CHAFFEE ROARING HORSE 1Y ERNEST HAYCOX Haok Linderman at sunup 9t that morning was skinning hides on the north side of he river where Roaring Horse made a slack eddy. The bluffs here were slopinng and not werj taiL His house stood on top of tiie bluffs, and his ferry swayed against its cable, also an the north shore. The day was young and promised to be fresh and cold, but down in the eddy was a vast stench where the 8tirrup S cattle had Dodged after being driven over *y Tbeodorik Perrine. And he was Skinning hides when samcUang attracted his at icnUon up the river. Rising he saw s boat floating toward him, oars gone, and twc men sprawled against the seats in postures of infinite, mortal weariness Knowing as much as tie did about this river, Linderman was so completely astonished that he dropped his knife and walked three feet Inin the water. “Great jumpin’ Judas— where yuh been?” Chaffee shunted the boat inward by sculling with his palms Mack Moran was smok ing a eigaret that had mira culously escaped the deluge, and he didn’t seem to hear Llndenn&n. Later, when they were nearer shore, he began talking to himself. “We made history. Yessir, we shore made a lot of history in damn’ little time. Them pearly gates opened, and I heard distinct a gent callin’ the roll. Got to mj name and began lookin’ around. ‘What, not here?' thunders Peter. ‘Nossir,’ says a guardecn angel. ‘He’s late— got huug up down yonder.’ Tut back that pair o’ number lour wings, then,’ yells Peter, land let him be deprived of bverbufin’ joy fer another few year*.* Then them doors dkiscd. and I shore did hear the lock click. We made his tory. you bet.” The boat touched land and 3k>Ui men crawled stiffly out. “From Lee’s?” asken Linder jnan, knowing it could be from nowhere else, yet still unbe lieving. “Yeah.” said Chaffee. “Seen anything of a posse on the south bank lately?” “And he passes it off like that*” mourned Mack Moran, having trouble with his legs. "So that’s it?” grunted Lin ferman “That’s why they was fellas foolin’ across the river all night long. I ain’t seen none thi» mom in’ yet. Who would * be. Jim?” “Perrine- et al. Not here recently, huh?” Chaffee looked to Mack. "I guess they didn't think it worth while to ride along the rim.” “Gorain my soul,” breathed Underman. “Down the river from Lee’s! Just you let me lell this,, by the shades! Down the river from Lee’s! I will be Bverlaatingly condemned!” *X3ot a couple of horses and saddle^ Hank?” asked Chaf fee. “Trouble over in Roarin’ Horae. New deal, and it ain’t txatiUy on the level. I’ve got to pull freight for a while. Mack’s goin’ back after he’s got Ids bearings.” "No deal is straight with Pcrrlne in it,” reflected Lin leratan “Yeah, I got a couple of horses. But, boys, I don’t want Pcrrlne on my head. Don’t want him to think I willingly helped folks against him. And, still, I wouldr’t like to lie about it.” “A light dawns,” murmured Moran. He drew his gun and waved it in Linderman’s di rection “Fella, you see the end of a forced re quest" “That's better,” grinned Under man “I’m bein’ urged At the point of a gun. No lie to that Now put your hand artillery away and climb up tfcu slope.*’ They followed him >1 along the trail. On the way he spoke about the hides. "You fellows know an awful lot of your cattle vent over the rim? I’m skinnin’ hides. Your fence must be out of commission. "Wire cut,” was Chaffee's brief reply. They reached the top of the bluff. Passing the house Lin derman raised his voice. "Mamma, git a snack on the table in a hurry for a couple of outlaws.” Mrs. Linderman peered through the door, smiled and disappeared. Linderman took the partners to the barn and indicated a pair of ponies. "Both stout. Both a little wild. But they’ll do. Bring ’em back in your own good time. Now let’s go get that snack.” Ten minutes later Chaffee and Moran were in the saddle. "Well, kid,” said Mack, “be good. Where yuh goin’?” "Think I’ll cross Thirty four Pass into Miles Valley. Won’t be gone long. I hate to run away.” “Nothin else to do,” replied Mack. “We got that all fig gered. They got you on a nail, for the time bein’. Best to clear out so’s we boys won’t be all complicated. That gang ain’t got nuthin’ but a little general hell raisin’ against us. Won’t dare get too hostile about it. Locklear can’t force his hand that strong. But they’ll go the limit to get you. So beat it, and don’t worry. We’re all safe. Stay away till the fire burns down and Luis stubs his toe.” “It ain’t Luis altogether,” said Chaffee, wistfully study ing the horizons. “It’s some body else. Woolfridge, I’m pretty sure, though I don’t get all his ideas. And maybe it won’t blow over so soon. Well, I’ll drift across the pass and write a letter from Ban nock City. You keep me post ed. I ain’t going to stay away forever. May be back in a week or so. Meanwhile, you watch out.” “They ain’t got nothin’ on me,” reassured Mack. “I’m hittin’ home. We’ll take care of Stirrup S.” “I hate to go,” repeated Jim Chaffee. “Yeah, I know.” “Well—so