Evening star., 1940-05-22

Jelks picked his words. Hes
bunged up some, but I reckon he'll
make the grade" He added, re-
luctantly. 1.-TWO men killed"
"Outlaws?" Window wanted to
know.
| "One Of them. Red got hold Of a
gun and fought 1t out with Mosely.
He killed Russ" Rufe turned hts
eyes away from Anne. 1.-THE other
was one OF our rescue party-Jess
Lamprey."
HE was killed." Caldwell asked.
by Mosely, as We were closing
In on them"
Anne's big eyes stared at Rufe out
OF a startled face from which all
the color had been washed.
Jim did not see Anne while he
was In the hospital, He under
stood the reason why she did not
come but sent by Henrietta q little
cluster Of roses.
With her love-" Mrs. Window
said.
He looked at her sceptically.
Weren't you ever taught to tell
the truth?"
Her blue eyes danced. well,
she meant it if she didn't say It,"
Silcott wondered about that. He
hoped so. Just now her mind was
preoccupied with the memory of
the man whose name she had taken.
There had been no happiness for
her in the marriage. 1t had been
the silly mistake of a girl who had
let her judgment be swayed too
much by moonlight and romance.
But he was dead, and the decent
| proprieties must be observed. Months
must pass before she and Jim could
show any interest in each other.
What ever thought and emotions
they might have must be hidden in
their hearts.
Returns to Blanco.
"Has she gone back to Blanco?"
he asked.
"Yes," Henrietta replied. with
her husbands body. She and his
brother Phil decided to bury him
there. Phil Is nice boy"
Yes. Anything new about the
feud?"
mo. I don't think there is one
any more. The Gandara letters
will decide the case. So everybody
says. And nobody wants to push
the fight against the settlers now.
Rufe says the Hat T hands will
drift away and look for other jobs,
at least all of them who have been
mixed up in any Of Mosely's mean
ness"
| Il reckon so. A sister of Mosely
lives at Colorado Springs, I believe.
She viii probably sell out. The
Hat T will likely be broken up into
smaller ranches"
His guess was good one There
was quite an influx of new settlers
in the Powder Horn. The political
group under the leadership Of Rus
sell Mosely had dominated the
country fell apart and new align
ments were made. The most in
fluential leader of the group In con-
troll was Silcott. He had been the
first to challenge the dictatorship
OF the Hat T, and almost single
handed, except for the constant
help OF one young woman, had
broken the stranglehold of Moseiy
on the district. Since he wanted
nothing for himself his views held
more weight with the people. The
Sentinel supported strongly those
standing for the abolition of graft
and the return of power to the
voters.
Anne Begins to Wonder.
During those months, though
Anne and Jim were working for the
same cause, they saw very little of
each other, and then always In the
company of others. Sometimes she
wondered If his interest in her had
flickered out. Men were that way,
she reminded herself. They took
fancies to new girls until the
novelty had worn OF.
Meanwhile Anne was busy, as Rufe
put it. Collecting brothers" She
received proposals without the
slightest warning. A good looking
cowboy would drop into the office,
hang around for while, remind
her that they met at a church
social, and ask her to share his
indulgence. This was q mans
country, and attractive young
women were scarce. But unfortu-
nately for these impetuous suitors
Anne had decided exactly whom
she was going to marry-if she
ever did marry.
1t was early spring that Jim
came into the Office of the Sentinel
waving telegram jubilantly. Anne
was busy, her sleeves rolled up to
the elbows, for the paper was going
to press in few minutes.
Message from Stratton," Silcott
told her. 'The case has been decided
in our favor. You'll have to rip
up the front page and get the good
news in it,"
Annes eyes lit up. She gave him
a firm ink-stained hand to shake.
Congratulations, Mr.. Silcott."
Mr.. Silcott?" he queried. "Since
when?"
Silcott Goes to Work.
Since you have become q stranger
to me-" she said lightly.
"Oh, I don't like that" he pro-
tested, flushing. 1--WE been awfully
busy, but I don't want to be stran-
ger"
Her cheeks took on a color to
match his. "Fine. If you aren't
stranger you had better get to
work. We have a lot to do and
haven't much time. I'll push the
II fo.1AFecP neuso