ROBBERS’ ROOST by Zane (rey § Copyright.~WNU Service. EE Sr SYNOPSIS Jim Wall, young cowpuncher from Wyoming, seeks a new fleld In Utah. He meets Hank Hays, who tells him he is working for an Englishman, Her- rick, who has located a big ranch in the mountains. Hays and others Aare plotting to steal their employer's cat- tle and money. With Hays and two other rustlers, Jim Wall goes to Her- rick’'s ranch. Hays unfolds his plan for getting possession of Herrick’'s 12,000 head of live stock. He and his lieut- enants ride away to drive off the first bunch of cattle. Heeseman, Hays’ rival among the cattle rustlers, tells Wall that Hays was once his (Heeseman's) partner and double-crossed him. Jim is sent to meet Miss Herrick. Hays be- trays unmsual interest in the girl's coming. The rustlers begin driving cat. tle from the ranch. Wall finds him- gelf falling in love with Helen, and he fears Hays has designs on the girl Jim coaches her in riding western style, and finally kisses her, She Is angry and dismisses him, but relents and asks him not to leave the ranch, Hays’ men return from the drive, hav. ing sold the back the money. CHAPTER VI—Continued ee] Oper He then noticed that a roll of bills, {dentical with the one he had just re- ceived, lay on the floor. “You double-crossed me! Hays, at length. “Wal, thet's accordin® to look at it,” retorted Slocum. came up at Grand Junction. some of Heeseman's outfit. They're onto us, or will be pronto. So we jest took a vote, an’ every one of us stood for one big drive instead small drives. An’ we made it. Your buyers swore they was short money an’ would pay twelve dollars a head. Talk ! Wal, I took thet an’ burst out how you “Things We seen of of about robbers! sald I liked it “You disobeyed orders.” “Put you say, Thus Hays point-blank, right. If Herrick, that it up to Jim, hyar. Jim?” appealed to, Jim “Smoky’s you meant to was the way clean out to do it." “A w-——sghore, you'd side with them!” kind d i » were wrong.” retorte “1 wouldn't do if I thought they Here was Hays that he he robber coul anvithir anyiain g of the a chance to Jumped at. If ! be drawn into a fight, when his own men were a the situation made easier “You'd “l won't shet has to tell you. gainst him, ha fle sosre! for the Herricks could be for the present, better shet up.” up, Hays. Someone And I'm that fellow, There's no hand out against you In this outfit. Never heard of a bunch of riders who'd work like dogs while the boss was twiddling his thumbs and talking mysterious.” “lI ain't ready to leave Star ranch an' now I'll have to!" “Why ain't you ready?” queried Smoky, curiously. “Our work's all done, We've cleaned out the ranch, except for a few thousand head. We've got the long green. You ought to be tickled to death.” “I'm not thromgh here,” replied the robber. “Smoky, why don't you ask Hays what this mysterious deal 187” queried Jim, sarcastically. From a cornered llon Hays degen- erated Into a cornered rat. Jim sank a little in his boots while his upper muscles corded. “Hank, what's got into you?” queried Smoky. “Smoky, the boss is up a tree,” sald Jim, eaustically. “He means to rob Herrick all right. But that's only a blind. It's the girl!" *“Thet gold-headed gurl we seen you drivin’ hyar?” “Yes. Herrick's sister.” “Haw! Haw! So thet's what's eat- in’ you, Hank?" Hays had reached his limit and prob ably, but for Smoky's mirth, would have started hostilities. He hesitated, but there was a deadly flare In the eyes he had fixed on Wall. Smoky got between them, “See hyar, Hank. So that's the deal? An' you'd @» fer pore Jim hyar Jest be cause h&'s ontoyou? . . Wal, If you're so keen as thet to draw on somebody, why, make it me. I started this, I dragged Jim Into It. An’ I ain't goin’ to let you take It out on him." Then Hank Hays came back to him- self. “Jim's right. Smoky, you're right" he declared, hoarsely., “I'm bullhead- ed. . . . An' I've lost my bull head over Herrick's sister.” “There. Spoke up like a man” de clared Smoky, heartily relieved. “Why didn’t you come thet clean long ago? Neither Jim nor me nor any of us blame you fer admirin’ thet gurl, And if you'd gone crazy, an’ dragged her away into the brakes with us, we'd quit you cold” Hays bent to pick up the roll of bills. “Fall to, men. I've got to do some tall thinkin,” be sald, and left them, Before they were half finished with their supper Hays entered. “We're shakin’ the dust of Star ranch tonight,” he sald, deliberately. “Pack up an’ leave at once, I'll come later. If 1 don't meet you at Smoky's camp I'll meet you shore at midday in thet cedar grove above the head of Red canyon.” No one asked any more questions or made any comments. Whatever they thought about Hays' pecullar way of leading his band they kept to them: selves. Jim Wall was not greatly re lieved, still