INSTALLMENT 12
THE STORY SO FAR:
Dusty King and Lew Gordon had built
Bp a vast string of ranches in the West.
King was killed by his powerful and un
scrupulous competitor, Ben Thorpe. Bill
Roper, King's adopted son. was deter
mined to avenge his death in spite of
the opposition of his sweetheart, Jody
Gordon, and her father. After wiping
Thorpe out of Texas, Roper conducted
a great raid upon the vast herds on
Thorpe's Montana ranches. Told that
Jody had disappeared, he left his men
and set out for the home of Lew Gordon,
a man who was once his partner, but
was now his enemy. Jody Gordon had
tried to reconcile her father with Roper;
failing, she set out with Shoshone Wllce.
one of Roper’s men. to find him.
*
CHAPTER XVII
Shoshone Wilce, riding with Jody
Gordon through the same hundred
mile snow which screened Bill Rop
er and Tex Long in their aid on the
Little Dry, found himself the most
bewildered and the most unhappy of
men.
He could have refused to guide
Jody Gordon to Bill Roper’s rendez
vous; he thought it improbable that
Jody Gordon would have been able
to locate the rendezvous alone. But
, whether she found it, or merely got
herself lost, Shoshone Wilce would
have been answerable to Bill Roper
for leaving her to attempt the ride
alone.
The alternative he had chosen of
fered no greater prospect for a long
and helpful life. Lew Gordon would
go wild as a wounded silvertip at
the disappearance of his daughter;
and every King-Gordon cowboy in
the country would be scouring the
brakes after Shoshone’s scalp.
Jody believed now that the split
between Lew Gordon and Bill Roper
was the basis of inconceivable dis
aster—not only immediate and per
sonal, but far-reaching in its import
to the cow country. Together, those
two very different cattlemen could
have beaten Thorpe, and consolidat
ed the King-Gordon empire.
Separated, Lew Gordon and Bill
Roper were mutually destructive;
Lew Gordon was probably right that
Bill Roper’s savage attacks upon
the Thorpe interests were the cause
of Ben Thorpe’s heavy reprisals
upon King-Gordon. And even though
Roper might bring down Ben Thorpe
in the end, which still seemed in
credible, he could never profit by
his victory, even if he lived. Unless
Gordon and Roper could be recon
ciled, Roper would in the end be
come just one more outlawed cow
boy whose trails could have no mean
ing, and only one end.
Jody Gordon had one other motive
in attempting the all but hopeless
reconciliation. She believed her fa
ther’s life to be in the sharpest dan
ger. Bill Roper, an even harder
fighter than the old trail breaker
who had trained him, would auto
matically take those precautions
that would safeguard her father’s
life, if once they could be brought
to work together again.
But the first move toward recon
ciliation must come from Bill Roper
himself. If she could persuade Rop
er to this, there was a bare possi
bility that she could also manage
her father.
It was a forlorn hope; but, as she
saw it, of such vital importance that
it could no longer be ignored. It
was as if events that would alter
the whole history of the cow country
lay in her persuasion of these two
stubborn men. She rode doggedly
now, with set face, trusting Sho
shone to find the way.
They rode until after midnight,
blind, as far as Jody could see, in
the wet fall of the snow. They threw
down their bedrolls then in the shel
ter of stunted snow-laden trees, and
Shoshone Wilce measured grain for
the horses onto his own poncho.
They pushed on again early the
next morning, miserable in the raw
dawn, after coffee which Shoshone
made in a frying pan. All day long
they rode steadily, stopping only
once for bread and bacon, and to
bolster their horses with more grain.
The snow slacked off, giving place
to a bitter wind. Jody’s knees stiff
ened with saddle cramp and she
continually had to nurse her fingers
deep in her pockets to keep them
from going numb. She had a strange
sense of having taken an irrevocable
step which she might find great rea
son to regret. The fact that the
snow had hidden the trail they had
made, so that no one could follow to
find her, gave her a feeling of be
ing cut off from everything friendly
she had ever known. She no longer
knew where she was. She set her
eyes straight ahead, too proud to
ask Shoshone how far they had come,
or how much farther they must go.
Just before dusk they climbed a
long rocky ridge which commanded
the length of a shallow valley set
brokenly with juniper and ragged
cedar.
Shoshone motioned her to stop her
horse. “Wait a minute."
Far down the valley Jody Gordon
could see a faint haze that blurred a
rabbit-fur grey and brown of the
brush and runty timber.
“That’s smoke,” Shoshone Wilce
said at last. “This ought to be the
place.”
“So we really got here at last. ..”
“Two hours more.”
“The smoke—that means he’s
there.”
