Meade County news., 1918-02-21

dwelling curiously upon the face OF
Billy Louise
Eyes, 1 must be going" said that
young woman self-consciously. "rve
quite a circle to ride yet. hope you
locate the rustlers, and If there's any
thing can do-if 1 see or hear any
thing that seems to be a clew-I'll let
you know right away. I've been keep
ing my eyes open for some trace of
them, and so has Char-Mr. Fox"
Then she blushed and told them good
by very hastily and loped off up the
ridge
Bark up that tree for awhile, you
twop' she said, with a twist Of her
| lips, when she was well away from
them. "You-you darned idiots to go
prowling around Wards place, just as
If Ward'll take shot at them If
he catches them nosing through his
stockr' She scowled at big D COW
that thrust her head out Of an alder
thicket and sent Blue In after her.
Frowning, she watched the animal go
numbering down the hill toward the
Wolverine. "Just because he's stran-
ger and doesn't mix with people and
minds his own business and is trying
to get start they're suspicious, as If
man has no right to- Well, think
I managed to head them off anyway"
Her satisfaction lasted while she rode
to the next ridge. Then the little
devils Of doubt came a-swarming and
a-whispering She had said she knew
all about Ward. Well, she did to a
greater extent than others knew. But
she wondered If she did not know too
much or If she knew enough. There
were some things
She headed Blue down the slope and
as straight for the Big Hill as she
could go. There was no trail that way,
and the ridges were steep and the can
yons circuitous. But Blue was a good
horse, with plenty Of stamina and
much experience. He carried his lady
safely, and he carried her willingly.
Even her impatience could find no
fault with the manner in which he
climbed steep pitches, slid down slopes
as steep, jumped narrow washOuts and
picked his way through thickets of
qualxing aspens or over wide stretches
of shale rock and lava beds. He was
wet to his ears when finally he shuf-
fed into Wards trail up the creek bot
tom, but he breathed evenly, and he
carried his head high and perked his
ears knowingly forward when the cor
raj and haystack came into view
around a sharp bend. He splashed
both fro1tt feet into the creek just be-
fore the cabin and stopped to drink,
while Billy Louise stared at the silent
place.
By the tracks along the creek tran
she knew that Ward had come home,
and she urged Blue across the ford and
up the bank to the cabin. She slid off
and went in boldly to hide her inward
mbarrassment-ands she found nothing
but emptiness there.
Billy Louise did not take long to in
vestigate. The coffee pot was still
warm on the stove when she laid her
palm against 1t, and she Immediately
poured herself cup Of coffee. A plate
and cup on the table indicated that
Ward had eaten a hurried meal and
had not taken time to clear away the
litter. Billy Louise ate what was left,
and mechanically she washed the
dishes and made everything neat be-
fore she went down to look for Rather
She had thought that. Ward was out
somewhere about the place and would
return very soon probably. Blue she
had left standing in plain sight before
the cabin so that Ward could see him
and know she was there, a fact which
she regretted.
While she was washing dishes and
sweeping she had been trying to think
Of some excuse for her presence there.
1t was going to be awkward, her COM
ing there on his heels, one might say.
Billy Louise began to wish she had
not come. She began to feel quite GER
tain that Ward would be surprised and
disgusted when he found her there and
would look at her with that faint curl
of the lip and that fainter lift Of the
nostril above it, which made her go
hot all over with the scorn in them.
She had seen him look that way once
or twice, and In spite Of herself she be-
gan to picture his face with that ex-
preston.
Billy Louise was on the point Of rid
ing away a good deal more hastily
than she had come In the hope that
Ward would not discover her there.
Then her own stubbornness came up
permost, and she told herself that she
had perfect right to ride wherever
she pleased and that If Ward didn't
like it he could do the other thing.
She went to the door and stood look
ing out for a minute, wondering where
he was
There was a little window behind
the bunk and beside that a shelf filled
with books and smoking material and
matches. She knew by the very ar
rangement of that shelf and window
that Ward liked to lie there on the
bunk and read while the light lasted.
At the head of the bed hung a -four
sack half full of some hard, lumpy
stuff which Billy Louise had not no
ticed before. She felt the bag tenta-