Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1904-09-15

THE MOB CAME UPON THE COMET TWO
MILES FROM HETHs RANCH.
been willing to overlook the father,
miserable, drunken wretch that he
was, for love Of the girl, but she
seemed too proud to foist the old man
on any Of her anxious suitors. The
only favor she had ever been known to
accept was at the hands OF Ben Heth,
stolid, almost morose young ranch
man, who had started into the stock
raising business In small way and
who held himself aloof from the roll
licking, roistering element which had
terrorized Fort Norton at regular In
tervals. When old Bearce had been
smitten with smallpox Heth, under
cover of darkness, had removed him to
his own ranch because of Mans horror
Of the pesthouse, and the three had
endured the relentless quarantine to-
gether, Then the intimacy had appar-
emily been broken off, old Bearce going
back to bis bench, Nan to her poverty
stricken life and Heth to his lonely ex-
istence on the cattle range.
All this was before Thatcher and the
Comet came to Fort Norton. After old
Bearce had skillfully mended some
rents I'm Thatcher's leather robes the
friendship between the dashlng young
automobillst from New York and the
humble and beautiful daughter OF the
village shoemaker became town gossip.
Women discussed 1t over their back
fences and at the sewing circle of the
Union church. Men shook their heads
around the stove at Gilbert's general
store, and the news spread out on the
range. Thatcher was making fool OF
Nan Bearce, and there were mutter-
ings that BODIED III for the owner of the
Comet. The only man who declined TO
discuss the situation was Ben Heth
and that even after Nan and young
Thatcher had ridden out to his ranch
twice In the devils wagon, as one old
woman called II. To be sure, the chauf-
feur was in attendance. but what was
a chauffeur perched up In the back
seat with Nan-enticipg. alluring Nan
her soft, brown hair tossed by the
wind, her eyes dancing with the ex-
element OF the run, urging the young
New Yorker on to higher speed?
Once they had been seen coming
back to town ut SLOW pace, Win ven
trying to keep his astonlshed pony
within talking distance OF the ma
chine. Parties who had witnessed the
scene reported 1t variously. Some said
that Ben appeared to enjoy the pro-
ceedlug, more fool he, while others
maintained that he was berating Nan
for unfaithfulness, even In the pres
encc Of his rival.
But Ben's love affair was utterly for
gotten IN the face OF more momentous
events which came with the roundup.
The III. o. Cattle company, with which
Ben had worked before branching out
for himself, discovered what IL chose
to designate as N shortage In III. o..
calves and n corresponding and suspl.
clous Increase In calves with the Heth
brand. The III. O. brand was bar
with an o on the end. The iIeth brand
was dumbbell. Rumor-and rumor In
Buena Vista county Ia an ugly custom
er-declared that II was easy to change
the bar-O to the dumbbell. The air
around Fort Norton became rife with
things other than mere rumors, includ-
Ing some very bad whisky And JUS
tlce, as drink crazed COW punchers
sometimes see II. works with appalling
suddenn ess
Rumors travel faster than half drunk
ell COW punchers who stop at each sa-