The evening world., 1911-12-15

In That case the man u BE- known
TO him.. but what had become Of the
dogie7 What would have been Lsviabt's
duty. after the departure Of the yuo-
tlers7 Obviously to drive the calf to
the herd and report the occurrence -
the manager. 4,
Lcviatt may have driven the calf 20
the herd. but assuredly he had not IA
ported the occurrence to the manager.
for he had not been into the raae1ps
house. Why not?
Ferguson pondered bong over this.
while his pony travelled the river trail
toward the ~ranchhouse. Finally he
smiled. OF course. II the man on the
ridge had been Leviatt he must have
been there u when Ferguson came up
or he would not have been there to
drive the Two Diamond calf 10 the
herd after Ferguson had departed. In
that case he must have seen Ferguson,
and must be waiting for the latter "a
max the report b the manager. But
what motive would he have In thisf
Here was more mystery. Fsrgueou
might have zone on indefinitely arranE.
Ing motives, but non OF them would
have brought him near the truth.
lie could. however. be sur Of thrss
things. I.sviatt had seen the rustler ana
must know him: he had seen Ferguson.
nv hucW tuat 10 AuCW tu8t u VOSbVT
had been In the gully before him; and
for some mysterious reason ~ had Vol
/ reported to the But Ferguson
had one advantage that pleased LIN.
even drew a grim smile to has lips - NJ
rode on his way. LsviAte may I've
seen him near the dead Two Dts0God
COW. but he certainly was not sWoso
that Ferguson knew he himsek had bsen
there during the time that the rustaor
had been at work.
Determined to investigate ~ fas -,
possible. he rode down the rivse tor .
few miles. finally reaching . broad palm
where the cattle were fseding. oo0e.
cowboys were scattered over th6 paaln,
and before riding very far Fsrgvssn
came upon Rope. The latter spurred
close to him. grinning.
I'm right glad to SEQ you" aid the
puncher. you've been keeptn' your
self pretty scarce. Scared Of another
run-in with Leviatt7"
I'm right fustered." returned Fer.
guson. where's no W. SD
Gone down the crick-with Tucson,
Ferguson smoothed Mustard's name
"Leviatt been with You right alongr .
"He went up the crick yesterday
went alone. I reckonf"
with Tucson Rope was trying 70
| conceal his interest In these questSome. o.
But apparently Fsrguson's interpANs
was only casual. He turned . quizsfi'
cal eye upon Rope. You an TUCSON
| gettin' along?" he questioned.
"Me an him's of the same mind aeeutl
| one thing returned Rope.
We'll, now" Ferguson's drawl val
pregnant with humor. You surpriee
me. An so you an him have asrssd.
reckon you amt willin' to tell ne
| what you've agreed about7" -
I'm sure teliin'. " grinned Rope. "AS
| an him's each dead certain that th(
others a low down horse thief"
The eyes OF the two men met fairly.
Both smiled.
Then l reckon you an Tucson sss'
lovin' one another about as well A. me,
an Lcviatt." observed Ferguson.
There Amt q turrubls lot Of di6erYs
ence." agreed Rope.
"An' so Tucson's iikin' you a heaps'si
drawlad Ferguson absentiy. He grave
~ contemplated the %puncher. II ex-
pect yoa vas a long ways OF yestevs.
day when Leviatt an Tucson come In
from up the crick?' he asked 80
Not Il turruhle ways or" returned
Rope. Il happened to have this end
an they PASSED right close to me-
They clean forgot to speak"
We'll. now" said Fer guson. That
WAS sure careless Of them. But
reckon ,ney was busy at something
when they passed. In that case Ihe3
wouldn't have time to speak fsvs
heard tell hat some folks cant do
more'n one thing nj a lime"
Rope laughed They was putin In
a heap Of their time tryin' to make ne
believe tnsy didn't Aes me-" he re-
turned. l.-e
"shucks." declared Ferguson lea -
lly Il i,ckon them men wouldn't 70
out OF taeir way to drive . poor uttls,
dog.e In on the range. They're that
hard Searted
Correct" agreed Rope. You amt
missin' them mont there"
Ferguson smiled. urging his poMy
about I'm hggerin' on gettin' back
to the Two Dian; md" he said. He rode
a few feet and then halted. looking
back over his shoulder. you amt
giyin' Tucson no chance to say you
irawed trst?" he warned. 90
Rope laughed grimly. ''If there's n
shootin' goln' on" he replied. ''Tucsnn
Amt goin' to say nothtn' after tie
over"
We'll. ~so-iong." said Ferguson. urg-
ing his pony forward. He heard
Ropes answer. and then rode on, deep
ly concerned over his discovery.
Levlatt and Tucson had ridden W
the river the day before. They hal re-
turned empty handed. And 20 another
link had been added to the chain -
mystery. Where was the dosief ~
Ito b Coutinued)