Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-26

claim them. For months Lusk watched the
three horses fatten on his range and waited
for some one to come along and ask for them.
And now, at last, two men had arrived.
When the strangers rode up to the ranch
house, riding two of the ponies and inquiring
after the third, Lusk informed them that the
gray was somewhere out in the salt-grass nat
with his remuda. There small chance of
cutting this skittish~ animal out of a herd at
night, he added they would have to postpone
catching the gray until morning. In accord
ance with ranch hospitality, however Lusk in
vited the newcomers to spend the night with
him. No, they wouldn't stay, the pair told him.
They would rather camp out. Thereupon they
rode away and were swallowed up by the dark
ness.
Then suddenly from.the top of a high hill
to the north there shot up the glow Of q camp
fire. Thereupon, satisfied that the visitors had
camped for the night Lusk saddled the best
horse on the ranch and galloped into Carlsbad,
20 miles away, to tell Sheriff Stewart what had
happened.
The sheriff organized a small posse on the
spot-Rufus Thomas and John Cantrell
Thomas had no rifle handy and borrowed one
AS he rushed out to his mount a bystander
shouted after him: BE careful that guns
been known to hang ire!"
The four men reached Chimney Wells Just
before dawn. Unsaddling their mounts they
hid their saddles under a tarpaulin and John
Lusk, the rancher's son, drove the sweating
horses over a rise and hobbled them so that
they would be out of sight when the visitors
arrived after daylight The officers concealed
themselves behind the embankment of a tank
near the reservoir surrounded by barbed wire
fence, close by tent that Lusk was using as
a temporary headquarters.
Just at sunrise lone horseman, slender and
boyish, appeared over the brow of the hill to
the north. He rode up in STYLE his pistol
OY1 rif curing NJ
his saddle The youngster dismounted. The
posse could have closed in on him quite easily,
but they were waiting for the arrival of his
thick-set partner. Meanwhile the first man
grew obviously restless; he took out pair of
field glasses and scanned the horizon pre-
sumably looking for his belated comrade
Stewart fearing that he would get tired of
waiting and take his departure, whispered TO
young John Lusk to get the hobbled horses
ready so that, If necessary, the posse could give
chase without loss of time. To ". H. Lusk the
father, the sheriff said: Get him into the
tent for breakfast"
I USK went off and, in his usual hearty
fashion, invited the young man to have
some food. He accepted, stepped inside the
tent and seated himself at the table but with
his face to the door.
When the officers had, arrived, an hour
previously Stewart had taken the precaution
Of covering up a rifle he in the tent SO that
there would be no extra weapon lying around
for bandit to grab up. As he crouched behind
the emba nkment of the tank, Stewart had told
the rancher the location of this rifle and Lusk
was to indicate that he had found it by walk
ing to the tent door. At this signal the posse
would close in upon the stranger.
About 200 yards separated the posses place
of concealment from the tent, and directly
between the two stood a wagon to which the