looking anxiously at his sister. "I -guess we'd better hasten our task. This isn't safe for you. Wolves! -Gr-r-r! It sounds uncivilised." - -Dakota shook his head gravely and left. Imp tagged humbly at his -heels. - -"Of course," the Professor grinned, "if there are only the two we -heard last night, I might be able to satisfy them myself. A couple -of hundred pounds ought to hold them for one meal. At any rate, I'd -make a point of lying so heavy on their innards that you'd have a -chance to escape, Isabel." - -He looked out through the window to the ranch buildings. Dakota had -picked up Imp and was hurrying along with the little terrier tucked -under his arm. - -"I think, Isabel, we'll try this side of the river to-day. That -Monodonious skull can wait another day. It's managed to stick it -long enough to forgive another twenty-four hours, don't you think? -I'll get the horses." - -He lumbered off along the path to the stables, calling as he passed -the cook-house for a good Samaritan to lend him a hand in deciding -which end of the harness went first on Gee-Gee. Bean Slade beat the -Dude and General to it, while the Professor watched proceedings as if -it were a new experience. - -"Some day," he declared, "I'm going to invent a harness that can be -grafted on a horse for a few generations until it's handed down as -part of his natural equipment, like teeth and eyes. I've a warm spot -for tenderfeet--even tenderfeet of ten centuries hence. If I lived -that long I'd never forget my troubles with Gee-Gee.... Hello, -Dakota! Teaching Imp to ride?" - -Dakota was in the saddle, with Imp still under his arm. - -"Naw! I'm taking him for his morning constitooshunal. He's changed -his doctor, and this one prescribes lots of exercise. What Imp needs -is muscle; he's got gall enough for a Great Dane." - -The cowboys grinned, and Dakota chirruped to his horse and moved away. - -"Why don't you train him to hunt wolves?" suggested the Professor. - -Dakota threw him a quick glance over his shoulder. - -"By Samson, Prof., you've a head! Alkali 'n' me'll perceed to take -your advice--Alkali 'n' me 'n' the dread avenger o' the Red Deer, -Imp. Wolfies, we're on your trail." - -"If you'd wait a few minutes," said the Professor, all excitement, -"I'd like to join you. To be able to tell my colleagues at the -Institute that I, the old-bone man, had hunted wolves--that would be -pride, indeed." - -Dakota merely waved a refusal and trotted away. - -But the Professor picked up his sister at the ranch-house and bumped -away to the south-west over the prairie in the direction Dakota had -taken, Isabel hanging to the low arm of the seat with both hands. - -Far out they descried Dakota and Alkali riding in circles. Imp was -running about with his nose to the ground. The Professor shouted and -stood up in the buckboard to wave his arms. But long before he was -close enough to speak, Imp yelped and struck off to the north-west as -fast as his little legs would carry him, Dakota and Alkali spurring -behind. - -The Professor waved in vain for them to wait, then turned the horses' -heads to the north-east and his day's work. - -Meanwhile Stamford, left to his own resources for the day, collected -his fishing tackle and made for the river. He was not a fisherman, -but such fishing as the Red Deer afforded gave him excuse for getting -away where he could tell himself without restraint what a fool he had -been to undertake his hopeless task. - -In the shadow of a low cliff he baited his hook and tossed it into -the water. A gold-eye took it at once, and for a time he played with -it absent-mindedly, finally drawing it out, removing it from the -hook, and tossing it back. Several more he treated in the same way, -and at last cast in his hook without troubling to bait it. The sun -crept higher and beat unmercifully on the bare rock, and he rolled a -stone on the end of the pole and stretched himself in the shade. - -"Don't seem ter be enj'yin' the fishin'," gibed a high-pitched voice -from the rocks above, "or else yer too blame cosy." - -Stamford raised his head lazily and surveyed Bean Slade's unkempt -figure perched on a ledge over his head. - -"Any fish that takes that hook's a born fool," he sighed. "I don't -want 'em any more than they want me. Come on down, Bean. It's far -more fun to lie about and talk." - -Bean climbed down and picked up the rod. - -"Yu don't know no more about fishin', boss, then yu do about--about -lots o' things yu'd like to know. Gi' me that bait. See that smooth -spot out there? That's deep water. Watch yer Uncle Ned." - -He whirled the rod back and forward, and the hook shot out to the -centre of the deeper water. Almost immediately the line tugged, -jerked, loosened, and went taut again. Stamford leaped to his feet -and grabbed the pole. - -"Hang to it, Bean! There, we'll get it! Whoop! Gee, ain't he a -fighter?" - -Bean yielded up the rod with twinkling eyes. - -"Fer a tenderfoot who don't fish, yu can work up what looks mighty -like a taste fer it." - -He hung precariously over the water and scooped unsuccessfully at a -shining back that showed for a moment. - -"Let 'er run, dang yu! Let 'er run. Yu got to get 'er to shallow -water." - -After a struggle, in which Stamford objected to assistance, but was -unable to complete the catch himself, Bean stepped into shallow water -and clutched the sturgeon. Stamford looked down on it with blazing -eyes. - -"Mister Stamford," grinned Bean, "if yu wasn't born a fisherman, yer -shure goin' ter die one." - -"Bean," said Stamford, "I'll crave your kind assistance to the extent -of baiting that hook again. Then--no more. I'll bring the next -fellow in myself or die in the attempt." - -Stamford went back to the hole. Nothing happened. He waited several -minutes, yawned, frowned, and leaned back against the rock. - -"That one," he declared, pointing to the still wriggling fish, "had -this whole darn river to itself. My line says so." He yawned again. -"Bean," suddenly, "you're my friend, aren't you?" - -The cowboy studied him curiously. "I reckon I ain't got no spite -again yu--none of us chaps at the cook-house have." - -"Not including Dakota, of course." - -Bean ruminated over that. "Mebbe yer right." - -"I don't believe, Bean Slade, that you're happy with that gang." - -Bean got up and started away. - -"Ta-ta!" he called. "This ain't my pumpin' day." - -Stamford cursed his impetuosity. - -"All right," he laughed. "You've a brain of your own--and I've seen -no evidences of a loose tongue in you. I was going to tell you -something--perhaps--that was all." - -Bean kicked over some loose stones and wandered back. Plainly he did -not want to go. - -And just then a fish took the bait. Stamford jumped forward, missed -his footing, and tumbled helplessly into the rushing current. - -At the same instant a scream broke down the river from the cliffs -higher up. - -Bean bounded to an overhanging rock, braced his feet in a crevice and -leaned far over. Stamford came up almost beneath his hand, gasping, -already half drowned, surrendering to the icy torrent that started in -distant glaciers. He could not swim a stroke. Bean's bony fingers -closed over his hair, stayed his progress, and the other hand moved -down to his arm. - -"Here, yu noodle!" he shouted. "Yu got to help yerself, or I'll let -yu go. This ain't no time to faint. Grab my shoulders. Now work -yer way up my body. Yu'll find bones thar to catch hold of. -Now--all together!" - -Stamford lay panting on the rock. Bean, perspiration bursting from -every pore, leaned weakly on his elbow beside him. - -"Whew!" he puffed. - -That was all, but his limbs were shaking, and the perspiration -trickled down his neck and dampened his loose neckerchief. A great -gush of affection passed between the two men, though neither spoke. -Stamford extended his hand and laid it on Bean's, and the cowboy -looked away and drew a coloured bandana with his free hand and rubbed -it round his neck. - -Presently he sat up and stared up the river. - -"Huh!" he grunted. "Yu shure don't take a bath of'en, do yu?" - -"Not that way--never again!" replied Stamford fervently. - -"Thought not." - -"Why?" - -"'Cos there's such a funny noise when yu strike the water." - -Stamford flushed. "Did I scream?" - -"If 'twas you," grinned Bean, "yu shure can throw yer voice high and -far." - -Stamford followed his eyes up the river cliff, and flushed again, -this time for a different reason. - -"Pshaw, Bean! You were excited." - -"Then there was two of us, I reckon." - -"I'm sure I must have screamed," said Stamford. "I was never so -scared in my life." But his heart sang with the knowledge that -Isabel Bulkeley, somewhere in the cliffs above, had feared for him. - -"All right, have it yer own way. Only if I was you I wouldn't -believe myself." He drew several long breaths and looked shyly at -the man he had rescued. "God, if I hadn't been here!" - -"Bean, I----" The surge of Stamford's gratitude was choking him. - -"Billy Windover saved me once like--like that," said Bean, his eyes -fixed on the foaming water. - -"Billy Windover? Wasn't that the cowboy who was shot down near the -Cypress Hills a couple of months ago?" - -Bean nodded. "Billy an' me was chums--the best chums in the world, I -guess, pretty near. Me and him was raised together--down in Indiany. -Our farms was close together, an' Billy an' me played Injun an' -pirate an' stage robber together when we was knee high to a -grasshopper.... We grew up together.... We loved the same gal.... -He licked me and won. We fought it out on the banks of a deep stream -that cut through both farms--in the woods--an' the licked one was to -drown himself.... He pulled me out...." - -He lifted himself higher and drew one hand angrily across his eyes. - -"The gal she turned out bad ... and Billy went a bit wild.... I went -with Billy. We broke out in Montany. Billy was a reckless cuss, an' -he got in bad with the sheriffs and flitted over here. I came as -soon's I got the chance.... And--and now he's--he's pulled out an' -left me--alone." - -"He was murdered, I understand," said Stamford. - -Bean's face darkened, and his sunken eyes glared. - -"Damned sight wuss 'n that! Shot down without a chance in the dark. -Dirty cuss who did it's goin' to settle with me." - -"If you ever find who it was." - -"Why----" Bean's eyes peered out furtively beneath his shaggy brows, -and he said no more. - -Stamford led off on another tack; he had learned all that interested -him there. - -"There's Kid Loveridge, too. Someone shot him, and he was one of -this very outfit." - -"Huh!" growled Bean. "The Kid got what was comin' to him." - -Stamford held himself under careful control. - -"Then there's Corporal Faircloth." - -Bean's lips closed, his face was inscrutable. - -Presently he spoke. - -"Yu thought a lot o' the Corporal?" - -"He was my first and best friend in the West." - -"An' yer mighty consarned to find out who shot him?" - -Stamford did not reply immediately. He had a thought of throwing -himself frankly on Bean's affection. It was certain that Bean could -tell him what he wished to know--much more certain than that he -would. But the three fruitless weeks of search on the H-Lazy Z -called for desperate measures. He was debating it when Bean spoke -again in an ominous tone. - -"'Cos what yer doin' 's a mighty dangerous game." - -"Dangerous? Do you know what I'm trying to do?" - -"I'm just givin' yu a warnin', boss, that's all. It's like to end at -the business end of a gun." - -Stamford made a decision. - -"The H-Lazy Z is crammed with mysteries. If you----" - -"An' the less yu understand them the better fer yer skin. An' it -shore ain't no business o' yours." - -"It is my business that my best friend was murdered." - -"Best leave that to the Police." - -"But they're doing nothing." - -"I guess ya don't know the Police," said Bean, rolling a cigarette. - -Stamford sat thinking. "Bean," he said suddenly, "I'm going to tell -you something. The night we returned from Medicine Hat I got Hobbles -out--never mind how--and rode back to where we'd seen Dakota." - -He waited in vain for a burst of surprise. Bean merely nodded. - -"They were branding or something. They almost caught me." - -"Yer dead right there," agreed Bean. - -In a flash Stamford understood. "But it couldn't have been _you_ -pushed me from Hobbles." - -"Huh!" grunted Bean, taking a long draw at his cigarette. - -"You were back at the bunk-house. I saw you there an hour or so -later, when Dakota came in." - -"Uh-huh! An' yu purty near gave the show away--if Dakota's ears was -as good as mine.... Also Hobbles couldn't 'a' been out at the -branding neither, 'cos _she_ was there in the stable then, too, eh?" - -He chuckled, and coughed with the smoke. - -"But I heard you tell Dakota no one had gone out--also I saw you -start off right after your supper to join Dakota; you promised him to -as we were driving in." - -"Dear me! Did yu think yu wasn't intended to see an' hear all that? -Ha! Ha!" - -"But I don't understand." - -"Shure yu don't! If yu did yu'd be back in town now.... An' I'm not -goin' to tell yu, neither." - -He got up, stretched, expectorated into the river, and sauntered away. - -"Ta-ta!" he called back. "Take care o' yerself." - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -TWO PAIRS - -Stamford folded his fishing-rod, threw his lunch strap over his -shoulder, and started back for the house, forgetting the big sturgeon -lying in the sun. His clothes were almost dry already with the warm -rocks and sun. He had his first useful clue, and it reassured him. -His guiding thought now was that Bean Slade knew the murderer he was -after--and if Bean Slade, then the rest of the H-Lazy Z outfit. But -how much or how little was Cockney Aikens involved? - -He was surprised to find the Bulkeleys already returned to the -ranch-house, though dinner was a couple of hours away. It delighted -him--and also blotted from his mind the success of his afternoon's -work. What he recalled was the scream Bean claimed to have heard. -He wanted to verify or disprove that. With a refreshed pride in -himself he determined that he _would_. He proposed a walk; the -brilliance of the out-of-doors provided perpetual excuse in the West. -Isabel's immediate reply was an anxious look at her brother and Mary. - -"I'm not asking your brother," he said boldly. - -"Amos and I have to work on his notes," she objected. "That's why we -came in early." - -"Tut, tut!" protested her brother recklessly. "I've changed my mind. -The inspiration is lacking. It's not my day for work. I don't care -a hang if the entire carcass of a crested Saurolophus is lost to the -world by an afternoon's indolence. I'm--going--to be indolent! -There! Whoopee! Hear the cry of independence." - -He lifted a foot and kicked the top of the doorway with surprising -ease. - -"It sounds to me like revolution," said his sister with mock -severity, yet with more than a little anxiety. - -He picked her up and deposited her outside the door. - -"Trot along now, or Mr. Stamford may never ask you again." - -"Amos!" - -He made a face at her from the doorway and turned his back. - -That her annoyance was not assumed Stamford discovered to his -embarrassment before they had gone six paces. Once she turned about, -to see the laughing faces of the Professor and Mary Aikens regarding -them from the doorway. For some minutes their progress was wordless. -Stamford was puzzled by her reluctance to leave the ranch-house, for -he was convinced that she wanted to come. He knew the wisdom of -leaving her to break the silence, of assuming humility, whether he -felt it or not. - -But he was not prepared for what she did say. - -"We shouldn't, Mr. Stamford, we shouldn't." - -He heard only the implied partnership, and