Evening star., 1941-06-06

useful. She was quite unprepared
for the sight that greeted her. The
covers had been torn from the bed,
pillowcases and mattress had been
ripped open, every drawer had been
emptied on the floor and the con-
tents StreWn about
The Office Undisturbed.
There was no need to go further,
as she might unwittingly disturb
some cleW so, closing the door, she
returned to the ranch house and
tiptoed softly to her room. She
would wait until the ranch was STIR
ring and then come down stairs as
If she were just getting up, for if
no one else had observed the Prov
Ter, she wouldn't say anything about
it. AS soon as breakfast was over,
she would see how far she could
follow the intruder's trail. He had
gone in the direction of the main
road, but she might be able to trace
him part of the way. She had for
gotten all about Johns warning not
to ride the range alone.
1t wasn't long before the custom
ary morning activities began. She
curbed her impatience to be off by
sticking closely to her customary
morning routine. She went first to
the office. In her surprise at find
ing Johns quarters in such confu-
sion she had forgotten to look in
the Office If it had been disturbed,
too, she would have to get it in or
der before any of the boys hap
pened to see it. They seldom came
up there, but if they should happen
to, she would have hard time ex-
planning such disorder.
She was almost running by the
time she reached the office door,
scarcely knowing what she expected
to find, but everything was in or
der. Evidently the visitor hadn't
opened the door between the two
rooms. Whatever he was searching
for, he had expected to find it in
the personal belongings of John
Wade. 1t must have been something
very small that could have been
concealed easily in any nook or
Granny; papers perhaps. She Won
dered if John would know what
they were looking for and if he
knew, if he would take her into his
confidence. In some ways, she
knew him so we'll and in others, he
was still the same aloof stranger
who had come to the ranch two
years ago.
Orders Stop Allison.
From the office she went to the
corral to have Lindy Lou saddled.
Shortly Howard had charge of the
corral and no proud father could
have cared for his children with
more honest devotion than Shorty
cared for the horses of the NC
ranch. He had been with her ia
ther ever since she could remember
and was indeed power to be reck-
oned with. Never much over five
feet tall, with age he seemed to
grow even smaller. His little brown
face was the color of the leather in
the saddles he so painstakingly pol
ished, but the years couldn't dim
the bright blue eyes, deepset in
valley of wrinkles. What you up
for so early, Allie?"
Nov, Shorty, you know I've al
ways been an early riser!"
What brings you down here so
early, though? Somethin' on yer
mind-aint anything you can't tell
old Shorty" For moment she was
tempted to unburden her soul to this
kindly old man, who loved her as
he would his own daughter. But she
held her tongue There was no use
making Shorty unhappy. He wor-
ried enough about the cattle rustling
and the thought of losing the ranch
would break his heart.
II thought would give Lindy
Lou a little exercise after break
fast"
Nope, Allie. You can't take Lindy
Lou out on the range-it's against
orders"
Against orders? Whose orders?"
John Wade told me not to let
you ride out alone and that's final"
"Oh Shorty, don't be like that!
Orders or no orders, I have to ex-
ercise Lindy Lou. The idea of a
beautiful mare like Lindy Lou being
kept in on a day like this This
was an unexpected snag in her
plans.
No Use to Argue.
But Allison knew that it would do
no good to argue with Shorty, Either
he rode with her, or she didn't go.
She should be resentful, but instead
she felt warm glow of pleasure
that her welfare should matter so
much to John and to Shorty, too.
She was so lost in her own thoughts
that she didn't realize Shorty was