ROBBERS’
ROOST
by
Zane Grey
§
Copyright. —~WNU Service.
EE EE
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. Hays and others are plotting to
steal their employer's cattle and money.
With Hays, Jim Wall goes to Her-
rick’'s ranch. Hays and his lieutenants
drive off a bunch of cattle. Heeseman
ts Hays’ rival among the cattle rustlers,
Jim is sent to meet Miss Herrick. Hays
betrays unusual interest in the girl's
coming. Wall “finds himself falling in
love with Helen, and he fears Hays
has designs on the girl Jim coaches
her in riding western style, and final-
ly kisses her She is angry and dis-
misses him, but relents and asks him
not to leave the ranch Hays’ men re-
turn from the drive, having the
cattle and brought back the money.
A quick getaway Is Imperative. Hays
tells them to go on ahead, that he
will join He comes, with Helen
Herrick-—a captive. Hays explains that
he stole Helen for ransom. Realizing
that Helen will be worse off if she
falls Into Heeseman's clutches, Jim
Wall does nothing. Heeseman's riders
come in pursuit, Hays leads the gang
into a canyon retreat—The Robbers’
toost. Latimer, one of Hays gang.
wounded with Hesseman, tells Jim that
Hays has held out some of the money
he stole from Herrick.
sold
them
CHAPTER IX—Continued
an] fn
“Yes, and you fellows saw only a
ghost of the money Hays got from the
Herricks,” retorted Jim, divining the
voment for revelation had come,
An angry roar arose. Smoky threw
up his hands and left the camp fire
Then Jim, In brief, cold terms, exposed
the machinations of their chief. After
the first outhurst they accepted the
disclosure In astounded and ominous
silence. Jim passed off into the dark-
ness,
Some time during the night he was
awnkened. As he lay there, eyes apen,
a soft hand touched his cheek and a
whisper brought him wide awake,
transfixed and thrilling.
“Jim! Wake up.
Helen knelt beside him.
with a violent start.
“You! What Is 11?
devil—"
“Hush! Not so loud. Nothing
happened. Put I couldn’t
and I must talk to you—or go out of
my mind.”
In the starlight her face had the
same pearl-white tint as the clouds,
“All right. Talk—but it's risky.” he
whispered huskily. His hand rested
upon the blanket,
She hent lower, so that her face was
closer, and she could whisper very
softly :
“First 1 want to tell you how cruelly
it has come home to me—my Igno-
rance, my failure to bhelleve and trust
you, even after you—so—s0 rudely In-
sulted me that day up on the moun
tain trail. If I had only had faith in
you then! It's too late. Bot | want
you to know | have the faith now,
Only the fear and the suspense are
wearing me out.”
“But you are well—all right still?
«. +» «. He has pot harmed you?
Helen!”
“No, he has not harmed me, and | am
pot {ill. 1'm losing flesh because |
can't eat. But that's nothing.
Lately 1 don't sleep because I'm hor-
ribly afrald he will come—and-—smoth-
er me—or choke me—so | can't ery
out. I've slept some In the daytime.
Jim, the thing is [—can't stand
ft much longer. | think I frightened
him. But | ean see—1 can feel—Oh,
Jim, for G's sake, do something to
end—this horror—"
She leaned or fell forward In the
weakness of the moment, her head
against him, He stroked It gently, his
reaction as far from that passionate
and mocking embrace at Star ranch as
could have been possible,
“Helen, don't—give up,” he replied.
“You have been brave. And it has
gone-—better than we could hope, . . .
Only a little while longer”
“We might steal away~—now.”
“Yes. [I've thought of that. But
only to get lost and starve—or die of
thirst in these brakes.”
“That almost-—-would be better—for
me.”
“If you can't stick it out we'll plan
and go--say tomorrow night We
must have food, horses, . . . It's only
honest, though, to tell you the chances
are a hundred to one against us, , , .
We've got an even break if we walt.”
