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INSTALLMENT 6
THE STORT SO FAR:
*
W. N.U. Release
Dusty King and Lew Gordon had built
Up a vast string of ranches which
stretched from Texas to Montana. King
W'as killed by his powerful and un
scrupulous competitor, Ben Thorpe. Bill
Roper, King's adopted son, undertook
• •
to break Thorpe'* power. His first step
was to start a cattle war in Texas. He
made this decision against the opposi
tion of Lew Gordon and the tearful
pleading of his sweetheart. Jody Gordon.
With the aid of Dry Camp Pierce and
• •
other outlaw gunmen, Roper conducted
raid after raid upon Thorpe's herds,
Cleve Tanner, manager of Thorpe's Tex
as holdings, seemed helpless to stop
him. Gunmen drove off cattle by the
thousands.
• •
CHAPTER VIII—Continued
Presently it began to appear that
the tough, notoriously trouble-mak
ing outfits under Cleve Tanner were
not holding together as they always
had before. Here and there men
were beginning to desert the Tanner
outfits — sometimes fired because
they had failed, sometimes volun
tarily deserting to the ranks of the
raiders who were now almost open
ly punishing the Thorpe-Tanner
holdings.
Mid-August, in the season of driest
heat—
Into the Potreros, by a little used
trail, a black-sombreroed horseman
rode. He was a tested gunman, a
proved man whose name was known
and feared half the length of the
Great Trail. Trouble-shooting for
Cleve Tanner now, he was moving
Into the Potreros to find out what had
gone wrong with some of Tanner’s
choicest herds. He had come fast,
changing horses frequently, riding
far into the night.
Loping down the almost invisible
trail through the dark, his horse sud
denly dropped from under him, head
long into nothingness. The pony
might have stepped into a prairie
dog hole—or it could have been the
loop of a rope. But as the dazed
rider struggled up, his mouth full
of dirt, a rifle was prodding his bel
ly, and a voice was saying, “Don’t
you think you might have took the
wrong way? ...”
West Texas, far up the lonely Pecos—
One of Cleve Tanner’s outfit bosses
was talking to the Ranger stationed
at Mustang Point.
“Such a damn’ outbust of lawless
ness has cut loose here as I never
seen before,” he said.
The ranger here was Val McDon
ald. He had gone out nineteen times
in battle, sometimes against Mexi
cans, sometimes against the Coman
ches, and he had hunted white ren
egades galore.
“Awfully tough,” he said in his
own sympathetic way.
The foreman of the outfit that was
busted up was fit to be tied. “I
tell you, we’re being stolen blind,”
he raved. “Not just a calf here
and there, either—they take ’em in
swoops and bunches. It’s the bold
est thing I've ever seen. Even when
there’s no chance of getting clear
with any cattle, they’re game to
stampede a cut herd that it’s took
weeks to round up, and scatter it
from hell to—”
“This is one of Ben Thorpe’s out
fits? No?”
“Does that mean—”
“Well? How many times has Cleve
Tanner passed out the word, ‘The
Rangers be damned?’ He’s put more
obstructions in the way of things
we was trying to do than any other
one man. Who was it had the legis
lature cut down our pay until we
practically ride for nothing, and fur
nish all our own stuff?”
“The question here is whether
we’re going to have any law, or are
We going to have—”
“From what I heard,” McDonald
said, “Cleve Tanner has left it be
known that he’s the biggest end of
the law himself. Go talk to Cleve
Tanner if you want law.”
“My understanding is,” the fore
man argued, “that the Rangers are
supposed to—”
“I’ll move out and straighten up
your little old range,” McDonald
said. “I’ll be glad to. Just as soon
as I get orders from headquarters.
I’m waiting for them right orders
now!”
But the weeks rolled by, and head
quarters was curiously still . . .
End of summer; a welcome end—
Cleve Tanner himself, the Cleve
Tanner who represented Ben Thorpe
in the south, master of breeding
grounds, the man who controlled the
roots of all Ben Thorpe’s plains or
ganization, was talking to the Unit
ed States Marshal at San Antonio.
