Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1923-08-30
A Romance
BY Zane Grey
Copyright by Harper and Brothers

a bank with a perplexed and trouble
cowboy. Ambrose sternly and hero
icaily prepared to carry her back {
the others. He laid hold of her. In
fury. with eyes blazing, Helen wills
pered
LET go of mel Majesty. what doe
this fool mean7'
Madeline laughed. She knew Helen
and had marked the whisper. when or
. dinarily Helen would have spoken i'm
/ p~eriously, and not low. Madeline ex
] planned TO her the exigency Of the Sit
uation. Il might run, but I'll never
scream" said Helen. With that Ain
brose had to be content TO LET her stay
However, he found her a place some
what farther back from MadelIne's p0-
sition, where he said there was less
danger OF her being seen. Then he
sternly bound her to silence. tarried a
moment TO comfort Christine, his wife,
acting as maid to the ladies', and re-
turned 10 where Madeline lay con
cealed. He had been there scarcely a
moment when he whispered
81 hear bosses. The guerrillas are
comm"
MadelIne's hiding place was well
protected from possible discovery from
below. She could peep over a kind Of
parapet, through an opening In the
tips OF the pines hat reached up to
the cliff. and obtain a commanding view
of the camp circle and Its immediate
surroundings. She could not, however,
see far either 10 right or left OF the
camp, owing to the obstructing foliage.
Presently the sound of horses hoofs
qulckened the beat OF her pulse and
caused her to turn keener gaze upon
the cowboys below.
Although she had some inkllng OF
the course Stewart and his men were
TO pursue, she was not by any means
prepared for the indifference she saw.
Frank WIS asleep. or pretended TO be.
Three cowboys were lazlly and uncon-
cernedly attending to campfire duties.
such MS baking biscuits, watching the
ovens. and washing tins and pots. The
elaborate set OF aluminium plates, cups,
ETC., together with the other camp fix
lures that had done service for Made
lines party, had disappeared. Nick
Steele sat with his back to a log, smok-
ing his pipe. Another cowboy had just
brought the horses closer into camp,
where they stood waiting TO be sad
died. Nels appeared TO be fussing over
a pack. Stewart was rolling a Gig
arctic. Monty had apparently nothing
TO do for the present except whistle,
which he was doing much more loudly
than melodlously. The whole ensem-
bic gave an impression OF careless In.
difference.
The sound of horses hoofs grew
louder and slowed It's beat. One of the
cowboys pointed down the trail, toward
which several Of his comrades turned
their head for a moment, Their went
on with their occupations.
Presently a shaggy, dusty horse
bearing a lean, ragged, dark rider rode
into the camp and halted. Another
followed, and another. Horses with
Mexican riders came in single file and
>lobpFO bchluQ tie itdbtI.
"Buenos dias. senor." tremendously
said the foremost guerrilla.
BY srrnining her ears Madeline
heard that voice. and she recognized
IL as belonging TO Don Carlos. Stewart
answered the greeting In Spanish, and,
waving his hand toward the campfire, |
added In English, get down and eat"
The guerrillas were anything but
slow in complying. They crowded to
the fire. then spread In a little circle
and sQuatted upon the ground, laying
their weapons beside them. The cow
boys were not cordial In their receI-
ton OF this visit, but they were hos.
The law of the desert had
been TO give food and drink TO
men, whether lost or hunted
or hunting.
They appear to be friendly enough
whispered Madeline. Ambrose, tell
me-explain TO me-the real thing"
Sure. Gene thinks they're after
you ladies-to carry you Off. But
Sene- Oh, Genes some highfalutin
his ideas lately. Most OF us boys
.hink- the guerrillas are out to rob
all"
Whatever might have been the Sc
ret motive of Don Carlos and his men.
hey did not allow IL to Interfere with
| hearty appreciation of a generous
of food. Then, as each and
N began to roll and smoke the
Inevitable cigarette of the Mexican.
here was a subtle change In manner
They smoked and looked about the
amp, Off into the woods, up at the
and back at the lelsureIy COW
They had the air of men waiting
or something.
-Senor." began Don Carlos, address
ng Stewart. AS he spoke he swept
lis sombrero TO indicate the campA
Madeline could not distinguish his
words. but bis gesture plainly indi-
ated a questlonln regard 10 the rest
4 the camping party. Stewards reply
nd the wave of his hand down the |,
rail meant that his party had gone
Stewart turnad IA aome task