“How ean you-—think that?”
“This gang is about ready to go up
in smoke. There'll be a terrible fight.
Hays surely will be killed. And just
as surely, more than he. That will
leave a proposition I ean handle with.
out risk to you."
“Even then-—we still have to find
a way out of this awful place.”
“Yes, but I'd have time, and | could
pack water and food. . . . Helen,
trust me, it's the best plan”
“If you take me back to my brother,
I'il give you the ransom.”
“Don’t insult me” he replied, bit
terly.
At that she drew up suddenly, and
”
It Is L"
Jim sat ap
Has that
has
sleep—
threw her hair back from her face.
“Forgive me, . . . You see, 1 have
lost my mind, That never occurred to
me before. But I'll retvard you In
some way."
“To have saved you will be all the
reward I ask-—and more than 1 de
serve. . . . You have forgotten that I
love you”
“Yes—1 had,” she whispered. Her
great eyes studied him In the star
light as If the fact had a vastly dif-
ferent significance here than it had
had at Star ranch,
Suddenly she stiffened, no doubt at
the slight sound that had checked her
speech. She put a hand over his lips
and stared at him with wide vague
eyes.
Over her shodlder Jim's eye was ar-
rested by a glint of starlight upon a
bright object on the ground. Above
and behind it a shape darker than the
dark background, gradually took the
outline of a man on hands and knees,
Cold terror assalled Jim Wall, de
spite his iron nerve. That was Hays
erawling upon them with a gun in his
hand.
A bursting tide of blood through
Jim's velns paralleled the lightning
flash of his thoughts, Death for both
of them was terribly close. His gun
was under his pillow. Helen kneit be-
tween him and the robber, A move of
even the slightest kind would be fatal
Cunning must take precedence of ac
tion.
“It's Hays.” he whispered, scarcely
audibly. “Follow me—now.” Then,
exerting all his will to speak natural
ly, he sald aloud: *No, Miss Herrick,
I'm sorry, but I can't oblige you. I
don't approve of Hays Kidonaping you,
but it's done. And I'm a mefnber of
his band. 1 would not think of going
against him, let alone trying to run
off with you."
There was a temse silence, fraught
with much apprehension for J'm.
Would she be able to play up to him?
There was just a chance that Hays
had not heard any of their whispers,
“The is Boss-—Will
Get It?"
Thing We
in which ease it was possible to de-
ceive him. Helen comprehended. It
was Jim Wall's privilege then tn see
the reaction of a woman at a perilous
moment.
“I'll give you the ransom money”
she said, quite clearly, and certainly
most persuasively, "My brother will
reward you otherwise”
“You can't bribe me.” he rejoined
“And 1 wouldn't advise you to try It
on Smoky or any of the others”
“Hays may have had only money In
his mind at first, but now"
“Don't move, Jim!" came a
hard volee from the shadow.
Helen gave a little gasp and sagged
on her knees. Jim waited a moment.
“1 won't, Hank,” he replied
Then Hays’ tall form loomed black
above the rise of ground, He strode
forward. If he had sheathed his gun,
Jim would have made short work of
that interview. But he held It halt
leveled, glancing darkly In the star.
light,
The robber chief gazed down upon
Jim and Helen. His features were
indistinguishable, but the poise of his
head was expressive enough. Still
Jim sensed that he had been misled.
“You cat!” he declared, roughly. “If
1 ketch you again--tryin’ to bribe any
of my outfit—I'1l treat you so you won't
want to go back to your baby-faced
brother. . . . Now you git to your
tent!”
Helen rose unsteadily and vanished
in the gloom.
“Jim Wall, you ain't been with me
long, an’ 1 don't know you, but I'm
takin’ this deal to heart,” Hays sald
slowly. “I'm much obliged. 1 reckon
you're the only man In the outfit who
could of withstood thet woman.”
“No, you're wrong Hank, Smoky
wouldn't have listened to her. And
I'm sure the others would have stood
pat.”