Shoshone Wilce, suspicious and
doubtful by temperament, was less
sure. “Don’t know if it’s him. Some
body’s there. Or, anyway, some
body’s been there.”
A swift panic chilled Jody at the
thought of meeting Bill Roper face
to face again after so long a tune.
She tried to imagine what she was
going to say to him, and was com
pletely unable. She wondered how
he would look, and whether he would
be glad to see her.
Now Shoshone Wilce reached out
to catch her bridle reins, and they
stopped. She started to ask what
was the matter, but checked her
self. Wilce had become tensely
watchful, and she saw that he was
listening.
After a moment or two of utter
stillness, Wilce whispered “Wait a
minute;” and pushed his horse slow
ly forward into the dark. For a lit
tle while as he moved away from
her she could see the tall black sil
houette of his horse against the pale
snow, but soon this blurred with
the darkness and was lost.
Growing impatient at last, and a
little uneasy, Jody moved her pony
ahead after Shoshone. There was a
moment or two of panic, in which it
seemed that she had lost him alto
gether in the dark; but her pony
knew where the other was if she
did not, and presently brought her
alongside.
Shoshone Wilce was sitting per
fectly motionless on his horse, star
ing ahead into a darkness to which
the snow gave a curiously deceptive
luminosity that did not aid the eye.
“I don’t like this so good.” Sho
shone said.
“What’s the matter?”
"No lights.”
They moved ahead a little now,
Jody holding her pony beside that
of Shoshone Wilce. Shoshone moved
his horse forward twenty paces, and
Wilce whispered, “Wait
a minute.”
stopped again for a full minute; then
ten paces more.
Jody said, “What in the world—”
Wilce seized her arm and silenced
her with a quick shake. Then sud
denly—
An inarticulate oath snarled in
Shoshone’s throat; he snatched at
Jody’s rein, whirling her pony. His
own horse came straight up on its
hind legs as he spun it at close
quarters.
“Get going!” he said between his
teeth; and brought his romal down
across her pony’s flank in a snap
ping cut that made it plunge ahead.
She heard the rip of steel on leather
as Shoshone’s gun came out. Then
the silence of the night exploded
into happenings that were incredi
ble.
Two guns smashed out in a swift
flurry of detonation. A queer whis
tling grunt was knocked out of Jo
dy’s horse. It dropped from under
her, and the ground struck upward
with stunning violence.
For a moment Jody Gordon lay
motionless, her cheek buried in the
cool snow. She was aware of fur
ther firing, and more than one run
ning horse, and she tasted blood
from a cut lip; but at first she was
unable to think.
Someone said, “Well, we got one
of 'em, anyway.”
“Haul him inside.”
“Look out now, Bud—no funny
business.” The voice was unknown
to her, as was the figure that now
bent over her. Suddenly the man
jerked forward to peer at her more
closely.
“What the—Hey! It’s Calamity
Jane, or somebody!”
Jody Gordon struggled to her feet,
shock giving way to anger. "You
fools, are you crazy? Bill Roper will
kill you for this!”
There was a moment’s silence,
and she sensed rather than saw that
they were looking at each other.
“Bill Roper,” one of them repeat
ed. “She says she’s looking for Bill
Roper!”
“Lady, you better come Inside!”
Dazed and shaky as the fall of her
killed horse had left her, Jody Gor
don still appeared the most self
possessed of them all as she al
lowed herself to be led into the lit
tle cabin at which she had hoped to
find Bill Roper.
The shack in which she now found
herself was a cramped makeshift,
intended only as a shelter for cow
boys. storm-caught while riding the
northern limits of the Fork Creek
range. A single lantern hung from
a roof pole; and now, by its yellow
light the two men studied her with
an unconcealed amazement.
‘‘By God,” said the older of the
two, “it’s a girl, all right!”
The other man, tall enough so that
the door at his back looked small,
was much the younger of the two.
His face was prematurely hard-cut
—the face of a man who even in
youth had learned an effectiveness
in action upon which he could well
rely. He spoke sharply.
“Jim — you know who this is?
That’s Lew Gordon’s girl!”
“Good Lord Almighty! I believe
you’re right!”
“It’s her, sure enough!”
"So you know me?” Jody said.
“I seen you once in Ogallala, and
another time in Bandera.”
The older man shifted his eyes to
his partner. “Queerest turn of the
cards,” he said, “I ever seen in all
my born days!”
The younger man’s voice was
sharp and strained. "Jim, we got
to get her out of here, and get her
out quick!”
The man called Jim appeared to
consider intently, his eyes still on the
other’s face. "I ain’t so sure,” he
said after a moment.
