The Sheriff's Son

Asks Qu

he house with Brad Charlton just as the buggy stopped

o,

eet." The girl introduc

him with frank curiosity. He had just been hearing a lot ab

id he say about the win

nk it over," a

s Roy talked with Charlton he heard what the ot

ing, Ned?" th

ntin' s

to-n

kon

ow? This will be the third night you've

warning look in the

en the express company robbers for whom a reward was out. She tried to dismiss the suspicion from her mind, for the fear of it was like a leaden weight at her heart. But many little things contributed to the dread. Rutherford had sent her just at that time to spend the week at Battle Butte. Had it been to get her out of the way? She remembered that her father had made to her no explana

ou're a fine lot-all of you. I'd like to wash my hands clean of the

s before the porch. He admired this frank, forthright sister who blazed so handsomely i

you may be letting yourself in for

u worry about me, Ned. I travel at a good lic

into the saddle, the rowels of his spurs whirring as he vaulted. It was

. It was impossible for him to be contemptuous of Charlton. The man was too virile, too game fo

was going to marry her. Then, too, he had spoken of this high-spirited girl as if she were a colt to be broken and he the man to wield the whip. Her r

A stranger had not the least right to interfere while the brother of the girl was present. Roy did not pursue the point any further. He di

e whisperings. Even a fool would have understood that he was not a welcome guest at the horse ranch, and that his presence was tolerated only because here the boys could keep an eye on him. He was under surveillance. That was plain. He had st

f the books she read told the truth, the world was full of gentle, kindly people who lived within the law and respected each other's rights. Why was it in her horoscope to be an outcast? Why must she look at everybody with bitterness and push friendship from her lest it turn to po

l and went out to the garden to get some radishes and lettuce. On the way she had to pass the corral. Her brother Hal, Slim Sanders, and Cherokee Street were ropin

stamped into the sweat pad. The letters were "R.B." The owner of the hat called himself Cherokee Street. Why, then, should he have thes

come to get evidence against he

or facts to convict them. To hear the shout of his gay laughter as a calf upset him in the dust was added fuel to the fire of her anger. If he had looked

e shirt open at the throat. Flowing muscles rippled under the white skin of his forearms as he vaulted the

py. Beulah har

eld it out to him upside down, the leather pad li

the initials, he was puzzled at her stiffness. Then his heart lost a beat and h

at, isn't it,

rom her, put it on,

could find no answer to the charge that she had fixed upo

d her father reading

ad," she said. "I can tell you who this man

p quickly. "You mea

n't. His name isn't C

o you

in it. I gave him a chance to explain and he only stammered an

. The man is a spy." The ranchman lit a

he spying

sing around about that robbery. Some folks think it

erford gang?

nsive. "Sho, Boots! That's just a way folks have of talking. We've got our

e him, her eyes fixed in his. "Do th

if they do-not where I can h

she flun

y, even when she was a small child, to fling herself headlong at difficulties

Did you?" h

d Uncle Buck-and Brad

he contradicted himself. "No, you'd better mind your own busin

ess if my kin go to the peni

, I give you my word that none of us Rutherfords have

t know wh

least idea-no

e her father had kept from her secrets of the f

detective. He can find out nothin

o down at Battle Butte, for instance. Get a little more evidence and the wrong kind of a jury would send him up for it. No,

reet that he is not wante

would come in his place. We'll keep him here whe

he fellow. It's not decent to sit at table with a ma

ave him to us. We'll hang up his pelt

on't m

rawl out of the park like a whipped

Miss Beulah, do you want that me

dad, I took a snapshot of Mr. Tighe on his porch. I'll deve

tter we were discussing. Act like you've for

l nodde