CHAFFEE ROARING HORSE »Y ERNEST HAYCOX Chaffee found and struck a match. The light flared on Mark Eagle’s rounding cop pered cheeks and revealed the smeared paint; revealed as well the blanket enfolding him. the fringed leggings. The Indian drew the blanket open fcnd displayed his bare chest. Then the light went out and Mark Eagle was speaking with S rising sonorousness. “I was raised an Indian till I went to government school. A white rar.'s ways looked good to me. learned them; I followed them. To be like a white man was to be honorable, to keep a straight tongue. I have kept a straight tongue. But, my friend, it is hard to go against a man’s own blood. My heart kept running out even while I turned the pagee of the led; ers. A*~ i one day after you were gone,- when I saw how evil a time had come to Roar ing Horse, I went back to the blanket. \nd now what have I found? Tha’ I am no lonrpr an Indian. The blanket is not for me. My heart is divided— and always will be. It is bad, Never should I have left my father for a government tchool.” iie paused a momem, ex pelling a great breath; and Chaffee thought the Indian was staring at the sky. “I have kept a straight tongue. I am proud of it. But I know things that you should know. And now I will tell. I was back of the stable that night—in the darkness, thinking of my father. Men came there, each one apart. I saw them, but they didn’t see me. The gamb ler came, breathing very hard. Perrine came, swearing to himself—but these men did not kill Satterlee even If they meant to do it. Another man Came, hardly breathing at all. And he was there long before any of the others, no more than five yards from me. He killed Satterlee, Jim. And his heart was very cold and hard When he did it. He had thought about it a long time, or he would have breathed harder. I know these things because that is my Mood. I have said nothing all this while. It is not a white man’s way to keep a straight tongue—and a still one? Maybe. But it is an Indian’s \ to help his friends. Is that not a better thing? Satterlee was my friend. So are you. I tell you— IWoolfridge killed Satterlee.” , "ter that, long moments of •Hence intervened. Mark Eagle had wrapped himself in his blanket again, stolid, patient. Chaffee drew a breath. The match snapped between his fingers. Out of the distant wastes rose the ancient chant of the coyote, bearing in it the impress of primeval desolation and etern al mystery; and far, far away that cry was taken up and re echoed, indescribably mourn ful. Chaffee spoke quietly. “You go round up the boys, Mark. Tell them to meet me to-morrow nl^ht behind the rodeo stands.’’ He might have gone by the way of Melotte’s for his des- , tination was town. But sure as he was of his partners’ dis cretion he wos not at all sure of Melotte’s crew. And, though his presence was known by now, he could at least keep people from guessing where he meant to strike. Mark Eagle could do the chore safely, whispering his sum mons to one of the boys. They would say nothing. Nor did he want to meet Perrine again to-night; and Perrine would be scouring the main road. So he took a circuitous route and arrived back of Roaring Horse near twelve. There was an abandoned barn near the rodeo field; he left his horse In it, shut the door, and ad JO vanced along the deep dark ness of the street. The land office was closed. He saw that first because it was to the land office his at tention immediately traveled. Looking to the Gusher he studied the corner windows on the second floor—Wool fridge’s quarters. And they, too, were dark. Either the man was abed or out on his ranch. It made no particular dif ference to Chaffee; he was not ready to meet Woolfridge to-night. At the same time he noted certain changes about Roaring Horse. It was a fatter looking place. A number of tents were up in the empty lots between rodeo field and the town proper. In the dwell ing houses so usually tenant less he saw lights winking. The stores were open beyond their accustomed hour, and the saloons seemed to be doing considerable business. Strange faces appeared along the il luminated window fronts—ap peared and slid into the sha dows. He saw Locklear come out of the Gusher and sink to rest in a shrouded corner of the porch. And, still watch ing, it became evident to him that men were quietly patrol ling the town. Quietly idling at intervals by the hotel porch. Passing word with the sheriff. “Expectin’ me, I guess,” he murmured, transferring his glance to that room above Tilton’s store where Doc Fan cher kept office. Naturally the panes glowed with the re flection of Fancher’s lamp. Fancher’s lamp. Fancher never seemed to go to bed. He debated, half of a mind to detour and visit the county coroner. Fancher was a stout friend and absolutely safe. But supposing Fancher was being watched with the knowledge he, Jim Chaffee, might make Just such a visit? It was more or less known, the close regard these two had for each other. Of a sudden Chaffee chuckled softly. “Won’t do that—but I’ll do the next best thing.” He retreated, circled the town at a safe distance, and gained the back of Tilton’s dry-goods store. This was another of those buildings with a flat roof and a triangu lar false front rising above the roof. Chaffee chinned himself up a porch post, set foot on a window ledge, hooked his fingers across the cornice, and teetered out in space. He achieved the tar-papered roof and went tiptoeing across it. He was directly above Fan cher’s office;in going to the street side of the building he passed the rectangular box that capped the