he concluded that Hays must abandon any plot he might have concocted toward Herrick’s sister. At any rate whatever was In Hays' mind Jim could not further risk alienating him or his men. Jim would have to ride out with them. If he stayed be hind to spy upen Hays or frustrate any attempt he might make to call upon the Herricks, he would have to kill Hays, Dusk was mantling the valley when Jim went out. Under the bench the shadows were dark. From the shelter of the pines he looked for Hays, ex- pecting to find him standing guard, But. the robber ‘was not on the porch. He was stalking to and fro along the brook, and he was no more watohing for Heeseman than was Jim. His bent form. his stride, his turning at the end of his beat, his hands folded behind his back—all attested to the mood of a gloomy, abstracted, passion-driven man. Whereupon Jim repaired to his covert, rolled his bed and made a pack of his other belongings. What to do with the two packages of bills, this last of which was large and clumsy for his pockets, was a puzzle. By dividing the two into four packets he solved It Then he carried his effects down to the cabin. All was cheery bustle there. The men were glad to get away from Star ranch. They talked of the robbers’ roost Hays had always promised them, of Idle days to eat and drink and gamble, of the long months in hiding. “Wal, you all ready?" queried Hays, appearing in the doorway. “Yep, an’ bustin’ to go." “On second thought I'd like one of you to stay with me. How about you, Latimer?” “All right,” declared Sparrowhawk. In a few more minutes all the men leaving were mounted. The pack ani- Most of the Riders Inclined to the Opinion That It Was Just Haze, mals, with packs gray against the darkness, straggled up the trail “Wait at your camp till sunup,” sald Hays, conclusively. "An' if I'm not there I'll meet you about noon shore at head of Red canyon.” Without more words or ado Smoky ied off behind the pack horses, and the five riders followed. Once across the brook all horses took a brisk trot. Jim Wall looked back. Then he saw a bright light on the bench. That was from Herrick's house. An unfamiliar sensation, like a weight of cold lead in his breast, baffled Jim. He knew he was glad never to see Helen Her rick again. About midnight Smoky turned the pack animals up the slope into the woods, and after a mile of rough going emerged Into an open canyon head. “Hyar we air,” sald Smoky. “Throw things an’ git to sleep. I'll stand first guard.” Jim unrolled his bed beside a rock, and pulling off his boots and un- buckling his gun belt he crawled un- der the blanket. Crack of ax and Happy Jack's voice plerced his slumber, both recognized before he opened his eyes. Jim sat up, stretched, and reaching for his boots he gazed around. The men were stir ring, two around the camp fire and others among the horses, “Wal, long past sunup,” sald Slocum, as Jim approached the fire. “Who was it bet Brad thet Hank wouldn't show up? “Nobody,” replied Lincoln. “Jim, suppose you take your rifle an’ sneak down an’ knock over a deer” suggested Smoky, Three hundred yards down the slope Jim emerged into the open. There were no riders on the winding, white trail. Stealthily working back into the timber he soon espled two deer about He killed the buck standing. Upon his return to camp Smoky greeted him with a grin, “How far to Red canyon?” asked Jim, “1 don't know, About fifteen miles, Don't you remember thet heavy grove of cedars leadin’ down into a red hole?” ' “Reckon 1 do. If Hays Joins us trail, doesn’t it?" “If! So you figger he might not? Course he'd come around the moun tain, or mebbe over another pass, “Aw, Hank'll show up on time” tHieeseman? He hates thet rustier.” In less than an hour the riders were ing on the deer Jim had slain occa- sioned a little delay for all, because Smoky kept them close together. connoiter, Then he called: fellers."” blue on the purple valley floor. thet dust? Most of the riders Inclined to the opinion that it was just haze. “Ten miles or more back and hard to make out,” spoke up Jim, “If this was my range I'd say it wasn't haze or smoke.” “Wish I had Hank's glasses. My eyes are mo good any more fer long shots. Wal, let's mosey.” When they reached another turn from which it was possible to leok back for five miles or more Smoky halted while the others caught up. “Jeff, you hang right hyar,” he sald, “an' keep your eyes peeled on the back trail. I ain't so shore thet gray patch back on the valley was haze. It sort of moved to me. An' there wasn't a lick of wind. Wal, from round this corner you CAD easy See the cedar grove where we'll hang up fer boss. An' if you ketch sight of any more’'n a couple riders on the back stretch you come ridin’ h—1 bent fer election. Don't stay long after noon.” Perhaps another five miles down the slope lay their objective to which they headed. The hour was still some time before noon. Smoky scanned the slope to the south and east. It would not have been possible to see riders at any distance, as the rocks, brush, ridges and washes intervened profusely. “What'll we do, Smoky? Throw packs, or not?’ queried one riders, “Dog-gone' if 1 know,” replied Slo “It's a rummy deal the the of the cum, peevishly. Hot as h—1 now an’ gettin’ hotter. 