The Coolidge examiner., 1935-08-02
CHAPTER Ix-con,inusd
Il

CHAP TEH fG-CcrNrued
IL
That stopped him FOR a moment.
las, night be had held this girl
la his arms-not momeninrily. but
for what might have been an hour :
and later. In q burst of smoking
temper. be had let her standing
In the snow with tears upon her
cheeks. lie had ridden al night
after a fuEi;iye-perhaps a mur-
derer. she did not know whether
he hal found the man. or Killed him
or xha; be had learned n ST. Marie
was taken alive Yet the Indlffer.
ence in her voice suggested llt.
eraIly that Kentucky might have
bean the horse he had rldden--or
some other horse.
Il rode through mile after mile
% button hole bushes" be told her.
-an blooming In the snow. And Il
looks as n Il might not rain. I
hope. Did your father get hackT
~No. Hes sim IN Waterman. go
Is Harry Wilson. Doc Harper came
cut They've brought Billy up here
already
The cevHf where is hef+
Here. I said Her voice took
on a fain, edge. do you want 10
SO himT'
where Is Lee Bishopi"
"He rode out again"
lie rulped down the remainder
of his coffee In silence. And when
he had finished she led him through
the house to the room where BUY
Petersen lay.
he was propped up In a four-post-
er bed that must have been hauled
into the rimrock long ago. In the
early days OF the brand.
Il could have belonged 70 no one
but Jeans mother: and the room
it occupied was obviously the most
favored room In the house. The
walls were hung with pictures. and
a gayeiy of hooked rugs and ere
tonne curtains was augmented IN
warmth and color BY the cracking
blaze IN the fireplace.
The cowboy looked out OF place
as II he not only had been put here
aEalns; his win. bat felt pretty sure
that he would be kicked out as soon
as the old boss got back. A book.
face down In a chair By the bed.
told Kentucky that Jean had prob
ably been reading 10 Billy. Un-
dOubtesily. the youngster was mys-
tihed BY ali this attention. Ken
tucky. however. was not mystided /:
the whole thing suggested that Jean
had been moved 70 try 10 make up
90 Billy Petersen what could never
Dc made MP TO Jim Humphreys. who
was dead.
~wha, are you doing up heref-
Kentucky demanded. doc Hopper
should have left you down on The
Bake Pant"
1T wasn't Doc Hopper" Billy told
him. about four o'clock this morn
Ing made Lee saddle up and bring
me- About half way wished I'd
stayed where I was. II sure didn't
do me no good"
There was a moments pause. while
Kentucky Jones waited for the In
evliahle question about how he had
come out with Joe ST. Marie. Yet the
question did not come: and Ken
tucky abruptly recognized that Bflly
Petersen had not been told any
thing about where Kentucky had
gone.
"Do you know where Lee went?"
he asked Billy.
He's gone cunning after Bill Nc
Cord"
Cunning after" Kentucky turned
on Jean. "why didn't you tell me
this "a soon as I came inT"
Il didn't know f." she said. the
nat Indifference OF her voice IN:
changed.
Billy Petersen said. Lee told me
not 10 say anything about Il until
he was long gone. wouldn't say
anything now; except I sure don't
Ike this business. Kentuck II
thought maybe you'd want to 20
and side with him. or something"
Dear Cdr" Kentucky exploded.
Right into their handsl How long
has he been goneT-
About two hours"
WAS he going straight to the Ssf"
mo: I don't guess he was going
90 the Ss at all. he figured he'd 20