“My faith was near gone”
“That's in you, Hank. You've no eall
to lose It, You've about split your gang
over this woman.”
“Wal, I'm not askin’ ludgments from
you or any of the outfit,” growled the
chief gloomily. “You'll all be good an’
glad to git your share of the ransom.”
“I'he thing Is—boss—will we get
in”
Hays made a violent move like a
striking snake. “What you mean by
thet?” ?
“I'm askin’ you."
“Afr you insinuatin’ you mightn't git
yours? demanded Hays
“No. You might say | was askin’
for all of us” replied Jim curtly,
low,
“wal, I'l git the outfit together an
do some askin' myself.”
“It's a good idea. It might prevent
the split—provided you divide the
money you stole from Herrick.”
“I'l wring thet white cat's
hissed the robber.
neck’
me. She doesn't know you robbed her
brother, Sparrow confessed before he
died.”
Hays swore a mighty oath, “An’' he
squealed?”
“Yes. To Smoky an’ me, We kept it
secret until we had to tell, They knew
somethin’ was wrong.”
“All the time you knowed!” There
was something pathetic In the fallen
chieftaln's shame and amaze, By this
time he seemed to realize his crime,
“You see, Hank, how your outfit has
stood by you, even in your gullt.,”
*Ahuh! If it ain't too late—T'll
make amends,” he rejoined hoarsely,
and stalked away in the darkness.
Jim lay back on his blankets with a
weight of oppression removed. He had
saved himself for the hour, but what
would the outcome be?
He had breakfast before the other
men were up. With rifle in hand he
headed toward the western exit,
The sun was still beneath the rim of
the escarpments, in the east, but its
golden approach was heralded by a
magnificent glory of red and gold.
Loneliness was paramount, There
was no sound—only an Immense
silence. No life at all! Not a winged
creature hovering over that ghastly
region! tut over this scene of deso-
lation slowly spread the solemn blight
of heating, blazing sun, soon to man-
tle all in illusive copper haze.
Before that hour arrived, jim Wall
took up the field glass. Below in the
camp the men were lazily stirring to
a late breakfast. The door of the eabin
was open. A glint of gold crossed the
dark aperture, Then the tall form of
Hays stalked out. He yawned. He
stretched wide his long arms. His
ruddy face gleamed in the glass to
that sight. Wall's whole being leaped.
“By heaven!" his volee rang out
“Hays, that's your last moraoing’s
stretch, jefore this day's done
you'll stretch forever!”
Let his men have their hour, thought
Jim darkly, but If they did not mete
out justice to thelr chief the end was
pevertheless fixed and unalterable
Jim settled back and raised his
fleldglass more from habit than any
semblance of the old watchfulness
There was nothing to see but the stark
denudation of the brakes
Suddenly Into Jim's magnified circle
of vislon crept dark objects—a long
{ine of them.
He was #o
wavered out of line
and fro, searching
have been?
startled that the glass
He moved it to
What could that
An error of sight, a line
of cedars, a conception of idle mind!
“There!™ he breathed. He had
caught It again, Not cedars—not brush,
but moving objects! ... "Ry heaven”
he muttered. “Am [ dotty 7
Horses! A line of dark horses!
straining eyes blurred. He
the glass with shaking hands
help me-—it looks like riders!”
A third time Jim caught the objects.
He froze the glass on them Horses
and riders—horses with packs! A
bursting gush of hot blood ran all
through him. It looked like Heese
man's outfit, at least three miles away,
approaching slowly by a route far to
the south of that over which Hays had
come,
“About
“Coming
jut that
His
lowered
“So
three
slow,
niles.” muttered Jim.
They're lost ’
wnsh they're In heads into
the Hays trail. . . . If they strike
that they'll come fast. Not enough
rain yet to wash out our tracks. We've
not time to pack and ride out
By thunder, they've cornered
Now, Hank Hays"
Jim took
No hope!
us!
one more straining look.
