Carrizozo outlook. [volume] (Carrizozo, N.M.) 1910-1945, 1918-07-26

them.
"whnt was It, Peterf Somebody In
the Cover Or was II you"
"No, Il wasn't Peter; II wns me-"
Billy Louise Informed him calmly and
ungrammntlcally. II shot surbus,
thnt's NIL"
"Ohl Why, Miss Louise. you nearly
gave me heart f%allurei How are your
] thought"
"You thought somebody had gotten
into the Cove without your knowing It.
Well, somebody did. l rode up from
below, along the river"
"Oh-er-dld your Pretty rough
going, wasn't III / didn't think II could
be done. Come In; Aunt Martha will
be-"
~ don't think she'll be o~verjoyed to
see me-" Billy Louise stood still be-
side the gooseberry bush. and she had
forgotten 10 put away her gun. II
drove up those cnttle you had down be-
low. You're awfully careless, Chnrllel
I should think Peter or Marthy would
have told you better. When n man
steals cattle by working over the
brands, It's very bad form TO keep
them right on his ranch In plain sight.
It-lsn't done by the best people, you
know" Her voice stung with the con-
tempt she managed TO put into II. And
though she smiled, II wal such a smile
MS one seldom saw upon the face Of
Billy Louise.
"what's all thisf Worked brands
Why. Miss Louise. IL wouldn't know
how to"
II know. You did an awful punk
Job. A person could tell In the dark
Il was the work OF a g~reenhorn. why
didn't you let Peter do II, or Marthyf
You could have done a better Job than
that, couldn't you, Mnrthyf
Poor old Marthy, with her rheumatic
knees and a gray hardness In her
leathery face, had come down the path
and stood squarely before Billy Lou
Use, her hands knuckllng her fiabby
hips, her hair blowing in gray, stray
Cling wisps about her bullet head.
"Better than whati Come In, Billy
Louise. I'm right glad to see ye back
and lookin' 81 well. even II yuh do
pear TO be In one Of your tantrums.
How's yer mawT'
DiiAy LOuiHo ku1Dtu uhu MtHt WHlIGs
'Mommie's dead" she said. "She died
the ninth" She drew another gasplng
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 Senbeck cattle you
folks stole. / was telling Charlie how
horribly careless he is, Marthy. Did
you know he let them drift down the
river7 And a blind man could tell a
mile on the brands have been worked r.
Billy Louise's tone was positively ven
omous In its contempt. "why didn't
you make Charlie practice on a cow
hide for n while frstf" she asked Mar
thy cuttlngly.
Marthy ignored the sarcasm. Per
haps II did not penetrate her stolld
mind at all. "Charlie never worked
any brands. Billy Louise" she stated
with her glum d%irectness.
"Oh, I beg his pardon. I'm sure
Did your
mo, l never done such n thing, mel
ther. don't know what you're talkin'
about"
"well who did. then2"- Billy Louise
faced the old women pitilessly.
~ dino" Marthy lifted her hand and
made n futile effort TO tuck In a few OF
the longest wisps OF hair.
well OF all the" The stern grny
eyes OF Billy Louise few wide open nj
the effrontery OF the words. II they
expected her to believe that
That's II, Miss Louise. That's the
point we'd like TO settle, ourselves. |
know II sounds outrageous, but It's a
fact. Peter and / found those cattle
up In the hills. with our brand worked
over the V. On my word OF honor. mol
one OF us knows who did IT,"
but you've got them down here
well" Charlie threw out n hand
helplessly. His Eyes mot hers with ap-
peallng frankness. I'VE couldn't rub
out the brands; what else could We
dor l figured that somebody else
would see them II we left them out Ia
the hills. and II might be rather hard
TO convince n man you see, we cam
even convince you But. 30 help me
not one OF us branded those cattle
has been rustling stock around here
deliberately tried 10 fix evidence
against us. I'm n stranger In the coun
try, and l don't know the game verJ
well I'm an easy mark"
Eyes, you're that, All right enough T.
Billy Louise spoke with blunt d%lsfavor
but her contemptuous certainty OF hii
guilt was plainly wnvering. ITO <,