long, kid. Take care of yourself.” “So long Jim. Be good.” Chaffee turned and galloped eastward. Some yards along he turned and Mack raised his hand shouting: “We shore made history.” Then Chaffee was beyond earshot, and Mack swung down the bluff and crossed to the south bank on the ferry. Hank Linderman returned to his hides, still marveling. Sometime later he heard a faint gunshot report come over the south bluff, but he thought nothing about it. “All the way from Lee’s,” he muttered. “Goram my soul!” Chaffee went straight for the bench. The sentinel peaks glittered brightly in the morn ing light, and snow covered the slopes well below the tim ber line. Storm caps hovered along the summits. Veering away from the canyon, he reached Gorman’s Lodge at a thousand feet abov< the desert’s lever early in the afternoon. He bought a couple day’s supplies and pushed up ward. The trail stiffened, the first trace of snow appeared on the ground, and the wind grew shriller. The pass, he knew, would be deeply banked, but he had made this trip previously as late as Christ mas and he never doubted his ability to reach the sum mit by night and sleep in the cabin there. From the summit it was another day’s ride into Bannoc City. The sap was drained out of jkid Regulation of Billboards Is Proposed toaanlo, Ont.—(UP)—More strin <$mt regulations regarding vlve erec den «r advertising signboards on m adjacent to provincial highways ara planned by ths Ontario depart ■■t el highways, according to R. ■.ttaith, deputy minister of hlgh ‘Vftn department at present levies « taary lax against all signs which dr ant advertise a business eon SaM apoo Ihe property on which dha Mituoard is situated. Mow *• is fanned to introduce legislation forbidding erection of signs where they will destroy the appearance of the countryside. It also is planned to ban the erection of signs within 500 feet of road intersections and railroad crossings. The present limit is 300 feet FIRING HAY COSTS $30,000,000 Ames, Ja— (API—E. R. Henson of the farm crops department, Iowa Stata college, says farmers lose $30,000,000 annually due to the firing of under cured hay. More than a pu- cent of Uia cars of lilin, For three days ne had been fighting and riding con tinually; twice in that time he had seen his very existence trembling in the balance. The stampede was bad enough, but the ride through Devil’s Boll had scattered his nerves beyond belief. So he rode the trail slackly. The snow grew heavier; the wind grew whiter with the thickening flakes. His horse shied at something and Chaffee fought the animal back to the path. Dusk found them a steep and rug ged mile short of the cabin, breasting the powdered drifts. And of a sudden, from the distance, there floated a weird call, born abreast the rising gale. The pony, just re covered from a spell of skit tishness, leaped aside. Chaffee was sitting loese and the un expected maneuver threw him clear of the saddle. He struck half on one arm and half on his heels, the weight of his body checked by a boulder rising above the snow crust. The pony wheeled and gal loped down the trail, soon lost in the shadows. Chaffee’s first thought was to rise and follow back. Push ing himself upright, he braced his body by the rock; as the pressure shifted to his feet a stab of pain ran him through. He fell to the ground, realizing one ankle was either broken or so badly twisted that walk ing was beyond question. The rising wind In that short time had molded fine drifts of snow on his shoulders and in the wrinkles of his coat. CHAPTER XIII Surrender Miz Satterlee sat at one end of the table, pushing the con tract of sale, the deed, and the conveyence of all Stirrup S brands and marks down to William Wells Woolfridge, who sat at the other end. Josiah Craib from his place at the side took the legal instruments and scanned them w:th a severe glance. He signed as witness, and Mark Eagle like wise affixed his signature. Then Eagle retired from Craibs’ office, and Woolfridge accepted the papers, In turn passing a check to Miz Sat terlee. And by the gesture all the wide-flung land that was the dream and the pride of old Dad Satterlee passed out of the name and into alien hands. Persistence had finally won—persistence and subter fuge and pressure; the prop erty now belonged to Wool fridge. Miz Satterlee accepted the check, hardly looking at it. She sat very straight in the chair. Her mouth was tightly pursed, and her eyes, still the vigorous and expressive eyes of her youth, fell squarely upon Woolfridge. “I have given in, sir.” Woolfridge bowed. “In my life, Mrs. Satterlee, I have found that everybody has a price. It is only a matter of finding that price. You must admit, madam, that in this case I have not tried to haggle. You must admit I have paid a just sum. “I never argue,” replied Miz Satterlee, and for once the weariness showed through. Yet she was too proud to re vea1 the burning resentment. “I only say that I sell to you in order to avoid further shed ding