It was a big outfit and not
traveling so slowly, either. The leader
bestrode a black horse. Jim remem
bered that horse. Snatching up his
rifle he slung the fleld-ginss over his
shoulder and ran down off the bluff to
the camp.
To his profound amaze he espled
Hays bound hand and foot, with a
stick behind him and through his el-
bows. The robber sat In an uncom
fortable posture against the woodpile
In a second Jim saw that Hays had
been gagged and his face was so con-
torted by rage that it appeared scarce
ly human,
“What's up!” erled Jim, breaking
out of his bewilderment.
Hays gave vent to an inarticulate
sound, but it was expressive. Jim
wheeled to stalk under the shack, his
hand on his gun, as if he half ex-
pected Heeseman to have arrived be.
fore him. To his further amaze Miss
eating breakfast. A big gun, that Jim
recognized as Hays' property, lay con-
spicuously In front of her. Happy
her,
“What does this mean?’ demanded
Jim.
“Ask the men,” she replied, eurtly.
Outside and below the shack sat
Smoky on a rock, with the others
standing near.
“Mawnin’, Jim," drawled Smoky,
with a grin. “You see we've got a
new chief.”
“Who hawg-tied the boss?”
“Reckon 1 did--with a little help”
“What for?"
“Dn' If I know,
oner made me do It”
“Miss Herrick forced you to tie
Hays up?” queried Jim, trying to con.
ceal his exultation,
TO BE CONTINUED,
Horses Known 3000 B. C.
Little figures of horses found In
ruins of an Assyrian city revealed
horses were known £8 early as |
BC
Our lady pris
N° MATTER how lavishly a
» coat or a suit or a dress be
trimmed with
according to
fur this season,
the present ways
of fashion, it iz not too lavishly
furred. The same Is true of the
new separate fur and
which Include muffs, the
pieces
“sera”
latest style trends
The big theme among
of furs so gorgeous and grand
look worth a king's ransom,
ture,
left shoulder and has four talls falling
to the back.
wherever
we do
distinction
course,
tion to
which this lady
doubt they
They are of
openwork pattern as you see,
they
not have to call
the attractive evening
is wearing,
registered at
first glance
white suede, shirred in an
The separate cape theme is by no
means confined to evening fashions: on
the contrary, the newest thing going
a fur plece is the fur
cape which can be worn with either
the cloth coat or the dress, If you pre
fer, which is made of 8 wintry good
looking woolen,
in the stunning right In
the group. Here Is something practi
cal and smart. The color of this su
perd Russian lynx which forms the
blends in with tone of the
cloth to perfection. A particularly lik.
able feature of this handsome cape is
in the way of
The idea is conveyed
outfit to the
cape, the
that while it is really a separate plece
it looks as If it were really an applied
trimming. When you stop to think of
it. what a8 worthwhile
separate fur this is-
wear it with anything, dress, coat or
possession a
cape such as
THREE NEW GOWNS
Three dresses Parisiennes like:
One from Mirande called “Pour
Plaire,” which, interpreted, means “to
please,” and it should, for it is a din
ner frock in black velvet with the low-
er portion of the bulbous sleeves made
of bright blue velvet. It has a belt
of the bright blue velvet, too, and the
neckline is shaped something like a
stirrup, round in the back and squared
off in the front,
The second model is by Rosevienne
and named “Satnico,” after the novel
pew. fabric of which it is made, com
bining satin with a mat surface, It is
an afternoon “dress of fame-colored
satin combined with Incrusted diagonal
bands of the reverse side of the satin
which is mat,
The third item Is from Irmone, who
has called it “Ciroa™ It is a coat in
brown wool trimmed with frosted
brown lamb as collar and cuffs. Both
collar and cuffs are small and discreet,
it at first glance, but on second glance
you see it is also a semi-dress coat.