“There hasn’t been such a wave of
outlawry since the horse Indians
was put down. Damnation, man!
It’s set us back ten years ... I
know what your policy has been.
Your idea is to let us fight it out for
ourselves, against Mexico, against
the Indians, against all hell. But I
tell you, this thing comes from in
side; this thing might be something
that I couldn’t beat without help.”
The United States Marshal at San
Antonio smiled to himself a little
smile; and he said, “Seems like this
must be a terrible bad thing for you,
Cleve?”
“I’m telling you—”
“Go ahead and tell me. You’re a
Ben Thorpe man, ain’t you? A right
leading Ben Thorpe man. Well—
maybe I’ll tell you a couple of
things, some day ...”
There was law in Texas, even in
those days; but there was no such
law as could stand against the com
bined renegades of the long trail,
with behind them a lawyer who
could delay forever in the courts;
and a reckless expenditure of mon
ey, the source of which some sus
pected, but which was not definitely
known.
CHAPTER IX
With the fall. Lew Gordon, now in
sole charge of the far-scattered cat
tle holdings he had shared with
Dusty King, came to Texas to in
spect the southern holdings of King
Gordon—the breeding ranges from
which all the King-Gordon holdings
drew their essential sustenance.
Reports kept coming to Bill Roper
at his constantly shifting bases by
way of the many riders who kept
him in touch with his far-spread
wild bunch. Inevitably he knew that
Jody was at the headquarters of the
old Two-Circle, not far from Uvalde.
The Two-Circle had been the origi
nal Gordon stand; from this camp
had been driven the first trail herd
that Dusty King had pushed north.
Roper knew that she was there.
Yet the fall dragged on, and No
vember passed into December be
fore he went to see her.
He had told himself that there was
no use in his goin'g to see Jody Gor
don; but in the end, of course, he
went.
He rode up to the Two-Circle ranch
house in late afternoon of a cold
If I '
He pulled up his horse a few
yards from the kitchen gallery.
December day. The sky was low
and heavy, and the bitter norther
had brought a scud of hard snow a
long way to throw it sharply in his
face.
He pulled up his horse a few yards
from the kitchen gallery, then sat
there looking at the house, his sheep
skin hunched about his throat.
Even now, having come this far, he
almost made up his mind to go
away.
Then Jody Gordon stepped out on
the gallery in a whippy woolen dress
and stood estimating the uninvited
horseman through the dusk. Some
thing like the strike of a buffalo
lance went through Bill Roper; it
was so long since he had seen that
one slim little figure that could so
change everything under the sky,
for him.
A split pole fence separated them;
and after a moment she came
across the few yards of space,
leaning sideways against the bitter
wind, and stood gripping a bar of
the fence as she peered up into his
face.
“I knew it was you,” she said.
“Child,” said Bill Roper, “you get
back in that house. You’ll freeze!”
“Then you put up your horse and
come in.”
“Is your father here?”
“He’s in San Antonio.”
“I don't think he’d want me here,
Jody.”
“Lew Gordon has never turned
away any rider without a cup of
coffee; not yet.”
He gave in then, and stepped
down. He tied his horse to the fence,
and followed her into the house.
The Are in the big wood range
made the room a dazing contrast to
the cold sweep of the prairie; he
threw his coat open, but did not take
it off.
“Of course,” Jody said, “we keep
hearing about you.”
“That’s too bad. I expect you
wouldn’t be hearing anything good.”
“No.”
Silence again. He didn’t know
why he had come; there wasn’t any
thing he could say. He stood by the
stove, his eyes brooding on the iron.
Deep in the pockets of his coat
there was a trembling in his slack
Angers, not caused by cold. It was
a strange and uncomfortable thing
to be so near this girl again, and
yet to be so far away.
“Still," Jody said, “you seem to
be getting done what you set out
to do.”
-
. j
“Sometimes it looks like I’m not i
even doing that.”
