Farmers' champion. (Elgin, Okla.) 1912-1922, 1913-04-24

~~~ etSc
-l'll take 1: out Of him before morn.
Ing. was the reply. Come on, boy!
easy no~-easy! How about the ra-
tions. captain.~
Carter will have them for you 1T
the gate Of the stockAde. Do you know
the trail."
Well enough to follow-yes-
Mcdonald was waiting with Carter.
and the dim sleam Of the lantern re
vealed his face
Remember. sergeant, you are TO
make her turn back II you can. Tell
her | wish her TO do so-yes this let.
ter will explain everything. but she
Is pretty high-spirited girl. and may
take the bit In her teeth-imagihe
she'd rather be hera With me, and
all that. II she does | suppose you'll
have TO let her have her own way
the Lord knows her mother always
did Anyhow you1l stay with her till
she's cafe
Il Sue will" returned the sergeant,
gathering up his reins "Good-by to
you"
"Good-by aud good luck" and Nc
Donald put out his hand, which the
other took hesitatingly. The next in.
slant he was In the saddle. and with a
wild leap the startled mustang round
ed the edge Of the blum. flying into
the night
All had occurred SO quickly that
Hamlin's mind had not yet fully ad-
| fs,a eAA III a.
Was naturally a man Of few words. de-
Gliding on a course of action quietly,
yet not apt to deviate from any con-
clusion finally reached But he had
been hurried. pressed into this ad-
venture. and now welcomed an op
portunity to think II all out coolly
At first. for q half mile or more.
the plunging buckskin kept him busy.
bucking viciously. rearing. leap.ng
madly from side to side. practising
every known equine trick to dislodge
the grim rider In the saddle. The man
fought out the battle silently, immov.
able as a rock. and apparently as In
| different. Twice his spurs brought
blood. and once he struck the rearing
! head with clenched fist The light Of
the stars revealed the faint lines OF
the trail. and he was content to per.
NIT the maddened brute to race for
ward. until. finally mastered. the AMI.
NAL settled down into a swift gallop,
but with ears laid back In ugly def.
ance. The riders gray eyes smiled
| pleasantly as he settled more com.
fortably into the saddle. peering out
| from beneath the stifY brim Of his
scouting hat: then they hardened. and
the man swore softly under his
breath.
The peculiar nature Of this mission
which he had taken upon himself had
been recalled He was always doing
something like that-permitting him
self to become involved In the affairs
OF others. Now why should he be
here, riding alone through the dark
to prevent this unknown girl from
reaching Devere' She was nothing
to him-even that glimpse Of her
pictured face had not impressed him
greatly; rather interesting. to be
sure. but nothing extraordinary be-
sides be was not G woman's man. and
through years Of isolation. he had
grown to avoid contact with the sex
and he was under no possible obliga-
tion to either Mcdonald or Travers
Yet here he was. fully committed.
drawn into the vortex. by q hasty ill.,
considered decision He was tired still
from his swift Journey across the
desert from Fort Union. and now
faced another three days ride. Then
what7 A headstrong girl to be con-
vinced OF danger. and controlled. The
longer he thought about II all. the
more intensely dissgreeable the task
appeared. yet the clearer did he ap
preciate its necessity. He chafed at
the knowledge that II had become his
work-that he had permitted himself
to be ensnared-yet he dug his spurs
into the mustang and rode steadily,
grimly. forward
The real truth was that Hamlin
comprehended much more fully than
did the men at Devere the danger
menacing travellers along the main
trail to Santa Fe News reached Fort
Union much quicker than Il did that
Isolated post up on the Cimarron He
knew OF the Tight In Ration Pass. and
that two stages within ten days had
been attacked. one several miles east
OF Bent's Fort. This must mean that
a desperate party Of raiders had sue
ceeded In slipping past those scat.
tered army details scouting into the
northwest Whether or not these