Evening star., 1925-06-30

Long before daylight he awoke
refreshed by several hours slumber
buckled on his gunbelt and grouped
IN front of him in the darkness for
his sack, which he seemed to remem-
her thrusting from him for comfort $
sake He found it deep in the hay.
which appeared to have slipped down
on IT. descended the ladder, saddled
ms rested cayuse, rolled blanket and
sack and tied them to the cantle.
mounted and rode westward in the
cold of bleak morning before dawn.
apparently leaving not a trace behind.
save a tve-dollar bill which he hung
on protruding nail in the stall in
which the buCkskin had been stabbed
In some matters Mr.. Sankey was
punCtiliouS. Like Robin Hood he
robbed the rich: hut he would not
appropriate so much as feed of hay
from poor man without pa wing for
II dozen times over. Besides, ex-
perience had taught him that the good
will of people along his lines of re.
treat was worth the money. Mr..
Sankey considered that, bar accidents.
he had got away with it, and so he
rode on into the hills and rides out
of this story.
On Christmas morning Tim Rigney
went down to the stable. There are
times when the human being turns
70 the companionship of dumb ami
mails with relief For Tim this was
such A time. He could not give his
own kind any Christmas gifts. but
he could give the stock an extra
feed. There was u certain satisfac-
ton in that. But it was rotten
christmas-dead rotten,
As he went about his stable chores
be saw that the empty stall next to
the Grays bore signs of recent occu-
pancy. That was funny. And then,
AT the head of the stall above the
manger. he saw a greenish bit of
paper hanging from a nail head
When he took it down it proved to
he a S. bill.
Tim looked at il, turned il over,
and shook his head. Apart from
the occupancy of the stall there was
no explanation of this phenomenon.
IT looked as though some one was
paying for stabling. But who would
pay So for a feed of oats and a
manger' of hay?
The denomination of the bill gave
him an idea. That old guy with the
huckskin-Mr. Sanl<ey with custom
ary caution had omitted TO introduce
himself, and Tim, with true Western
politeness, had not asked his name
who had stayed overnight had left
il
had. why hadn't he come to the
house?
Tim had no explanation cf that.
The old bird must be mighty rich.
But, darn ii, if he. Tim. had had
that So yesterday what a difference
it would have madeI Then he could
have got few things for the kids,
and he would not have cared a hoot
about Jacl<man and the tree.
IL hi in
left the stable. AS he emerged he
heard the rolling drum of hoofs on
frozen earth. Evidently somebody
was in d hurry. AS rider and horse
came into view Tim recognized the
police uniform and the big. slashing
bay that was the mount of his friend
Sam Hake.
For the first time Tim was not
pleased to see him. What was he
doing riding that way so early
Christmas morning? He thought of
Jackman and the sack in the hay.
and he felt an odd, cold sensation
in the pit of his stomach.
AS big horse and straight backed
rider swept down on the ranch, Tim
saw that both were organized for bust
ness. The policeman was clad for
cold ride. and he had a carbine in a
saddle bucket and a compact roll on
his saddle. At sight of the boy he
checked his pace and pulled up beside
the corral bars. beckoning to him.
Come on, Tim, | want to talk to
YOU
Merry Christmas, Mr.. Hake,"
said Tim, trying to conceal his un-
easiness.
who said so?" Hake responded;
for TO be turned out on cold Christ
mas morning on what has every indi-
cation of wild goose chase sweetens
no mans temper He had just been
notified of the hold-up over a phone
line that had been cut in a couple of
widely separated places: and he had
a most inadequate description of the
hold-up himself, who might now be
heading for the hills
But thanks. Tim" he fastened to
add, and the same to You. Now,
look here: Did you see anybody on
the trail this morning?"