Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-01-04
speetin, he round 4 eofee.

warming out all the grim darkness.
ne heid OUT his hand. Duane met 1t
with his In clasp that men uncon-
sciously give in moments of stress.
When they unclasped and Duane
stepped back to drop into chair
MacNeiiy fumbled for a cigar and.
lighting it, turned to his visitor.
now calm and cool. He had the look
OF a man who had justly won some
thing at considerable cost. His next
move was to take a long leather case
from his pocket and extract from it
several folded papers.
Here's your pardon from the Cover
nor" he said, quietly. You'll see,
when you look it over, that it's condi-
tional. When you sign this paper 1
have here the condition will be met"
de smoothed out the paper, handed
Duane pen, ran his forefinger along
dotted line
Duane's hand was shaky. Years
nad passed since he had held a men.
1t was with difficulty that he achieved
his signature, Buckley Duane-how
strange the name looked!
hight here ends the career of Buck
Duane, outlaw and gun-fghter," said
MacNeily; and. seating himself, he
took the pen from Duane's fingers and
wrote several lines in several places
upon the paper. Then with a smile
he handed it to Duane,
"That makes you a member of Com
pany A, Texas Rangers"
$50 that's it," burst out Duane. a
light breaking In upon his bewilder-
ment. "You want me for ranger sery-
ice?"
"sure, That's it." replied the
Captain dryly, ''Now to hear what
that service is to be, I've been a busy
man since took this job, and as you
may have heard, I've done q few
things, I don't mind telling you that
political influence put me in here and
that up Austin way there's a good deal
of friction In the Department of State
in regard to whether or not the ranger
service is any gOod-whether it should
be discontinued or not. I'm on the
party who's defending the ranger serv-
ice. I contend that it's made Texas
habitable. Well, it's been up to me to
produce results. So far I have been
successful. My great ambition Is to
break up the outlaw gangs along the
river. | have never ventured in there
yet because I've been waiting to get
the lieutenant I needed. You, of
course, are the man I had in mind.
It's my idea to start way up the Rio
Grande and begin with Cheseldine.
He's the strongest, the worst outlaw
of the times. He's more than rustler.
It's Cheseldine and his gang who are
operating on the banks. No one seems
to have seen him-to know what he
looks like.
II assume, Of course, that you are a
stranger to the country he dominates.
It's five hundred miles west of your
ground. There's a little town over
there called Fairdale It's the nest
Of q rustler gang. They rustic and
murder at will. Nobody knows who
the leader is. want you to find out
Well, whatever way you decide is best
you will proceed to act upon. You are
your own boss. You must find some
way to let me know when I and my
rangers are needed. The plan is to
break up Cheseldine's gang. It's the
toughest job on the border. We want
TO kill or Jail this choice selection OF
robbers and break up the rest of the
gang. TO find them, to get among
them somehow, TO learn their move
ments, to lay your trap for US rangers
to spring-that. Duane, is your service
to me, and God knows it's a great
one!'
II have accepted it," replied Duane.
'Your work will be secret. You are
now a ranger in my service. But no
one except the few l choose to tell
will know Of it until we pull off the
Job. You will simply be Buck Duane
till it suits our purpose to acquaint
Texas with the fact that you're a
ranger. You'll see there's no date on
that paper. No one will ever know
just when you entered the service.
Perhaps we can make it appear that
all or most of your outlawry has
really been good service to the state.
At that. I'll believe it'll turn out So"
MacNelly paused a moment in his
rapid talk, chewed his cigar, drew
his brows together in a dark frown,
and went on. mo man on the border
knows so well as you the deadly nature
of this service. It's q long, long chance
against your ever coming back"
That's not the point" said Duane.
"But in case I get killed out there
what"
Leave that to me-" interrupted
Captain MacNelly. eff you lose your
life out there I'll see your name clear
ed-the service you render known.
You can rest assured of that
81 am satisfied" replied Duane.
sThats so much more than I've dared
to hope"
"Well, it's settled, then. I'll give
you money for expenses. You'll start
as soon as you like-the sooner the
better. I hope to think of other sug
gestions es. acially about communi-
eating with me-"
Long after the lights were out and
the low hum Of voices had ceased
round the campfire Duane lay awake,
eyes staring into the blackness, mar
yelling over the strange events of the
dsy. And as he lay there, with the