La Junta tribune., 1913-11-01
Olives Prisoner
By ROBERT Il. BROWN
lcsSyr,sht. isi1. ~ AssociatsA Htssasy
Yreao.l

YSeoo.l
The girl Standing IN the doorway q
the ranch bouss shaded her syes With
one hand and looking away sav moth
Ing save the srsSo slpanss ot grass
broken here and there By . jAGgsd
fence rail There we're come maple
trees about the house. but beyond the
eooanss Of the yard there Vas notA-
iss bu, grass.
There was no sound 10 break the
stiffness Of the September aftsreooe
except the long ehirrup Of insscts es1
the bussins Of bees among the Hover
beds Prom the stables ean,s the %
easionaI stamp Of hoofs.
Olive Cole vas all alone Evsa tas
Chinese csok had mu,tsssd somsthinS
about finding Mushrooms 10 the M
meadow. and tapped Ah vsy out Of
sight
Olive strongly suspected that hs
vas playing fantan At some rsndss-
vous with several fellow eoun'rym>n
from the other rsnches- The mso had
talked abou, It
She wished he had not gone this
very afternoon when her parents had
zone to Red Tree station and the
place ~As deserted II was tho hrst
tim. sh. had been left alone. but she
vas no, AFRAID for in the belt that
clasped her trim waist Was an sffic'snt
little revolver
An eagle scared Ike a speck In the
blu. heaven. beneath him hawk
eircl.d
Then on, o' IN. silence came the
,hui OF hoo's on the turf and there
dashed into view horse and rider
tearing ont Of the Red Tree trail. The
hor.. scur'.d to q s,ands,ill down At
the Eate to the corral. bis rider
slipped to the ground and darted into
I N. harm, while tn. animal snun.d the
msdly pas, the house turning TO the
rish, and vanishing down the trail 10
I the hidden spring
{ "Oh dear" cr'.d Olive With .
hand above her heart,
Rh. recognized this little scsns In
one Of the grim tragedies OF the vest
/ n had happened once before and abe
had never forgotten the sight n the
rs',l.m.n led tn. hors.thief away to
Z lynch him.
Her hand dropped to her side and
her face ,,ir-n-d into mask of In.
dir~renc. r there came the sount
~ other hoofb-s', and a doseu men
drew rein a, the gate
Afternoon Miss Olive" said the
leader wirinr h'. moist forehead
''Yor~ pa around
"So-he's zone 70 Red Tree. Mr.
HALL"
ANY Of the bows here"
"All over on the range is there
sns'h'ns I can do FOR you-'
Tn. sheriff replaced his hat and
slanr-d around A. the determined
looking men In his marty
The fac, 10 we'r. after a chap that
was rit,ns a dark hsy with 4 white
ro.. Amt seen any such party"
He looked t.~nly =, her from under
h's Ia, brlm
II ,sw a horse rush mas, hsr~ and
turn down toward Hidden sprins.
said Olive
Was ih~r. man on him"
Memo, even \ saddle
Was he = dark hsy With . white
nos.'"
Il couldn't tell ~,ac,iy-he vent On
'ss, am sur. he VAS dark" said
the riri quietly.
Then what became Of him. de-
msna-d Hall. turning to HE com
Tan'ons
Mus, hsv. slipped on a, the eross
roads and Gu, for the timber"
We better divide up then Haif Of
you fellows TO back and follow ths
other trail ana the rest Of us vili q
down to Hidden Spring You might
look through the stables before you
go" The sheriff rode away With si,
Of his mon and III. others left theis
horses and ramp~d toward the sts
biss
Olive followed them her hears ia
h>r throat shs hoped the fugitive
whoever he vas might have hidden
himself securely. She despised eastis
th,sv-s bu, she had . tender REGARD
for human l'Se-inheed for life Of aay
description ana she would not have
killed Q Jack rabbit A. for her r.
volvsr. she carried Il 70 fY,shssa moss
than 10 wound
A. the men searched the stables ant
the barns With the thoroughness o'
long practice, Olive auaked invardiy
II would ~ . clever man indeed vhe
could ha,. escapsd their scrutiny
The horses In the ssaiis stamped nerv
ousiy ~ the s~archers peered around
and even olives cream coiored non,
snapped At her when she laid Z
ear-..ins hand on Ma nose
Nothing doing here" declared
Hank Holmes as they ramped out n
the building
What has he dore'" asked Olive
D