This Winter, Says Paris
Trains will be In vogue this winter,
Some have a long panel that starts at
the waistline at the back: others fea.
ture a Watteau pleat or court mantle
effect at the back.
Worth shows trains with a long
flared volant that develops from the
back of the dress. Maggy Rouff has
very formal dresses with a wing effect
that is used for a train. Augustaber-
nard obtains effects by several shirred
volants that are continued down to the
ground in Irregular effects
Parchment for Buttons
Thick parchment made up into odd
buttons add to the long line of novel
ties being launched this year, They
are available curled up on the edges
like ancient scrolls or just slightly bent
like bits of peanut brittle
suit. This young woman's hat, if you
are wanting to know, is a brown an-
The
most important bit of pews in regard
to this hat is that It has an embossed
monogram at one side of the crown
just over the right eye. It is mono-
grammed because the fashionable thing
to do is to monogram most everything
this season.
Mademoiselle sitting so placidly In
the picture those sleek,
patrician full-length gray kid
skin are so beautifully
slenderizing. The model shown has a
double sailor collar (turn it up or
down) which is youthful in line and ex-
The sleeves are
elbow, which Is a char
acteristic feature of many of the new-
est coats. The black felt sombrero is
edged and banded with black wool
has on one of
looking
coats which
ceedingly fia
tterine
WEring.
If you are having a suit tailored, let
it reflect Russian inspiration in that
its tunicdike coat be bordered with fur
all around, even up the front or side
front fastening. There should be an
upstanding collar fencing the throat
A cossack turban of matching fur with
a muff same are essential to
complete the picture,
The all of fur,
with across the front and
full peasant sleeves, is also a favorite,
Other fur style notes point to the re
turn of gray squirrel into favor, also
borders of tawny, showy furs around
hemlines or bandings of flat furs such
as caracul or nutria. A black cloth
outfit with bandings, tall tur
ban and muff of black caracul, is chic
of the
three-quarter coat,
wide belt
cossack
©. Western Newspaper Union,
NEW HIGH TURBANS
By CHERIE NICHOLAS
Hats have gone frankly Russian,
Here is one of the high turbans which
is distinctly of Russian influence. It
is fashioned of black hatters’ plush,
Not only have hats gone Russian, but
costumes in the winter mode bespeak
this influence In no uncertain terms
In every collection there Is a predons.
finance of Cossack tunics, Cossack
turbans, wide-belted Russian effects,
high military-looking collars and fur
borderings galore,
Neckwear Is Feminine
There Is a revival In delicate, truly
feminine neckwear, Very smart are
the new styles in sheer chiffon, com:
bined with lace and trimmed with
metal thread stitching, especially In
feather stitehing,
Key to Heredity Found
by the Busy Scientist
Bclentists working to solve the
mysteries of heredity have been
given a key to many of their prob-
lems with the discovery of a glant
chromosome in the salivary gland
of the yeast fly, says Pathfinder
Magazine, Some 70 times normal
size, this over-sized model of cell
neuclel brings Into Identifiable
clearness the genes held thereon,
It is the genes in which the scien-
ists have the greatest Interest
gince they are the units controlling
heredity. Arranged in long strings
on each chromosome, a complete set
is contained In each cell and
fore the giant chromosome Is a
large-scale model of all its smaller
brothers, In ‘the case of the yeast
fly it is thought that between 2.000
and 3.000 genes contained in
each cell, and the ordinary
chromosome is anly 15 one hundred
J long it is
the minuteness of each
There is proof of the
existence of 300 genes and a few of
these have identi.
fled. Each individual
function controlling the
color of the eyes in the human or the
under
there.
are
since
thousandths of an
easy to see
nch
gene, now
been individually
has Its
such as
one
f the black speck
he fly, etc.
Sunday School Popular
World Sunday
schools Increased at the rate of more
than 1.000.000 a year in the last four
years,
membership In
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Bxperiment has a stimulus which
withers its fear,
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