Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-12-26
The Lone
StarRanger
A Romance OF the Border
BY ZANE GREY
Author Of
THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS
RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE" ETC.
M.
lnnt day. a couple OF h

hat day. a couple Of lao, 10
fore sunset. Duane and Stevens. hav'
ing rested their horses In the shade OF
some mosquitoes near the town of Mer'
GER. saddled up and prepared TO move
"Buck. as we're lookin' fer grub. an
/ not rroupie. i relS0I S:c:'a he.tar hanc
| up out here" Steve~s was saying, as
he mounted. "Yon see, towns an sher-
IFS an niger are always lookin' fer
new feilers gone bad. They sort OF
! forget most Of the old boys, except
those as are plumb bad. Now, nobody
! in Mercer will take notice, of me
Reckon there's been n thousand men
run into the river country to become
| outlaws since yours truly. You Jest
wait here an he ready TO ride hard,
| Mehbe my besettin' sin will 60 ope-
| ratin' in spite Of my good intentions.
IL which case thereT be-"
His pause was significant. He
grinned, and his brown eyes danced
with a kind of wild humor.
"Stevens. have you got any money!
asked Duane.
Money" exclaimed Luke blankly'
"Say. I haven't owned a two-hit piece
Y since-wal. fer some time"
am furnish money for grub" re-
| turned Duane. And for whisky. too.
providing you hurry back herewith
out making trouble"
"Shore you're a downright good
| parf." declared Stevens. in admiration.
as he took the money. II give my
word, Buck. an I'm here to say never
! broke IL yet. Lay low, an look fer
me back quick"
With that he spurred his horse and
rode out of the meSGuites toward the
town. AT that distance. about a quar-
| ter of n mile. Mercer appeared TO be
q cluster of low adobe houses set in
n grove of cottonwoodS. Pastures of
| alfalfa were dotted by horses and
cattle puane- saw a. sheep herder
driving in a meager flock.
Presently Stevens rrie ottt Of sight
into The town. Duane waited. hoping
the outlaw would MIKE good ms~word.
Probably not q quarter OF an hour had
eIapsed when Duane heard the clear
reports Of 4 Winchester rife. the clat-
ter Of rapid ~hoofbcats, and yeils un-
mistakab,y the kind TO mean danger
for n man like Stevens. Duane
mounted and rode 10 the edge Of the
mesqpites. q :
He saw a cloud of dust down the
road and. u bay horse running fast
Stevens apparently had not heal
wounded by any of the shots, for h
had n steady seat in his saddle. and
his riding. even ut that moment,
struck Duane as admirable. He car.
riei q large pack over the 2ommeI, and
he kept looking back. The shots had
ceased. bnt the yells increased. Duan"
saw several men running and wayin.
their arms. Then he spurred his horse
nd got into n swift stride. so Stevens
ould not pass him. Presently tn
utlaw caught up with lin. Steven,
o grinning. but there was now II
.un in the dancing eyes. 1t was q deri'
that danced In them. His face seemed
q shade paier.
WAS Jest comm out Of the store
yelled Stevens. Run plumb into {
rancher-who knowed me. He opened
up with II rife. Think they'll chase
us"
They covered several miles before
there were any signs of pursuit, ant
when horsemen did into sigh
out of the cottonwoods Duane and hi:
companion steadily drew farther away
NO bosses in that bunch to worr.
us" called out Stevens.
Duane had the same conviction. ant
he did not look back again. He rod
somewhat to the fore. and was con
| stantly aware of the rapid thuddinl
OF heofs behind, as Stevens Kept clos
to him. At sunset they reached tn
| willow brakes and the river. Duane
horse was winded and dashed witt
sweat and lather. 1t was not unit
the crossing had been accomplished
| that Duane halted to rest his animal
Stevens was riding up the low. sand,
| bank. He reeled in the saddle. Wit
| an exclamation Of surprise. Duan
leaped off and ran to the outlaws side
Stevens was pale, and his face Dor
| beads Of sweat. The whole front o
| his shirt was soaked with blood.
"You're shot !" cried Diane.
ava, who said I wasn't? Would 20
mind givin' me 4 lift-on this her
pack?"
Duane lifted the heavy pack dow
and then helped Stevens to dislnount
The outlaw had q bloody foam on hi
lips. and he was splitting blood.
aOh, why didn't you say SO! J" erie
Duane. II never thought. You SCENE
all right"
"Wnl, Luke Stevens may be as gabb
as an old woman, but sometimes h
doesn't say anythin'. 1t wouldn't hav
done no good"
Duane babe him sit down. remove
his shirt. and washed, the blood fror
his 3. !. sId back S:c-e:s had bee
shot In the breast, fairly low dowr
and the bullet had gone clear throug
him. His ride, holding himself an
that heavy pack in the saddle. ha
been 4 feat little short Of marveloui
Duane did not see how It had bee
possible, and he felt no hope for tn
outlaw. But he plugged the wound
and bound them tightly.
"Feller's name WAS Brown" Steven
said. NE an him fell out over a hos
I stole from him ver IN Hnntsvill,
We had 4 -shO0tin' scrape then. Wa
asI was standin. my boss back thes