threw his shoulders back -recklessly as he tramped on. - -"I don't care what we shouldn't do. If it's naughty it's nice. -That's how reckless I am." - -Her smile was wan; some anxiety too deep to respond to his banter was -there. - -"I don't like you serious," she said, "but--but you _must_ be now." -There was such innocent candour in it that he knew he wanted only to -help her. Always when he was feeling most strongly the thrill of her -presence, she disarmed him by throwing herself on his mercy. - -"I'm going to be serious with you some time, Miss Bulkeley," he said -soberly. - -She ignored the warning. - -"It's about Amos." - -"If Amos isn't big enough to leave alone, he never will be. Anyway, -Mrs. Aikens will look after him till we've had our walk. Now I've -got you to myself, I'm going to keep you till dinner-time." - -She was laughing a little, but shaking her head, as if to reprove him -for trying to turn her away from her troubles. - -"We mustn't be selfish," she said slowly. "Amos is big ... but he's -not big enough, I fear, to resist the--the most powerful thing in -life." - -The alarm with which he searched her face for a moment changed -quickly to annoyance. - -"It isn't possible to misunderstand you, Miss Bulkeley, but----" - -She laid one hand on his arm, turning to him her troubled eyes. He -stood still for fear she would remove it. - -"Haven't you seen--haven't you suspected?" - -"Miss Bulkeley, I can answer for our hostess. If you can say the -same for your brother----" - -"I can, I can," she murmured brokenly. "But love, you know----" - -"I know that, love or no love, there never was a finer little woman -than Mary Aikens. Has your brother betrayed to you that he is less -of a gentleman?" - -"I could trust Amos anywhere," she replied simply. - -"Then why not here?" - -Her hands were clasping and unclasping as they walked. - -"This is so different. I know what love can do--how it can change -things." She was stumbling over it, flushing as she spoke, but -continuing brave! - -"I hope you do," he breathed. - -But the tears brimming in her eyes made him feel the brute for -intruding his petty affairs just then. - -"Would your brother stay if he knew he was exposing himself to a -temptation he could not resist?" he demanded. - -She considered the reply for a long time before she made it. - -"We can't leave, Mr. Stamford. We have our work to do--it's not mere -personal pleasure or satisfaction that forces Amos to continue until -he's completed his investigations. It's his duty to stay to the -end--he can't help himself." - -He frowned. "Please don't make me believe you think digging up old -bones a duty that ignores--what you fear. I hope you're not that -kind of a girl--I won't believe it." - -She turned her face squarely to his, and for several seconds they -stood looking into each other's eyes. Her head was thrown back a -little proudly and reprovingly, and every barrier of reserve was -down. Once more the utter confidence in his manliness forced him to -control himself. - -"I knew it," he said humbly. "Only I don't understand.... There's -this to say for your brother, that the husband of the woman you fear -your brother is learning to love doesn't seem to be trying to hold -her love. I don't understand Cockney Aikens. I believe he's white, -but--but here we treat women differently." - -"That's what started it, I think," she said sadly. "Amos pitied -her--as you and I did.... And there are other things.... I can't -tell you all--everything that worries me." - -"Then it's your duty----" He was about to tell her that she should -take her brother away, but he was not unselfish enough for that. - -"I can't," she replied, as if he had finished the sentence. "He -wouldn't come--he couldn't." - -They had turned back and were approaching the ranch-house. - -"May I--talk things over a little like this with you when I'm -worried, Mr. Stamford?" - -Even as his heart leaped, he recognised the subtle way she had armed -herself against him by the petition. Never was he to permit himself -to take advantage of her confidence. When he would say to her the -thing which he now knew he would some day say, he must make his own -opening. - -"I understand," he murmured. "You may say anything you like. If I -can help you--that will be enough for me--now." - - -Mary Aikens and Professor Bulkeley, left to themselves, with cookie -in the kitchen fussing over the dinner, looked out to the sunlit -silences where the other two had gone, and responded to their appeal. -They saw the two lovers sauntering down toward the river, and they -chose the trail up the slope. Slowly they climbed the grade, saying -nothing. From the cook-house door Imp thrust his nose, sniffed with -half-shut eyes into the drooping sun, and decided that one of his -half-formed barks befitted the occasion. Then, satisfied that he had -done all that could be expected of him, he trotted back and lay on -one of Dakota's feet. - -The foreman was sneering through the doorway. - -"The big boob! He's shore on the wrong trail there, and some sweet -day the boss'll lay hands on him and--piff!" He made a movement of -tossing something away. - -"An' the biggest boob on earth wouldn't have no chance to earn it," -growled Bean. "Not with the missus." When Dakota laughed in his -nasty way, Bean fired angrily: "An' that little editor'll piff -you"--he imitated Dakota's gesture of a moment before--"if you go -gettin' funny with the other gal. Anyone can see where your eyes is." - -He laughed and strolled outside to avoid the explosion. - -Up the trail, over the crest of the slope, the two passed out of -sight. She plucked a handful of grass from the centre ridge of the -trail between them and began thoughtfully to tear it to pieces. He -moved at her side, his great hands gripped behind him, his eyes on -the rut at his feet. - -"Don't you think they're getting fond of each other?" he said after a -long time. - -A smile of loving sympathy made her face so beautiful that he looked -sharply away and pointed to the vivid colourings of the sunset. She -followed his pointing finger absent-mindedly. - -"It would be one of the few flawless matches," she said, in a low -voice. - -"They are all flawless--at first," he returned. "Only some last a -shorter time. That's part of life's misery, the legacy of original -sin--perhaps the worst.... Some pause to weigh to the merest -trifles--and lose their chance. Some ... some don't pause enough. -The secret of happy marriage, I'm convinced, Mrs. Aikens, is a -complete knowledge of the essentials of each other's lives before the -ceremony." - -One handful of grass had been pulled to pieces, and she seized -another nervously. - -"Few of us pause for that," she murmured. - -"The agony of it!" His hands were clasping and unclasping behind his -back, almost as were his sister's on the other trail. "And -ordinarily there is no way out. Divorce doesn't settle it. The most -righteous divorce laws cannot supplant conscience--and conscience -speaks only in the one Book of all the world.... But this isn't -becoming to such a night," he broke in, with sudden eagerness. "Look -at that sunset. Only in the West do you find that unbroken -spectacle, such clearness of air, such a wonderful sweep of colour. -What is it about the Western air that makes a man----" - -He paused abruptly, breathing heavily. She looked at him in quick -fear. - -"--that makes a man feel ten years younger," he went on, with an -absurd change of tone. "I think I could grow frisky out here." - -Across her face passed a grateful smile of relief and understanding -that she did not know she made so plain. - -"It's the essence of the West. It makes or mars a man. It does the -same, only more swiftly, with the consumptives they send to us from -the East. Some it cures--some it kills.... Some it kills when it -seems most certainly to be curing them.... That's the West; it does -that with everyone--one never knows." - -He broke in on her dreamy reflections in a lighter vein: - -"Just the same it's the young man's country, don't you think?" - -"It's a great blessing--or a great curse.... What was Jim before he -came here?" - -It startled him; he had no reply ready. - -"I fear Jim and I do not fulfil your estimate of the foundation for a -happy married life. I never knew his past--I don't now. I never -knew his people--he never speaks of them. I took Jim--for himself--a -handsome, manly, honest, good-natured----" - -The man at her side coughed, and she turned to him with a wan smile. - -"I know," she said wearily. "You think I shouldn't talk of my -husband to others ... but in all our married life I've never before -had anyone to talk _anything_ with.... Jim and I--Jim and I----" - -"What I'm thinking, Mrs. Aikens," he interrupted gravely, "is that -I'm the last one to whom you should speak of him." - -She kept her eyes ahead of them on the dim line of the sand buttes, -and they walked on in silence. - -Suddenly a cry burst from her lips. - -"I must speak, I must. My very heart is eating away with the strain -of silence. I'll go crazy with the worry of it. It's about -him--Jim. He's different--these days. At first---- Don't think -there's any chance of Jim and me not--not sticking to each other. -I've fought that out with myself already. He's changed, but I know -what he _can_ be--what he was once ... what he won't let himself be -now. Why? I don't know. Something--something is crowding between -us--crowding harder and harder every day, I see him so little now, -and----" - -The big man squared his shoulders and lifted his head. - -"Mary Aikens, I'd do anything--pretty nearly anything to help you. -You know that. But I can't help you in this. Please, please, don't -ask me--don't say another word about him--not to _me_. It doesn't -seem heartless, does it? It's as far from that as--as black from -white. You've a heavier burden to carry than anyone I know ... and I -don't know yet how it can be relieved. But it _will_ be, it _will_ -be. I've that much faith in Providence. I shouldn't have said--that -about marriage. Had you known--did you know all about him, you would -at least bear one less trouble than you do, I'm sure of that. If I -were you I wouldn't bother about that--not now. You're his wife. -You should know whether he loved you once or not. And"--he ran his -hand across his forehead--"as an onlooker with eyes, I can tell you -that he loves you more than he ever did. Is that enough.... I -believe--at this moment--he loves you better--better than you do him." - -She gasped, and her hands tightened convulsively over the grass she -carried. - -"I still love him," she said deliberately.... "I think I do. What -my love lacks is thrust there by--by the wall he is slowly building -between us. I think he loved me, yes, but--it probably sounds -foolish--I don't feel that he wants me to love him--not too much. -He--sometimes seems to toss me aside--you've seen it. And Jim's not -naturally brutal." - -The Professor spoke with careless deliberation: - -"His past is much easier to unravel than his present. You're most -anxious about the latter. I can see it--I see it every day. You've -undertaken a lonesome task--it's the way a wife has to, but it's as -apt to mislead as enlighten. I don't believe that--that the wall is -unscalable--or at least the mortar's thin.... - -"And now," he started again lightly, "let's enjoy that sunset. I -have only a few more of them ahead, unless the winter holds off -longer than usual. I'm not so bound up in my poking about not to be -sorry when I think of having to give all this up." - -They had been retracing their steps for some time, at his wordless -guiding, and were close to the ridge before the drop to the valley. - -"Never," he told her, "no, never, speak to me again of your husband. -It won't lighten your burden and it only increases mine. Jim Aikens -may be maligned by circumstances beyond his control, and we from the -fringes are so apt to misunderstand. When I can help you I'll give -the signal. Till then--but there he is now--down in front of the -house--waiting for us." - -Cockney was standing on the gravel walk, every line grim and -accusing. His great legs were apart, his arms were folded across his -chest, and he was staring at them under his eyebrows in that -thoughtful, disapproving way of his. They could read the angry -tossing of his mind far away. Mary Aikens laughed nervously. The -Professor bit his lip. But before they came within speaking -distance, Cockney wheeled away and disappeared into the house. When -they reached the sitting-room they could hear his heavy striding in -the bedroom beyond. His wife trembled, started for the kitchen, then -changed her mind and passed into the bedroom to him. - - -It was a grateful relief to an oppressive dinner when Dakota -presented himself at the door. A fire was burning in the -sitting-room stove, for the evenings were sometimes frosty now, and -the cowboy sank modestly into a chair in the corner beside it. -Isabel, in an effort to break the embarrassing silence, seated -herself near him. - -"I hope you're finding all you came for," said Dakota pleasantly. - -"Thank you, Dakota. My brother considers the summer well spent -indeed. He still has hopes of a more complete skeleton, but we can't -remain much longer, can we?" - -Dakota scoffed. - -"There ain't likely to be snow before November. Sometimes we have a -storm in September--mostly, I guess--but it goes as quick as it -comes. We're often out riding with the herds into November. It -ain't just the weather you'd want to be handling rock in, but you -should oughta see October here. It's got creation beat a mile. -Don't you go till October. Besides," he added naïvely, "we got some -hard work for the next few weeks, and we can't be home much." - -"What indefatigable people you cowboys are!" exclaimed the Professor. -"Sometimes there seems nothing to do, and then it's night and day for -weeks." - -"You're right there, Professor," Dakota agreed in a loud voice. "To -make a ranch pay like the H-Lazy Z is real hard work--though Mr. -Aikens there don't seem to think so. And there ain't many pays like -the H-Lazy Z, I tell you." - -"What's that you said, Dakota?" asked Cockney, coming out of his -silence. "Going away for a few weeks?" - -"Yes, and taking the outfit. The fall clean-up. We'll make the -round o' the ranges and fix things up a bit. The Indians say we're -in for a breezer of a winter. There's that Big Bone Slough we got to -fence on the north side--where we lost all them cattle two winters -ago. I was saying to the visitors they needn't go for another month -anyway--till we're through all that. It's shore been a different -place this summer. The Dude was saying that he never got such joy -from slicking up and changing his shirt every week." - -He grinned with them. It was a long speech to make in public, and he -was proud of it. The Professor bowed with a low sweep. - -"I'm bowing for Mr. Stamford, too," he chuckled. "I can do it bigger -than he can. We appreciate, Mr. Fraley, the many courtesies we have -received from our fellow-countrymen. But, no, that couldn't include -the little editor; he's only a local product. He doesn't know what -it is to thrill to the stripes of Old Glory. We'll always remember -you. We hope you'll have equal cause to remember us." - -"That's all right, Professor," Dakota replied, with an expansive -sweep of his hand. "We're shore pleased punchers." - -And having delivered himself with credit to himself and his friends, -he backed out, bowing, his angora chaps ruffling in the wind as he -opened the door. - -His companions greeted him at the bunk-house with eager grins. - -"Did she give yer a scented hanky to wear nex' yore heart, ole hoss?" -enquired General confidentially. - -"Or