Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-10-22

nard pull together.
McCloud. resting the operating on
the shoulders Of his assistant Ander-
son, devoted himself wholly to for
warding the construction plans, and
his first clash over winter road.build-
ing In the Rockies came with his own
right-hand man. Mears. McCloud put
In a switch below Piedmont, opened a
material yard and begaL track laying
toward the lower Crawling Stone val
ley. when Mears said 1t was tlms to
stop work till spring. When McCloud
told him he wanted track across the
divide and into the lower valley by
spring, Mears threw up his hands. But
there was metal in the old man, and
ne was for orders all the time. He
kept up a running fire Of protests and
forebodings about the danger Of ex.
posing men during the winter season,
but stuck to his post.
Spring found the construction OF the
valley line we'll advanced, and the
grades nearing the lands Of the Dun.
lowed the hills, and the party was
coming up the bridge road frem the
lower ranch. Dicksie had good eyes,
and something unusual in the riding
OF the men was soon apparent to her.
Losing and regaining sight of them at
different turns in the trail, she made
out, as she rode among the trees, that
they were cowboys OF her own ranch,
and riding, under evident excitement,
about a strange horseman. She rec.
ognized in the escort Stormy German,
the ferocious foreman Of the ranch,
and Denison and Jim Baugh, two Of
the most reckless Of the men. These
three carried rifles slung across their
pommels, and In front Of them rode
the stranger.
Fragments Of the breakfast.table
talk Of the morning came back 10
Dicksie's mind. The railroad graders
were in the valley below the ranch,
and she had heard her cousin say a
good deal on a point she cared little
about, as to where the railroad should
cross the Stone ranch. Approaching
the fork Of the two roads toward
which she and the cowboys were rid
ing, she checked her horse in the
shade Of a cottonwood tree, and as
the party rode up the draw she saw
the horseman under surveillance. 1t
was George McCloud.
Unluckily, as she caught a glimpse
of him she was conscious that he was
looking at her. She bent forward to
hide a momentary confusion, spoke
briskly to her horse. and rode out Of
sight. At Marions she had carefully
avoided him. Her precipltancy at their
last meeting had seemed, on refec-
ton, unfortunate. She felt that she
must have appeared to him shockingly
rude, and there was in her recalling Of
the scene an unconfessed impression
that she had been to blame. Often
when Marion spoke OF him, which she
did without the slightest reserve and
with no reference as to whether Dick
sic liked 1t or not. II had been In Dick
sizes mind to bring up the subject Of
the disagreeable scene, hoping that
Marion would suggest a way for ma
king some kind Of embarrassing
amends. But such opportunities had
slipped away unimproved, and here
was the new railroad superintendent,
whom their bluff neiShbor Sinclair
never referred to other than as the
college guy, being brought apparently
as a prisoner to the Stone ranch.
Busled with her thoughts, Dicksie
rode slowly along the upper trailS
ing ranch. Rlght-of-way men had been
working for months with Lance Dun.
ming over the line and McCloud had
been called frequently into consulta-
ton to adjust the surveys to objec.
lions raised by Dicksle's cousin to the
crossing Of the ranch lands. Even
when the proceedings had been closed,
a strong current Of discomfort set
from the managing head of the Stone
ranch. Rumors Of Lance Cummings
dissatisfaction often reached the rail.
road people. Vague talk of an exten.
sive irrigation scheme planned by Sin.
clair fol-, the Crawling Stone valley
crept into the newspapers, and 1t was
generally understood that Lance Dun.
ming had expressed himself favorably
to the enterprise.
Dicksie gave slight heed to matters
as weighty as these. She spent much
OF her time on horseback. with Jim
under the saddle; and in Medicine
Bend, where she rode with frequency,
Marion,s shop became her favorite
abiding place. Dicksie ordered hats
until Marion's conscience rose and she
practically refused to supply any
more. But the spirited controversy
on this point, as on many others
Dicksies haughtiness and Marion's re-
straint. quite unmoved by any show Of
displeasure-ended always in drawing
the two closer to each other.
One March afternoon, coming home
from Medicine Bend. she saw at some
distance before her a party OF men on
horseback. She was riding trail
leading from the pass road that fol.
until long detour brought her around
the corrals and in at the back of the
house. Throwing her lines to the
ground aha alfphtad and thro,rh tha