"You talk like a fool,” the younger
man snapped at his superior. "Look
what we got! We got the law back
of us. We got the most powerful
cowman in the West back of us. We
got one of the biggest rewards that’s
ever been hung up, right ready to
drop into our hands. We’ve located
Roper’s main shebang, after work
ing on it for months. We got all
the odds in the world in our fa
vor—and here comes this girl and
bogs the whole works!”
“Just how do you figure she bogs
it?”
“We got every chance of nailing
our man, right here, any hour now.
But don’t ever think we’ll nail him
without a hell of a sharp fight. Sup
pose this girl gets hurt in this fight,
or gets loose and loses herself, or
runs out of luck some other way?
The quicker we get her out of
here—”
‘■Can’t.’*
“What's the reason we can’t?”
“We got the bear by the tail. She’s
dynamite so long as she’s here.
I grant you that. But what if
we leave her go? She warns Roper
off. Then where are we?”
The younger man’s eyes were
keen with a repressed excitement.
“Jim—you figure she come to meet
Bill Roper here?”
"She didn't come here by ac
cident,” Leathers said with convic
tion, “any more than you or me.
And she sure didn’t come here to
throw in with us.”
A swift panic struck Jody with the
shock of a blow in the face. If
Jim Leathers wished, he could hold
her here—literally as bait with
which to draw the man whom it was
his mission to kill. If Shoshone
Wilce had got clear, and could reach
Roper, Roper would certainly attack
as soon as the best ponies of the
raiders could bring him. Or, fail
ing to locate Roper, Shoshone Wilce
might even bring her father—and
what orders Jim Leathers had in
regard to Lew Gordon she could only
surmise.
"I’m getting sick of this,” Jody
told Jim Leathers. “You owe me
a horse; there can’t possibly be
any argument about that. I’ll have i
to ask you to rope a pony and bring
him to my saddle—and I'll be on
my way!”
Slowly Leathers shook his head.
“You won’t give me a pony?”
“I’m afraid—you’ll have to wait
until your friends come, lady.”
For Jody Gordon’s white flash of
anger there was no outlet whatever.
She turned away to hide from them
the furious tears that sprang into
her eyes. She took off her sheepskin
coat and flung it on the table, for
the room was very hot; but be
cause her fingers were still chilled
to the bone she pulled off her gloves,
tucked them in her belt, and went
to the shallow fireplace to hold out
her hands to the flames.
They went on talking now in the
drawling, well-considered speech of
the trail, long pauses marking ev
ery interchange. Whatever else they
might think of her, they evidently
did not consider that she implied
any necessity to secrecy.
"If Roper is on his way,” the
younger rider said thoughtfully,
“and this side rider of hers has got
loose and meets him, so that Rop
er knows what he’s up against—that
might be kind of bad medicine,
Jim. If he’s got his war-riders with
him—”
“I’ve missed hooking up with Rop
er twenty times when I thought I
had him,” Leathers said. 'Td soon
er meet up with him on any terms,
than carry back the word that I
fell down.”
(TO BE CONTINUEDJ
Fall Social Calendar Demands
Smart Clothes for the Matron
By CHER1E NICHOLAS
' I 'HE time is not too far fllflj
away now whan you
daughters of the household will en
gage in the exciting experience of
getting off to school in the fall, with a
wardrobe tuned to your exact needs
and whims. Only please remember
you are not the only heroines holding
the spotlight in fashion realms. You
have rivals, yes indeed!
.
We are not telling who but here is
a tip. Keep an eye on modern moth
ers, matrons and women in general,
who are so importantly carrying on
in club work and in social activities
that tend to “keep the home fires
burning” while college faring daugh
ters are away from home.
Fashion is catering to the costume
needs of women with whom “life
begins at forty.” With unbounded
zest and enthusiasm inspired by an
ever-increasing appreciation of the
tremendous influence smart clothes
have, they are achieving new chic
and poise. It's no secret or myth
or fairy tale that women who "go
places” and “do things” in this busy
world of ours have gone utterly
modern in matter of dressing glam
orously. So look to your laurels
Miss Teen-age, Miss Debutante and
Miss College girl, you will have to
step lively to keep up with queen
mother’s fashion pace!
One of the fashion gestures that
will serve mothers and matrons well
who happen to be limited to a re
stricted budget, is to select a simple
basic dress, smart in lines, made of
good material and styled with the
thought of complementing this one
gown with flattering interchangeable
accessories. These have a magic
way of glorifying their appearance.
Chic jewelry, feminizing and lovely
lingerie neckwear touches, can do
wonders in transforming the entire
aspect of your costume. And don’t
forget flowers! Be sure to wear flow
ers for that refreshing accent of
youthful charm that is always so
endearing.