“If you haven’t accomplished any
thing else, you’ve astonished my
father. He's said himself, over and
over, he wouldn’t have supposed it
could be done. No question but
what Cleve Tanner is shaken; he’s
shaken clear down to his roots. No
body knows what's what any more,
or what will happen. People who
thought a year ago that Cleve Tan
ner was invincible—they’re saying
now that he’s coming to the end of
his string; that if this thing goes
on, Tanner will be through.”
“What else do they say?"
“They’re saying that the worst
renegades of the trail are working
together, for the first time—the kill
ers, the men who don’t care if they
live or die. They say they have
money back of them now, and that
even Cleve Tanner, with all his
string of outfits, can’t stand up
against the everlasting raiding, and
stampeding, and mysterious loss of
cattle. They say he’s lost twenty
outfits, just because he couldn’t
spare the gunmen to hold the
range.”
“Eleven outfits,” Roper said.
“Then it was really you?”
“Those eleven outfits they speak
of—those were outfits roughed away
from little lonely men, on pretenses
that hadn’t any justice or any true
law. Those outfits are back with
their owners now."
“But—you admit your wild bunch
is behind all this?”
“Call it that if you want to. I
guess there isn’t anybody knows as
well as you do what I’m trying to
do."
She said in a dead voice, “I nev
er believed it; I couldn’t believe it—
until now.”
“Didn’t I tell you about it? I told
you about it before I began. I set
out to break Cleve Tanner; and by
God, he’ll be broken!—if I live.”
"You know Cleve Tanner has put
up five thousand dollars for your ar
rest?”
Bill Roper chuckled crazily. ‘‘All
right. I’ll put up ten thousand for
his arrest. There isn’t going to be
any arrest, and he knows that, too.”
‘‘I can’t believe it,” she kept say
ing over and over. ‘‘I can't believe
it even yet.”
‘‘You can't believe what?”
‘‘That you’re an outlaw—a wild
bunch boss—thrown in with the ug
liest killers this range has ever seen,
or any range—”
He said ironically, “Don’t hard
ly see how I could use second rate
men.”
“Reports have come in,” Jody
said wonderingly, “from over eight
hundred miles of country; they’re
beginning to call it a rustlers’ war,
a final showdown between the wild
bunch and lawful men. And you—”
“What about me?"
“Oh, Billy, it’s unbearable! That
you—you’ve turned yourself into the
festering point of all that struggle,
and hate, and lawless gunning—”
He had to grin at that, unhappy
as he was. “Didn’t realize I was
festering,” he said.
“You had everything,” she said,
“and you threw it away ...”
He had only heard her say that
once before; but, in memory, he
had heard it so often since that her
words had the ring of a familiar
song.
“I’m sorry that we can’t ever
see things the same,” Bill said. “I
started out to get Cleve Tanner, and
I’ll get him. After Tanner, Walk
Lasham; and after Walk Lasham,
Ben Thorpe. But when it comes to
saying I had everything before I
started in, I guess maybe that isn’t
so.”
Jody said hotly, “There wasn’t
one thing in all the world you didn’t
have—or couldn’t have had—before
you chose this crazy way!”
‘‘I didn’t have you,” he told her.
“If I had had you, I guess I would
have you yet. Things don’t shift
and change so easy as that—not in
the part of the world I know.”
He was pulling on his gloves now,
buttoning his sheepskin coat. In
what was left of the light, the
shadows lay heavy upon his face. As
he stood there, he could have been
Dusty King himself—the man who
had broken a hundred long and
weary trails; except that Dusty King
had perhaps never looked so old.
Her voice came to him as if from
a distance. “And when you’re
through,” she said—“what are you
going to have left?”
“Far as I know,” Bill Roper said,
“I’m not going to have anything
left. God knows I’ve got very little
left now.” He was glad she didn’t
know how his resources had dwin
dled, how close to the end he really
stood.
Her voice rose sharply. “Can’t
you see there’s bo hope in this
ghastly thing? Thorpe’s grip is un
breakable.” She came close to him,
and her words came through her
teeth. “It's your very life you’re
throwing away!”
