The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1916-05-25

Y nor at first did they at the Loop Sus-
e pect the source of the a~nnoyances. Cat
tie rounded up for a certain purpose
e overnight would be oun scattered in
I wild disorder in the morning.
{ - They suspected the Raccoon River
I sheep dogs. but not as melted thereto
! by a human marauder.
, The milk cows turned out overnight
In the home runs would come up in the
, morning to their calves wild eyed and
! with scant milk, as though they had
been chased and terrified, and again
! suspicion fell on the dogs. Now and
then, as of old, the slaughtered carcass
of a calf would be discovered, sure sign
or the presence or the Loop of a muir
dering collie.
Then other things happened for
which a dog could not be blamed. A
shelter house nea the Raccoon River
border burned down. Barbed wire
fences we're cut n ruined.
The obnoxious sheep again began
their invasions; and in one conflict, en-
suing between a vicious old ram and
a lonshorn bull more pugnacious than
wary, the bull had been left dead on
the field of battle, n his companion
nerd stampeded across the Owl creek,
where a steer, breaking over the low
bank, had plunged to his death in one
of Bucks sunken hogsheads.
1t was Jess Kilrain who first defin-
lteiy connected Grange with these and
other similar happenings.
mat autumn morning the girl lar
ridden out into the woods about the
creek where the persimmons, touched
by successive frosts, hung luscious
upon the trees or were dropping over
ripe to the ground. Pecan nuts, too,
had rewarded her search; and Jess,
glorying in the crisp day. happy in her
Self imposed solitude, hitched her pony
10 a sapling, and, seating herself by the
trunk of a cottonwood prapkad har no
cans in a dreamy leisure.
She was nursing these days to her
heart.
Lik a ripening flower, her own love
was coming to its perfection. She
guarded it jealousy as yet-guarded it
tor the fulfillment of it's promise. She
sun held herself aloof from Buck, not
IN coyness, nor in %coquetry, but as one
fingers on the threshold of a joy, all
most afraid to profane it by a glimpse
within.
She knew h could not continue to
hold herself SO for long.
more thar once she had encountered
a look OF determination in Bucks eyes
that la rendered her resistance as wa
ter in her veins. Since that day when
she a lain in his arms, there would
now and then come into his face a hin
OF conscious mastery that, had he but
known 1t, was as sweet as life to the
slrl-was life in it's tremulous delight
ana foreshadowing of a glad surrender.
Jess paused with the half OF a pecan
on the way to her lips, and turned her
head slightly.
She could almost have been sure she
mad heard a step in the dead leaves Of
the woods above her. Her pony. with
dropping head, stood immovabIe. it's
ears, which had been indicating the ha-
plluaI apathy or the COW pony when
NOT IN movement. now alert.
What is it. BuSter2n she askad QUA
saw the ears answer at the name.
L reckon it's a rabbit, OF a coon, or
a possum that can't wait till night to
get some of them sugary simmons. But
1t amt, thought"
There was more than surprise in the
sudden decision which, at the same
time, brought Jess to her feet.
Inere might have beer nothing UNI
usual or to be startled by in the fact
OF q mar being in those woods at that
nour' u lntuitively the girl felt there
was something to cause both surprise
and concern in the sudden turning
away of the horsetnan who must have
run almost upon her and her pony be-
FORE aware of their proximity.
Something furtive, too, about the
mans action In quickly shifting the OBJ
Ject ne carried across the saddle horn.
and his slouching body, gave Jess an
unpleasant shock.
Bill Grangei" she called sharply.
What are Q doin' in these woods
with that brandin' rod?'
me nan swung the long iron over
his shoulder and spun around.
What's that to you, Jess Kilrain?'
he demanded. Am / soilin' this prec-
ious land to ride over it?"
Jess climbed the slope that lay be-
tween them.
I'm not SO sure that you amt, Bill.
somebody's been soilin' 1t pretty often
lately. That's a Racoon River iron,
she said. looking sharply from the
branding rod to the mans face What
does o need 1t over on the Loop for?"
The man laughed with a covert in
science.
Time was" he retorted. when Won
was more Interested bout the Raccoon
River than o was bout the Loop.
I'other way about now, eh, Jess? 9th
er chips to burnt"
The girls face flushed with anger.
You hound!' she cried below her
breath. You sneakin cayute!"
He laughed again.
"Sneakin' amt in your line now, eh?"
he sneered. Didn't work no how did
It, Jess? He put his horse in motion.
Il must be movin' on he said. .Tm
bound for S~haniey's FORGE
You're bound for a halter bout your
Fneck!" declared Jess. That's what
what you're bound for. You've stole
that brandin' rod from the Raccoon
River. / wonder why!"
Keep on wonderin', damn you!"
Grange cried in sudden fury. But keep
your wonder to yourself, Jess Kilrain.
/ owes for certain things already. Don't
you force me to pay. There amt no
love lost tween me an any one on the
Loop, let alone Buck Brannon an your
fatheri!"
He rode on at that, leaving the girl
not a little perturbed and vaguely I'M
easy. Slowly she went back to her
| waiting horse.
Jess did not dream any more that
day. For a time she sat thinking. more
and more convinced that Oranges pres
ence on the Loop BODIED no good for
its interests.
He might have been taking that iron
to the forge at the fork of the public
roads, but for some reason Jess doubted
it.
Suddenly 1t occurred to her that she
might ride that far to see If he had
been telling her the truth. She would
/ mics ba,. dipnar hut that f3fd mt ypof1