To the right in the illustration
“somebody's mother" presents a
lovely “picture" as she graciously
presides at the initial autumn meet*
ing of her favorite club. She is
clad in the simplest sort of a gown
made of fine sheer black wool to
which frilly white lingerie accent
lends endless charm, la the lovely
quaint Victorian bouquet of carna
tions, violets and stephanotis which
she carries so caressingly in her
lovely hands, ohe immediately
senses the gallantry of friend hus
band or a devoted son who, per
haps being out of town, wired to
the nearest florist for the prettiest
bouquet fancy might picture. Just
as an afterthought this dainty bou
quet may be a tribute of admiration
to their leader from various club
members.
The lady seated goes in'for ultra
modern fashion as you can readily
see in her swank gown of hand
some black wool ribbed crepe. This
together with her chic English sailor
so piquantly veiled, goes to show
how very smartly one can dress in
all-black. Notice the low-cut V-neck
line, a stylizing detail that was pop
ular this summer and will continue
good form right through the fall.
The patriotic corsage she is wearing
is of blue cornflowers, fragrant red
roses and white carnation petals.
Glittering satin is scheduled for a
big play this fall. A satin dress is
a good “buy" for it not only gives
marvelous wear, but it has that air
of dressiness that tunes in with so
cial environs. The lady in the top
oval has on a satin frock which is
intriguingly shirred about bodice and
sleeves. She wears a tiara of sal
mon pink gladiolas. Evidently the
lady in the oval below to the right
has a yen for pastel colorings. Her
eyelet-embroidered dress in soft blue
crepe is really lovely. She adds to
the glamour by dramatizing her
well-groomed hair with a cluster of
rosebuds and hyacinths.
(Released by Weslern Newspaper Union.)
Jeweled Bow Knots
There is going to be a big play
made on unique buttons and jewel
fastenings of every description this
fall and winter. Note the tailored
jacket of chalk white crepe shown
here. Its sleeves, yoke and front
panel are cut in one, a character
istic feature of the newer fashions
The five crystal and enamel bow
knot fastenings herald intriguing
gadgets to be used like buttons.
I
Rich Browns for
New Autumn Wear
There is considerable emphasis
on handsome browns for fall. The
dresses in initial showings are most
ly of rayon crepes and jerseys.
These are simply styled so far as
“lines” are concerned but have in
teresting surface treatment in stitch
ing, self-fabric appliques and quilted
decoration.
The dressier afternoon models of
ten combine fabric with lace dyed
to match or with velvet or satin.
In keeping with the trend to
browns, touches of embroidery ap
pear in bronze sequins and metal
threads, also favor is expressed for
mink fur. Milliners are making up
smart little mink hats with match
ing neckpieces.
Fringes Take On New
Importance in Style
Fringed dinner gowns appear in
scores of individual treatments. Aft
ernoon dresses too take on accents
of fringe. The originality and ver
satility expressed in trimming with
fringe is most interesting.
There is every sort of arrange
ment from narrow fringe placed row
and row in tiers covering the entire
skirt to long swinging panels of
fringe extending in one continuous
line from waist to hem. Fringe also
is worked in interlaced manner to
give the new drop-shoulder line and
to form pockets and girdle effects
with long streaming ends to add
grace.
_ Farm
Topics
_ .. . I
POOR CUTTING
RUINS WOODLOT
Carelessness Endangers
New Stand, Profits.
By FRED TRENK
(Extension Forester, University of
Wisconsin.)
Not all of the wreckage of war 1*
to be found on the other side of the
water. Rising log and lumber prices
have caused many farmers to “cash
in” with their marketable trees.
Regardless of who does the cut
ting. there are two things any tim
ber owner must bear in mind if he
has any hope of ever making a sec
ond cut—first, he has to keep all
livestock out so that young tree
seedlings and sprouts have a chance
to grow; and second, the slash, or
limbs, tops and waste parts of trees
resulting from logging or wind dam
age must not be allowed to burn in
one large, destructive Are.
Woodland owners who fully under
stand timber values and who can
estimate closely the volume of mer
chantable timber on their land are
in a position to realize a larger re
turn through a lump sale of stand
ing timber. However, unless they
are fully protected by contract,
small trees, so essential to a future
stand, are frequently sacrificed in
the jogging job.
There are means of selling timber
by which the selling price might be
increased, and the future productive
ness of the land be protected. This
is by having all trees of merchant
able size measured for their con
tents, and to have such trees
“blazed” or marked so that a pur
chaser would know definitely what
trees are to be cut and what are to
be left. Such a selection might be
on the basis of an arbitrary mini
mum diameter of trees to be cut,
or it may provide for the removal
of trees based on their present con
dition, rate of growth and on their
effect on other trees growing under
or near them.