a kiss on the forehead an' promise to be a sister to yo?" put in -Alkali sympathetically. - -"Oh, you fellers ain't familiar with the symptoms," said Muck. -"Dakota's planned ter 'lope, an' he ain't got his checks cashed." - -"G--! I wish I had," muttered Dakota, with sudden fervour. "I'll -shore be devilish glad when we get this bunch offen our hands and the -equiv in our jeans. I got a spooky feeling about the whole biz. -It's a big bunch to get down across the railway and over fifty miles -more to the border. And it'll be a deuced sight bigger when the next -lot's run in.... But we got to do it. That S-Bar-I outfit'll give -us a run for our money. But that's all to the hunky. Got your -shooting irons o.k., boys?" - -He shifted his eyes slowly to Bean Slade's thin body outstretched on -a bunk, his hands beneath his head. - -"Bean's funking," he sneered. - -Bean lifted an angry head. "Bean Slade's got himself in this thing -with both feet, you son-of-a-gun, an' he'll stick.... Just the same, -the old H-Lazy-Z outfit's goin' to bust up this winter. This li'l -boy's strikin' back fer civilisation--whatever that means." - -Imp, resting against Dakota's foot, raised his sharp ears and -grunted. In a couple of bounds Dakota had the door open. Professor -Bulkeley stood outside, blinking and smiling through his spectacles. - -"I'm so glad you haven't retired, friends," he chattered. "I -couldn't let you go without a record of the pleasant associations -with my estimable and cheery countrymen of the H-Lazy Z. Will you do -me the honour of inscribing your names in this little book? My -sister and I will look at it for many a year in remembrance of you -when we're far away." - -He stumbled over the step, a notebook in one hand, fountain pen in -the other. Dakota laughed harshly. - -"Here, trot up, you low-born Yanks, and scrawl your nom-de's for the -everlasting records of the li'l country God made without desecrating -it with Mounted Police. Let's make it our second papers o' -repatriation. Hurrah for Old Glory--and Professor Bulkeley and his -charming and beautiful sister!" - -The Professor pompously cleared his throat. - -"On behalf of myself and my sister, on behalf of the country we love -and respect, I thank you. Ever enthroned in our hearts will be----" - -"Ya-as," yawned Alkali, "so they say. Le's take the rest for -granted. Sounds like Decoration Day--an' sort o' makes me lonesome. -An' I don't cry pretty." - -"Don't mind Alkali," apologised Bean Slade. "He allus did get -maudlin easy. There's my scribble--Albert Shaw, better--or -worse--known as Bean Slade ... so my mother won't rekernise me when I -get mine in the way I'm shure to get it. Fust time I've wrote it fer -eight years.... Last fer the rest o' my nacherl days, so help me!" - -He tossed the book across the table. The Professor picked it up with -a beaming smile and bowed himself out. - -"Ta-ta!" Bean called after him. - -"The sneaking old geezer!" growled Dakota, when the heavy steps had -faded into the darkness. "If it ud been anyone else there'd 'a' been -shooting, I tell you--that Stamford peanut, for instance. I don't -like the look of his ratty eyes. He's just the kind o' unlikely chap -ud be working for the Police--if he had a foot more on him. Now turn -in, boys. To-morrow's the last round-up for the big vamoose to God's -country--and then gold enough to drown ourselves. Bean, hang on for -another year or two, and I'll be damnified if I don't flit with you. -It's a bit too creepy for me off here at the edge of nowhere." - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -THE SECRET VALLEY - -Morton Stamford may not have been a sick man when he arrived at the -H-Lazy Z ranch; he was at least a stronger man at the end of his -month's stay. His riding he continued only as practice, always with -the thought that he might require it. But he walked more, diving out -of sight daily into the chaos of the river banks, there to piece -together his clues and plan new attacks on the problem he was working -into shape for presentation to the Mounted Police. - -Also he now and then caught sight of Isabel Bulkeley on the other -cliff, and that in itself was reward enough. - -As the days passed he felt a new thrill in his veins, a virility that -clamoured for physical exertion, and his walks extended further and -further along the river, a lunch strapped over his shoulders. - -Eastward the south bank often fell to an uninteresting flatness, -lined still by the grass-covered trails of the buffalo herds of -comparatively recent years. Westward it was different. There the -prairie level dropped to the river in one great leap, confining the -current sometimes between high cliffs, sometimes with steep rocky -wall on one side and an almost inaccessible valley on the other to -the foot of the opposite cliff. It was a canyon of varying -tightness, but always a canyon, the water dashing down here and there -with frothy roar, everywhere with a force and depth that defied -fording. The glamour of its fury appealed more and more as he -tramped further up-stream. - -Hundreds of miles still to the west, in the foothills of the Rockies, -the main branch was a glacier torrent that rolled onward through -uninhabited wilds until it cut the Calgary-Edmonton line of -homesteaders at the village of Red Deer. Thereafter it dived once -more into the unknown, never once touching the haunts of men until it -reached the H-Lazy Z. - -Stamford used to sit overlooking the torrent, picturing that long -trail in the wilderness, where thousands of years ago great animals -had been covered by the earth's convulsions. His uncontrolled -imagination knit fantastic stories about them, and the fettered life -of the little man longed to break into the heart of it and listen to -its tale before soulless man tamed it. - -One day he found himself far above any point he had reached before. -He had clung to the top of the cliff, stopping only here and there to -peer over the precipice to the water's edge, and his progress had -been faster than he realised. Amid scenes new and vastly interesting -he munched his lunch. Below him the face of the cliff was rent by -huge fissures and lined with ledges, and the river valley spread and -narrowed in infinite variety. Across the river the hitherto unbroken -height showed signs of relenting, and great dips almost approached -the nature of valleys. - -Uncertain how far he had come, he was about to turn back, when a -sudden noise sent him crouching to the upper rocks. It was the -barking of huge dogs. At the first note he recognised them. He -wondered if they had seen him, and he peered carefully out. The dogs -were on the other side of the river, higher up. - -He began to creep toward them, the condition of the cliffs favouring -him. Gradually he sank lower and lower toward the river. He did not -dare look out. With an instinctive anxiety he did not stop to -analyse, he felt that other eyes were there; also he dreaded some -unthrilling explanation for the thing that was thrilling him. - -When at last the clamour told him that he had come far enough, he -raised his head to an opening in the rocks and looked. - -Across from him, partially hidden by a line of slender crags at the -river edge, was a beautiful valley, a low-lying patch of verdant -meadow as different from the dead wastes above as a garden from a -wilderness. Almost half a mile long by four hundred yards deep, it -was backed by a straight wall of cliff, broken only by two ledges. -Several tiny waterfalls tumbled from the face of the cliff, splashing -to the upper ledge, where they joined and widened for the plunge to -the meadow below. - -In that deserted country the Red Deer had scooped out for its own -amusement a veritable oasis, and enclosed it with unscalable walls. - -That was Stamford's fleeting idea. But several flaws chased the -romantic thought away. The valley was neither reserved for the -amusement of the river, nor was it inaccessible. - -A herd of cattle was browsing in the succulent grass. To the east -the cliff sloped away behind the obtruding crags. There undoubtedly -was the entrance. And with his field-glasses Stamford picked out on -the lower ledge a rude shack that, to the bare eye, merged in the -general greyness of the background. - -Nothing else of life could he find, though the valley was only a few -hundred yards from him. Then where were the dogs? And where were -dogs must be humans. - -Suddenly the barking broke out afresh, and two great dogs burst from -behind a concealing rock, their noses pointing upward to the slope at -the eastern end of the valley. Stamford swept his glasses all about, -but for a time saw nothing to focus the clamour. - -Then, climbing along the higher levels beyond the reach of the dogs, -came into view the big form of Cockney Aikens. - -In and out among the rocks Cockney moved, now visible, now hidden -from view, examining every rock, every foothold; climbing downward, -the dogs seeming to tear themselves to pieces to get at him. He -lifted himself to the top of a rock and stood looking across the -valley at the cattle, ignoring the canine protest. Then, as if -startled, he leaped out of sight and did not reappear. The barks -rumbled away to grunts and growls, and presently the dogs returned to -the lower level. - -Stamford was still watching with fascination their slinking muscular -movements, when one of them raised his head to the top of the cliff -and growled, and in a moment both were filling the valley with their -disturbing din. - -The field-glasses were turned on the top of the cliff. A man's head -came slowly in sight and peered over. Then a long rope dropped away, -and, hand over hand, the man descended rapidly to the upper -ledge--sixty feet of descent without a pause. - -So absorbed was the watcher in the remarkable grace and muscle of the -descent, that he did not at first recognise this second visitor to -the valley. When he did he rubbed his eyes, directed his glasses -again, and gasped. - -Professor Bulkeley! - -The big man walked fearlessly along the narrow ledge, a hundred feet -above the valley, disappeared from Stamford's sight, and after a time -came into view again on the lower ledge. The dogs bounded up rude -steps cut in the rock before the shack, welcoming him with waving -tails and whimpering barks. He stooped to rub their ears, then at a -word they quieted and fell in at his heels as he dropped to the -valley. A second command sent them to their stomachs, while the -Professor advanced slowly toward the cattle. The nearer ones raised -their heads from the long grass and examined him suspiciously, but he -stood still, and they returned to their feeding. Slowly the -Professor moved round the herd, eyeing them from every angle. After -a time he came down to the water's edge and looked up and down the -river, intently examining the opposite cliff. - -Stamford lay motionless, only his eyes showing. - -Whistling to the dogs, the Professor went off to the eastern side of -the valley and began to pick his way upward, peering about him as -Cockney had done. On the very rock where Cockney had stood he paused -a long time, looking across the valley and all about at his back. -Below, the dogs watched him with clumsily wagging tails. When next -he came into sight it was on the ledge beside the shack. This he -skirted back and forward but did not enter. Then, with a farewell -pat to the dogs, he disappeared the way he had come and came out on -the upper ledge. - -Hand over hand he went up the rope almost as rapidly as he had -descended a half-hour before, and a few seconds later two lolling -dogs and a herd of feeding cattle were the only life in the valley. - -Stamford lay where he was for a long time. He had no hope of seeing -more that day, but he did not wish to be seen. The dogs lay on the -lower edge, their heads outstretched on their paws. Below them -contented steers sank their noses into such grass as they had never -before eaten, and drank from sparkling streams that were nectar to -their alkali-parched throats. A heavy-footed farmer might have -issued from the unsightly shack and whistled lazily to the dogs to -fetch the cows for milking. - -Stamford smiled at the fancy. - -Thoughtfully he retraced his steps under cover of the jagged cliff -for almost a mile, where he emerged on the prairie and made swiftly -for home. - -He was late for dinner, but they were holding it for him. Cockney -had not returned. - -"Deep down in my innards," protested the Professor, with mock -displeasure, "I've an irresistible impulse to be nasty. I'd like to -think it righteous indignation--but it may be only hunger. At any -rate, here goes: Anyone who can delay a meal in this boarding-house -should have his rates raised. He insults the fare--as well as the -f-a-i-r." He bowed to their hostess. - -"I nearly lost myself," apologised Stamford. "Deep down in my -innards is only hunger; and I'm not going to make it an excuse for -mushy compliments. I'll leave contrition until I've satisfied my -hunger." - -"Indigestion is the most likely result," laughed the Professor. - -"Were you really lost?" asked Isabel anxiously. "You know how -dangerous----" - -"Isabel Bulkeley"--the Professor was shaking a stern finger at -her--"I refuse to share your anxiety with Mr. Stamford." - -"Having made such a failure of mothering you," she retorted, -flushing, "I'm inclined to transfer my anxiety." - -"I wasn't really lost," Stamford assured her, "for I stuck to the -river-bank. But I've been further than I ever was before--many miles -to the west." - -He regarded the Professor significantly as he said it. - -"I, too, went far afield," returned the Professor mysteriously. "And -I found promising signs. But before I say more I want to be certain; -it's disappointing to hope too much. It's very interesting up there, -isn't it?" - -"It is--very," Stamford replied into his soup-spoon. - -All evening the Professor was plainly trying to get a word alone with -him, but Stamford had no wish to be questioned, and he gave no -opportunity. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -THE RAFT IN THE CANYON - -Next morning Stamford started off the instant breakfast was over, but -he did not go further than the cook-house. He found it deserted, the -outfit having departed the day before on what promised to be a three -or four days' expedition. Stamford poked about the cook-house and -bunk-house with a vague idea of coming on clues left carelessly -exposed. In the midst of it the Professor walked in on him. - -"Oh, I thought you were gone for the day," said the Professor, "and I -hoped our friends of the funny names might be back." - -"I'm going now," Stamford returned shortly, and walked away, though -the Professor called to him. - -From among the rocks on the river-bank he saw the buckboard pass -around the corrals and make for the ford. He followed. - -Somewhere that herd of cattle in the little valley had crossed the -river, and he was determined to discover where. He had rather -definite ideas about them that led him to expect no information from -the ford. - -In that he quickly proved himself right. He had seen, even from -where he lay on the opposite cliff, that most of the cattle had been -in the valley a long time; that was evident from their plumpness and -undisturbed feeding. The more recent arrivals were betrayed by their -rougher coats and leaner bodies, and by a wilder fling of the head -when the Professor approached them. There had been no rain on the -Red Deer in two months; their tracks, were there any, would show -plainly enough in the mud approaches to the ford. - -But there was nothing there save the hoof-marks of the Professor's -team and a few dim old hollows that must have been there from the -spring. - -He considered the possibility of a ford further east, but one near -enough to be of use to the valley he would have heard of. - -Carefully examining the shore as he went, he turned back to the west. -Now and then he stopped to scrutinise the face of the opposite cliff -for marks of a slope on that side. - -Not far from the end of the lowest corral he raised himself on a -rounded rock to look about him. Across the river was unbroken wall. -On this side was a stretch of tumbled erosions that cut off his view -from the ground. As he let himself down again his foot slipped and -he fell, feet first, between two rocks. He was surprised to hear the -crunch of leather, and, looking where his feet had gone, he saw a -saddle carefully hidden, and beneath it a bridle. More surprising, -it was not a stock saddle but an English pattern of the softest, -lightest kind, ridiculously small and compact--so small that a man's -coat would almost hide it. - -He thrust it back and went hastily on. His eyes flitted -instinctively to the ranch-house, and just then the cook came from -the kitchen and emptied a pot. Stamford ducked, though a score of -heads would pass unnoticed in that jumble of rock at such a distance. - -Keeping to the river-bed, he moved up-stream and presently the cliffs -beside him rose to the level of their mates on the other side. But -there was always room for him to advance. At places the walls -narrowed, the current rushing between with indescribable fury, and -widening below in eddying sullenness that was almost as terrifying. -That it did not always chafe its barriers in vain was shown by the -tumbled confusion everywhere. - -In a few places deep crevices ran down from the prairie, and these -Stamford examined carefully. But there was no sign of a ford. -Equally alive was he to movement on the opposite cliff. By -lunch-time his clothes were showing marks of his tireless clambering. - -Below him--during the last half-hour he had been rising on the face -of the cliff--a comfortable ledge invited, and he climbed down and -unslung his lunch. As he ate he realised how easy had been his -descent. Out before him extended a level floor of rock up-stream; -behind, a steep incline ran upward, disappearing around a bulge in -the rocky face. Stamford knew cattle would not follow such a steep -ledge at such a height. Below, the water ran smooth, but tiny -whirlpools covered its surface; the current beneath was swift and -treacherous. - -He ate absent-mindedly, puzzled by the clear ledge ahead, while -elsewhere was such a chaos of fallen boulders. With the last -mouthful he retraced his steps, searching for some branching path to -the prairie above. He found it in a draw that left at right angles -the one he had followed down--an easy, grass-floored ascent. -Tangling and twisting, he reached the prairie. - -In its depths were unmistakable evidences of cattle. - -He returned to the lower level and followed it to its end. Gently it -fell to the level of the river; abruptly it ended in a wide platform -of rock that extended in under the cliff for fifty feet or more. On -all sides but the way he had come was towering rock only a bird could -pass. - -Nonplussed, irritated by the dashing of his hopes, he poked about. -The bare rock all round could conceal nothing, and ten yards ahead -was the certain end. Yet at his feet were the marks of cattle. He -moved nearer the end of the platform and leaned against a pinnacle -that projected from the water. As he turned helplessly to the -opposite side of the river, the solution lay before his eyes, the one -thing he had never suspected. - -A heavy raft lay tight against the pinnacle on which he leaned, -protected from the rush of water above by another jutting rock. - -He approached it with incredulity. Quiet as the stream looked -superficially just there, he knew no motive power applicable at such -a place would breast that current. And clearly it was too deep and -swift to pole. In vain he examined the overhanging cliffs for wire. - -At the very end of the ledge he caught sight of an end of cable wound -round a rock. Through his field-glasses he traced its exit across -the river. But still the method of passage was obscure, for the -cable stretched beneath the torrent, as did the wire that connected -it with the raft. Studying then the angle of the raft to the -current, he realised that the same principle prevailed here as -propelled the ferry across the South Saskatchewan at Medicine Hat. - -It was surprisingly simple, yet he had nowhere else seen it in -practice. A wire extended from either end of the raft to the -cross-river cable, the shortening of the front one of which, together -with the extension of the rear one, forced the current itself, urging -against the angled side of the raft, to be the propelling power. - -A burden lifted from Stamford's mind. Here was the crossing of the -herds to the hidden valley.... Here, too, was the means by which the -dogs--somehow unknown to Dakota and his comrades--were brought from -the valley and turned loose on the prairie on that memorable night. - -He caught himself whistling, until he realised that no part of his -discovery assisted him to the solution of his own problem. - -A feeling of discomfort had been increasing for some time, and he -decided that he was under observation. Clambering nonchalantly to -his feet, he retired to the cover of the pinnacle that concealed the -raft from below, and seated himself behind it. After a time his -curiosity overcame him. Turning on his knees he slowly advanced his -head to look across the river. - -As his eyes came over the edge of the bank he saw an end of wire -protruding from a small pile of rock close to the water's edge. It -extended out into the river and disappeared. He knew by its position -that it was intended to be concealed even from those who commonly -used the raft. The action of the current had worked the end from its -covering of stones. He drew back without touching it. - -At the end of an hour he decided to brave the eyes he knew were still -on the watch. - -Again he was late for dinner, but from a distance he saw the -Professor and his sister drive rapidly up to the ranch-house. They, -too, were late. - -"Really," the Professor chided, trying to induce a frown to gather on -his placid forehead, "your continued indignity in the matter of eats -is a subject for solemn consideration." - -"I am at a disadvantage," returned Stamford. "I have no team to -hustle me and my discoveries home at night. With Gee-Gee and his -fellow a good driver could, I am sure, cover from five miles up the -other side of the river, and cross the ford, in the time it would -take me to walk it on this side. With an exceptional driver I'd lose -miserably." - -"Some day," proposed the Professor genially, "we'll try it. I'm -growing quite conceited over my mastery of the incorrigible Gee-Gee. -I won't always be so busy as I am now." - -"If that day delays, you'll never be able to get to town the mountain -of button material collecting at the back door." - -"Always," returned the Professor gravely, "I'm looking for something -bigger. That discovery I hinted at last night---- You wait, you -cold-blooded editor. We palæontologists may be denied some thrills, -but at least when we make mistakes there's no libel action. If I -could be assured that in the wonderful national museum for which I -have the honour to collect there would stand through the ages a -monument to the memory of one, Amos Bulkeley---- It doesn't mould -readily to Latin, does it?" - -Stamford sighed wearily. - -The Professor stooped to look beneath the blind. - -"Your husband!" he announced across the table. - -Presently Cockney jerked Pink Eye to his haunches before the door. - -"Anything left to eat?" he called. "I'm starving." - -"When Mr. Stamford has his fourth helping there won't be," replied -the Professor. "He's a past master at keeping others talking while -he eats." - -"Stamford, take Pink Eye to the corral," ordered Cockney. "The -bottom corral, you know. He's too tired to be breezy." - -"Here! Let me tackle him." The Professor was advancing in a circle -on Pink Eye, as if with a vague idea of securing a strangle hold -before the broncho could put up a defence. "If I could end the -summer with the thought that I'd handled a real devil of a broncho, -my pride would sustain me for a whole winter. Even Gee-Gee seems to -have lost all ambition." - -"Don't you bother," Cockney growled. "I'll take him myself." - -Stamford came forward valiantly. - -"Don't be afraid of him," cautioned Cockney, removing the saddle. -"If he cuts up, let him go; he won't go far. Here's the key to the -gate. I think you'll find it swing easily enough. We'll have real -hinges and a new gate before another season. Be sure and lock up." - -The Professor watched Stamford gingerly lead the jaded horse away. - -"I haven't the heart to let him go alone," he decided, and set off -running. "If we don't come back," he shouted over his shoulder, -"you'll find me gathering up what's left of Mr. Stamford." - -Stamford, turning at sound of the Professor's heavy feet, saw Cockney -standing before the ranch-house, watching them in that speculative -way of his. - -Pink Eye was honoured with a corral all to himself, an unusually -strong one of six-foot fences, with a network of wire stapled about -it. The gate, a clumsy affair of cotton-wood logs, hinged to the -post by heavy loops of iron, was fastened at its other side by a -chain passing through a huge staple in the gate and padlocked around -the fence post. This post was sunk in the ground close to the main -post of the fence, apparently added to fill an over-wide breach left -by a makeshift gate. - -The Professor took the key and pulled the gate open for Pink Eye to -scamper through. - -"Humph!" he growled. "The key seems a bit superfluous, with that -contraption to move before Pink Eye could get out." - -He closed the padlock and started back for the ranch-house. - -"You're sure you locked it?" - -Stamford, remembering Cockney's last words, turned back. To his -surprise the loop had not caught, though the Professor had turned the -key in the lock. The latter, apologetic, returned and corrected the -mistake. - -"They'd have thought we were too frightened to do the job right," he -remarked, with a sheepish grin. "Just the same, it's a tiresome rite -to go through for one lone broncho that wouldn't go far if he got -away." - -"Oh," Cockney exclaimed, several minutes after they were back in the -sitting-room, "the key!" - -The Professor fumbled through his pocket and produced it. - -"Pink Eye must look on his corral," he observed, "as the equine -equivalent of a jail. Is he in the habit of spending his evenings at -the corner saloon, or----" - -"It's a habit I have of wishing to reserve my own things for myself," -said Cockney shortly. - -"There are worse foibles," was the Professor's sweet reply. He gave -the embarrassed laugh that usually preceded a confession. "One of -mine is ever so much less respectable. I'm simply scared to a panic -at thought of fire--fire anywhere--here at the ranch-house--wherever -I spend the night. I know how foolish it is, but my instincts are -stronger than my intelligence. I must have been a wolf a few lives -back. At home I always sleep downstairs on that account." - -"Unless both Stamford and ourselves give up our downstairs rooms I -don't see how we can satisfy you at the H-Lazy Z," said Cockney. - -"Of course I'd have to be near him," put in Isabel hastily. "So it's -quite impossible. Please don't think of indulging his foolishness -any more." - -"At any rate," said Stamford stubbornly, thinking of the limitations -imposed on his uncertain night investigations by an upper room, "I'm -not going to give up my room until my host orders it." - -"Your host," said Cockney emphatically "is going to do no such thing." - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -PINK EYE AND THE ENGLISH SADDLE - -Stamford tossed about when he should have been sleeping, worried by a -thousand questions, a thousand disturbing suspicions. And through -them all ran the thread of his love for Isabel Bulkeley. He could -hear her moving about her room, and long after they should have been -asleep, the voices of brother and sister came to him in gentle -murmur. Added to this was the evidence of a similar wakefulness in -the Aikens' bedroom. - -Imp came to his door and whined, and Stamford let him in, glad of his -companionship. Thereafter, with the watchful little terrier curled -on his feet, he found it easier to drift away. - -He was awakened by Imp. In the outline of the window Stamford saw -the dog's ears erect, and a slight sniffing sound told of some -disturbing scent. Stamford hurried to the window. - -The night was sharp and clear. He shivered, partly with excitement, -partly with chill. Something moved in the moonlight down the slope -toward the corrals, but it was gone so quickly that he was uncertain -of his eyes. The moon was low and dull, with a thin mist before it -that prophesied the coming of winter. He watched until his teeth -were chattering, then, with a pat to Imp's warm body, he returned -gratefully to the warm sheets and settled to sleep. - -He was wakened again by Imp leaping to the floor to sniff beneath the -door. Out in the sitting-room someone was moving, but there was -nothing furtive about it. - -Then Stamford became conscious of a strange rumble like distant -thunder. But it was no noise of the elements. - -Mary and Cockney were whispering outside his door in excited tones. -Someone rapped. - -"Don't be alarmed, Stamford." Cockney pushed open the door, speaking -in a low voice. "It's cattle on the run--a stampede.... But it's a -small bunch. They'll get them under control. The boys are riding -now ... like mad! ... Listen! ... Ah! They have them bunched! ... -They'll stop by getting in each other's way! Not badly frightened, I -guess.... I wonder where they broke from." - -A moment longer he stood listening to the waning sound. - -"If you'd throw something on and come out to the sitting-room I'd be -grateful. I'm going out. Mary's frightened.... I hope--I hope -we're not making our guests too uncomfortable." - -"I'll be there in three minutes," Stamford promised, groping for his -clothes. "We'd better tell the Bulkeleys; they'll wonder what it is." - -"Never mind the Bulkeleys," returned Cockney sharply. - -Stamford could hear him pounding off to the stables. In what seemed -seconds he was galloping back below the house, making for the west. - -Opposite Stamford's window the horse dropped suddenly back on its -haunches. Stamford peered out. Somewhere to the west came the swift -gallop of approaching horses. - -But Cockney's eyes were fixed on the side of the house. Stamford saw -them rise to the Professor's window and drop again, while the broncho -pawed impatiently. With a bend of the hand Cockney turned the horse -to the house, where it drew up for a brief moment, then, under -digging spur, dashed to meet the oncoming riders. - -Stamford leaned out and saw the rope ladder dangling from the -Professor's window. - -Before Cockney had gone a dozen paces the ladder began to move -rapidly upward. In the dim light Stamford imagined a small hand -reached out and drew it over the sill. - -Thirty yards away Stamford and the approaching horses met. - -"Who's had Pink Eye out?" demanded Dakota's angry voice. - -There was a perceptible pause. - -"I don't like your tone, Dakota," said Cockney icily. "When you want -information, there's only one way to get it." - -"I found him out there on the prairie," Dakota blustered. - -Cockney rode round the horse Dakota was leading. - -"I didn't know he was out. But first you'd better answer my -questions. Where