The evening world., 1912-02-14
The
X Riders
Another Great Cowboy Romance
BIZ c A. Sehxer Author of"THE TWO.CUN MAN,

lutn wagon and follow me. Dunoan.'
ho said sharply to The range boss. you
stay here and Keep an eye on shis
thief"
lilo turned to Uncle Henry. speaklns
with forcbodirs calm:
1T win take mo about six hours 60
md ont whether you're lying" ne said.
III you are. you'n have time while In
gone to nx up a nice little prayer"
VII.
At dawn. Ed. the Lazy J punchsr VIM
had remained to do guard duty ovsf the
sick woman. rolled GU, OF his tarpauiin
aud sat up. rubbing his eyes In bswild-
erment. being unable to accustom him.
self to the scene.
The sick woman had rekindied the Gre
and n caInp kettle swung from Q triple
stanchion and was boiling merriiy to
the music OF tho cracking flames. Be-
Ing a reliable man. I'd DID not rise I'm.
mediately: lie wanted time to get his
senses adjusted to tho new order Of
things.
While he sat Watching the sick woman
she washed n cut Of fresh haef In q bat.
tered tin pan and dropped Il into the
Kettle. Then she disappeared into the
hut. to rcappear presently with . COT.
tccpot and u rickety mill.
She came only as far a. the bench a.
wv eehs obWH 4Hu
placing the coffee mill on her lap and
pouring some confcs into tho cylinder.
As her arms described the CIRCLES noe.
essary to tho process Of grinding she
~sang-not loudly. hut In a voice tina,
told OF past power and s%wsetness-
dolorous. trembling. AZ though remit.
n!scent sorrow bore heavily upon her:
"Rock OF AGES. cisr for me. let Me
hide myself In thee"
IA NJ 49, -, -
again and listened with all his ears un-
III the end OF tho sonE-untiI the voice
OF tho singer hal died away In "a.
dences that sounded very much uks
sobs.
Then he rubbed his eyes. fighting dss.
p~erately to ks"p back tho chilling
tingles that raced madly down hi,
, gazing at him 9th friendly eyes.
4 "Ma'am." he said respectfully. his
face shining with sympathy and i'd.
miratIon. you cort'nly do sing that
SONG nice. ! reckon Il Amt Just what
you'd call . scarce song either. for nv
boss sings II sometimes. But ne sings
Il generally In tho night. when thors
aint no noise to speak Of an when he's
kind of lonesome. I reckon. Blu Ns
~cert'nly nice. ma'am. II cert'niy ia"
She rose and placed the coffee mil,
down on the bench. Then she came
over close to Ed ana stood looking down
at hin
Did you say she asked slowly.
that your boss sings that songf"
1T reckon he does" retr rned ID;
"thouEh he don't sinR u like you do."
Tho sick woman trembied.
Tell me about him." she said. "What
In his name7 what Ii he Itker'
well" began Ed. puzzled over the
essentials OF description. hes . tall
ma, - atass .As .A.., ..A - 49,.
about nothin'. He'd been q right COOL
locker II It wasn't for n Gash In his
ior' cheek. IIls names Tuck"-
Ed was IN his feet In n Hash. for the
sick woman was swayinR like 4 broken
reed. In an instant he had her in his
arms and had carried her TO the bench.
where h. laid her at fun length while
he ran 10 tho bed of the Carr:so for
water.
81 reckon sIngIn' that SONG was too
mrch for her: she's so weak" said Ed.
But TO Ed. In spite OF his Ignorance.
belongs the distinction Of being tho only
man. besides the manager. to witness
the end. II Is told In Eds own words.
as Ed himself told II 20 the I.asy J mel
who were possessed OF we'll founded
suspicious.
Tucker come ridln' down through ths
draw at the back OF the corral fence
at seven o'clock" said Ed. An ne
shore dll look fine lopin' M on that big
black horse Of hiI'n. lie rode up to the
door Of tho hut an silprei or'n the
black horse before you could say Jack
Rabbit An there was the sick woman
standin' In the door Of the hut lookin'
at him kind OF wi,d-like.
Tucker stood an looked back-liks
he looked that time when he hear 4
that Of Harve, his slde-kIcker. had
been shot over on purgatorv by rust
lers. II YOU remember. Well, they
both lpoke.i. An then the sick woman
said. very quiet: I know ! would md
you some day But Tucker stood Kind
of st!r-like, not sayLn' anything tin
she added: II was a lie. sidney. man.
utactur.d for the purpose OF parting
US, Won't you believe me. sidneyr
81 reckon II must have been Q Ne.
whatever II was" said Ed In conolu-
sion. for Tucker smiled kind of sor-
roNfui like an opened his arms out
wide An she run into them. an they
both stood still for a long time. Just
saylu' nothin'.
THAT was all. except that pretty 500
Tucker turned his head an saw me
loo.in' at them, an he said, sharp an
qIick: Ed, YOU git back 10 the boys
that's drlyin' the hoodluin wagon an tell
them to sit over TO Garlic Ike Old