The Texan A Story of the Cattle Country

was riding "straight up" a

him,

with

l four feet "on a dollar," his legs stiff as jack-pine posts. The Texan rode with one hand gripping the hackamore rope and the other his quirt which stung and bit into the frenzied animal's shoulders each time he

a long

!" yelled the del

eaped to his feet with the cowboy in the saddle and the crowd went wild. Then with the enthusiasm at its height, the man jerked at his hackamore knot, and the next moment the horse's head was free and the rider rode "on his balance" without the sustaining grip on the hackamore rope to hold him firm in his saddle. The sudden loosening of the rawhide thongs gave the outlaw new life. He

trembling in every muscle, and as he sank slowly to

bacco and papers, "if you-all can get holt of a horse

hitched them to the wagons. Pedestrians, hurrying with their tickets toward the saloons, dodged fr

e as his eyes rested for a moment upon her own, shifted, lingered with undisguised approval upon her silk stockings, and with devilish boldness, returned to her own again. Suddenly his words flashed through her brain. "I always get what I go after-sometimes." She recalled the consummate skill with which he had conquered the renegade steer and

ious to argument, those who would remonstrate with her invariably found themselves worsted by the simple and easy process of turning their weapons of attack into barriers of defence. Thus when, an

reposterous supper they are going to 'dish up' at the hotel, but when I found they were going to separate the 'ladies and gents' and feed them in relays, I somehow lost the urge. The men, most of them, are interesting-

nod: "Yes," he observed, dryly

quite unsuited to your style of beauty. But, really, wasn't it all d

have always understood that cowboys were proficient along t

s for? The wild free life of the plains, the daily battling with the elements, and the mastery of ner

rave disapproval. "Surely you were no

se I'm serious! When will I ever get another chance t

surd! If you are bound to attend that affair I

o dance-to be in it all. It will b

at do you know of that man? Of his character; of his antec

at. To attend a dance with just a plain cowboy doesn't fall to every girl's lot, but one who is

ry. "I am sure neither you

t. I know it's improper and unconventional and that it isn't done east of the Mississippi nor west of the Rocky Mountains. But when in Rome do as the roamers do, as so

," he answered. "Beca

from the table. "At least," she said haughtily, "you

re that the fat woman who had sought refuge under the coach was st

ou insulted that girl!"

uth," he replied dryly, and rising, passed into the smoking compartment of his Pullm

njoy her forthcoming adventure. Loud shouts, accompanied by hilarious laughter and an occasional pistol shot, floated across the flat. She pressed her lips tighter and heartily wished that she had declined Purdy's invitation. It was not too late,

I'm going to that dance if it is the last thing I ever do-just to show him that-that-" he

-" the sentence broke off shortly. Across the flat a rider was approaching and beside him trotted a lead-horse upon whose ba

smiled as he dismounted to assis

u needn't to have gone to the trouble of br

saddle offen a friend of mine which his gal usta use before she learnt to ride straddle. The horse is hern, too, an' gentl

ce looked up her eyes strayed past him to the windo

nto the saddle, and without a backward

ving tang to the air, soft with the balm of June, and as they rode side by side the cowboy pointed toward the east where the sharp edge of the bench cut the rim of

swung a boxcar to the side. The single street was filled with people-women and men from the wagons, and co

glanced in. Framed in the doorway stood a man whose eyes met hers squarely-eyes that, in the lamplight seemed to smile cynically as they

straggling row of houses and headed out on the trail that wound in and out among the cottonwood clumps of the valley. At first, the girl tried vainly to check the pace, but as the animal settled to a steady run a spirit of wild exhilaration too

ght him to a stand, and for the first time since she left the town, realized she was not alone. The realization

! I feel as if I could r

ard where the surface of the b

an' ride a ways along the rim of the bench. If you like scenes, that ort to be worth while l

e wild. Her glance wandered from the rim of the bench to the cowboy, a picturesque figure as he sat easily in

a of moonlit wonder-and then, they would be in the little town again before the dance was in full swing. In her mind's eye she saw Endicott's disapproving frown, and with a tigh

s the moonlit plain the Bear Paws loomed in mysterious grandeur. The clean-cut outline of Miles Butte, standing apart from the main range, might have been an Egyptian pyramid rising abruptly from the desert. From the very cen

ey rim, the animals picking their way through the patches of prickly pears and clumps

the valley they halte

in the exquisite

ribbon of gleaming silver. At widely scattered intervals the tiny lights of ranch houses glowed dull yellow in the distance, and almost at her feet the clustering lights of the town shone from the open windows and doors of buildings which stood out distinctly in t

feebly and the drone of their hoisting ge

rl's eyes feasted upon t

conceal the eyes now, that stared boldly into her face and in sudden terror the girl attempted to whirl her horse toward the trail. But the man's arm shot out and encircled her waist and his hot breath was u

icott finished a cigarette as he watched the g

e stalked to his seat, met the fat lady's outraged stare with an ungentlemanly scowl, procured his hat, and stamped off across the flat in the direction of the dance-hall. As he entered the room a feeling of repugnance came over him. The floor was filled with noisy dancers, and upon a low platform at the opposite end of the room three shirt-sle

he corner of his lips curled upward, and through the haze of it Endicott saw that the man was smiling unpleasantly. Th

ho had helped the Texan to saddle the outlaw. With a swift motion of the head the man signalled him to follow, and turned abruptly into the deep shadow of an alley tha

f the stable where, tied to the fence of the corral, two horses stood saddled. Loosing one, the man passed him the bridle reins. "Dat hoss, she damn good hoss. Mebbe-so you ride lak' hell you com' long in tam'. Dat Purdy, she not t'ink you got de gun, mebbe-so you git chance to kill um good." As the full significance of the man's words dawned upon him Endicott le

ainst the moonlight sky were two figures on horseback. Even as he looked the figures blended together-there was a sw

rs like the snarl of a beast, Winthrop Adams Endicott tightened hi

ears: "Mebbe-so you ride lak' hell you com' long in tam'!" But, would he "com' long in tam'"? There had been something of sinister portent in that swift merging togethe

o slightest doubt as to his ability to use it entered his brain. Above him, somewhere upon the plain beyond the bench rim, the woman he loved was at the mercy of a man whom Endicott instinctively knew would stop at nothing to gain an end. The thought that the man he intended

onlight a riderless horse ceased snipping grass, raised his head, and with ears cocked forward, stared at him. In a fever of suspense Endicott gazed

. The sage grew higher in the depression which was the head of a branch of the coulee by means of which the trail gained the bench, and as he plunged in, the head and shoulders of a man appeared above a bush. Endicott was very close when the man pushed something fiercely from him, and th

eyes strayed from the sprawling figure to meet his, Endicott read in their depths that which caused his heart to race madly. She stepped toward him and suddenly