did the cattle stampede from, and how did they -happen to be away off there?" - -"What difference does that make? But if you want to know"--Dakota -was plainly sparring for time--"it was a bit of the Lost Dog Coulee -bunch. They ran a long way before we got 'em stopped. Just a small -bunch. What's more serious is Pink Eye out there." - -"Who's saddle's this?" Cockney was leaning over Pink Eye's back. - -Dakota laughed in a nasty way. "Thought maybe you'd know. It's an -English saddle. Ever see it before?" - -"By gad! That's curious! It's a racing saddle of the lightest kind." - -"I found the cinch unbuckled," said Dakota. "We were a bit too quick -for the fellow that had him. But we couldn't find him." He cursed.. - -Cockney rode up to Stamford's window. - -"You there, Stamford? Did you lock Pink Eye in the corral last -night?" - -"Certain of it. Both the Professor and I tried the padlock -afterwards." - -Dakota spoke impatiently: - -"Anyone out of the house now?" - -"One moment, Dakota," snapped Cockney. "I'll do the questioning. I -can answer that one myself. Everyone is in.... I think I'd like to -take a look at that corral," he said suspiciously. "Come along, -Stamford; you can tell us if things are as you left them. Tell Mary -it's all right, will you?" - -Stamford spoke to Mary Aikens on his way out. She was sitting in the -dark sitting-room, and he imagined she was sobbing. He ran after -Cockney and Dakota, and arrived at the corral in time to hear Dakota -exclaim: - -"Holy cripes!" - -Stamford ran forward. - -The gate was wide open, but the padlock was still locked. The -ponderous mass of logs must have been lifted until the chain would -pass over the top of the post to which it was fastened. - -"Holy cripes!" Dakota exploded again, when he had examined padlock -and post. - -He stooped and put his muscle to the heavy gate, but he could -scarcely lift its weight from the loops that acted as hinges. - -Cockney smiled in a superior way and pushed him away. With a great -heave he managed to raise the gate from the ground, but he dared not -remove a hand to throw the chain over the post. With a muffled oath -he let it drop, and the upper loop snapped, letting the gate sag on -the lower hinge. - -"That's two men's work," Dakota exclaimed. - -"Three--at least," corrected Cockney thoughtfully, "two to lift the -gate, the third to remove the chain." - -Dakota looked fearfully about in the dim moonlight. - -"Then--then there's a gang about!" he whispered. - -"Come back to the house," said Cockney. "It's worth looking into." - -Beneath Professor Bulkeley's window he stopped and called his name. -Mary Aikens came timidly from the house, a lonely little figure -bathed in the moonlight. - -"What is it, Jim?" - -He turned on her roughly. - -"Go inside. This at least is no concern of yours." - -She obeyed without a murmur, her feet dragging forlornly over the -frosty grass. - -"Professor! Professor!" Cockney's voice grew louder and more -peremptory with each call. - -Isabel Bulkeley's head appeared in her window. - -"Did you want my brother, Mr. Aikens?" - -"I'm not calling him at this hour of the night for vocal exercise," -replied Cockney. - -"He's such a sound sleeper----" - -"Then you'd better waken him." - -"Is anything the matter? I'll go and call him." - -They heard her bedroom door open, then a knock on her brother's, and -the turning of the knob. - -"Amos! Amos! Don't be frightened. It's only Isabel." - -The bed creaked with sudden violence. - -"Uh! What--what's the matter?" sputtered the terrified voice of the -Professor. "Is it fire?" - -His great feet pounded to the floor and across the room to his bureau. - -"Here--here! Isabel! Take these--and these--and these. I'll--oh, -where's that--that----" - -"Amos! Amos, dear!" She was laughing a little now. "It's -not--fire. Listen! It's--not--fire." - -"Not--fire? Not---- Then what's the reason----" - -"Mr. Aikens wants to speak to you--out the window. Put your slippers -on first--and this gown." - -"Eh--Mr. Aikens? Why--why, what's the matter?" - -The window opened wider and a night-capped head was thrust out, only -to be withdrawn immediately. - -"Isabel--Isabel!" he whispered, in a tone that carried as far as if -he had shouted it. "Where's the ladder? I'm sure I left it out as -usual. It's--gone." - -She spoke from dose beside him at the window, laughing: - -"I drew it in, you silly! I didn't want the whole world to see how -foolish you are." She put her head from the window and called -laughingly down: "We always have trouble with him like this, wakening -him out of his usual hours. He'll be sane in a moment." - -The Professor's head appeared again, this time minus the night-cap. - -"Say, is this a serenade? On behalf of myself and my sister, and the -great Republic we represent---- Oh, that you, Mr. Stamford? Where's -your banjo? Isabel's window is the one over yours. Fancy you making -a mistake like that!" - -Even Dakota was laughing. Stamford failed to see the joke. - -"It's all right, Professor," Cockney assured him. "We only wanted to -make certain no one was alarmed. There was a slight disturbance in a -herd of cattle. You can go back to bed." - -"Thank you, Mr. Aikens. I won't leave that ladder out again. I -wouldn't put it past those New York museum people to have spies on my -track. They haven't in their whole collection such a----" - -He sneezed, repeated it, doubled in volume and noise. The men -beneath the window laughed openly. - -"If you don't mind, Mr. Aikens, will you come round to my door. I -never could stand the night air. Could I, Isabel?" - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -PREPARATIONS TO FLIT - -The next morning Stamford was again disappointed: the cowpunchers had -not returned. He walked on from the cook-house to Pink Eye's corral, -to see by daylight what had seemed so incredible in the light of the -moon. On the way back he saw the Bulkeleys driving to the -north-west; they were not crossing the river that day. - -Carrying a lunch, he set off for the river skirting far out on the -prairie that he might reach the canyon unseen far above where the -Professor was working. Arrived at last in the cover of the upper -cliffs, he hurried on. - -The hidden valley interested him. There he knew, lay the solution of -some of the ranch mysteries. The stampede of the night before was -significant, for the H-Lazy Z herds never ranged there. The cattle, -he decided, were on their way to the raft and the hidden valley. - -As he approached the valley he could hear the dogs barking -continuously but without excitement. He discovered that the valley -was lively with cowboys, the members he knew best of the H-Lazy Z -outfit. They were moving about the fringes of the herd, carefully -avoiding a bunch that kept to itself in a far corner of the valley. -From its ragged and wild appearance Stamford took it to be the -addition of the night before. The others the cowboys drove on foot -to the eastern end of the valley, where a temporary barricade crossed -from cliff to cliff, forming a corral at the base of the only exit. -Then three of them disappeared, coming into view again on their -horses from behind concealing crags. At a word from Dakota the two -dogs that had been all the time slinking close to his heels bounded -up to the ledge beside the shack and lay down, their eyes still fixed -on Dakota. The mounted cowboys gradually worked the new bunch toward -the corral. - -Evidently the cattle were being collected at the exit for immediate -removal. - -About the shack Bean Slade was acting as temporary cook. The others, -when all the cattle were in the corral, grouped together, rolling -cigarettes. Dakota seated himself on a rock and whistled to the -dogs, which came madly bounding down the steps. - -There was no suggestion of furtiveness. Stamford began to think he -had come on one of the ordinary feeding grounds of the ranch herds. - -To get a better view behind the crags, he crept farther up the stream -and lower on the cliff--crept into the muzzle of a revolver. Behind -the muzzle was Cockney Aikens' determined eye. - -"So it's you, Stamford?" he sneered. "That investigative mind of -yours is bound to get you into trouble sooner or later. I wonder it -wasn't sooner. It strikes me you're acting strangely about the -H-Lazy Z for a guest." - -Stamford flushed, partly because he knew the charge to be true, -though not in the way Cockney imagined. Almost as much for Cockney's -sake as for his own had he undertaken to clear up the mystery of -Corporal Faircloth's death; _more_ for Cockney's sake had he chosen -the H-Lazy Z for his investigations. He bristled with indignation. - -"If you're not as guilty as you make yourself appear----" - -"A guest with a sense of decency would at least have consulted his -host." - -"And if you're guilty," Stamford continued, "I don't care a damn -whether you resent it or not." - -Cockney examined him with puzzled but admiring eyes. - -"I wonder if you'd be so foolhardy if Dakota was at this end of the -gun. I'm not going to shoot. I'm still your host." - -"No, you're not, Cockney Aikens. From this moment I'm no longer your -guest." He unstrapped the lunch and tossed it at Cockney's feet. "I -suppose you'll let me get my suit-case?" - -Cockney thoughtfully returned the gun to his belt. - -"If you'll take the advice of one who knows at last all you don't -understand, you'll keep so strictly out of this that you'll forget -all you've heard and seen. You don't carry a gun--you wouldn't be -dangerous if you did. Yet there's going to be shooting before this -is cleared up ... and when there's shooting among men who handle guns -like we do, there's apt to be blood.... This is the second time I've -found it necessary to warn you. Next time will be too late." - -He crept away to a lower level and left Stamford wondering what it -was all about. - -Across in the valley Dakota had gathered his companions about him, -except Bean, who was still working about the shack. Evidently they -were engrossed in a discussion of the utmost importance, for several -were gesticulating, and Dakota was listening judicially. Now and -then their eyes went furtively to the shack where Bean was. Through -the open door Stamford could dimly see Bean watching them stealthily -through the window. After a time Dakota broke from the group and -climbed the steps to the shack. - -In a few minutes he and Bean reappeared on the ledge, Dakota arguing -violently, Bean sullen. Dakota started angrily down the steps, but -Bean stood a moment on the ledge, looking thoughtfully across the -river at the very spot where Stamford was lying. Then he, too, -dropped to the valley. - -Dakota was striding down toward the river. As he crossed one of the -little streams that bubbled from the falls in the cliff he stopped -abruptly and bent over the ground. An excited gesticulation brought -his companions on the run, and together they stooped over Dakota's -discovery. The Professor had crossed the streams there, Stamford -remembered, and the ground would be soft. Hastily scattering, the -cowboys searched the valley. - -It was long before Alkali, poking about close to the river, came on a -second track, and they clustered about it, gesticulating, excited, -voluble. Stamford leaned far from his hiding-place in his -excitement, and Muck Norsley, wheeling suddenly, examined the cliff -all about him. But the distance was too great, the muddle of broken -rock too confusing; and Stamford scarcely breathed during the -scrutiny. When it was over he sank to cover, and perspiration broke -out over him. - -Dakota and his friends continued their search up the eastern slope -from the valley, pausing now and then as if over further disturbing -evidence. They climbed upward to the great rock on which Cockney and -the Professor had stood, mounting from below by means of a rope. For -a time they worked about its base, then it rolled back and the upward -path was clear. - -As the horses toiled up the steep ascent, Stamford noticed that a -rifle hung from every saddle. When they had passed, the rock rolled -back again, shutting in the valley, and only the cattle in the corral -and the dogs remained. - -Stamford commenced his rough trail back down the river, always -keeping to cover. Only two definite ideas were in his mind: to -escape notice, and to reach the Bulkeleys to borrow their team for -the journey to the Double Bar-O. His work at the H-Lazy Z was -ended--and it was a failure. Almost he could find it in him to -regret that he had lost his temper with Cockney. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -THE FIGHT IN THE RANCH-HOUSE - -Mary Aikens, alone at the ranch-house, went about her morning work -with fumbling hands and tired brain. The shadow of impending crisis -was over her though she recognised only the thickening of a cloud of -doubt, suspicion, and fear that had been closing in on her for more -than a year. To her it was conviction enough of Jim's share in the -mysteries she was struggling single handed to unravel, that he -refused to take her into his confidence. - -The last act of her morning duties was always a visit to the -Bulkeleys' rooms. Isabel had refused to leave to her any of the care -of their rooms, but Mary Aikens, as hostess, never omitted that -morning visit to see that nothing was lacking for their -comfort--perhaps, too, to dream a little over the wonderful thing -that had happened that summer to the H-Lazy Z, the lonely ranch where -never before in her time had another woman set foot. In Isabel's -kindly eyes and sympathetic silences she read what one woman can tell -another without the perils of speech. The Professor? There she -always stopped short. The only indulgence she permitted her thoughts -was that the Professor needed most a strong and understanding wife, -indulgent--a little--but very firm at times. He was a spoiled child -she longed to mother. - -Softly she closed the stair door behind her and dropped on the seat -before the piano. In the kitchen the cook was doing his morning -cleaning with his usual noiselessness, only the patter of his -slippered feet and the subdued rattle of dishes betraying his -presence. In all the great north country were only the dim sounds -from the kitchen, and her absent-minded fingers on the keyboard. - -The great north country--the lonely ranch she had had so long to -herself, where for months at a time she was cut off from every other -human being save the cowboys, and a husband who was wilfully forcing -her from his inner life--the silent stretches had that year taken on -a different note. Even those forbidding cliffs, with their long, -uneven lines, had become the hunting ground of scientists--very human -scientists--a cemetery of bygone ages with an absorbing story to -tell. Professor Bulkeley, big, childlike in his simplicity, frank in -his likes and fears, with an instinctive strain of gallantry so -pleasing to one accustomed to the stifled gentleness of the West and -the proprietary affection of her English husband--would he ever come -again? Would there be enough in that isolated land to lure him back -another year? - -She hummed as she played, her eyes staring vacantly at the wall -before her. - -When he uttered her name softly from the open door she did not hear -him. But when he repeated it, stepping into the room, her face -reddened hotly. She tried to drop her eyes from his but they refused -her will; something strange about his appearance held there in spite -of her. He was without his spectacles. Never before had she seen -him thus. It was as if he had disrobed before her, so naked did he -appear, for the depths of simplicity and dependence had gone with the -horn rims. Even his shoulders seemed to have straightened. - -He must have