of blood. I will not stand by and see my boys killed and driven away and ambushed. Nothing is worth that.” “Surely, Mrs. Satterlee, you are not laying all that to my door—” “I detest a liar. Do you deny driving Jim Chaffee out of the country?” Woolfridge’s chubby cheeks flushed until the freckles were buried in color. The formal politeness congealed. “The man was a murderer. He was escaping from justice—” “Do you deny having Mack Moran shot down in the road and nearly killed?” “I regret that. I had nothing to do with it. You must realize that he was instrumental in Chaffee’s escape and that the posse, disappointed in not bagging him, might have gone baled hay coming to market con tain moldy hay and are graded as sample hay. RABBIT'S EARS* NOT SAME SIZE New Orleans. La.—(UP)—A rabbit with one ear shorter than the other was killed near here. One ear was normal and the other about two inches long. It was thought that the rabbit had lost an ear and that it was growing back like the tad of a lizard. TRANSPLANT SUGAR BEETS Washington— (AP) — An increase of on* to eight tons to the acre ' Deyond reason In shooting Moran. And Moran was realln an accessory." “Bo you deny ordering cattle stampeded over the , bluffs?" Woolfridge raised his hand And at once his face hardened; the autocratic ano arbitrary mandarin spirit slanted out beneath his slight ly drooping lids. “I owe you aft respect, madam, but in fair nes—" “Fairness, Mr. Woolfridge? I detest a hypocrite. You have won. W7hy not be proud ol your weapons, since you do s< well with them?" “I have never denied that ) wanted Stirrup S badly, Mrs Satterlee,” was Woolfridge’j sharp rejoinder. “Nor have 1 ever hesitated about the price to be paid. If you desire honesty, I will add that the price includes other items be sides that check I have handed you. Now if I can be of any assistance in helping you move—’’ “I require no help. I will re main in the hotel.77 Wooifridge permitted him self a thin smile. “I do not wish to take any further ad vantage. Knowing that you certainly would not wish to remain under my hospitality I might say that I own the hotel.” Miz Satterlee rose. “I am glad to know it. In that case I will look for a house.” “You may find that I own a great many of the houses as well,” added Woolfridge. He was enjoying this; such courteously spoken phrases with a barbed tip to them were much to his taste now that he was in a position to reveal the extent of his power. “Do you own all of Roaring Horse, Mr. Woolfridge?” de manded Miz Satterlee, losing a little of her self-control. “Are you trying to drive me from this county?” “I own a great deal of the county—all that I need. No, madam, I am not trying to drive you away. Why should I? But it would perhaps be far better for your own happiness if you did go.” Josiah Craib broke his long silence. He, too, rose and his bony head bobbed at Wool fridge. “That will be enough Ma’am, let me escort you to the door.” The two of them crossed the bank room. At the door Craib spoke earnestly “Miz Satterlee, whatever has happened, I wish you could still regard me as a persona) friend.” The woman turned and lookel into his sparse, raw boned face. “Craib,” said she with more of sadness and emotion than at any other time during the interview, “I wish I knew you.” He was about to answer that. Yet he never did. Instead he bowed an awkward, craning motion of his gaunt neck and turned back. Woolfridge was smoking, and Woolfridge studied the banker coldly. “My friend, I do not relish orders, nor suggestions.” “The remark stands,” re plied Craib without a particle of emotion. “I will not have Miz Satterlee badgered.” Woolfridge studied Craib, and a gleam of cold amuse ment became visible. “You have a stiffer backbone than I figured.” Then he was blunt and peremptory. “Go get these instruments recorded. Then lock them in your safe. Keep your mouth closed as to al. that has transpired between us. What is to be revealed I will reveal.” “Yes,” said Craib. Woolfridge left the bank. In passing the teller’s cage he discovered Mark Eagle’s fol lowing glance, and it seemed to irritate him. He paused •My friend, I do not require my help to be friendly. I do not wish friendliness. But I do expect both politeness and respect. Think about that.” (TO CONTINUED) Small Oversight. “Did you cancel all my engage ments, as I told you, Parker?” “Yes, sir, but Lady MUicent didn’t ,ake it very well. She said you were to marry her next Monday.” may be expected in the yield of sugar beets by transplanting the plants instead of sowing the aeet* in rows and thinning the plants to a stand, department of agricul ture experiments shows. The augar content, too, usually is increased Hard to Please. Prom Boston Transcrpt. Those young men who started tht revolution in Spain resent the com mutation of their punishment from death to a short term in prison They insist on full pardon. The next step, probably, after they get am nesty will be to demand pwslont SQUABBLE OVER POLITICS PLUMS r’—