roof trap door. If he opened that he could look down on Fancher’s very head. But he resisted the temptation and curled himself in a corner, shielded by the false front and the yard high coping that ran around the other side. It was very cold, but he alternately dozed and woke till full daylight. There were small ports cut through the coping and false front to let water flow off the roof. Flat on his stomach and one cheek to the tar paper he could command a partial view westward on the street through these. And as the the morning passed a great many citizens crossed his vision. Locklear, looking more taciturn and unmanageable than ever; three of the hired gunmen walking abreast—at which Chaffee murmured some mild oath; Callahan the saloon keeper, jowls looking very fat and unhealthy by day. These and others were familiar faces. But he saw a great many new faces—raw boned and sunburned men who slouched idly here and there; who fell into pairs *nd by de grees collected into a crowd. Then the crowd would split and move away. But it was a singular thing that this draw ing together occured many times, and each time seemed to be larger and to hold longer. Men gestured with short Jabs of elbows and arms; some times the parley appeared to grow heated. Beyond noon, Perrine and his gang rode into town. Chaf fee’s interest sharpened. Even from the roof’s eminence he made out the giant’s sleepy eyes and sandgrimed cheeks. Perrine had L^en riding most of the night, so much was plain, and the burly one’s temper lay heavily on the scowling brow. The whole party dropped reins by Calla han’s saloon and went in. There happened to be a group of homesteaders—Chaffee had decided they were such— < clustered by the livery stable at the time, and Chaffee noted how these men turned to watch Perrine’s crew. That united scrutiny wasn’t the ordinary type of interest. Something more was in the air. Then Doc Fancher marched into sight, his bowed legs stretching toward the courthouse. Immediately after, Chaffee became aware that he himself was being sought. Fancher had hardly disappeared beyond Callahan’s when there was a creaking of boards below and the squeal ing of Fancher’s office door. The rumble of talk sifted through the thin roof. They were moving about. He felt the insecurity of his position. It might very soon occur to them that it was but a step and a jump through the trapdoor. Turning over, he rose and with infinite care walked to the center of the roof. Even as ho settled him self prone across the trapdoor 1:? heard a chair being drag ged along the office floor. Fancher’s desk groaned. A man stood on it, fingers brush ing the under side of the trap door hear near enough to render audible what he said. “—Look anyhow. Better hurry. Fancher’s apt to come back any minute.’’ The trapdoor moved slight ly, pressure coming against Chaffee’s stomach. “Nailed down. Couldn’t be up there. Let’s skin out.” The other seemed to tA pro testing; the near fellow’s an swer was impatient. “What would he be climbin’ up from outside for? Lots of better places to hide. Let’s skin away before that wildcat Fancher gets back. Me, I don’t hone—” They left. Chaffee waited a long time to make sure. In fact he held down the trap door the best part of an hour, hearing the traffic of the street grow heavier. It sounded as if a great many men were riding into Roaring Horse. Leaving the door he crawled to a port and studied the street. More homesteaders were assembling in groups. He also noticed Locklear, the three hired gunmen and Per rine’s crew posted indolently here and yonder. Woolfridge appeared from the direction of the courthouse and walked across Chaffee’s line of vision, looking neither to right nor left. The afternoon slid along, the sun’s rim tipped toward the western hills, blurred by intervening clouds. Darkness threatened to arrive prema turely. And Fancher was back in his office, swearing to him self in full, irascible accents. Chaffee, cramped and cold and hungry, felt that the time for patience was at an end. He crawled to the trapdoor, listened a moment, and struck it sharply by way of warning. Fancher challenged: “Who in the name of—” and stopped. Chaffee dragged the door half away and looked down. Fan cher’s face was wrinkled in anger, but that shifted to con cern when he found who was above him. Chaffee dropped to the desk, dragging the door back into place. “So you was the one who moved my furniture—” “Nope. Couple of gents in vestigatin’ while you were none. I heard ’em. They tried the trap but I spraddled it belly flat.” ‘‘They done it before. Boy I’m certainly glad to see you back and alive. But it ain’t any place for a fellow with a price tag on his jeans. You’re sittin’ on a crater. Whoever moves first starts somethin’ But if said fellow don’t move first he’s apt to be blown tc perdition. Jim, unless I’m as crazy as a loon that street is goin' to run red before long.” ‘‘Who’s so sore as all that?’ Fancher was genuinely dis turbed. He was nervous; the mark of worry lay in his eyes He crossed to the desk and pulled up a copy of the county weekly, indicating a story spread over the center of the front sheet and surrounded by the black border of reversed column rules. “Read that.” It was the story Gay That cher had brought from the governor. No attempt had been made to stretch it out or to dress it up. The first para graph began it and the second paragraph ended it, but these two paragraphs linked to gether made the story stark and bitter: This newspaper, along with several newspapers in the ter ritory, received from the Roar ing Horse Irrigation and Re clamation Corporation copy for an advertisement to be published in our columns. The substance of the advertise ment, as readers will recall, was to invite settlers into this counrty to buy land on the implied promise that a dam was to be built. We received the copy for this - advertise ment on the eighteenth of November. Remember that date. We have since been in formed by the governor of the territory of a letter written to him -and printed below— by the president of the Power Company in which that of ficial says that the Roaring Horse Irrigation and Reclama tion Corporation was notified as early as the fifteenth of November that no dam was to be built. Compare that date with the one above. Chaffee dropped the paper, turning his head from side to side. It both surprised him and confirmed a doubt. The doubt was of Woolfridge’s honesty, but the surprise came of hav ing to believe that Woolfridge would ever expose himself to such a backslap. “Doc, this is an awful strong statement. What it deliberately says is that Woolfridge knew there wasn’t going to be any dam two days or three days before he sent out the ad.’’ "Philips has run a news paper all his life,” countered Fancher. "And he knows what’s libel and what ain’t. He ain’t sayin’ what you claim he says. Not in so many words. He’s puttin’ two facts together and lettin’ folks do their own guessin’. And he got them facts straight or he wouldn’t of printed ’em. When the governor steps into this mess you can bet your sweet life something’s rotten.” “I don’t see it,” confessed Chaffee. "Woolfridge is slick, He’s smart. He’s wealthy and he’s educated.” “An built up a fine scheme,” said Doc Fancher. “A get rich-quick scheme. But some- 1 where along the line he left a gate open. Left it open an’ behind him, never thinkin’ about it. The slick and the smart and the wealthy and the educated dudes in this world do them just as often as you and me. And what’s to come of it? What’s going to happen in Roaring Horse? Jim, it scares me.” “You’re clear,” observed Chaffee. “Why worry?” (TO B» CONTINUED) OFFICE SINKING Albany. N. Y.—It is reported that the huge new statet office building here is sinking and that it has leaned since its construction, as a result of its sinking, so that it is more than four inches off perpen dicular. The $8,000,000 structure has sunk all of nine inches since | it was put up several years ago, it i is said. Thurston County 4-H Club Workers Active Membership Exceeds All Past Records and Still Growing Thurston count}', Nebraska has 430 4-H club members. This is ths largest membership the county has aver had, and exceeds tti* 1931 goal for the county by 30. There has been a 500 per cent increase in club membership during the last four years. Swine clubs with a membership of 114 and clothing clubs with a membership of 154 are the two most popular projects. Other club members are in rope, poultry, hot lunch, health, baby beef and corn clubs. In all there are 40 different club organisations in the county, each led by one or more adult lead* ers. The largest club in the county is the Oakleaf pig club. This club had 39 members to start with but H has been reported th%t there have been several new applicants. Prank Abei is the leader, and his assistant is Harry Rose. Gerald Minton is the president and Miss Lida Abel Is the secretary. Both the secretary and the president of this live, aide awake group won trips to 4-H club week this year for their activities in club work last year. E. T. Winter, county agent of Thurston county, and Catherine Thomas Hall assistant county agent, are now busy helping club leaders with their work and plan ning the annual summer camp for the club members to be held at i Crystal lake July IS, 16 and 17. Af ter the camp the next big job will be the county and state fairs. Last year 200 4-H club members took half of the premium money at the county fair. What 430 of them will do this year can only be surmised. BLOOD WEDDING Memphis — Several months ago James O. Dunlap offered his blood to save the life of Kathlyn WalL Recently they were married. The marriage was performed behind the bars of Shelby county Jail due to a sentence passed mi Dunlap which will keep him in Jail for fire months. CONTROLLING MITES. One treatment in time saves nine can well be said about keeping a chicken house free of mites through out the five or six months of warm weather when mites thrive. Of course, the one treatment requires several thing* if it is really effective throughout the season. First, it must be done with the right material. For years we haw found nothing as ef fective as on* of the specially pre pared coal-tar mite sprays or paints that are handled by most lumber yards and poultry supply dealers. These are so much more effective than kerosene, used crank case oil, crude oil. distillate and so forth that these others should not be consid ered except as temporary treat ments. Neither are the use of fumi gants like burning sulphur more than a make-shift The trouble with all these is that they are only mod erately effective for a few days or a few weeks, while a standard coal tar mite eradicator will be highly effective for four to six months. Re cently it has been called to the at tention of poultry specialists that some fluoride preparations applied in a spray are proving highly ef l»odve. Second, the treatment ah*»ld be thorough. No matter what is used, merely treating the nests, dropping boards and spots where the mites are readily visible is not more than a third or a fourth ef fective. Tire entire wall and ceiling