The Trail Horde

sage, running over a wide level, into little hills, and so on to an upland whose rise was so

he county, and the tawny valley, basking in the warm sunlight that c

ry and filled his lungs from the sage-laden

iled a

n Ruth Hamlin

awler knew that something Kane had been on the point of saying never would

yellow corduroy trousers that encased his legs to the tops of the boots with their high hee

out of the house, and she now

leash by a contrary power. That power might have been grim humor-for his keen gray eyes were now gleaming with something akin to humor-it might have been c

ther, for she smiled understandingly, and with pride

panned a shallow, narrow river, were other cattle. These were the result of the fall-or beef-round-up. For a month there had been intense activity in the section. Half the cattlemen i

that each cattle owner took from the herd the steers that bore his "brand," with the addition of a proportionate numbe

, Kane," said Mrs. Law

replied. "We're starting a t

ean, have you arranged with War

eement with Jim Lefingwell.

ten agr

th Lefingwell. Never had to. Jim's word was al

arden's business me

o Warden. Jim said he'd already mentioned our agreemen

arden has chan

arden, he's likely to. If he does, we'll drive the stock to Keppler, at Red Rock. Keppler isn't buyi

a five hundred m

anticipating, Mother.

ng a saddle, which he flung over one of the top rails of the corral fence. He roped a big, red ba

cestors was in him. It showed in the clear white of his gleaming, indomitable eyes, in his thin, sensitive

. From the slender, powerful limbs of the big bay, to the cartridge-studded belt that encircled the man's middle, with a h

tle were confined. Lawler brought the bay to a halt at a corner of the corral fence, where his foreman, Blackburn

ws under which were keen, deep-set eyes. His mouth was

d Blackburn. "Are you wantin' me to put 'em thr

trail in spots, and they'll want to feed. They'll stand th

agreement with you, I reckon?" aske

n of his foreman's eyes, and his brows d

lackburn; "just wonderin'. Yo

fingwell's position as resident buyer for a big eastern live-stock company. Lawler had heard, though, that Warden seemed to be capable enough; that he had entered upon the du

owners, and he was willing to accept it as accurate, though he was not prepared to

ooked him over don't hesitate to say he d

man-in size and prin

an' they're not givin' Warden what's comin' to him, them bein' biased." He squinted at Lawler. "Folks is hintin' that Warden don't own Jim Lefingwell's ranch a-tall; that some eastern guys bought it, an' that Warden's just managin' it. Seems like

" grinned Lawler. "Some folks need the

uainted with because I ain't got none to speak of. But I'm plumb flabbergasted when you go to connectin' a battleship with anyth

according to the best authorities, there have been many monitors w

incomprehension which had seized him. Twice again as he watched La

stern. I've never seen one ga

one, but I've read about them in books. And once my mothe

rn; "anything which comes from the East

at Lawler, wat

mlin ought to go around dra

kening of Lawler's eyes, and the

ou mean, B

n plumb into Joe Hamlin. He was in the upper end of the box arroyo. H

awler's lips were

e outfit for the men to know a man can rustle cattle that promiscuous-an' the boss not battin' an eyewinker. This is the fourth time he's been caught with the goods-to s

h in his cheeks he seemed to be unaffected by Blackbu

my way to Willets. By the time you reach town with

Lawler wheeled the bay

hanged expression. He frown

h knew her father was a rustler. In fact, there had been times when he had seen that knowledge lying naked in her eyes when she looked at her parent. Accusation a

rry him while the stigma of guilt rested upon her parent. And he was convinced that she was ignorant of the fact that Lawler shared her secret. That was why Lawler had permitted Hamli

row trail that veered gradually from the trail to Willets. The character of the land had changed, and Lawler was now ridin

d rotting rock; through a little stretch of timber, and finally along the bank of a s

in squatted near the center of the clearing, surrounded by several outbuildings

reached the cabin he swung off and walked toward the d

e greeted him, coming from the interior of

step, Kane Lawler,

of it was open. Through the aperture projected the muzzle of a rifle, and behind the rif