Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1929-09-19
The
Settling
Of the Sage
By
HAL @. EVART0
Copyright ~ Hal q Dvsrts
WNU Service
THE STORY

CHAPTER X.-Rumor, fostered b,
Harris. that the Three Bar has set :
price on the heads Of fifteen Of the besi
among the bad men" Of the neighbor.
hood. Sheriff Alden begins to enrol
deputies. A year has passed since Har.
place has become a beehive OF activity ,
The sheriff, with Harris and Waddles
endeavors to arrest Slade and Morrow
They resist. and in the Tight Morrow i,
seems to be the beginning of the end
of the reign of lawlessness.
Continued from last week.
Harris caught two of the saddled
horses that had carried the men from
Brill's and crossed over to where the
girl sa
Lets ride down to the field" he
said. "An. see what's got to be done.
I expect weeks work will repair
that part 1t all right"
She ga. ed at him in amazement.
He spoke of repairing the damage
while the Three Bar burned before his
eyes But she rose and mounted the
horse and they rode off down what
fattened by the rushing horde of cat
tie that had swept through.
The homestead cabins smoked but
still stood intact.
"Look!" he urged cheerfully.
'SThOse logs were too green to burn.
We won't even have to rebuild They'll
look little charred round the edges
maybe, but otherwise as good as new.
We're not bad hurt. They can't hurt
our land. I'd rather have this fiat
right now-the way it stands-than
three thousand head Of cows on the
range and nO.land at all. We can re-
build the place this winter while work
Is slack Build better than before"
His enthusiasm failed to touch her.
For her the Three Bar was wrecked,
the old home gone. ald her gaze kept
straying back to the eddying black
smoke-cloud at the foot of the hills.
They rode from the devastated
fields and angled southwest across the
range. When some ten miles from the
Three Bar Harris dismounted on a
ridge and sh. joined him, listening
with entire Indifference to his op-
tirnistic plans.
We're only scratched" he said. ut
won't matter in the end"
"This Il the end" she dissented
'The Tree Bar is DONE"
"It's just the start" he returned
tits the end for them! Don't you
see? They staked everything on one
big raid that would smash the " rec
Bar and discourage the rest from
duplicating our move. That would
give Slade new lease of life-delay
the inevitable for a few more years
They made one final attempt and lost
They're through" he asserted posi-.
lively. That's their last shot. We're
only delayed-that's all. The home
stead cabins are only charred The
old buildings at the ranch are gone
I'll put q crew In the hills getting
out new logs and there'lI be enough
out-of-1ob peelers riding grub-line to
our land. The hay Is tramped fat
eight now but the roots aren't hurt
Next spring will show the whole 6at
coming up with heavy stand of hay"
you're q good partner. CAL" she
said. you've done your best But
the whole thing would only happen
over again. SHADES too strong for US. :"
SHADES through" he asserted
Hes locked up and when he gets
out his hands will be tied. inside OF
month the law will be in the saddle
for the first time in years Once Al
den gets grip on things, with folks
behind him, he'll never lose II again. y
He painted the future of the Three
Bar as the foremost outfit within q
hundred miles, but her mind was
busy with q future so entirely differ
ent from the one he portrayed thai
she scarcely grasped his words. Al
ways she had heard her parents
speak of the day when they should
60 back home; and she had always
felt that the day would come when
she, too, would live In the place from
which they had come-with frequent
trips back to the range The love for
the ranch had delayed her departure
from year to year. But now the old
familiar buildings were gone and
there were no ties to hold her here
or even to call her back once she was
gone.
Harris rose. and pointed, rousing
her from her abstraction. Down In
the valley below them filed a long
line of dusty hOrsemen.
There is the law!" he said
"That's what | brought you here to
see. It's what we've been waiting
for. That little procession stands for
organized lawT"
She turned and looked behind her
as her ear caught the thud of hoofs
and jangle of equipment The Three
Bar men were just topping the ridge
Harris knew that action. not mac.
ton was fhe hest outlet for her ener-
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