1 fergot to ask Hank. Reckon you'd better herd the hosses an’ we'll walt, I'll keep a lookout fer the boss” Jim tied his horse in the shade of a cedar, and climbed a jumble of rocks go he command a Almost at once he sighted riders com- ing down a wash about a mile away, opened his mouth to shout when could better view. and he had the good tidings something checked hi He rubbed his eyes and looked again, hree riders! Assuming that two of Hays and Latimer, They disappeared of bank. Jim sank cold sweat. Perhaps these Indians or strangers from Or prosped But he had nals. them were who nd a corner down in a were Hankville, tors not seen any pack an After a long, anxious watch he saw the three reappear in the wash, con- The one in the mid rode a gray horse and otherwise contrasted sharply with the dark mounts and dark clothes of the other two. A second time the trio peared. Smoky was peering about in a desultory manner, but he was too low down to sight the riders im was pow shaking. An awful premonition attacked him. He had met it and al most overcome it as another gnac- countable attack of nerves when the foremost horseman emerged from be hind a bank. He recognized the stal- wart figure, the wide, black sombrero, the poise in the saddle. That was Hank Hays. Jim scarcely dared shift his gaze back to the second rider, but he was irresistibly forced to. A slight figure in tan, drooping In the saddle! *So help me!” he whispered, and sank down on the stone, That center rider was Helen Herrick. For a mo- ment a hell rioted In Jim Wall's breast. How he cursed himself for a vacillating idiot! His Intuition had been right. He had seen through this robber leader's behavior at Star ranch, siderably closer, die disap- self. ly succumb to his fury. spot? That gave Jim Wall pause Hays' men would roar at this deal, in- volvitg them In the abduction of a womgn, still they would hardly go so far as te resist him with arms. Jim crushed down his deadly impulse. He would wait. Well indeed had it been for Jim to espy this trio long before they reached him. He had tine to recover, to think what was best. If Hank Hays had come upon Jim suddenly it would have been his doom, One of the pack animals neizhed shrilly and then all the horses stuck up their ears “Say, | heerd a hoss-shoe ring on a stone,” called Mae, who had ears as keen as a horse “What's that?" queried Smoky, sharply. He leaped up. TO BRE CONTINUED, The Guinea Fowl Although the guinea fowl is more or less of a common sight In some lo ealities, it is confined entirely to farms where a few are ralsed ea yoar principally for the row they raise when predatory hawks and owls swoop down on poultry yards. They are natural watchmen of the flocks and their loud and sharp cries usual ly frighten the alr pirate away, Let Our Motto Be GOOD HEALTH BY DR. LLOYD ARNOLD Professor of Bacteriology and Preventive Medicine, University of lilinois, College of Medicine, BE WIPED OUT a needless death, We who have do with medicine wish ery community would rise up and say, “Every person i within our i darles must | made Immune diphtheria.” Indeed the i radical health | cers would like | make every diph- theria death be to most who let the child go too long before antitoxin was administered. If these they would make it a criminal offense even for anyone to get diphtheria. Be cause diphtheria is a disease we could stamp out completely In this country in the space of a few years if every one would do his part. Diphtheria is no longer a spectacular disease in the minds/of the public. It would be well if it were. Older persons can remember when epidemics of diph- theria were feared. Cases of “black diphtheria” put dread in everyone's heart. ut even though diptheria does not come In waves any more, as influenza does, it nevertheless bobs up ually. Diphtheria is the second great est cause of death among children from five to fourteen years of age In the state of Illinois. It Is led only by accidents, In Illinois In 1030 were 540 deaths from diphtheria The practically north contin. there That was 545 deaths too many. same condition holds other states In the gone, cold climate disease, true for temperate for diphtheria Is essentially Ma Diphtheria Is a treacherous disease It is what physicians call a toxold dis that is, as do ease, the diphtheria germ, as well i Its own partie develops a