The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1922-04-21
FOREWORD

- VI Tie blS Val tnIOitiC
down. Since he had swung away frou
h dusty road 10 follow a Wagon
track across the desert. the speedom
efer had registered many miles. Hi
eyes searched the ground in front I,
see whether The track led up the brow
of the hill or dipped into the sand!
wash.
On the breeze there floated TO him tn,
faint, insistent bawl Of thirsty cattle
The car leaped forward again, climbed
the hill, and closed In upon a remuda
OF horses watched by tive ~wranglers
The chauffeur stopped the machine
and shouted a question at the nearest
rider. who swung his mount and can
tered up. He was q lean, tanned youth
In OreraiIs, jumper, wide sOmbrerO,
h~igh-heeled boots, and shiny leather
chaps. A girl In the tonneau appraised
with quick. eager eyes this horseman
or the plains. Perhaps she found him
less picturesque than she had hoped.
He was not there for mOving-picture
purposes. Nothing on horse or man
held its place for any reason except
utility.
"Where's the round up?" asked the
driver.
The coffee brown youth gave a little
lift of his head TO the right. He was
apparently a man of few words.
The car moved forward 10 the edge
OF the mesa and dropped into the val
ley. The girl in the back seat gave
a little scream Of delight. Here at last
was the Yves she had read about in
books and seen N the screen.
This was Cattleland's hour of hours.
The parada grounds were occupied by
two circles of cattle, each fenced by
eight or ten horsemen. The nearer
one was the beef herd, beyond this
and closer 10 the mouth of the canyon
from which they had all recently been
driven-Was a nas Of closely packed
COWS and calves.
Several men were busy branding and
marking the calves dragged 10 them
from the herd by the horsemen who
were roping the frightened little blat-
tiers.
With a movement OF her wrist the
girl opened the door and stepped down
from the car.
A man sitting beside the chauffeur
turned In his seat. You'd better stay
where you are, honey" He had an
Idea that this was not exactly the
e q girl of seventeen ought to see
at close range.
Il want 10 get the kinks out of INV
muscles, Dad" the girl called back.
"Tl not go far"
She walked along a ridge that ran
from the mesa into the valley IKE an
tongue. There was g
touch OF unstudied j%auntiness In the
way the tips of her golden curls es-
she wore. A young man guard
the beef herd watched her curl
OuSy. Something in the poise of the
light, bOyish figure struck a spark
from his Imagination.
AS she stood on the spit Of the ridge,
a slim, light figure silhOuetted against
the skyline, the young man guarding
the beef herd called something to her
that was lost In the bawling of the
From the motion of his hand
she knew that he was telling her to
get back to the car. But the girl SAW
no reason for obeying the orders Of q
range-rider she had never seen before
never expected TO see again. No
body had ever told her that q rider IA
'alrJy safe among the widest hill cat
lie, but q man Oh foot is liable to At
ack at any time when h herd is ex-
A shout Of warning startled her.
Above the believing Of the herd she
another veil.
"Hi-yi-ya-a!"
A red-tyed steer, tail up, was crash
ne through the small brush toward
he b~randers. There was a wild sour
y for safety. The men dropped iron
nd ropes and fed to their saddles. De-
by pursuers, the animal turned
BY chance il Numbered straight for
he girl on the sand spit.
She stood paralyZed for a moment.
Out of the gathering darkness q voice
anne TO her sharp and clear. Don't
II rang so vibrant with crisp
ommand that the girl, poised for
light, stood still and waited in white
error while the huge steer Numbered
,ward her.
A COW pony, wheeled as on q dol
II, jumped to an instant gallop. The 5
IAN riding it val the one who had
armed her back to the car. Horse and |
dino pounded over the ground toward
er. Each stride brought them closer {
each other as they converged toward
sand spit. 1t came to her with q {
LIST of panicky despair that they t
oUld collide on the very spot where 9
stood. Yet she did not run. f
The rider, lifting his bronco forward Q
full speed. won by a fraction of q e
conc. He guided in such a way as n
bring his horse between her and the n
eer. Without S%ackening his pace o
the least as he swept past. the man 0
Ooped low, caught the girl beneath b