Evening star., 1941-06-12

ranch was such a big undertaking.
1t must have taken an extra spe-
cial kind of courage for you to tackle
such a job alone"
ut had never occurred to me to do
otherwise" Allison said simply.
This has been the only life have
ever known and I love it. It's part
of me. I can't imagine being happy
any other place"
There was light step on the
patio at that moment and they
turned to find Will Branson smiling
smugly from the living room door.
Good evening, Miss Carver, I
thought I'd drop. in to pass the time
of day. I didn't know you had COM
pany."
Allison and Richard both rose
and came forward.
Good evening, Mr.. Branson. This
is Mr. Mattingly from New York"
Richard noticed her stiffen and
felt the undercurrent of tension. In
stinctively he knew that she didn't
want Branson to know that he was
In any way connected with the
ranch. Gravely he offered his hand.
Branson Is Disguised.
Good evening, Mr.. Mattingly."
Branson's voice was at it's oily best.
This your first time to see the
West?"
mo, not the first time. My busi-
ness takes me to the coast quite
often, but I always enjoy this part
of the country. Quite different from
New York and I enjoy the change"
From then on, Richard dominated
the conversation. Allison drew a
long breath and sat back at ease. At
! the end of an hour, Branson, with
ill-concealed disgust. almost fed
Richards constant stream of con-
yersation without having learned a
thing of Importance.
When he had gone, Allison turned
to Richard in frank admiration.
"You were wonderful! How did you
guess that I wanted to be rid of
him?"
He sat down beside her. II could
tell by your tone that 1t was almost
a command performance. Now have
I earned the right to ask you to
call me Richard?"
you certainly have. and I wish
you'd call me Allison. Really,
you've no idea how much I appre-
ciate what you did"
"I take it that's the man who
wants to buy the ranch"
She nodded. He owns the Barb
that adjoins this on the south" AL
hJon was suddenly serious. Il WON
der If he guessed who you were?"
ST doubt it. He probably thinks
that I am working my way across
the country selling travel books.
Maybe he thought that I was going
to ask him to buy some and that's
the reason he left"
Hes only been here about three
years and I don't know If he ever
heard about your dad or not. Every
one out here called him Matt, so
perhaps he didn't realize that you
were his son If he did know about
him. I don't know why I dislike
Branson so he always has been
a very considerate neighbor.
Where did he come from?"
Lost Some Cattle.
New Mexico, believe. He came
through here almost four years ago,
trying to buy land. Said he had to
get out Of the New Mexican climate
and needed to be up here in higher
| Ia Il Ia ~ fNr
our ranch, but dad said that under
no conditions would he sell. We
didn't think much more about 1t
until the fall of that year when we
heard he'd bought the Barb for
quite fancy cash figure. He bought
the cattle with the ranch, but
brought his own COW hands with
him. Most of them are half-breeds.
Every one resented that at first. but
they kept strictly to themselves
and we've never had a bit Of trouble
He seems to know very little about
cattle. That's the reason was sur
prised that he offered to buy this
place"
Has he lost many cattle TO the
raiders?"
Hes lost some but not as many
as we have. OF course, he doesn't t
have nearly as many cattle. either
That would make a difference I
don't see how he makes his ranch
pay. He has almost twice as many
hands as we have, for about half
the number of cattle"
Maybe it takes two half-breeds
to equal one good Western cow
hand"
Maybe that's it, Richard. hope
it's nothing more ominous."
Next morning when she got down
to breakfast Richard and Shorty
were already gone. She ate hur-
riedly alone, then went down to the
corral. Ret was in charge of the
horses while Shorty was away.
Good morning, Ret, has John
gone out YETI"
Allison Senses Danger.
Good mornin', Miss Carver. Yep.
guess he has-Glory's gone so John
must be with him. He was gone
before I got here. Want Lindy Lou
saddled?"
"Yes, please. She needs bit of
exercise. I didn't get her out yes
terdsy at ALL
you won't go far, will you, Miss
Carver? Shorty said to remind you
not to get out Of sight of the
corral"
Allison laughed good-naturedly.
"Okay, nursemaid. I promise to stay
close"
As Ret went for Lindy Lou, Al
lison casually glanced off toward the
rolling hills to the north. She was
staring at them, bathed in the warm
morning sun, when her eyes picked