Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-09-06
The ''Broncho'
Buster"
By ROSE ESTHER MAYFIELD
3. western Newspaper Union.)

- fFuAlOi III NV my 80
call me the Broncho Buster"
"Tve heard Of you" smiled the presi-
dent of the Tuscaloosa bank, land Of
the cognomenic appelative you desig-
nate"
The hand of his visitor mechanically
shot toward his hip pocket. Then he
paused and looked apologize.
Excuse me-" he said, "but the old
man of sin still fingers with me. l
fancied you were calling me names. 1
reckon I'm not educated up to the high
brow patter. You see, I've made my
pile and have been recommended to
you as a square banker. l want to
leave some money with you"
THANK you," bowed the banker pro-
fusely. "How much do you want to
deposit?"
ooh, say one hundred thousand dol
lars. Yes, 1 was called the Broncho
Buster and wild bosses were my spe-
Icialty. What Pm around these dig
gings for is to find a certain man"
"Who Is hep
81 don't even know his name, only
that he was called the Professor. He
lived somewhere in the county. Five
years ago l got into a scrimmage a hum
ldred miles from here, helping my
brother get back some cattle a lot or
Igreasers had stolen. They followed
and we were fairly coralled, when a
man jumped from the brush and saved
our lives. / never saw a crowd mussed
up so neatly as he did 1t. He told US
%lgreasers. l learned later what l
have told you. 1 swore then that If
ever / got any money I'd hunt him up
and divide with him. I want you to
help me do it."
every WELL" nodded the banker. 81
dimly recall a queer genius, half pros
pector, shalf scientist, who lived about
thirty miles from here"
II shall be at Durbin for a week.
Then I'm coming back here. Send me
WORD If you succeed before then"
Druse strobe oat Of the bank, a
manly specimen good to look at. He
had some old friends to look up and a
fluhC at DuIDlu, anu dlhuLCh liCih WIN
his generosity and his refusal to drink
and gamble.
1--WE turned respectable, boys" he
would say. Then one day he received
IA letter from the Tuscaloosa banker. 1t
read: 1.-THE mar you are looking for
died about a year ago."
He left Durbin on horseback. Druse
had no enemies that he could think of,
but just then on his trail was the most
dangerous outlaw of the district. Dan
Beaver had heard of the wealth of the
Iranchman and coveted some of 1t. This
was why Druse, leisurely directing his
horse along a secluded river trail, was
faced by the outlaw in question n
four of his men. They had Druse las
seed before he realized it.
"What we're after" explained Dan
Ibluntly, 'is a ten thousand-dollar ran
som. Wen keep you till n of us
Icashes YOU check for that amount"
"TIl think Of it," observed Druse, and
his captors headed for their haunt.
"We're hungry" he remarked. wen
levy for fodder and grub at that little
farm yonder." They drove into Its
stable yard. Dan went to the house. A
young woman came to the door and he
stood talking with her.
"Men folks all away" reported Dan,
returning. "She's an Independent one,
that gal, but says we can have some
thing to eat If we pay for it. Take
|Druse into the kitchen, feed the horses
and hustle your meal"
Druse. bound, was led into the kitch-
len. He admiringly studied the girl
who began setting the table. She was
charmingly pretty.
'They tell me they're officers taking
YOU to the prison down at BONN" she
said, and something of interest in her
face caused Druse to inform her of
the truth. Her dark eyes flashed, she
iran to the real door and barred 1t,
She severed the rope securing his
hands, then she threw open the
door Of q closet, revealing a perfect
armament Of weapons. She handed him
"a rifle. for herself selecting two re-
yolvers. Then she approached a win
dow.
"You stay in reserve" she ordered.
l"Halt, or 1 fire !" she cried to Dan, adj
yancing twenty feet away. "Your prts-
Ioner says you are not officers, and I
believe him. Within half an hour Mr..
walters and his two hired men will be
here. You'll have to prove up to them
before you get into this house"
nap ran hack to his men. En- maSSe
the group started a foray. Then the ad-
miring eye Of Drnse caught some
pretty play. Crackl Crack! Cracki
the girl aimed to cripple, not to kill.
Twice she shot weapons from the
hands of advancing foes. Three others
she wounded below the knee. Limping
and beaten, the crowd retreated. They
were off on their horses as a wagon
containing three men drove up. Ada