The Holt County sentinel., 1917-06-01
The Horse Thief's
Girl
BY IyONALD CHAMBERLAIN

The human heart beats much the
same among the good and the evil
This Is n story Of u girl. rough. un.
| couth, but an outlaw among outlaws.
who made n sacrifice which, though
In n bad cause. should entitle her to
the name OF heroine.
When the state Of Colorado was O
wild country. filed with wild people.
n man there was who. starting under
the title Of road agent, dcgcneratcd to
the condition Of common horse thief
Human laws may lie Inherited. but
they do not originate 10y accident In
new country horse or mule l.
an absolute essential. Consequently
one who steals horse Il given the
greatest 81 all punishmcnts While n
mnn may deliberately shoot dawn an.
other IN the street or over a card IN
bic and not lie called TO nh account.
the mnn who steals n horse l. strung
~ 20 n tree by the neck
Ryan was the only name known for
this person who had slid down 80 far
IN the scale of crime. lie Ind become
such n thorn IN the side Of the settlers
OF the region he worked that they de
cidcd TO drop everything else TO run
him down. II was long chase. bu,
Mt Inst they got him IN n rulch the
Sides ~ which were unscnlablc. The
mouth 81 the gulch was guarded 10y
the committee. if there wns any
egrcss they did not know II. There
was an outlet for u good climber near
the upper eni ~ the gulch. hut Ia or.
der e. escape by that route the fugt.
Tive would have t. expose his body to
the fire ~ any one IN the center " the
gIloh.
While the settlers were laying their
plans for the capture they were an.
preached 10y the girl who has been
mentioned above
AIR y lookln' fer Ryan," she asked
Since she might he Interested IN
Rynn's safety, she received no positive
reply.
Cos " y air ! reckon I can help y
locate him. Look here
She pulled NJ the sleeve Of her call.
co dress and showed some shocking
marks on her arm: then she lowered II
NJ the bnck 81 the neck aud showed
more of them.
"liynn give me these" she said Ia =
bitter tone
Are ynu his wiScg"
"fm his rni lie came TO our ho,.sc
ohct when n posse was chnsln' him
! hid him, aud when he went nwny
went with him And these scars mir
whnt ! got fer what ! done fer him.
bo y wonder I want 20 turn him ini''
The men ~ the committee looked NJ
one another. This might bc n case ~
n rirl who had saved u desperate from
death. Ind trusted herself to him and
Ind received the reward TINT might
have been expected from n hardened
criminal, That she should desire re-,
vcnrc was not remarkable.
well. what do you proposcf" snid
the leader OF the committee.
"Sec TINT rock up thcrc;"
"'rhc one next the big trccf'
ayes. Hes goin' TO hide III after
dark and then climb M there and Git
away. He's hidin' NJ near the head Of
the gulch. III go and tell him that
y'rc comm up 10 take him. Thnt'il
scare him 81 that he'll try TO cit over
the rock by day. y kin shoot him
when he's between y and the skyline"
The committee held n consultation.
Some declined 10 trust the GIRL some
did not like giving M hanging the
man instead ~ shooting him. But
they all wished 10 he through with the
Job aud Get back home So they told
the girl she might go ahead and tell
Ryan the story, They would lie ready
to Pick him on rs soon M they got n
clear view Of him.
She went OF up the guich muttcrlnR
malcdlctlons on the man who had re-
turned eva for good. Tho men tool,
position where they could get u good
view Of the rock and any one who at
tempted to climb It. There they wait.
cd. some one of their number keeping
watch ana his gun cooked ready fol
the execution.
About an hour after the girl had left
them they saw the figure OF a mar
slowly climbing the rock. hut II was
indistinct and the man on guard pre-
ferred 20 wait till II passed over thu
upper edge Of the rock when II would
be between him and the light. Jus
as It landed Oh the summit 1t turned
looked down into the gulch and threw
kiss ut some one there. The man o.
the committee who held his rifle to hi,
vhoulder fired, but the weapon wa
Knocked up by one OF the COMMITTEES
and the shot went skyward.
TITS the gal!' exclaimed the maj
who had interfered.
"You gol burned fool, you've let tn
rascal escape. What makes you thin
It was the galT"
He'd never throw her kiss lik
that even though no believed she'
saved him again, and it's just wha
she'd do n she was going to die 70
him. Spread yourselves over tn
mouth Of tho gulch. Wen get hir
yet"