The Cattle-Baron's Daughter

ould come, the truce might have lasted longer but for the fact that one night Muller slept indifferently in the new house he had built. He was never quite

sound but the low ripple of the creek, until, somewhere far off in the distance, a coyote howled. The drawn-out wail had in it something unearthly, and Muller, who w

ly in the great vault of blue, and the barns and stables he had built rose black against the sky. Though Grant had lent him assistance and he had hewn the lumber on the spot, one cannot build a homestead and equip it for nothing, and

though reassured, when it recognized him, which was not without its meaning. He listened, but hearing nothing groped round the stable, and taking a hayfork went out as softly as he had entered, and took up his post in the deepest shadow, where he commanded outbuildings and house. Ther

our in the fr?ulein's face, and seized the man's bridle. An altercation ensued, and when the man rejoined his comrades, who apparently did not sympathize with him, his bridle hand hung limp and the farmer was smiling as he swung a st

ow. At last, however, a dim, moving shadow appeared round a corner of the building, stopped a moment, and then slid on again towards the door. So noiseless was it that Muller could almost have believed his eyes had deceived him until he heard the hasp rattle. Still, he waited until the figure passed into the stable, and then

of prairie hay, with a kerosene-can upon it, laid against the logs. Muller was not wholly astonished, but he was looking for more than that, and the next moment he saw a shadowy object apparently loosing the ne

moved again. Muller had drawn his right leg back with his knee bent a trifle, and there was a rattle as he brought the long fork down to the charge. Thus, when the man was free the dea

!" a stern

e blue eyes and the farmer's fingers tighten on the haft. There was also a suggestive raising of one shoulder; and his hands went up above his head. Muller advanced the points an

rder me, you condemn

ovement make. So! It is done without der tro

ond, and Muller, who had hove his burly form a trifle more upright, sank back again, bringing h

'm corralled. Throw that thing aw

what was to the other an unknown tongue. "Lotta," h

t. Then there was a patter of hasty footsteps, and the fr?ulein stood in the lantern light with a flushed, plump face and somewhat scanty dress. She apparently recognized the man,

Now, der butt to der shoulder, und der eye on der sight, as I have teach yo

each command in rotation. There was, however, one danger which the stranger realized, and tha

o," he said, with a little gasp. "C

id Muller tranquilly. "

t in front of the man, but to his side

! Your hand behind you. Lotta

than another minute Muller had bound his captive's hands securely behind his back and cross-las

E BEFORE SHE ME

house you der cordial find, und of it one large spoonful mit der wat

er, who now lay upon a pile of prairie hay, and with his usual slow precision lighted his big meerschaum.

ned Dutchma

bliment," he said, "is n

several horsemen arrived, and he n

of work," he said, pointing to the kerosene-can. "You didn't even know enough to do it

towards the hayfork, rifle, and pistol, which still lay at Muller's

sternly. "It's going to pay you to be

ht in his surmise that he was resolute only because that of th

ick of it, but you'll get n

led horse. If you'll come round to my place f

eur it is finish quicker, but here in der

. "Well," he said dril

re was a jingle that was lost in the thud of hoofs, and the men vanished into the shadowy prairie. Half an hour later the homestead was once more dark and silent; but three

the hard brown hands of most betokened a close acquaintance with plough stilt, axe, and bridle, though here and there one had from his appearance evidently lived delicately. All appeared quietly resolute, for they knew that the law which had given th

uestion the prisoner, stood up. "You can take it t

, "we know he is one

e their interests, which they had little difficulty in fancying coincided with those of their country, demanded it; but Clavering, with his graceful insolence, ironical contempt of them, and

're going to do with him

d. "Boys, we don't want to be the first to take up the rifle, and it would make our intentions quite as plain if we dressed him in a coat of tar and rode

d no great liking for the sterner alternative; and there was

he said. "It would be better if

somebody said, "The Sheriff! He'd let him go righ

his duty so far, and may do it again. I

grim, lean face stood up. He spoke tolerable Engl

d seen your women thrust off the pavement into the gutter to make room for an officer, or been struck with the sword-hilt if you resented an insult before your fellow citizens. Will you take off your hats to the rich men who a

't eloquent, but it isn't

hanging one man, he can save a hundred from misery. It's not the man who laid the kindling you're striking at, but, through him, those who employed him. Let them see you'll take your rights without le

zed, had hated the bureaucrat, and the rest, crippled by the want of dollars, had fought with frost and drought and hail. It was also plain that they felt the capt

to draw you on it would be the blamedest bad policy to humour him. Would Torrance, or Allonby, or the others, have done this thing? They're hard men, but they believe they're right, as we do, and they're Americans. Now for the third reason: when Clavering meant t

saying nothing further, with a curious grav

Still, there's a question. What are

ly. "I'll go with you to t

their faces, though three of them, girt with rifle and ban