The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-03-12

ana $1,000 Squarely before Billy Lou
Use, her hands knuckling her fiabby
hips, her hair blowing in gray, strag-
Cling wisps about her bullet head.
Better than whatf Come In, Billy
Louise. I'm right glad to see We back
and lookin' so well, even II yuh do
pear to be In one Of your tantrums.
How's yer maw2"
Billy Louise gasped and went white.
"Mommie's dead" she said. "She died
the ninth" She drew another gasping
breath. pulled herself together, and
went On before the others could begin
the set speeches Of sympathy which
the announcement seemed to demand.
"Never mind about that. now. I'm
talking about those Seabeck cattle you
folks stole. ! vas telling Charlie how
horribly careless he is, Marthy. Did
you know he let them drift down the
river? And a blind man could tell a
mile off the brands have been worked !"
Billy Louise's tons was positively ven
omous In Its contempt. "Why didn't
you make Charlie practice on a cow
hide for a while first2'' she asked Mar
thy cuttingly.
Marthy ignored the sarcasm. Per-
haps Ii did not penetrate her stolid
mind at all. Charlie never worked
any brands, Billy Louise" she stated
with her glum directness.
"0h, / beg his pardon, I'm surei
Did your"
mo. l never done such a thing, nei-
ther. l don't know what you're talkin'
about"
swell, who did, thenT' Billy Louise
faced the old woman pitilessly.
II d'no." Marthy lifted her hand and
made a futile effort to tuck In a few of
the longest wisps of hair.
well, of all the The stern gray
eyes of Billy Louise few wide open at
the e%ffrontery of the words. IL they
expected her to believe that
That's 1t. Miss Louise. That's the
point we'd like to settle, ourselves. /
know 1t sounds outrageous, but it's a
fact. Peter and l found those cattle
up in the hills, with our brand worked
over the Y. On my word of honor, not
one of US knows who did It,"
"But you've got them down here"
well" Charlie threw out q hand
h~elplessly. His eyes met hers with ap-
pealing frankness. I'VE couldn't rub
out the brands; what else could we
dof / figured that somebody else
would see them IL we left them out in
the hills, and 1t might be rather hard
to convince a man; you see, we can't
even convince you'll But, so help me,
not one of us branded those cattle,
Miss Louise. / believe that whoever
has been rustling stock around here
deliberately tried to fix evidence
against US. I'm a stranger in the coun-
try, and / don't know the game very
well I'm an easy mark"
Eyes, you're that, all right enough -
Billy Louise spoke with blunt disfavor,
but her contemptuous certainty of his
guilt was plainly wavering. ITO go
and bring stolen cattle right down
here
1T seemed to me they'd be safer here
than anywhere else," Charlie observed
naively. Nobody aver comes down
here, unknown TO us. / had Ii sized up
that the fellow who worked those
brands would never dream we'd bring
the stock right into the Cove. Why,
Miss Louise, ever / would know better
than TO put our brand on top of Sea-
beck's and expect ii to pass inspection.
If | wanted to steal cattle, / wouldn't
go at 1t that way !"
Billy Louise glanced uncertainty at
him and then at Marthy. facing her
grimly. She did not know what to
think, and she showed 1t.
How do you mean-the real rus
tlers?" she began hesitatingly; and
hesitation was not by any means a
mental habit with Billy Louise.
II mean Just what I said" Char
lies was becoming more nat
ural, more confident. tive been rid
ing through the hills a good deal. and
I've seen a few things. And I've an
idea the fellow got a little uneasy"
He saw her vince a little at the word
fellow" and he went on, with an
impulsive burst Of confidence: Miss
Louise, have you ever, In your riding
around up above Jones canyon. In all
those deep little gulches, have you ever
seen anything of a-corral, up theref"
Billy Louise held herself rigidly
from starting at this. She bit her lips
so that II hurt. whereabouts is itf'
she asked. without looking at him.
And then: II thought you would go to
any length before you would accuse
anybody"
Il would. But when they deliberate
iy try to hand me the blame-and I'm
not accusing anybody-anybody In
particular. am /? The corral is at the
head of a steep little canyon or guleh,
back In the hills where all these bigger
canyons head. Some time when you're
riding up that way, you keep an eye
out for IT. That" he added grimly.
lis where Peter and / ran across
these cattle: right near that corral"