Perhaps he misunderstood her
then; for he grinned. "Maybe,” he
said, “that would be the least I
could lose; the very least of all. .
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Woolknit Swim Suit Should
Be Included in Vacation Plans
By CHERIE NICHOLAS
IT IS very evident that women are
becoming increasingly impressed
with the value of swimming for
health and beauty. Not only do
crowded beaches at seaside and
lake resorts testify to the enthusi
asm felt for water sports, but many
inland towns have created attrac
tive and pretentious modern swim
ming pools that offer infinite enjoy
ment to their communities. Then,
too, most private estates have pic
turesque swimming pools where
guests may indulge in water sports.
Which all goes to show why smart
bathing suits together with a goodly
supply of beach togs and accesso
ries have become a positive “must”
in the plans for the summer vaca
tion. As to this season’s swim-suit
fashions, they surpass all that has
gone before in way of smart, ver
satile fabric, clever styling, eye-ap
peal in color and all the dramatic
accents that add to the picture of
Miss America as she takes off for
a merry swim on a summer day.
Outstanding news in regard to
current swim-suit trends is the
strong revival of woolknits and wool
knit fabric for both sculptured form
atting types and that which is ultra
chic this season—the suit that is
cunningly dressmaker styled. New
to the scene this summer is the jac
quard woolknit suit such as is shown
to the left in the illustration. Note
the sleek front-paneled skirt in shad
ow plaid of brown and green on yel
low. The back is cut very low for
sun-tanning.
Bright red and white diagonal
striped woolknit fabric makes the
smart slenderizing princess (a favor
ite styling this season) bathing suit
pictured to the right. The V-neckline
is banded in the solid red knit, con
tinued into cross straps at the back.
Panties are separate so there is
nothing to break the flattering
smooth line of the suit.
Machine woolknits that look like
handknits are also staging a big
comeback in simple sculptured types
such as adept swimmers love to
wear. You will And handknit tech
nique of heavy cable stitch in stun
ning colors, the stripe effects such
as white with red or with navy be
ing especially intriguing.
There is also a strong revival of
wool jersey. These stress dress
maker styling which now is so pro
nounced throughout the entire swim
suit program. Most of the jersey
suits have practical zipper fasten
ings.
Designers are turning out perfect
ly charming suits dressmaker-fash
ioned after the manner of the Bal
lerina type of waffle pique centered
in the group. Note the coin dot
banding. Dot trimmings are very
smart this season.
Floral prints and various cotton
weaves make front page fabric news
for swim suits and beach togs. The
more audacious the coloring, the
more daring the patterning, the
smarter! This is especially true of
the gay and fascinating Hawaiian
prints now so fashionable. The sa
rong drape skirt in exotic prints
with bra top showing bare midriff is
a leading style. Novelty types are
often styled with "grass skirts” in
spired by Hawaiian native design.
A lei necklace of flowers added, is
the final glamour accent.
Bathing suits of elasticised fabric
are to be had by the score. The
newest thing in these types is two
color effects done in white with
bright colored godets or inset verti
cal bands. Allover shirred lastique
insures a sculptural figure fit. Bright
applique of gorgeous flowers on
white jersey is especially effective
with a long matching beach cape.
There are endless cunning dress
maker-styled gingham shantung and
crinkled seersucker suits. In knits
and lastiques girls love the suit that
zips up the back from the waistline
to give a perfect fit.
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
Chic Plus Glamour
In a blaze of glory, lovely neck
wear comes into its own this sea
son. Women of fashion are enthu
siastically playing up the vogue with
appreciation of what magic frothy,
snowy lingerie touches perform in
way of accentuating feminine charm.
Fine lace insertion, tiny tucks,
dainty lace edging and eyelet em
broidery combine for sheer fem
ininity in this dainty collar and cuff
set designed or the new V-neckline.
In fine permanent finish Swiss or
gandy famous for its washability,
this set provides a practical way to
add glamour to a simple frock.
