Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-03-05

receded sufficient length Of time be.
fore to make the thought Of quick
sands an idle fear No puff of cloudy
smoke leaped from q rife barrel If.
as he more than half suspected the
island was a rendezvous for cattle
thieves. a place surely admirably fit
ted by nature for such unlawful oper-
atoms, the rustlers were either over
confident Of the inaccessiDlity of their
retreat and kept no lookout, or they
were insolently Indifferent to expos
ure. The former premise was the
more likely. A light breeze, born Of
the afterglow, came scurrying down
the river bed. Here and there where
the sand was finest and driest, it rose
in little whirlwinds. No sound broke
the stiffness Of the summer evening
What was that? Coyotes barking
over yonder across the river? That
alien sound. 4 mans laugh, curse
heart-breaking below of pain. Willis
ton parted ever 50 slightly the thick
foliage Of underbrush that separated
him from the all to familiar sounds
and pecred within.
In the midst of small clearing
man-made. for several stumps were
scattered here and there--two men
were engaged in unroping and releas-
ing red steer, similar In all essential
respects to a bunch of three or four
huddled together a little to one side.
They were all choice, well-fed animals.
there nd Of npl1
beasts herdng on the free ranges
He owned red steers like those, but
was there man in the cattle country
who did not? They were impossible
Of Identification without the aid Of
their brand, and it happened that
they were SO punched as to completely
battle Williston in his eager efforts
10 decipher the stamp that would dis
close their ownership. That they were
the illegitimate prey Of cattle rust
]ers, he never for one moment doubt
cd. The situation was conclusive. A
bed of glowing embers constantly re-
plcuished and kept at white heat
served to tighten up the weird scene
growing dusky under the surrounding
Cottonwoods.
Wi.liston thought he recognized in
one of the men--the one who seemed
to be directing the procedure of this
little affair, whose wide and dirty hat
rim was SO tantalizingly drawn over
his eyes-the solitary rider whose un-
expected appearance had so startled
him a short time before. Both he and
1, l. To- y r.
rough, nondescript manner of cattle
men, both were gay, laughing and
laxative. and seemingly as Obvious
to possible danger as if engaged in the
most innocent and legitimate business.
A little to the left and standing
alone was an odd creature of most
striking sppearance-a large, spotted
II was quite impossible to mistake such
possession il it had once been yours
It's right side was turned full toward
Williston and In the center OF the hir
; stood out distinctly the clearly eau
terized three perpendic ular lines tina
were the Identifying mark OF tho
: 'uTec odTS T8NCn, one CT tHOSe same
big, opulent, self-centered outlts Whose
, astonishingly multiplying sign was be
: coming such veritable and prophet,
writing on the wall for Williston anC
= his kind.
, Who, then, had dared TO drive befor'
r him an animal so branded? The bold
: ness Of the transgression and the lnso
lent Indifference to the enormity of al
tendant consequences held him for tn
moment breathless. His attention wa
once more called TO the movement
Of the men. The steers with whicl
they had been working was led ava,
still moaning with surprise and pain
ind another brought forward from
the reserve bunch. The branded hiI
II it was a brand, was turned ava,
from Williston. The bewildered ami
NAL was cleverly roped and thrown Il
the ground. The man who was plain
ly directing the affair, he of the drooI
Ing hat and lazy shoulders. stepped Y