Catoctin clarion., 1923-06-21

playin' fair an square with her.
figger we can do this. We can use
the money, keepin' account of It,. put
tin 1t into stock an Improvements
thatll pay To- themselves long befO'
Molly comes Of age an my -guardeen
| papers play out. Tint way Wen have
the benefit of the capital an keep It
ready to turn over to her If she ever
needs 1t. I don't believe she'll ever
with her an she's thoroughbred
sport. But, In case anything ever
turns up,-or she gifts married, we'll
have 1t handy"
"Figger she's goin' to marry that
young Keith? sure hate to think Of
Molly hitchin' up with tenderfoot.
But subscribe to Sandy's scheme on
these here dividends Of ours"
"Count me in," said Mormon. And
so the affair was settled.
OF Plimsoll little was heard. The
gambler had deserted that profession.
and stayed close to his horse ranch.
1t lay alone. and few visited 1t save
PlimsOll,s own associates. RumOrs
drifted concerning PlimsOlls remark
able herd increase of saleable horses,
but, unless proof Of actual operation
was forthcoming, there was small
chance of pinnlng anything down In
the way of illegal work. Wyatt once.
staggering out Of some blind pig In
Hereford, babbled in maudlin drunk
enness of his determination to get
even with PlimsOll for stealing his
sweetheart For Wyatt. fer the sake
of the girl, had gone back to Plim-
soils employ.
Thoughts Of Plimsoll did not bother
Sandy's head The cold man" Of the
Three Star-bearing the cOwman's in
evitable title for the head Of the
management. whether young or old,
male or female-carried out his long
cherished plans for additional water
supply, for alfalfa planting. for regis
tered bulls and high-grade cows. He
studied hard, he got In touch with the
state experimental developments, he
subscribed for magazines that told Of
cattle breeding. he sent soils for an
alysis. and young Ed, coming home
from his first term, found. somewhat
to his chagrln, that Sandy was far
ahead of him in both the theory and
practice Of ranching.
The days multiplied into weeks and
the weeks into months. Sandy re-
ceived one letter from Brandon that
seemed to presage another visit
across the line. 1t was terse, charac-
teristic Of the man.
my Dear Bourke:
1--WE are still losing three and four
year-olds. and the evidence points to
their drifting ovdr toward Plimsoll,
We have traced up some Of the links
leading from this end. To be quite
frank. the authorities Of your own
county do not seem over-disposed to
bother in the matter, and we are TAX
ing things In our own hands. We
have set a trap for Jim PlimsOll and
have hopes he will walk into It II he
Is the guilty party.
"The favor 1 want of you Is to
tip me off If PlimsOll appears about
to leave the country. We have a tip
that he expects to do so before long.
II you get wind OF this wire would
be much appreciated by me.
Sincerely yours,
"W. ]. BRANDON"
With the founding of the Three
Star ranch the lives Of the partners
had changed a good deal. They held
responsibilities, they owned home
and they lived there. None of them,
since they were children, had ever
known the close companiOnship Of q
young girl. MOrmon's matrimonial
adventures had been foredoomed ship
wrecks on the sands of time, his
wives marital pirates preying on his
good nature and earnings. Molly had
leavened their existences In way
that two Of them hardly suspected,
and the yeast Of affection was still
working. Each hung to the hope that
she might return to the ranch again
to stay and each felt that hope was
faint one.
When, at last, there came the news,
from Molly herself and from Mrs.
Keith, that Keith was coming out to
make inspection of his Casey Town
properties, that he was travelling in a
private car with his son, with Molly
and her governess-cOmpanion Miss
Nicholson. and that the two latter
would get off at Hereford for q visit
to the Three Star. Sandy went about
with a whistle, Sam breathed san
guine melodies through the harmonlca
and Mormon beamed all over. The |
was apparent. Sam told |
him he looked "all lit up, like a Chi
nee lantern" and Mormon beamed the |
more.
Molly's letter was primed with de-
light. Mrs. Keith's contained regrets
that her physicians did not think the
journey would be best for her to un-
dertake in the present state Of her
health. which meant that she feared
possible discOmforts en- route and
imagined the ranch as a place where
one was fed only on beans. sour