Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-01-11

hlNAC 0hO VI AOhtJAAPldOdo IL y ,
when he recognized him. After that
he studied the situation with scowling
his conclusions OF complicated his
manner of dealing with Buck Olney.
Ward would not have hesitated one
second about putting the sheriff on
the trail of Buck, but if the second
man were implicated he could not be-
tray n without betraying the other.
And If the business down there in the
corral were lawful, then he must think
of some other means. At any rate, the
thing to do now was to make sure.
The two in the corral came out and
closed the gate behind them, and the
first man kicked apart the embers of
a small fire and afterward busted him.
self with the ground, either looking for
tracks or covering them up. They
came a little way along the side of the
bluff, mounted and rode up toward
where the lookout waited. And one of
them rode a dark bay and was slim
and tall and wore a gray hat.
Ward glanced at Rather standing
half asleep with reins dropped to the
ground. He reached out, took the
reins and led the horse farther down
under the shelter of the ledge. Rat
tier pricked up his ears at the sound
of those other riders, but he did not
show enough interest to nicker a greet
ing. He was always a self centered
beast and was content to go his way
alone, like his master.
Ward stood up, where he could see
the rim of the bluff over the ledge of
lava rock. He might get a closer view
and see who was the lookout, and he
might be seen. For that contingency
he kept bis fingers close to his gun.
He heard their scrambling progress.
Now and then n of the horses sent
a little rock bounding down into the
canyon, whereat the cattle in the corral
moved restlessly around the small in
closure.
They came closer after they had
gained the top. Ward, leaning against
the dull gray rock before him, heard
the murmur of their voices. Once he
caught the unmistakable tones of the
man he would like to kill. 'Iil keep
cases and git him." Plotting against
some poor devil, as usual, Ward
thought and wondered If the man knew
he lived in this part Of the country. If
he did, 1t might easily be
"In keep cases some myself, you
REPTILE he muttered under his breath.
you won't get me again, if that's
what you've got in mind
They went on, and presently Ward
was looking at their backs as they
rode over the ridge. He stood for
some time staring after them with
what Billy Louise called his gimlet
look. He was breathing shortly from
the pressure be had put upon his self
control, and he was thinking, thinking.
The silence came creeping in on the
heels of the faint, interrupted sound
of their voices. Ward took a long
breath, discovered that he was grip
ping his gun as though his life depend
ed on hanging to it and rubbed his
numbed fingers absently After a min
ute or so he mounted and rode down
to the corral.
Five dry cows and two steers. snort
ed at his approach and crowded against
the farther rails. Ward gave Rather
a touch of the spurs, rode close to the
he studied the bunch.
HELP he said when the inspection
was over and dropped back into the
saddle while he gaZed unseeingly at
the canyon wall. 1t was a very real
hell that his mind saw-a hell made
by men wherein other men must dwell
In torment because of their sins or the
sins of their fellows.
Seabeck's brand was a big V, a bad
brand to own, since it favors revision
at the hands of the INSCRIPTIONS.
These cattle were Seabeck cattle, and
their brand had been altered. For the
right slant of the Y had been extended
a little and curled into a 6, so that in
time the brand would stand casual in
spection as a Y6 monogram-Ward's
own brand. The work was crude, pur-
p~osefully crude. The V had not been
returned enough to make it look fresh.
and the newly scared 6 had been add
ed with a m%alevolent pressure that
would make it stand out a fresh brand
for a long time in case of a delay in
the proceedings, rs Ward knew per-
fectly well.
So he sat there and looked ove the
fence and saw himself a convicted
''rustler." There was the evidence all
ready to damn him utterly before a
jury. They would be turned loose on
the range near his claim. and they
would be found before the scabs had
haired over. 1t was a good time for
rustling. Roundups were over for the
winter, and the weather would confine
range riding to absolute necessity.
OF course the work was coarse-so
coarse as to reflect against his intelli-
gence-but when brands are worked
over and the culprit has been caught
the law is not too careful to Civ the