Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-07-05

down tnSre ana take q look ut them.
She managed to pull Blue down to
stiff-legged jumps and then to a walk.
Finally she stopped him. so that she
could the better take in her surround
ings and the possibilities Of getting
down.
Blue had caught sight of the moving
specks far down next the river and UP
the stream half mile or more. He
was cow-horse to the bone. He knew
those fnr-off specks for cattle, and he
knew that his lady would like closer
look at them.
Blue chose his trail and crumpled
at the knees with his hoofs on the very
edge of the ledge; went down with a
cat-jump and landed with all four feet
planted close together He had no
mind to go on sliding in spite of him
self, and the bluff was certainly steep
enough to excuse bungle.
1t was with distinct air of triumph
that Blue reached the bottom. even
though he slid the last forty feet on
his launches and landed belly-deep in
soft snowbank. 1t was with triumph
to match his perky ears that Billy Lou
ise leaned and slapped him on the
neck. "We made it I" she cried, "and
1 didn't have to walk step, did 1,
Blue? You're there with the goods,
oil rightI'
Blue scrambled out of the bank to
firm footing on the ripened grass of
the bottom, and with q toss of his head
set off in a swinging lope, swerving
now and then to avoid badger hole
or q half-sunken rock. They had done
something new, those two; they had
reached place where neither had ever
been before, and Blue acted as if he
knew It and gloried In the escapade
quite as much as did his lady.
The cattle spied them and went trot-
ting away up the river, and Blue quick
ened his stride a little and followed
after. Billy Louise left the reins upon
his neck. Blue could handle cattle
alone quite as skillfully as with a
rider. If he chose.
The cattle began to swerve away
from them, closer to the river. Blue
pulled ahead little, swerving also,
and as Billy Louise tightened the
relns. he slowed and circled them craft
lily until they huddled on the steep
bank, uncertain which way to go. Billy
Louise pulled Blue down to walk as
she drew near and eyed the cattle
sharply. They did not look like any of
hers, after all. There were five dry
cows and two, steers.
One OF the steers stood broadside
to Billy Louise. The brand stared out
from his dingy red side, the most con-
spicubus thing about him. Billy Lou
Use caught her breath. There was no
faintest line that failed to drive its
message into her range-trained brain
She stared and stared. Blue looked
around at her inquiringly, reproach-
fully. Billy Louise sent him slowly
forward and stirred up the hoddled
little bunch. She read the brand on
each one; read the story they shouted
at her, of bungling theft.
Finally she swung Blue on the down
stream side and shouted the range
/ 4nG dNk
wardly and went upstream, as they
had been going before Billy Louise
stopped them. Blue followed watch
fully after, content with the game hC
was playing. Where the bluffs drew
close again to the river, the cattl,
climbed to a narrow shelving trai
picking their way carefully along tn.
bluff. Below them 1t fell sheer to tn,
river: above them II rose steeply,
blaclcncd jumbIe, save where the snow
OF the last storm lay drifted.
Billy Louise had never known ther,
WIS a trail up this gorge. She eyed /
critically and saw where bOulders ha'
been moved here and there to max
its passage possible. Her lips wer
set close together and they still bor
the imprint Of her contempt.
She thought of Ward. Mentally sh
abased herself before him because o
her doubts. How she had dared thin
him theft Her brave buckaroo
And she had dared think he woul,
steal cattlel Her very remorse wa
whip to lash her anger against tn
guilty. She hurried the cattle alon
the dangerous trail, impatient of thei
cautious pace.
Since she had closed up on tn
cattle and had read on their sides tn
shameful story of theft, Billy Louis
had known that she would eventual
come out at the lower end of the Cove
and that in spite of the fact that tn