Select Breeding Hens
Before Culling Layers
This Is an excellent time to start
a poultry breeding improvement
program. Dr. W. C. Thompson,
professor of poultry husbandry at
the New Jersey college of agricul
ture, Rutgers university, says that
such a program should be quite eas
ily established on many farms.
“After the pullets approach ma
turity, select the superior individu
als. Use every bit of information
which may be available in this proc
ess. Place numbered aluminum leg
bands on the best 25 per cent. House
the remaining 75 per cent of the
oncoming flock in quarters where
they can be forced for maximum
safe egg yield.
“House the best quarter of the
flock separately and keep records
on them. Trapnesting for one
year, starting October 1, is highly
desirable.
“As trapnesting records accumu
late, apply minimum standards. It
is suggested that bands should be
removed from individuals which
failed to lay 50 or more eggs between
October 1 and January 31, or which
failed to average 25 eggs a month
for March, April and May; or which
failed to show a persistent produc
tion of at least 50 eggs between June
1 and September 30.”
Dirty Cooling System
Causes Hot Motors
Does the motor of your tractor
overheat? If it does, G. W. Mc
Cuen, farm engineer, Ohio State
university, suggests checking to
see if the fan belt is too loose, if
there is an accumulation of dirt
on the outside of the cooling fins
of the radiator, if the tubes in the
radiator are clogged, or if the wa
ter jacket of the cylinders is bad
ly limed.
If the tubes of the radiator are
partially clogged with slime, Mc
Cuen advises this may be cleaned
out by filling the cooling system
with a caustic solution such as
half a can of lye in four to five
gallons of water, or one pound of
sal soda to four or five gallons
of water.
A safe way is to heat the solu
tion and stir it. Then put the so
lution in the radiator cooling sys
tem and thoroughly heat it up
by running the motor. This gen
erally takes about 15 minutes,
after which the solution may be
drained and the cooling system
thoroughly flushed out before re
filling with water.
Lightning Rods
Lightning rods have an efficiency
of 97 per cent if properly construct
ed and installed.
Inspection of rodded buildings
which have been struck by lightning
generally uncover one or more of
several defects, the Board states.
These include lack of grounding to
permanent moisture, insufficient
number of points, particularly at
chimneys, cupolas, gables and other
elevations; points and connections
not electrically secure.
Smart Chair Set
Simple to Make
t ■ — 1 - "■ 1 ”"
Pattern 7002.
TPHIS crocheted bowl, filled with
*■ colorful embroidered roses is
fascinating and varied needle
work. Add this touch of decora
tion to your chairs.
* • •
Pattern 7002 contains a transfer pattern
of a motif 13 by 8 inches and two motifs
8*,4 by 5 Inches: directions for crochet;
illustration of stitches; materials needed;
color schemes.
Sewing Circle Needlecraft Dept.
82 Eighth Ave. Newr York
Enclose 15 cents in coins for Pat
tern No.
Name..
Address..
Live Stock Commission
BYERS BROS & CO.
A Real Live Stock Com, Firm
At the Omaha Market
Through Your Window
You cannot believe in honor un
til you have achieved it. Better
keep yourself clean and bright;
you are the window through which
you must see the world.—George
Bernard Shaw.
Indigestion
what Doctors do for It
Doctor* know that ga* trapped in the stomach or
gullet may act I ike a hair - trigger on the heart. They
aet gas free with the faateet-acting medldnsa known
—the faateet act like the medidnee in Bell-ana
Tablets. Try Bell-ana today. If the FIRST D06B
doesn’t prove Bel I - ana better, return bottle to ue and
receive DOUBLE money back. 25c. at all drug stores.
Bearing Reproof
Fear not the anger of the wise
to raise; Those best can bear re
proof who merit praise.—Pope.
■-Nervous Restless-.
Kirin I Cranky? Restless?
1? u' 1 IN " Can’t sleep? Tire
Iflll III ■ easily? Because of
distress of monthly
functional disturbances? Then try
Lydia E. Ptnkham’s Vegetable Com
pound.
Plnkham's Compound Is famous
for relieving pain of lrregularperlods
and cranky nervousness due to such
disturbances. One of the most effec
tive medicines you car^.buy today
for this purpose — made especially
/or women. WORTH TRYING!
Greatest Fool
There’s no fool like the young
fool who tries to act like an old
fool.—Bombay Chronicle.
JUST A
DASH IN
■__1
MERCHANDISE
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