Cool Summer Outfits
Of All Black Are New
You can dress in all black from
head to foot and still look cool and
summery. This is the miracle style
creators have wrought. Briefly out
lined the plan is sheerest of sheer
black frock, hat of black sheer,
gloves of the lacy sort and black
stockings so cobwebby sheer they
are almost transparent.
The newest black sheer dresses
are finished off with edgings of fine
black lace. This use of black lace
trims is being played up to the
point of being recognized as a most
important vogue. Not only are
dress-up black sheer frocks femi
nized to a most fascinating degree
with lace frilled at throat and
sleeves, on pockets and here, there,
and everywhere to add glamour but
the movement has been taken up
by milliners who either make the
entire hat of lace or trim with it.
Big brims edged with lace frills are
one of the new and entrancing lace
expressions.
Enormous Brims Versus
The ‘Pretty’ Little Hat
The problem is up to milady
whether she will go hatted this sum
mer in the flattering little frivolous
flower concoctions she loves to
wear or whether she will top her
costume with a hat of enormous
brim and look chic and sophisticat
ed. Each type is attractive and the
fashion-right way is to include both
in this summer’s wardrobe of hats.
Operations
On Elderly
Individuals
By DR. JAMES W. BARTON
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.»
WITHIN a very short space
of time I had three elder
ly patients undergo opera
tion, two for gallstones and
one for an en
larged pros
tate - gland sit
uated at neck of
bladder. All
three made
TODAY’S
HEALTH
COLUMN
good recoveries despite the
fact that their ages were 72,
74 and 79, respectively.
Dr. A. W. S. Hay, Winnipeg, in
the Canadian Medical Association
Journal, states that
the expression “too
old for operation"
is heard too often;
that age is not a
question of years
but of the physical
and mental condi
tion of the patient.
“No one can say of a
man of 75 that he is
too old for opera
non unm one nas
Dr. Barton studied that patient
not only from the
standpoint of the disease to be re
moved but also from the general
standpoint And without making
such a study, one is not justified in
condemning the old gentleman to
continued misery by refusing surgi
cal aid solely because of the added
risk due to his age. A death rate
of 10 to 30 per cent is very much
less to be dreaded than months or
possibly years of misery.”
Favorable Conditions.
Of course, most elderly individu
als should not undergo operation to
remedy slight defects or discom
forts but there are conditions which
cause misery and suffering which
can be corrected with a great de
gree of safety under hospital condi
tions.
What operations may justly be ad
vised for elderly people? Dr. Hay
names the following groups:
1. Emergencies (to save life from
immediate danger).
2. Operations where the patient
can make his own choice between
trying to withstand pain, such as
gallstone colic, by use of quieting
drugs, or by operation.
3. To overcome some severe phys
ical disability such as a large hernia
(rupture).
4. Malignant disease—cancer.
One fact that has been brought out
by investigations into the results of
operations on elderly patients is that
in "emergency" operation the death
rate is not greatly higher than it
might have been in younger patients
having the same conditions present.
• • •
Heart Symptoms
On Slight Effort
T'WO things can cause the heart
rate to increase while you are
at rest: holding your breath or get
ting nervous about the increase in
the rate.
Sometimes you find that after an
effort that is really not severe—
parking your car, or other effort—
you are breathless and wonder if
your heart is failing. The cause of
your breathlessness is not due to the
mental and physical effort of park
ing your car or lifting an object but
because you “held your breath,"
breathed in no air and did not
breathe out the already “used" air
in your lungs.
Army medical officers are finding
that a number of recruits are afflict
ed with “heart” r 'mptoms on slight
effort. These symptoms are called
“effort syndrome” (combination of
symptoms) which consists of nerv
ousness, exhaustion, discomfort in
left side of chest, palpitation, giddi
ness and breathlessness on exertion.
Most of these cases are due to nerv
ousness and the balance due to lack
of oxygen.
Middle and long distance runners
and swimmers learn to regulate
their efforts so that so many strokes
or strides are done between breaths.
