Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-05

they were, Without a move. out OF the |
bright mass the settlers cut first the ten |
head OF steers, as nearly az possible All
e BIZ Bass acs stood % DiTH sSarS over
them Then they went hack and took +,
out ,yellows. end .yellow-spotted 70 the
number Of 100 1t was fast work. me
ranges, and every nerve was strained |
like a singing wire
Under the dust cloud raised by the !
plunging hoofs, the whir'ing horses, the |
workers Kept as close together as
They rounded up the cut-outs nonch.
ed them together compactly and swing !
Ing into half circle. drove them rapidly
back toward the oai'.frinsed edge OF
ssrs the cub Rim linn They ds sSisa Lea s soss
trying to wind the big red kerohief fror,,
his neck about his right arm from which
the blood ran In a bright stream
Tharon swung, out OF her course and
Here" sho cried swiftly. "let me
tie T." -.
terly,, raising. blazing eyes TO her face.
You've made me false Cour'rey
"Die, then y she flung back, IAN ten
your master that tn law is workin' IN
this valley at last ;"
AS the last rider of the cavaleads
went down over the slanting edge OF the
Cup Rim there came the sound OF quick
shots swapping In the distance and the
helated sight Of riders streaming down
from the Stronghold hurried the de-
They had reached the level floor Of
the sunken range and spread out upon
" for better travelling before Courtrey
| and his men, some ten or fifteen riders
appeared on the upper crest.
The settlers stopped instantly at a
call from Conford. drew together behind
the cattle, turned and faced them. They
were too far away for speech, out OF
OF that compact front halted the out
| law cattle king and his followers.
For the nrst time in all his years OF
rising power In Lost Valley Courtrey
knew that a tide was banking in run
force. against him. A red rage f,usnso
| up under his dark skin, and he raised
a silent fist and shook II at tho blue
/ heavens.
The grim watchers below knew that
gesture. significant, majestic. boded Ill
| TO them. .....
But Tharon Last, rnutterins to herscir
In the hatred that possessed her OF late
at sight of Covrtrey, raised her own
doubled fist and shook 1t high toward
challenge. ~.
Then they calmly turned and drove
the recovered cattle down along the
The die was struck. Lost Valley was
no longer stamping-ground for wrong
and oppression. II had gone to war.
That That nigh, the white and yellow herd herd
about i all night long, quietly. softly
under the stars. The settlers walked
about. smoking or sat silently in the
darkensd living room.
made huge pots OF, q coffee s which they hey
| diepensed along With crullers.
| BY dawn the cattle were we'll on their
way, still safeguarded by the band Of
men; men dow down toward the homesteads
! During that night of unlishted silence
| plans had been perfected In low voices,
u name chosen for the band itself. They
| would call Themselves the Vigilantes as
many another organization had called
itself In the desperate straits that made
| its existence imperative.
| BY sundown the hundred head had
| been driven, hot and tired, into John
were bedded by Blacks Spring over
toward the wall. They had farther TO
| 20 and would not reach Diaon's untir
the morning.
And with each band there was a
Word of this exploit ran all over the
valley In a matter of hours To each
faction II had a deep significance.
But speech concerning II was sparse
as II had ever been anent the doings
Of Courtrey a mans tongue was a
prisoner 10 his common sense those
To Tharon Last, busy at her tasks
about the Holding, 1t was vital mat
ter She felt a strong surge. an uplift
within her. She had begun the task
she had set herself and solemn Joy per-
vaded her being.
was none to whom It meant what 1t did
10 Courtrey himself. In him II set loose
something which burned in him like a
consuming fire. Where he had thought
OF Tharon Last before with a certain
intent, now he thought OF her In a sort
or madness He was q king himself,
In manner, an eagle, prowler OF
great spaces, a rule-or-ruin force. Down
there on the sloplns moor Of the Cup
Him had been a fit mate for him in the
slim girl w.io had shaken her fist back
at him In strong defiance.
He felt. his blood leap hot at the
thought or her She was built Of nght-
ins stun; stun; No No pale willy,nily' IKE some
daily. No-neither was she like Lola
Of the Golden Cloud, postmaster Of men
because she had belonged to many.
| Courtrey, who had run life's gamut
| desire
1t began to obsess him with a mania.
HIS temper, bad at all times, became
"ofse' hsiiel, tne VerleSt slaVe tnr0uBh
her devotion to him, found her life at
| the Stronghold almost unbearable.
She was a white woman, like a lily,
with transparent flesh where the blue
| veins showed. Her pale blue eyes, like
the painted eyes of a china doll we're
red with constant tears under their corn
silk lashes. The pale gold hair on her
temples was often damp with the sweat
that comes with agony OF soul.
1T 1es' seems can't live another min
| ute. Cleve," she would tell her brother
who lived at the Stronghold seems like
don't want to. TIL very sunlight looks
sad Z me, an hate TIL tree-toads that
| are singn' eternal down In tn runnel."
This brother, her only relative, would
that shot from his eyes, light, too under
| the same corn-silk lashes, was n rare
thing. Nothing but this had ever set
| 1t burning He was a slight man, mar
| row-chested and thin. They had been
from. rum down stock, these two, q strain
that seemed Indigenous to the valley,
without other memories, Their name
| their lives In a poor cave up beyond
| the valleys head where the barren rocls-
lands came down out of the skies. There
had been. besides themselves, only the
| father and mother, worn-cut workers,
who had died at last. leaving the brother
and sister 10 live as best they might
In the solitudes.
Here Courtrey had found them both
| In their teens, and he had promptly
| taken them both along with their scant
| affairs. 1t was about the only thing to
his credit that no had married Ellen,
| hard and fast enough. with the offices Of
bona fide justice, matter that he had
regretted often enough In the years that
| 'TIt was this knowledge which set the