The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-09-15
V7he GAY BANDIT 81
|: ~ gff~-ee Of the :, B 3D. SnG
by TOM GILL
Eoo NC DISTRIBUTED KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

ant to look at" Bob shook his head.
mo, major, I shouldn't lay any trap
for lady bandit. l think when you
find your quarry it will be man.
Probably about the size of Ted
here"
IF he is that size, it must be Tito.
No one else on the border carries
all that beef"
Again Bob smiled. "Well, it might
not be a bad idea to look into Jito's
activities, although l strongly doubt
if it will teach you much"
They left soon after, and in the
Car as they sped toward Verdi, Bob
was in high spirits. The idea of the
majors LADY bandit" as he called
her, delighted him.
'I've half mind to spread the
rumor in Verdi that it's the majors
wife. adopting this role to give her
husband exercise. But why should
the man even for moment suspect
such nonsense? 1t must be the milf
tary mind at work."
Outside the gate at Bob's hacienda
they stopped, and Ted stepped out
to lay down the bars.
AS Bob drew up before the house
a servant ran forward.
"Sefior," he shouted in Spanish,
while still afar, you have heard?"
Heard what?"
LAST night FL Coyote came to the
upper camp and stole twenty steers.
Twenty of the seiior's best cattle,
that son of devil"
For time Don Bob looked at
Ted, then at last his lips curved in
little smile. "Now doesn't that beat
hell?" he pondered, reaching for
cigarette. "And after all the nice
things I've said about him, too"
| Within an hour Don Bob had left
for the north ranch, sending Ted to
| Verdi for any news that might have
reached there, and it was not until
late the following afternoon that Bob
lreturned.
Ted, just back from round of the
nearby camps, had already begun
dinner when he heard the jingle OF
spurs on the porch outside. A mo.
. ment later the rancher joined him.
!: TOO tired to eat" Bob sank into
the nearest chair. "But give me a
dozen cups of coffee. What did you
. Learnt"
/ Ted shook his head. Nothing.
) Neither in Verdi nor in the camps
!. And your"
5 "I've ridden all over that upper
: country for signs. Finally I lost
!, trace of the steers among the sand.
hills. It's blowing hard up there.
> like blasts from furnace. 1t would
t wipe out the tracks of a dinosaur.
i. Lord, that coffee's welcomed
Bob, do you think Ell Coyote
5 did this?"
3 The rancher smiled. II don't. My
J. boys can't tell me much. They only
r know that half a dozen Mexican
h horscmen rode down on the herd.
cut out twenty of the best steers
t and drove them south toward the
line. Only two of the boys saw il
t happen. and they very prudently
waited in. the brush until the job
was done. Then they galloped back
n with the news. But the big white
S horse that FL Coyote rides wasn't
0 seen. My boys are sure of that"
He drank two cups of black coffee.
n then, lost in thought, chewed abb
a sently on the end of a cigar. He
seemed to reach some decision, for
!. abruptly he rose. II still have one
: or two questions about this thing.
It and tired or not tired I'm going over
i to Mendoza's. You'd better come
e along. Mendoza's is part of your
: education.
d i've heard that name."
It "Of course you have. Mendoza's
is the greatest institution for vice
y and unvarnished evil in Verdi-or in
: all the borderland, for that matter.
e 1t is the one place where at some
time or other you will find anyone
:, you are looking for. If you are
g patient, he or she is sure to show up
IS at Mcndoza's."
J. Ito Be Continued