A 100-yard runner or swimmer
takes a deep breath before his race
and takes no further breaths till the
race is over or the distance covered.
The point then is that while the
pulse rate should, under ordinary
circumstances, be at 72 to 84 at
rest, holding your breath or nerv
ousness can send it up to over 100
beats. Similarly, breathlessness can
be due to nervousness and holding
the breath.
A cold in the head or eating too
much acid food can likewise cause
an increased heart rate and breath
lessness due to inability to get
enough oxygen to the lungs, or too
much oxygen is being used to burn
up acid foods.
• • •
QUESTION BOX
Q—I am worried about my
weight. Everything I eat seems to
make me fat. I am not a heavy
eater. I eat nothing but fruit until
dinner in the evening.
A.—Your best plan would be to
eat a good breakfast and a light
lunch and dinner. You can thus
work off the breakfast during the
day. Taking the big meal at night
gives you no chance to work off
the fat. Try this for a month and
cut dow'n on all your liquids.
Farm
Topics |
HOT HAY MOW
IS FIRE HAZARD •
Spontaneous Ignition May
Cause Large Losses.
By W. C. KRUEGER
(Extension Agricultural Engineer,
AT nr Jersey College o 1A griculture,
Rutgers University.)
United States farms suffer a loss
of more than $15,000,000 annually
from the spontaneous ignition of hay
in barns. Foresighted farmers can
take several steps to guard against
this menace, and one of the most
important is to inspect their mows
frequently during the two to six
week period immediately following
storage—the most critical period for
fires.
Legume hay, such as alfalfa, the
clovers, and soybeans, is particular
ly susceptible, although the firing of
other hay materials stored chopped
or unchopped is not uncommon.
The wetting of hay due to leaky
roofs or through open doors or win
dows and the slower heating of
especially dense and green material
may result in dangerous heating
months after crop placement.
The temperature in hay mows
may be determined quickly and
easily by means of a homemade
thermometer prqbe. This consists
of a small diameter pole, prefer
ably round, having a thermometer
fitted in a groove just above the
sharpened end. Since probe holes
left in the hay may conduct air to
hot spots and encourage combus
tion, as few holes as possible should
be made and these should be
plugged with a similar sized stick
between readings. The plugs serve
as markers for subsequent readings
in the same location.
Temperatures under 150 degrees
Fahrenheit may be considered safe
but above this point the hay should
be inspected frequently, since dan
gerous situations may develop.
Temperatures above 175 degrees are
definitely critical. Fire Department
standby service should be arranged,
and when temperatures approach
190 degrees it is time to consider
removing the hay from the bam.
It is well first to remove all tools,
Implements, and livestock, how
ever, since the action of removing
hay and admitting oxygen to hot
spots may result in ignition and
flash fires.
Disinfectants Help Cure
Calves With Foot Rot
Calves often get infected with foot
rot when they are allowed to run
in yards that are low, dirty and
muddy. This is an infectious dis*
ease which usually starts in a crack
between the toes.
Lameness is the first symptom.
The foot swells and the flesh at the
base of the hoof and between the
toes becomes very sensitive. The
infected foot should be washed with
a tincture of iodine and bandaged
to keep it clean. It is sometimes
necessary to soak the foot twice a
day in a disinfectant solution and to
trim away the diseased or infected
tissue. The calf should be kept
in a clean, dry place until all signs
of the disease have disappeared.
To prevent the occurrence of this
infection, keep yards and lots clean
and well drained. If a low, wide
box of lime is placed so the calves
will have to walk through it in going
to and from the barn, it will aid in
preventing this trouble.
Stomach Worms
To treat sheep for stomach
(vorms, the North Carolina State
College Extension service recom
mends drenching them with the fol
lowing solution: Dissolve four
ounces of copper sulphate (blue
stone) in one pint of boiling
water, then add enough water to
make a total of three gallons. Next
add three ounces of a 40 per cent
solution of nicotine sulphate (Black
Leaf 40). The three gallons makes
enough to dose 100 mature sheep.