noticed the flush on her face. His lips moved as if he -were speaking to himself. Then, fumblingly, he put on the spectacles. - -"That's funny," he said lightly, but his face was pale. "I didn't -know you had that bit of Chopin among your music. So many of the old -masters suffer from the emotionless piano. Taming the ivory keys is -an art so many dabble at that almost none of them know when they have -mastered them--or care. In all of us our hearts are nearer our -throats than our fingers. Please hum it again for me, will you?" - -He was speaking rapidly, nervously, and she had time to force herself -to a rational reply. - -"To-night--maybe. I--I didn't know what I was playing; I didn't know -I was humming at all. In reality I was only dreaming." - -The recollection of her dreams revived the flush in her face, and she -rose abruptly from the piano to hide her confusion. He took one -quick step forward, but stopped himself with a sudden breath. - -"Is your husband in? I'd like to see him." - -"He hasn't returned yet." - -He frowned with sudden impatience. - -"I hoped--I thought he would surely be back this morning. I couldn't -wait. I wanted to see him right away." - -She came nearer to him and peered up into his face. - -"Why do you want to see him? Tell me--please." Her little hands -were gripped over her bosom. "Oh, don't tell me you, too, are mixed -up in all these things. I hoped there was someone--someone I might -talk to if things went worse. You stopped me once----" - -"I'm afraid I can be of no use to you, Mrs. Aikens," he replied -formally. - -She shuddered and put her hands before her face, and he turned away -quickly. - -"I don't think you need worry," he told her in a low, lifeless voice. -"Your husband is his own worst enemy. I believe God intended him to -be a model in more than body ... but something went wrong--only -temporarily, I believe. The jealous gods--the old very human Greek -gods may have been less a myth than an allegory--touched his mind -when it was most sensitive." - -She moved over to the side-table and began to readjust the pile of -papers. She was strangely moved by his defence of her husband. - -"May I thank you, Professor Bulkeley, for Jim's sake?" - -"I--I'd like you to," he stammered eagerly. "It's an instinct to do -one's best for Jim Aikens--especially for _me_." - -She realised then how near the danger line they had been, and how -firmly he had steered them to safety. It seemed to give her the -chance to place their relationship on the old innocent level, when -compliments were no deeper than their wording. - -"And what of Jim's wife--is she worthy of such a paragon, or----" - -"Jim's wife," he repeated vaguely. - -"Perhaps she's the evil influence you call a god." - -He turned on her with dilated eyes. - -"You knew--you--knew? My God! She knew!" - -Her knees were trembling with a sudden overwhelming fear, but she -stumbled over to the table beside him and stared into his reluctant -eyes. - -With a burst the outer door opened and Cockney entered. At sight of -the two standing there so close, the man's eyes falling before hers, -his great shoulders shook and his chin went out. - -"Ah!" It was a breath rather than a word. "So this is what you do -when I'm away? This is what guest number two does to requite our -hospitality? Is this the way of palæontologists, or of Americans, -or"--his voice went hard as steel--"of a sneaking cur who represents -nothing but the vicious things that make beasts of men?" - -A flame sprang to the Professor's eyes, but the horror in Mary's -quelled it, and he only shrugged his shoulders. - -"You do not answer," Cockney hissed. "You have at least the common -sense to make no denial. There have been terrible things happen in -lonely places out here, but nothing so bad as this, you dirty cad." - -He faced his wife, his chest heaving and falling. - -"Go to your room. I don't want witnesses." - -But Mary Aikens had reached the limit of her subservience. She stood -before him unfalteringly and glared back into his furious eyes. - -"Very well!" He laughed recklessly. "Perhaps it's better so. -Perhaps it'll do you good to see me twist the rotten life from -him--with these fingers--these fingers." - -He held before him his great hands, the fingers crooked like claws. -His eyes seemed to protrude, and his teeth were bare like a beast's. - -"She'll hear the screams from that big soft throat of yours, you -hound, and your dying gasps. And I'll laugh--I'll laugh!" - -He crouched, the crooked fingers thrust before him. - -Professor Bulkeley had not moved since Cockney entered. Slowly now -he removed his spectacles and laid them on the table. - -"You'd better leave the room, Mrs. Aikens," he ordered quietly. - -"She's not going for you if she wouldn't for me!" Cockney thundered. -"If she does, I swear to God I'll kill her without mercy when I'm -through with you." - -There were to be no blows in the struggle, the Professor knew. He -was to be choked to death with those claw-like fingers; the whistling -of his tightening throat was to be the triumph of his mad foe. So be -it; neither would he strike until he must. - -As Cockney leaped the Professor neither struck nor retired. His body -twisted far side ways and his right arm wound round Cockney's waist. -And the big rancher, who had never yet met his equal, was lifted -clear of the floor and flung back almost to the wall. - -Mary Aikens gasped. She had thought of but one outcome to the uneven -struggle. But the Professor was standing there as if nothing had -happened, while Cockney, stumbling over a chair, saved himself from -falling only by thrusting a long arm against the wall. - -"Will you let me explain, Mr. Aikens? It would be better for both of -us--for you as well as for me." - -But Cockney was past reason. A flash of diabolical anticipation lit -his face, making it only the more terrible. - -"Ah! So you have muscle under those flabby clothes! So much the -better. When I've killed you there'll be no remorse. It's man to -man, muscle to muscle. We'll see who's the stronger." - -He advanced with the deliberation of unflinchable -purpose--slowly--slowly. - -Mary Aikens stifled a scream to a moan. - -The Professor met him half-way. One wrist in either hand he seized -before Cockney could dodge. Cockney's right, clasped in the -Professor's left, went up. The other the Professor wrenched -downward, and the pain of it made Cockney's face twist. Thus, face -to face they stood for seconds, muscle pressing against muscle, -Cockney straining to tear his wrists from the bands of steel that -gripped them. Their heads fell over each other's shoulders. For one -moment of dizziness Mary Aikens thought her husband's bared teeth -would sink into his opponent's back. - -Slowly Cockney's left hand bent behind his back. He began to -struggle with his whole body, wrenching, fighting. He read the -Professor's purpose. It was body to body now. The Professor's left -hand was having its way with Cockney's right. Cockney saw defeat, -horrible defeat, staring him in the face. He let his left yield and -concentrated on his right. And inch by inch the Professor's left -fell back before it. Another inch and his grip would be broken. - -Mary Aikens gasped. - -The Professor heard it. His teeth bared like Cockney's, the lips -drawn thin and bloodless. He, too, became the beast fighting for his -life. His shoulders heaved a little, as if new vigour had entered -them--and his left began to win back what it had lost. Up and up it -moved, and straight above their shoulders the arms halted. - -To Mary Aikens they seemed to stand thus for hours, neither yielding -an inch. It was endurance as well as strength now, and surely there -the hardened rancher would win. But almost imperceptibly over -Cockney's back the arms began to move. Cockney stiffened his body -against it, and with failure his back bent. With the fury of -insanity he writhed, but the hold on him now was more relentless than -ever. - -With a groan that was as much shriek he sank suddenly to his knees, -blank incredulity distorting his crimson face. - -Instantly the Professor's hands fell from him. Perspiration dripped -from both swollen faces. Cockney leaped back, dropped his head, and -charged with a bellow. Foam was dripping from his mouth. - -The Professor met the lowered head with his knee, stooped over -Cockney's back and encircled his waist, and tossed him in a -somersault over his head. The high riding heels crashed into the -ceiling as they went over, bringing down a shower of plaster and -dust, but the falling man landed on his feet against the stove. It -fell with a clatter, and the pipes went with it. - -The Professor's teeth were still bared. He saw nothing now but the -enemy before him, the death that waited for either one of them. With -a heave he sent the table slithering into the wall. Crouching, -circling, glaring, he moved on Cockney. It was to the death now. - -Mary Aikens could stand it no longer. - -"Don't, don't!" she cried. "Oh, Professor! Don't kill him, for my -sake!" - -Professor Bulkeley shivered, stopped where he crouched, and with a -long, quivering breath straightened and moved backward. - -On Cockney the effect was different. A moment ago his resources -seemed to be exhausted--baffled by this man he had ridiculed. But -the appeal of his wife--to the Professor--_for him_--drove the blood -to his eyes. - -"I'll kill you!" he frothed. "I'll kill you!" - -He mouthed it like a madman, his great head rolling loosely, his -fingers closing and opening. - -"And you, too, you Jezebel!" - -Through panting lips the Professor spoke: - -"It wouldn't be the first time you'd done a deed like that to a -woman, would it--_Jim Cathers_?" - -Cockney staggered back, his hand fumbling at his lips. - -"Jim--Cathers!" he faltered. "You know--that!" - -Mary Aikens' eyes dilated. She came swiftly to the Professor. - -"Jim Cathers? What do you mean?" - -The Professor shifted his eyes to hers--and Cockney sprang forward. -The Professor threw up his arms but missed, and Cockney's right hand -wound round his neck and hooked beneath his shoulder. The shock and -strain almost dislocated the Professor's neck, and his eyes closed, -his legs shook. He braced against the wave of dizziness, but he was -powerless against such a hold of such a powerful maniac. There was -nothing now but submission or a broken neck. Either meant death. -Burning waves of agony and dull insensibility chased each other -through his head. - -Cockney shouted derisively. - -"Now--now!" - -The Professor's arms fell limply away, his knees bent. A burst of -agony parted his swollen lips. - -Mary Aikens saw only certain death to one of them--and the other a -murderer--if she did not act quickly. She seized a Chinese vase from -the piano beside her and, closing her eyes, brought it down with all -her might on her husband's head. Dimly she heard staggering feet, -the thud of a body, and then she fell unconscious. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -COCKNEY'S STORY - -Her first impression was of a warm, tender hand holding a cold cloth -to her temples. She reached up and seized it; but it was jerked from -her grasp. She opened her eyes and looked into Professor Bulkeley's -face bending over her. Instantly he rose to his feet. - -"You'll be all right now," he said coldly, and left her. - -It was so cruel. She wanted to cry out against him. But across the -room she could see him and the cook bending over the prostrate form -of her husband. A vague sense of the emotions that must be -controlling the Professor closed her lips. The cook retreated to the -kitchen, and they heard him close the back door and pass rapidly away -toward the ranch buildings. - -The Professor lifted Cockney against the wall. He was partly -conscious now, a large bandage covering the upper part of his head. -He looked over at his wife, puzzled. Memory returned to him in a -wave, and he struggled to stand up. But the Professor's strong hand -pressed him back. - -"Wait, Jim Cathers! There are things you should know." - -He drew from an inside pocket a newspaper clipping carefully folded -in a piece of stiff paper, and held it out to Cockney. - -"You'll know by that that I'm not the man to insult any man's wife. -Perhaps you'll realise how I've held myself these many weeks." - -He thrust the clipping into Cockney's nerveless hand. - -"I believe I can trust it to you now--as well as the next move. -You're a free man. It's an open race between us now.... But you've -the inside track--and I'll leave you there till the decision's made. -I think I know Cockney Aikens, if I didn't Jim Cathers." - -Without looking at Mary he went out, though she hungered for his -eyes. Cockney staggered to his feet and sank into a chair, staring -at the clipping. Once or twice as he read, the back of his hand -pressed against his forehead, and at the end he closed his eyes. -Mary Aikens stood leaning on the piano, scarcely breathing. - -Presently he looked at her. - -"Sit down, Mary." His voice was like the old courting days. "I have -a--a story to tell you." - -She sank to the piano seat, her arms outstretched over the keyboard. - -"It's a story that suffers from being withheld from you so long. You -should have known it--_Mary Merrill_--before you--you consented to -come here--no, you should never have heard it, for it should never -have been necessary to tell you.... I thought the only one who knew -it was myself--it was my story--the story of a broken, degraded life. -It is better--and worse than I thought.... - -"_You are not my wife._" - -She was conscious of a numbing chaos or emotions that clouded her -brain--but there was joy there with the bewilderment; joy--and shame. - -He drew a broken breath. - -"You are not my wife--unless--unless ... I was born in England--in -Surrey--you need know nothing more definite than that. My name is -Jim Cathers--you heard it. My people had money--too much of it for -my good. There are many in England like that.... I was -spoilt--spoilt as a baby, as a boy, as a youth.... It was in my -youth it began to twist my life. My money--everyone knew of it. -That was part of my parents' creed. The girls about knew that Jim -Cathers was the catch of the country-side--they thought of nothing -but my money.... Money--and position--count so much more in love -over there--because all men are not equal. Love is more impersonal, -I suppose.... - -"There was one--Dorothy Swaine. She was a--a publican's daughter. I -have only this excuse--a miserable one--that the publican over there -is rated differently from where you were raised. I met her on one of -my orgies. She was pretty; I was a fool. She wanted my money and -name. I--I wanted ... Mary Merrill. I loved her as much as my -shallow nature in those days knew how.... I married her." - -He swallowed hard, and crushed the bit of paper in his nervous hand, -but smoothed it out again carefully on his knees. - -"We scarcely lived together. Father and mother were -disgusted--insulted--disgraced. In our family had been an actress or -two of no great reputation, it is true, morally or artistically, and -one of my uncles had married a maid. But always something was done -to gloss it over--money and position are called on so often to do -that--and the upper lips of the Cathers remained stiff.... - -"Father brought me back from France--where we had gone on our brief -honeymoon--when the money was spent.... Dorothy ... she was handed a -sum of money.... She took it hanging round my neck with the wails of -a broken heart. I didn't suspect--about the money, and I swore I'd -return when I could keep her.... You see, I had been trained to no -profession. I'd been to a Public School, an expensive and exclusive -one ... and they--that kind--do nothing to