Rimrock Trail

heriff made the most of. He was proud of his car and proud of his ability to run it anywhere at record-breaking speed. It carried an extra water container that could be mounted on

That's me. If I needed me an airyplane, I'd get me one to hunt the outlaws ou

d; prosecuted the first with zeal and collected the rewards with alacrity. The trouble was that he did not always go out after certain individuals, who were

's Good Luck Pool Parlors, a share that had cost him good money. On top of that had come Sandy's flouting of him

em at an early hour, since court was not in session and the judge none too eager to arise of a morning. But Jordan knew nothing of the

hip with her father, the sheriff, Plimsoll and two others, all three deputized for the occasion, started the car from Hereford at a quarter of twelve, after an early lunch. They passed the butte where Jim la

at all three partners had taken flight with the girl in the buckboard. Sandy's pinto and Sam's roan were in the co

ing off," he said sternl

scowled, noting the turn of Buck's bland countenance in his direction for the first time. It was whispered that the brands on Plimsoll's horse ranch were not those usually known in the county, nor

'em back. Crossin' the county line won't do 'em any good with this warrant. Ef they tr

whi

in' to let me know," h

e to tip it off

from his hip pocket, took his knife, opened it del

led. "Me, I don't st

e semi-smile and half closed-eyes of conscious superiority. He had already elicited apparently reluctant information from Pedro as to the four passengers in the buckboard. Buck had been more reticent

nch?" Jordan ask

I git fre

ose orders, also yore b

ed himself h

id. "Goin' to bring 'em back in

the car and started it. The powerful machine went lunging through the soft dirt, following th

he water boiled in the radiator from the heat of the toiling engine and Jordan stopped, replenished, reoiled. Reaching the lava strip where the buckboard had halted for water and the noon meal, they found the trail skirting the flow toward the south. The main mass of the mesa,

o one of hi

eadin', Phil?" he asked. "Is there

ne ever goes there. I reckon I know as much of this country as most an' I sure never explored the dump. One t

desert where the rock surfaced out and showed no trace of hoof or tire. Jordan stopped the car and the four got out, casting around, expecting that this outcropping had been used as a device to throw off the pursuit. Fairly f

ounced the deputy named Phi

it mean-

same as dinero. It's the word they have on

"But I'll bet my star they've gone through it all righ

dugout but what the news is all over the county inside of twenty minutes. Bourke sabes that getting the girl out of the county won't do any good

im. But there's one thing you can tell me. Is

ide Jordan, flashed h

opped into my place and talked. Showed some samples and I had a good look at them. He happened to leave a

him a grin

e grubstake,

said noth

l in the unconsciousness that Bolsa had t

law soon's we show papers. So long's he ain't been notified the court is makin' a w

hootin' at the bridge that time. Sandy Bourke's a two-handed lead flinger an' Soda-Water S

on with almost any hue desired, ready for mixing with oil or water. Waves of heat beat between the walls of the cleft. The floor was fairly smooth, swept clean by occasional cloud-bursts, save for the skeleton of a tree and another of a too-far wandering steer, both blanched white as the alkali-crusted b

" said Jordan, "I'd sure hate to ge

etter if I had a drink. Plimsoll, you

gorge, reaching from wall to wall, a four-strand barrier of barbed-wire, strung on patent steel posts. Jordan braked with emergency. The sight of such a fence in such a place was as u

aid. "I've got a pair of nippers in the tool kit. T

loated do

you please. I went to a heap of trouble

d-slipped from the cliff into the gorge. From thirty feet above them he looked

"I ain't seen you-all fo' quite a w

he foot of the rock,

I've got yore name on these papers, Mormon Peters, as one of the three parties with whom the girl is now domiciled. I warn you that you are obstructing the process of the

at talk at all. Molly Casey ain't here, to begin with. Nor she ain't been here. An' I don't

deputies

feed or water." He flushed angrily. He was short-tempered and he was certain the fence was a ruse to gai

branded ones," said Mormon pleasantly. "Ask Pl

conspicuously, and he restrained his own im

t time. You come down an' help remove this fence," he shouted up at the smiling Mormon, "or I'l

an' destroyin' what is my property." He slid down the rock and commenced to unbend the metal straps that held the w

irl comin' this way. I've a notion to take you in for that. But

I'll come erlong with you fo' a spell-of my own free will. I don't see no harm in ta

ed for half a mile and then they came to a second fence. No buckboard was in sight. Beyond the wire the pitch of the ravine showed steeper yet, as it mounted to a sharp turn. Leaning against a post

res all," said S

ed no more

this fence," he

at

ore pa

l' corral, Sam," said Mormon. "He's got a paper that gives

y with them wires, Sheriff. Pr

the car through, Jordan or

put the cuffs o

here. Me an' Mormon's through with our li'l' job. We'll go back in

vingly, yet Sam's wor

wn, too. It's worse higher up. Matter of fac' the gap peters out jest round the turn. This is Bolsa Boquete. Bolsa

o deputies. Around the bend stood the buckboard with the buckskins in a patch of sh

s with us fo' a spell. But they're goin' visitin' an' they shifted

combat. He had nothing on which to make arrest of the two Three Star partners and he was far from sure of his ability to do so un

ow. Hawss trail only. 'Fraid you won't catch him, Sheriff. They aim to ketch the seven o'clock train at Caroca. It's the on'y pass over the mesa. If Sandy had k

ge in the sheriff's face. Chagr

off two trains on the main line. The train leaves at nine-thirty an', if I can't make ninety miles in four hours an' a half, I'll make you a pre

n and Sam stood powerless, the former crestfallen, the latter sardonicall

finally. "I'd have thought them three wives of

t I'd be obliged if you'd kick me-good. Us