Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-08-02
W

Tho driver OF the big car throttled
down. Since he had swung away from
the dusty road to follow a wagon
track across the desert, h speed
ometer had registered many miles.
His eyes searched the ground In front
to see whether the track led up the
brow of the hill or dipped into the
sandy wash.
On the breeze there fioated to him
the faint, insistent bawl of thirsty cat
tie. The car leaped forward again,
climbed the hill, and slosed in upon
4 remuda of horses watched by two
wranglers.
The chauffeur stopped the machine
and shouted a question at the nearest
rider. who swung his mount and can
tered up. He was a lean. tanned
brero, high-heeled boots and shiny
leather chaps. A girl in the ton
neau appraised with quick, eager eyes
this norseman of the plains. Per-
haps she found him less picturesque
than she had hoped. He was not there
for moving-picture purposes. Nothing
on horse OF man held it's place for
any eason except utility.
where's the round up?" asked the
driver.
The codee-brown youth gave a lit
tie life Of his head to he right. He
was apparently q man of few words.
The car moved forward to the edge
of the mesa and dropped into the
valley. The girl in the back seat
rave a little scream of delight. Here
at last was the West she had read
about in; books and een on the screen.
This was Cattteland's hour Of hours.
The parada grounds were occupied by
two circles Of cattle, each fenced by
eight or ten horsemen. The nearer
one wa the beef herd. beyond this
and closer to the mouth Of the canyon
from which they had all recently been
driven-was a Ia of closely packed
cows and calves.
Several men were busy branding
and marking the calves dragged to
them from the herd by the horsemen
who were roping the frightened lit
tie blatters.
With a movement Of her wrist the
girl opened the doc and stepped
down from the a I.
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
scene a girl of seventeen ought to see
at close range.
II want to get the kinks out of
my muscles. Dad" the girl, called
back. "Ill not go far"
She walked along a ridge that ran
from the mesa into tie valley life
An outsretched tongue. There was
a touch of unstudied %jauntiness in the
way the tips of her golden curls
; escaped from beneath the little brown
toque she wore. A young man guard
ing The bee heard watched her cur
iously. 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 nan guarding
the beef herd called something to her
that was lost in the bawing of the
cattle. 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
arange-rider she had ncv seen be-
fore and never expected to see again
Nobody had ever told her that &
rider is fairly safe among the wildesa
hill. cattle. but a man on foot is liable
TO attack at any time when a hero
is excited.
A shout of warning startled her
Above the believing of thefherd she
heard another yell. "
"Hi-yi-ya-a!"
A red-eyed steer. tail up, was crash.
ing through the small brush toward
h branders. There was a wild ,scurrS
for safety. The men dropped iror
and ropes and fed to their saddles
Detected by pursuers, the ANNA
turned. By chance it thunderec
straight for the girl on the sand spit