The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1924-10-10
CHAPTER III
Bigness of the Venture

the stiffness about her-she was
alone in the big ranch house-"not be-
ing constructed of iron, I'm going to
take snooze"
Vivid blossom that she was upon
the tough, hardy stalk of her pioneer
ancestry, creature of ardent flame and
passion which her blood and her life
| in the open had made her, she was
not devoid of the understanding of
the limit of physical endurance. Last
night, through the late moonlight and
later starlight, through the thick dark
ness which lay across the mountain
trails before the coming of day, on
| into the dawn, she had ridden forty
miles from the railroad at Rocky
Bend. Certain of treachery on the
part of Bayne Trevors, she had ar
rived only to find him plotting another
blow at her interests. She had rid
den a mad brute of horse whose
rebellious struggle against her author
| ity had taxed her to the last ounce
of her strength. She had shot a man
| in the right shoulder and the left fore
| arm. -. And now, with no one to
see her, she was pale and shaking q
little, suddenly faint from the heavy
beating of her own heart. She had
had virtually no sleep last aight. She
| was glad of it. For now she would
sleep, sleep.
II am not to be called, no matter
what happens" she said to Jose, who
came trotting to the tinkle of her
| bell.
Slipping out of her clothes, she drew
the sheet up to her throat-and
| tossed for wretched hour before
sleep came to her. A restless sleep,
| filled with broken bits Of unpleasant
Dreams
| AT two o'clock, swiftly dressing
after leisurely hath, she went out
into the courtyard, where she found
Jose making pretense of gardening
whereas in truth for matter of hours
he had done little but watch for her
coming.
"Jose," she said as he swept off
| his wide hat and made her the bow re-
served for la senorita and la senorita
alone. II am going to telephone into
town for a woman to do my cooking
and housekeeping and be a nuisance
around generally. While I do that
will you scare up something for me
to eat and then saddle a horse for
meY
She went to the Office, arranged
over the wire with Mrs. Simpson OF
Rocky Bend to come out on the fol
lowing day, and then spent fifteen
minutes studying the. pay roll taken
from the safe, which, fortunately
Trevors had left open. AS Jose came
in with big tray she was running
through file of reports made at the
month-end, two weeks ago, by certain
of the ranch foremen.
"Put it down on the table, Jose.
Thank you," and she found time fof
smile at her devoted servitor "Now
have a horse ready, will your? And
without waiting for Jose's answer
taking up the telephone, she asked
for the office at the Lower End, as the
rich valley land of the western por-
ton of the ranch was commonly
known.
| Briefly making herself known to
| the owner of the boyish voice which
answered, she asked for DOC" Trip
and was informed that the ranch vet
erinarian was no longer with the out
| fit Judith frowned.
where is he?"
Rocky Bend. l think"
"Hm!' said Judith. "Who has taken
his placer"
"Bill Crowdy is sort of acting vet
right now"
Thanks" she said. Clicking off.
she put in cali for doc" Trip in
Rocky Bend Get him for me as
quickly as you can, will you, please?'
she asked of the operator in town.
For five minutes she munched at a
sandwich and pored over the papers
before her. When at last her tele-
phone-bell rang she found that it was
Trip.
Hello, Doc" she said cordially. 81
haven't seen you for so long / almost
have forgotten how you comb your
hair!" Trip laughed with her at
that; across the miles she could pic
ture him running his big hand through
the rebellious shock Yes, I'm back
to stay, and from the looks of it /
didn't come away any too soon. What
was the trouble with you and Ire
vors? What was the excuse for can
ming your"