correct a foolish lad's -sense of proportion. I was one of a vast body over there whose only -profession is to uphold the family traditions and to spend. That -meant the Army--or the Church.... - -"The longer I was kept from her, the more madly I thought I loved -her.... Yes--the more I _loved_ her. I want to be square: I did -love her. One night I could stand it no longer. I stole away from -the house.... I remember how I thrilled at the sight of the lights -of her father's inn. I pictured her joy at sight of me. I swore to -myself never to leave her again. There would be some way of making a -home for the rest of our lives. You see, I didn't know then she had -taken the money. I crept up to the inn through the darkness, partly -to surprise her, partly that inquisitive eyes might not carry back -the story to my father. Nine out of ten of the neighbourhood would -have leaped at the opportunity of winning father's favour... - -"I found her almost as I had pictured her--leaning on the gate ... -almost ... almost ... She was not alone...." - -Mary Aikens was listening with drumming ears. "You are not my -wife--you are not my wife!" It kept ringing down everything else, so -that she heard him only as against a strong wind that steals words -and phrases. - -"There was a man with her.... I heard what they were saying.... I -followed them...." - - -His voice trailed off to a whisper; his unseeing eyes stared far -through the paper spread on his knee. - -"When he was gone I--I took her by the throat--I was a big, strong -fellow even then--and I squeezed--squeezed--squeezed. I could feel -her breath bubbling through my fingers ... and then it ceased.... I -flung her on the ground and ran. I told father. He crammed all the -money he had in my pocket and started me off for Liverpool.... I -turned up here in Canada as Jim Aikens.... - -"There isn't much more. Father kept me supplied with money through a -firm of Winnipeg lawyers. There has been no stinting--the name of -Cathers must never be sullied again--so long as I stayed away. - -"For years I thought I had killed her--my wife. Not a word in all -that time have I heard directly from home. I dared not write for -fear my letters would be traced, and neither father nor mother have -written me--ever told me Dorothy did not die. Until a year after I -married you I thought I was free to marry." - -Her hands fell from her face, a gasp of relief broke from her. He -understood. - -"Oh, Mary! I never was brute enough to marry you, knowing--my wife -to be alive. You are innocent--as I am--of that.... More than a -year ago I saw her picture in a New York paper. She was on the -stage--she'd come to America--perhaps to look for me.... For some -reason she had clung to her own name--perhaps she expected me to -recognise her, for she was well known then. I knew her cruel smile, -her smirking innocence, her shameless invitation. And I--I was a -bigamist.... You were not my wife.... After that I went to the -dogs. It was bad enough to have murdered her, even for the cause I -had; it was worse to realise what I had done to you.... I married -you too hastily, Mary. I wanted to stifle that gurgling breath that -was always ringing in my ears, to feel that I was bound at -last--everlastingly--to a woman I could safely cherish.... I didn't -love you for yourself in those days, Mary, as I have learned to -since. And by the time I knew you were not my wife I loved you too -much to let you love me until--until somehow I was purged, I didn't -figure how. If separation must come to us, I didn't want you to -suffer as I would. _I wouldn't let you love me._" - -He bowed his head in his hands, and his great shoulders shook. - -"That is why I've--I've played the brute, Mary. God knows it hurt me -more than it did you. But--but it was coming easier lately. A man -can't lower himself to that, even for virtue's sake, without sinking -a step. Of late I've sunk several. One was jealousy. You weren't -mine, but I wouldn't let anyone else have you. I hated that man--and -now I know why. I've hated everyone, even the men who look at you in -town. I think I've been going mad for love of you, Mary.... And -now--now----" - -He was reading the clipping again. - -"What have you there?" she asked, and her voice was dead, hopeless. - -"Dorothy Swaine is dead. And I am free--free!" - -He rose to his feet. A radiant light was in his eyes, and his arms -stretched out to her. - -"Mary, do you understand? I am free. We can look the world in the -face----" - -But in Mary Merrill's face was no answering light. - -"Jim! Jim!" she wailed. "Why--oh, why didn't you trust me? Why -didn't you tell me a year ago?" - -He pulled up, swaying, and his hands fell slowly to his side. - -"Why--Mary!" - -It was the moan of despair, of freshly-lit fires for ever -extinguished. - -Mary Merrill rose from the piano seat, her hands tight against her -cheeks, and tottered to her room. For a full minute he stared -unbelievingly at the locked door, then he lifted his Stetson slowly -from the floor and stumbled out. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -THE CHASE AMONG THE CLIFFS - -The heart-stricken man staggered down the gravel path before the -house and struck blindly across the prairie toward the river. Pink -Eye, standing with drooping rein, tilted his ears and neighed to him, -but he was deaf and blind to everything save his bleeding heart. -Something in the rugged lines of the river cliffs drew him on. -_There_ was clamour to match the chaos in his mind, _there_ was -solitude and loneliness where to fight out the problem that stretched -out and on through the rest of his days. Pink Eye neighed again, and -tried to follow sideways, but a foot caught a dragging rein and -pulled him up. - -Cockney plunged through the long grass to the height west of the -ranch valley and dropped limply into the first ragged peaks, where he -lay on his back, staring with unseeing eyes into the cloudless sky. -His head was paining him, and the bandage had slipped, but he thought -it all a part of his mental suffering. Dimly his mind went back to -the beginning--to his fight with Professor Bulkeley. But defeat did -not trouble him now; the struggle was nothing more to him than a -series of pictures of Mary's emotions. A groan--a gasp--a cry--the -swinging of that small arm that settled the issue. That was what -blinded his eyes with tears and shook his body with sobs. There lay -the verdict he had sought so rashly to alter with his story. -Love--he knew it now--was not a thing of many lives. One could not -kill it and hope ever again to breathe life into its nostrils. -Love--real love--came but once. It lived but once. Like a leaf that -withers before an icy wind, love died for ever at the hand of cruelty. - -For the past year--ever since he knew he had no right to marry -Mary--he had suffered trebly, the ignominy of a bigamist, the horror -of the injury he had done her, and the tearing agony of his grim -fight to destroy her love before it learned the truth. And he only -knew how well he had succeeded in that when he would have given his -life to change it. Ever since he had laid foul hands on a woman's -throat he had been an insult to her sex. - -Big Cockney Aikens covered his face and shuddered. If a lifetime of -repentance---- But there was to be no chance for repentance--there -could be none without Mary. He must go on and on, living his life -alone--no Mary, no pardon of God or himself without Mary to keep him -straight. The years ahead were a long road of blank despair -leading--where? Without Mary, without friends, without hope, without -ambition or plans or pride--the end could only be that to which he -had been tending this past year of reckless memory. - -He rolled over on his face in his anguish. Below him the cliff -dropped away for more than a hundred feet to a jumble of rock. A few -yards of eroded eminences, and then the rushing torrent of the river. -There lay peace--forgetfulness--an end of the struggle. He lay -peering down into it with misty eyes--wondering. - -But Cockney Aikens' self-condemnation was too deep for that. His sin -was too great for such a simple ending. His destiny--his -punishment--was to live until God cried quits and gave him happy -release. Only addled cowards thought thus to escape the penalty of -their misdeeds. - -He clambered hastily to his feet and moved to where a wide ledge lay -beneath him, cutting him off from the sheer drop to the river bottom. -He was too weak just then to fight temptation, and he fled from it. - -Then he saw Isabel Bulkeley. She was seated on the ledge, screened, -except from above, by the fallen rubble. Hammer and chisel and whisk -lay at her feet. Her hand supported her chin, and her eyes were -fixed on the river below. She, too, was sad. Cockney, sensitive to -the suffering of mankind, felt it in every line of her figure. - -Presently he saw her start and raise her head as if listening. The -next instant she had seized her chisel and was hammering at the rock -at her feet. - -Around the face of the cliff only a few yards away came Dakota -Fraley, Winchester strapped over his shoulder. - -* * * * * - -Stamford wound his way slowly from before the hidden valley, along -the rocky lip of the Red Deer canyon. His arms and legs ached, and -his mind was wearier still, but he crept carefully along like a -conspirator. He knew that somewhere farther down the river he would -find the Bulkeleys; he was thankful that that day they had chosen the -south side for their explorations. - -With the thought came another: his days with Isabel Bulkeley were -over--he might never see her again. Slow as was his progress in the -roughness of the way and the care of his advance, he was in no hurry. -So long as he was away by nightfall he would be satisfied--the longer -it was delayed, the better. He settled himself in the comfortable -hollow of a rock. - -A man burst from the prairies above, far ahead of him, leaped to the -cover of the upper rocks, and in one swift glance swept the cliff -below. With scarcely an instant's pause he dropped into a crevice, -and Stamford could see him working a perilous but rapid descent with -back and hands and knees. Reaching a ledge, he began to leap -downward from rock to rock like a goat, swinging himself by his arms, -unhesitating, sure-footed. - -Stamford blinked as the huge figure of Professor Bulkeley threw -itself down the last height and landed on the water's edge. - -There he paused only long enough to cast one quick glance upward at -the height behind him, another on either side into the torrent, then -he leaped far out into the water. Stamford gasped. It was nothing -short of suicide. Human flesh or human muscle could not master the -rush of that foaming current. - -There the sullen eddies told of a fierce pull beneath--and out beyond -was the bubbling foam of rocks crowding the surface. - -The Professor disappeared. But the big head came up farther down, -shook itself like a spaniel, and started for the other shore. -Stamford swept the lashing water with his glasses, but there was -nothing now to be seen save the roaring torrent. - -He climbed warily upward. Something out there on the -prairie--something of dire peril--had driven the Professor to such a -risk. - -Peering over the edge, he saw a circle of mounted cowboys closing in -on the place where the Professor had disappeared. They were in no -hurry. Dakota and his companions knew that cliff--they knew the -hopelessness of escape from their pursuing vengeance. Dakota laughed -wildly and waved his rifle; Alkali drew his hand expressively across -his mouth, and General took a last look at his rifle. Fifty yards -from the cliff edge they dismounted and came on, crouching, creeping -in on their prey. When no shot greeted them, they moved faster, -tightening the arch of the circle. - -"It's a shame to take the money, boys," jeered Dakota. "The old -fossil thought he could make it here. He don't know these rocks. -Anyway there won't be no funeral service; the grave's just yawning -for him down there." - -He was on the edge now, looking down to the river. They spread out -in sudden surprise and alarm, searching among the upper rocks with -drawn revolvers; several of them carried their rifles as well. The -foreman started down, leaving his rifle at the top. Right and left -was unscalable wall; below, it seemed almost as impassable. They -were puzzled--furious. - -A mocking laugh drifted to them above the rattle of the waters. -Across the river, three hundred yards below them, the Professor was -standing, waving his hand. Bean Slade threw forward his rifle and -fired, and a chip of rock broke into the air several yards above the -mocking foe. The Professor waved again and disappeared. - -Dakota, his face livid, climbed up to the prairie. - -"Get back to the ranch. Take my horse with you. I'll attend to this -little affair myself. One of us isn't going to sleep in no bed this -night.... Besides, I got a little personal matter to settle, and -this seems a mighty good chance. You fellers wouldn't be interested." - -He jerked his Winchester back over his shoulder and started -down-stream. - -The others rode away, laughing significantly. Stamford slunk from -his hiding-place on Dakota's trail. He had no idea what was in -Dakota's mind, but in that mood he was dangerous, and it was -someone's business to keep an eye on him. - -Presently, far down the river on the other shore, something moved -among the rocks. Dakota was invisible in a bend in the cliff, and -Stamford fixed his glasses on the spot and watched. The Professor -was there, straining at something, jerking forward as if for a fresh -hold, and pulling back slowly again. To Stamford's amazement the -raft came foot by foot into view from this side of the river and -moved out toward the straining figure. And on it was Gee-Gee. The -jerking of the craft made the horse rear once or twice, and his legs -were braced in terror. Stamford noticed then that the raft was -turned for the opposite passage, the higher end toward the shore it -was leaving. - -Against the pressure of that current, with Gee-Gee aboard, Professor -Bulkeley was pulling the raft by sheer force of muscle and the weight -of his body. - -By the time Dakota came into view again Gee-Gee and the Professor had -passed into the rocks on the other side. In time the cowboy arrived -at the mooring platform. He saw the raft across the river and sat -down under cover to think. In a minute he lifted a huge stone and -approached the end of the cable. A few heavy blows severed it, and -the wire, with a spitting of fume, sank into the stream. The raft, -freed, floated down the current, bumped against hidden rocks, -splintered, split apart, one section swinging to destruction lower -down. - -Dakota lifted his head and laughed into the opposite cliffs. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -THE BATTLE ON THE CLIFFS - -Stamford came to the raft-landing on the river's edge, tired and -perturbed, and seated himself to rest. He was very weary and hungry. -Dakota had gone on faster and faster. Suddenly Stamford remembered -that somewhere ahead, down that cliff, Isabel Bulkeley would be -waiting for her brother. He picked himself up in a fever of anxiety -and plunged recklessly on. - -He was still far away when he saw them--Isabel and Dakota. The -cowboy was sitting boldly on a rock close to her, one foot swinging. -His Stetson was pushed to the back of his head, and now and then he -threw back his head to laugh. Isabel did not laugh. Stamford saw -her withdraw suddenly and turn, and Dakota reached swiftly for her, -seizing her arm. She struggled but did not scream. Dakota laughed -and drew her to him. - -At that moment Cockney Aikens hurled himself from above and landed on -all-fours close to Dakota. The cowboy recoiled, leaped farther back, -and his hand went to his belt. Cockney raised himself, lunged, and -Dakota flashed his gun and fired. Cockney halted for but the -fraction of a second, then his great fist landed on Dakota's face, -and the cowboy tumbled back among the rocks. - -Cockney seemed to go limp then; he sank to his side. But he turned -to Isabel and pointed, and she dropped behind a rock. The wounded -man rolled himself slowly to cover. Dakota was nowhere to be seen. -Cockney threw his left arm over the rock to ease his position, and a -spot of smoke broke from the place where Dakota was hiding, and the -arm slid off and Cockney fell back in a contorted position. Another -burst of smoke, and Isabel ducked. Dakota was keeping them both to -cover. - -Stamford dashed upward to the prairie to make better speed. He could -see Cockney better now. His left arm lay limp. One side of shirt -and trousers was soaked with blood. His one sound hand reached up -and pushed a bandage from his eyes. On the exposed rock, ten yards -away, lay his revolver. In his leap from the rocks it had fallen -from his belt. He was unarmed, of which Dakota was evidently -ignorant. Cockney's hand was fumbling at his belt. Isabel, too, had -her eyes on the revolver. - -Stamford dropped to cover in the upper rocks behind Isabel to -consider the situation. Then he advanced stealthily to the edge of -the open, drew a long breath, and dashed out on the ledge where the -revolver lay. He scooped it up and tossed it to Cockney. As he -turned Dakota fired. A hot needle pierced his left shoulder. A -second bullet missed him altogether, though it fanned his hair. - -"Gosh!" he exclaimed, as he sank beside Isabel. "Gosh!" - -It was so boyishly inadequate that Isabel smiled through the fear -that had come into her eyes. - -"Bah!" he jeered. "I thought those cowpunchers were dead shots." - -He kept his left shoulder away from her and settled down with his -back to the rock. He did not ask for an explanation. It only -mattered that Dakota was on one side and the other three of them on -the other. Cockney, by the sound of things, was making it hot for -Dakota, now that he had his gun. A curse from the cowboy registered -a nip. Stamford grinned foolishly. - -"I bet on Cockney," he said. - -"But he's wounded, terribly wounded." - -He raised himself to look over. Cockney was lying on his stomach far -out from cover. His left arm was horribly unnatural, but his right -held the gun pointed at the rock behind which Dakota lay. - -A flash of movement brought an immediate report from Cockney's -revolver, and Dakota's gun rattled out on the open ledge. A second -shot sent it far out of reach. - -Cockney's plan was evident: Dakota was not to be allowed to take aim. -The cowboy was a two-gun man, Cockney knew. A Stetson showed above -the rock, but Cockney ignored it; bits of rock jerked up in the air -but failed to draw fire. Suddenly Dakota exposed his second gun and -fired, Cockney returning it instantly. Both seemed to have missed. -The chance shot was repeated from the other side of the rock, and -Cockney failed to reply. - -For a minute or two the battle waned. Dakota tried a third shot. -Both guns spoke together. Stamford, his eyes held by the -recklessness of the wounded rancher lying there in the open, saw one -of his feet jerk. At the same moment Dakota's second gun jangled -among the rocks, though it did not come into view. They waited for -its reappearance, but evidently the shot had damaged it. - -"He has a rifle, Cockney," Stamford shouted. - -Cockney nodded without turning his head. - -After a long time the rifle snapped, but it did not show. Twice it -was repeated. Dakota was summoning his friends. - -An answering volley burst out down the river, followed by the shouts -of the cowboys. Dakota jeered. - -"And now, Cockney Aikens, comes the end o' the chapter. I knew you -been tracking us all summer. You've drawn your little share of the -rustling manys a year without knowing it--but there'll not be a damn -cent for you of the big bunch we're taking out to-night. Then we'll -scoop all that's left--including dear little Mary and the girl there." - -Stamford took a chance. He looked out to the east. The cowboys were -coming on the run, darting from cover to cover. At the end of the -ledge they separated, some slinking over the edge to work up behind. - -"I knew you killed Kid Loveridge at Dunmore Junction that day," -Dakota went on, "just 'cause he shot a slinking Policeman who'd 'a' -got us shore if he hadn't. I've always held one bullet for you ever -since. If you'd told the Police you'd 'a' got it sooner. You didn't -know I fired the other bullet that got the Corporal. I only wish I'd -been nearer to help the Kid. You was too quick on the draw for him." - -Cockney was stiffly trying to drag himself to cover, his eyes darting -about for a place to make a last stand. - -"Stamford," he called, "can you get her to one of those fissures--the -one my right foot's pointing at? I can protect you from here, I -think." - -Stamford examined the crevice. - -"It's too far," he said. "We're not badly off here." - -Cockney's revolver spat, and Muck Norsley flopped from the edge of -the cliff and lay half in the open. Two others bolted across and -sank out of sight. Cockney fired again but missed. Two of their -enemies were now at their backs. - -Stamford moved round Isabel and watched behind. A rifle barrel came -slowly into sight and dropped until it almost covered them--then the -peak of a Stetson. He raised himself to protect the girl at his side. - -"Isabel," he whispered, "it looks as if it's about time to say -something--to tell you that--I love you. If you can say anything -that'll make me go with a smile--quick!" - -His eye was on the rifle. He hated the thought of being shot in the -back. But the rifle lifted unexpectedly to the sky, and Bean Slade -reared his bony shoulders into view. - -"It's only a woman, boys!" he shouted, with a scornful laugh. "A -woman!" - -"Bean," growled Stamford, "it may seem ungrateful, but why didn't you -wait a second?" - -"Shoot, you blasted idiot!" shrieked Dakota. "They're all in it. -Get the boss and that editor-fellow anyway." - -Stamford grinned sheepishly at Bean's lanky figure leaning over the -rock, and turned to Isabel. - -"I guess it's up to me to postpone the tale. I'm a bit too -thin-skinned for this kind of a game." - -"You don't _need_ to postpone it--Morton," Isabel whispered. - -"Yes, shoot, and do it quick!" muttered Stamford. "Before I waken. -Do you know," he said, with a whimsical smile, "I've a feeling we're -going to pull through." - -Ten yards from Bean Slade rose the ruddy countenance of General -Jones. Deliberately he raised his rifle. - -Like a flash Bean fired, and with the report General crumpled out of -sight. - -"That's for Billy Windover," cried Bean, expectorating. - -With the shot Cockney turned his head weakly. Dakota heard General's -single cry and stood out in the open to fire. Without a groan Bean -slid from the rock. - -"And that's for General," hissed Dakota, dropping to cover. - -Bean lifted his head and looked into Stamford's eyes. A slow smile -passed across his lean features. - -"Ta-ta!" he murmured, and dropped back lifeless. - -Stamford's eyes were blinded with tears. For the first time an -overpowering fury rose within him. He reached to his pocket and drew -a small automatic. - -"Damn!" he exploded. "I forgot all about it." He fumbled the little -weapon in unaccustomed hand. "But what does the beastly thing do? I -never fired one in my life." - -She grabbed it from him and fired, and a figure that had been trying -to creep across behind them darted back. Cockney turned his head and -smiled wanly at them. His gun was lying beside him now; he seemed -too weak to help. - -"I'll just toddle over and get Bean's rifle," Stamford announced. "I -seem to be useful only as an ammunition wagon in this fracas. Never -fired a gun in my life, but I'll close my eyes and--darn the -consequences! It may scare them almost as much as me. If I could -only hit that rock in front of Dakota----" - -He had risen to his feet, but she seized his arm. - -"I'm going with you," she said. - -He blinked into her eyes. - -"That means?" - -"It's dangerous; you're not going without me." - -A shot broke from behind them and struck the rock above their heads. - -"I think," smiled Stamford, "the second instalment of that serial is -about due. I love you, Isabel." - -For answer she reached up and pulled his lips to hers. At the kiss -he paled. - -"Life without this," he sighed, "could never equal death with it." - -"But why not life _with_ it?" she smiled. - -"That," he said, "is worth any risk." - -He looked at her, but she was watching the rocks behind with raised -revolver. - -Alkali Sam shouted: - -"D'ye want the gal, Dakota?" - -"You're shore right I do, old hoss!" - -"Cudn't yo hang the li'l editor-chap t' yer watch chain? He don't -seem wuth powder." - -Stamford glared. - -"Keep one bullet," he ordered Isabel. Then he smiled. "They don't -seem to like me." - -Alkali was shouting a ribald song as he climbed upward for a better -shot. - -"I think," said Stamford, "things are going to happen." - -What happened was a new sound from across the river--the pound of a -running herd. Silence fell suddenly over the tragedy on the ledge; -every eye was turned to the opposite cliffs. - -Swiftly along the edge of the cliff galloped a bunch of steers, their -tails held high. And driving them on was Professor Bulkeley, mounted -on Gee-Gee, two huge dogs bounding before him. - -Stamford peered over the rock at Cockney--he could not help it. But -Cockney was almost past surprise. Dakota and his comrades were -shouting to each other excitedly. Isabel was laughing at Stamford -from the corner of her eye. She nodded to his unspoken query. - -But between them and the help in sight an impassable canyon ran. - -The Professor, with the roar of the cattle and the river in his ears, -had heard nothing. He would pass them by without a suspicion that -within rifle range his sister and friends were in direst peril. -Stamford and Isabel shouted, but no noise they could make would carry -against the clamour closing the Professor in. Isabel fired into the -air until the automatic was empty. It was useless. - -Stamford darted to Bean's lifeless body. Leaning the rifle on the -rock he took as careful aim as he knew how at the running cattle, but -missed. He repeated the failure. Then, reckless of exposure, he -carried the rifle to Cockney. Lifting the heavy man to his side, he -thrust the rifle before him and held it against the rock. Cockney's -face twisted in pain, but he placed his eye to the stock, held his -breath, and pulled the trigger. - -A steer leaped, stumbled, and those behind trod over it. A second -time a steer fell. Cockney sank back. He could stand it no longer. - -As the first steer went down, the Professor pulled up sharply. He -had not heard the shot, but he recognised the results. The next shot -he heard. And then a third snapped from the rock where Dakota lay, -and Gee-Gee sank to his side. - -Dakota sent a piercing whistle over the river, and the two great dogs -came slinking to the edge of the cliff and lay looking over. - -Dakota jeered aloud. - -"Them was two fine pups the Inspector got for us, Alkali. I'll -borrow dogs like them any time they come to the West. I need 'em in -my biz." - -"Hurrah for Dakota Fraley an' his glad eye!" shouted Alkali. -"Dakota, boy, you're a devil with dogs an' skirts." - -A rifle-shot broke from across the river. Dakota Fraley raised -himself with a spasmodic jerk, a look of shocked incredulity on his -swarthy face, and fell full length out on the ledge. His limbs -scarcely twitched as he lay. Cockney smiled weakly. - -Alkali and Dude could be heard seeking cover from the newer peril. -Again and again the rifle-shots came from the unseen marksman. Bits -of rock flew about the two cowboys. Stamford rose in his excitement -and waved his hat. He could see bullet after bullet flash a white -sideways mark on the face of the cliff, and the chips rise lower down -where the bullet had bent its course. At the fifth shot Alkali cried -out. Richochet shooting was an art even he, notorious gunman as he -was, had never learned. - -The firing ceased as suddenly as it had begun. The Dude remained. -Suddenly above them a stern command rasped down. Two Mounted -Policemen leaned over the edge of the cliff, their rifles covering -Dude. - -The cowboy stepped out, his arms up. The battle on the ledge above -the Red Deer was ended. - - -Stamford and Isabel ran to Cockney. He was lying at full length, his -left arm crumpled under him. The bandage on his head had slipped. -He looked up in Stamford's face and smiled. - -"My guest--to the last--anyway, Stamford. I'm going to--beat -you--away--from the H-Lazy Z." - -Isabel whispered to one of the Mounted Police, who dashed up to his -horse and rode away. - -"No--don't touch me. Let me lie--awhile. Where's the Professor?" - -An exclamation from Sergeant Prior drew their eyes to the opposite -shore. The Professor had jumped into the river--he could not wait to -go round by the ford. They watched, Stamford satisfied that what the -powerful fellow had done once he could repeat, Isabel alarmed, -Sergeant Prior frankly sceptical. - -They did their best for Cockney where he lay, but there was so little -to be done. When they attempted to lift him, he swooned, and they -left him at last and waited--waited. - -The dripping Professor bounded up the rocks, scrambling from foothold -to foothold. - -"You're safe, dear?" he panted, when Isabel ran to him. - -For one terrible moment Stamford stared at them. She read his fear -and touched his arm. - -"Morton, Morton! He is only a brother. I've been helping him in -this case--I do sometimes." - -"Heavens, Prior!" cried the Professor. "I feared you'd be too late. -I stampeded the cattle. I had to. They were taking them away -to-night." Then he saw Cockney. "My God, Aikens! What have they -done to you?" He sank beside the wounded man. - -"This is--my bad day," murmured Cockney, with a twisted smile. -"First you thrashed me--now I'm--on the way, Professor." - -"Not Professor, Cockney--Amos Barnes, of the Mounted Police." - -Cockney smiled. "I suspected.... I helped you--what I could. But I -hated--the Police so. _Your_ English saddle.... Pink Eye yours now -without--breaking into the corral--at nights." - -Mary Aikens ran along the ledge and sank by his side. She was out on -Matana when the Policeman found her. - -"Jim! Jim!" - -He pressed her feebly back with his right hand. - -"No sentiment--Mary.... I--haven't time. You're--in good hands. -This is the best way--out." His breath was coming in gasps. -"Now--now, Mary Merrill--just one kiss--to help me on my way ... in -memory of ... what might have been. If--Amos--doesn't mind." - -She touched his lips tenderly with her own, and the tears rained on -his face. He opened his eyes, and the sweet smile of big, kindly, -light-hearted Cockney Aikens relieved the end. - -Amos Barnes gently raised the weeping woman to her feet. - -"He died as you would have him die, Mary," he whispered. "In his -death you loved him as never in his life. And that's how Jim would -have it. You're going home now--to your mother. We'll look after -the ranch. I'll come to you when you send for me.... Poor Jim! The -whole country loved him---but he'll rest best out here on the cliffs -of the H-Lazy Z, where he found himself." - - - -THE END - - - - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LONE TRAIL *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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