poison that through the system ilar d nge and as a res even thoug may neys, and In CUES 8 ha scariet fever or menses to 4 h the child recovers, da be done to the heart or the kid its life inter the victim be getni-l 1, or is otherwise 1 by licapped. weakened larly liable phtheria The greatest number among vears of age children from at the ining ol and coming with more people, Diphtheria germs enter the the nose or throat and leave discharge from the nos BOTrROR CRMDE person caring fo Hence the theria case the handling in the handling of anything t the patient's hands. Milk, by infected hands, ean become and transmit the disease. A patient should not be considered safe to min- gle with others until two cultures from both the throat and nose are declared free from germs by a competent lab oratory, Certain individuals, immune to the disease themselves, can have should be very of these infected thelr noses and throats, and can trans mit these germs to susceptible persons, In other words, they are carriers Diphtheria germs are not killed by freezing, so that ice cream can trans mit them ; but they are Kilied by heat. Different persons vary greatly In their susceptibility to diphtheria. Some have 4 natural antitoxin in their blood, any circumstance. Bot others can get munity. blood of an individual weeks, will Immunize against diphtheria. The toxin works slowly, however, and {it the person immunity Is complete, Schick test is exposed to diphtheria, observation by a physician, before the characteristic sore throat becomes painful enough that the child seems really sick. It is much better that the parents of a susceptible child be overly suspicious when diphtheria is about than to be worry free, The period of incubation for diph- theria is from two to seven days, usu ally two days. If a child develops diph- theria, the physician should not delay a moment in the administering of an. titoxin, so as to minimize as much as possible the toxon development of the disease, Speed has a meaning In diph- theria. If there were a law that every child on his third birthday should be made {immune to diphtheria, we could stamp out this dread disease in a very few years, @ Westerns Newspaper Unlon. i - (rn BL NT oe IDEALS “Is your son working?" asked the neighbor, “Not yet,” answered Farmer Corn- tossel, “Can't he get a job?” “He ain't satisfied with a job. He IN SOCIETY thelr solemnized 7" “As soon as it has been financed.” to be marriage And a Careless One He—You're good at conundrums, this one, She Sure He--Tak ¢ av y ny go ahead, first second letter, take y letters, and I am still What am 17 She--That's easy. You're a carrier.—Milwaukee Medical Times. away my v y * same, Educational Distinctions “ Do you fetsors “Yes,” answered Bena “But 1 don't fas tick approve of college pro- in politics?’ tor Sorghum. or profess ¥ ty A v " ing in COLIeRes, [ HI PATTERN $040 This frock has been designed apon leave a good impression behind one, Look at the little sketch of the lady walking away. Hasn't she saved the prettiest part of her frock to show us last? Bee how clearly the ends of the combination sleeves and yoke knot at the neck! And don't you like the bow at the waistline? It is a divine little frock in plaid or flowered fabric, but the woman who never wears a fancy fabric can make it up in a plain one and be delighted shall have peace. Honor * sald the bank cash 3 punt is overdrawn “Dear me” exclaimed Mrs, tie, "I'll attend to It right away.” BAD BUSINESS - Here, way wrote and malled to the lank a check for $42.20. Hubby Was Willing Wife—The new maid has burned the bacon and eggs, darling. Wouldn't you be satisfied with a couple of kisses for breakfast? Husband-—Rather! ring her in, Yes, Daddy Followed “Did your wife's father fellow you when you eloped? “1 should say so; he's living with us yet.” : Temerity Indeed! Wife—Do you think the mountain alr will disagree with me? Hubby--I doubt If It would dare, my dear. AND AFTER THAT “How did you overcome your wife's objection to your taking up avia- tion?" “Signed all my property over to “Did room?” “No: it filled the refreshment-room and the conservatory.” her voice fill the drawing The Injustice of It All through dinner Percy sat so silent that his parents at last began to wonder what was troubling him. “Pa.” he sald at last “do school teachers get paid?” “Of course they do, sonny,” re- plied father, “Then it's not fair,” burst out the small boy, indignantly. “Why should the teachers get pald when us kids do all the work?” His Mistake “Where Is that beautiful canary bird of yours that used to sing so clearly and sweetly? asked Mrs. Weatherbee. “1 had to sell him" Mrs Butiam sald tearfully. “My son left the cage on the radio set and he learned static."—Montreal Star,
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