Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1908-03-12

lanu 1ar IRON any uirect trail, true,
1t lay between Kemah, the county
seat, and the Three Bars ranch, but
It was a good half mile from the
straight routs. Even SO, II was a late
hour for any one TO be passing by. II
was not a travelled trail except for the
boys of the Three Bars, and they
were known to be great home-stayers
and little given TO spreeing. AS for
the rustlerg, If rustlers they were,
they had no fear of interruption by
the officers of the law, who held their
places by virtue OF the insolent and
arbitrary will Of Jesse Black and his
brotherhood, and were now carousing
in Kemah by virtue of the hush-money
put up by this same secret tribunal
Watch, child, watch!" he said
again, without in the least shifting his
tense position.
Surely" responded Mary, quite
steadily.
Now was her time come. Dark.
sinister figures fitted from tree to
tree. At first she could not be sure, 1t
was so heartlessly dark, but there was
movement-it was different from that
terrible blank quiet which she had
hitherto been gazing upon till her eyes
burned and pricked as with needle
points, and visionary things swan be.
fore them. She winked rapidly to
dispel the unreal and floating things.
opened wide her long.lashed lids, fixed
thQn1 an1--.firn1 Than
knew that his little girl" his one eve
lamb, all that was left to him of full
and gracious past, must go through
what he had gone through, all that
nameless horror and expectant dread,
and his heart cried out at the unholy
injustice of it ALL He dared not go to
her, dared not desert his post for an
instant. If one got within the shadow
of the walls all was lost.
Mary's challenge was met with a
rather hot return fire. 1t was probably
given to inspire the besieged with q
due respect for the attackers num-
bers. Bullets battered around the out
side walls like hailstones, one even
whizzed through the window perilous-
ly near the girls intent young face.
Silence came back to the night.
There was no more movement. Yet
down there at the spring something,
maybe one of those dark, gaunt cot
tonwoods, held death-death for her
and death for her father A stream OF
icy GOODNESS struck across her heart
She found herself calculating in delib.
Grafton which tree it was that held
this thing-death. The biggest one
shadowing the spring, helping to keep
Langford had galloped his horse that
day when-ah If Paul Langford
would only come now!
A wild, girlish hope flashed up in
her heart. Langford would come
had he not sworn it to her father?
Had he not given his hand as a
pledge? 1t means something to shake
hands in the cattle country. He was
| big and brave and true. When he
came these awful, creeping terrors
would disperse-grim shadows that
| must steal away when morning comes
| When he came she could put her
| rifle in his big, confident hands, lie
down on the floor and-cry. She
wanted to cry-oh, how she did want
to cry. Cold reason came back to her
aid and dissipated the weak and
womanish longing to give way to
tears, There was pathetic droop to
her mouth, long, quivering, sob
bing sigh and she buried her WON.
ans weakness right deeply and
stamped upon it. How utterly wild
and foolish her brief hope had been!
Langford and all his men were sound
in sleep long ago. How could he
| know? were the ruffians out there
men to tell? All, no! There was nc
| one to know. 1t would all happen In
the dark-in awful loneliness, and
| there would be no one to know until
1t was all over-to-morrow, maybe, OF
next week, who could tell? They
were off the main trail, few people
ever sought them out. There would
be no one to know.
(TO BE CONTINUED)