CHAPTER X—Continued
—16—
Jeff fired—missed. A bullet zipped
past his ear. He shot again, knock
ing the revolver from the hands of
the bandit into the creek. Norris
.made a rush to recover the weapon,
his arm fishing the water for it. As
he pulled the Colt’s out of the
current, Gray was upon him. The
barrel of Jeff’s revolver crashed
down on his head and knocked him
over. He lay motionless, his forty
four again in the brook.
The red-headed man made sure
the outlaw did not have another gun
on his person. To Ruth he gave
crisp commands.
“Get the gun out of the creek, girl.
And pick up that rifle over there.
Then step behind me out of the
way.”
Ruth did as she was told. Her
face was chalk-white, but she moved
lightly on her feet.
Norris groaned and sat up, hands
pressing against his bleeding head.
“You aimin’ to kill me?” he snarled
defiantly.
“I’m going to drag you back with
• rope round yore neck,” Gray an
swered. “Lee Chiswick will hang
you to a cottonwood.”
The eyes in the swarthy face of
the trapped man slid away from
Gray, to take in the tethered horses
and the brush that came close to
the camp. What he was think
ing could be easily guessed.
Ruth moved close to the man who
had rescued her.
“Let him go,” she begged in a
low, broken voice. “I—I can’t stand
any more.”
Jeff did not look at her. His gaze
held fast to the prisoner. “No
chance,” he said. “He’s going back
with us to yore father. Go bring me
a rope from that saddle.”
“I’m afraid of him,” the girl
pleaded. “He’s—horrible. You don’t
know.”
"I can guess. Don’t worry about
him.” Jeff added, grimly. “He’ll be
rubbed out plenty soon.”
The slitted eyes of Norris had
come back to them. He watched
the man and the woman warily.
“Without a gun and without a
horse he couldn’t do us any harm,”
Ruth urged.
"You don’t turn rattlesnakes loose
because you’re afraid of them,"
Gray told her coldly. “You stomp
them out.”
i ca, uui—
Norris dived for the brush, his
lithe body moving fast as a streak
of light. The gun in Gray’s hand
roared, and the bullet plowed into
the ground. For Ruth had struck
down his forearm and was clinging
to it with both hands. He tried to
free himself—flung the girl rough
ly away. The escaping man was in
the willows. Jeff could see and hear
the violent agitation of the young
sprouts. He fired at the place
twice, then plunged into the thicket
after the bandit.
For a hundred yards he followed
the fugitive. Abruptly he gave up
the chase. He could no longer hear
the rustling of foliage. Better get
back to the camp. The fellow might
hide, wait till he had passed, and
slip back to the horses.
Anger grew in Jeff Gray as he
swished back to the camp through
the willows. By golden luck he had
found this villain’s camp and saved
Ruth from disaster. For some fool
woman’s reason she had interfered
to help him escape. With Sorley he
had ridden fifty miles to save her,
and for reward she made a fool of
him out of sheer caprice.
Pat Sorley burst out of the brush
Just as Jeff reached the camp.
"I heard shots,’* the line-rider
cried, then caught sight of Ruth
and stopped abruptly, staring at
her. "Glory be, he found you.”
“Yes,” Ruth answered, and bit
her lip to keep down a sob.
Gray strode up to her. "What do
you mean by knocking down my
arm and hanging on to me?” he de
manded, a cold, contained rage in
his voice.
She swallowed a lump in her
throat. “I—couldn’t help it,” she
said meekly.
"Couldn’t help it. Don’t be a
fool.”
“I couldn’t have you kill him, aft
er—what I saw him do this after
noon.” She shuddered, seeing for a
moment the slack body of Kansas
crumpling down to the ground.
"I don’t get this,” Sorley said,
looking from one to the other. “You
never in the wor-rld kept Gray from
killin’ this divil when he had a
chance?”
"That’s just what she did—
grabbed my arm and hung on while
he was making a break to get
away,” Jeff said bitterly. “It seems
he had become her dear friend dur
ing the day. Probably we butted in
where we weren’t wanted, Pat."
“Don’t say that!” Ruth cried.
“He’s an awful man—inhuman. I
never saw anyone like him. His
|aCe—when he killed the other man
—was like that of a devil. If you
hadn’t come—"
Her big eyes met those of Gray
and shrank away.
“You hated him so much you
•auldn’t bear to have him rubbed
out," Gray said with a curl of the
lip.
“I didn’t want you or Father to
kill him in cold blood whiie be was
unarmed,” she explained in a low
voice. "I saw him do that today
shoot down a poor man trying to
escape from him. Would 1 want
my friends to be like him?”
“So you were thinking of us,"
Gray said, his drawl derisively in
sulting. "On our account you turned
him loose to kill eight or ten more
men. Nice the way you manage
our business. I hope Lee Chiswick
is as grateful to you as I am.”
He turned his back on the girl and
spoke to Sorley. “Reckon we’d bet
ter get back tc our own camp, Pat,
eat supper, and move down the
creek a ways. He might meet some
more wolves and come back to howl
at us."
"Not likely, with him afoot and
unarmed. Still, it’s possible.”
"I’ll walk to camp,” Gray told
him. “Better saddle those broncs
and ride down.”
Without another word to Ruth, he
picked up the weapons of Norris
and departed.
Pat had stopped supper prepara
tions when he heard the shots far
ther up the creek, but presently he
had the coffee boiling and the ham
fried. Ruth sat near Pat, at a lit
tle distance from Gray, whose face
still showed no friendliness. Her
shoulders sagged. She felt very
"Don’t pash on the reins, Morg.”
tired, was under a reaction from
great fear and excitement that left
her a rag.
While they ate their food and
drank their coffee the line-rider did
the talking for all three. He was
garrulously happy at the termina
tion of the adventure. Against all
likelihood their luck had stood up.
Eagerly he asked questions, and
got monqsyllabic answers. After a
time he protested.
"Begorry, you’d think this was a
wake and not the luckiest hour of
the year,’’ he snorted. “We ought
to be thanking God you’re safe
again.”
“I am,” Ruth answered wearily.
“Ye don’t look like it,” he retort
ed.
.... i J 1— -
1 III-V11CU UUVy OliC OCXIV*| *** «
lifeless voice.
Looking at her shadowed eyes and
white haggard face, Sorley felt re
morse at his sharpness. “You’ll
have a good sleep tonight and be
rested tomorrow,” he said gently.
They packed, saddled, and rode
down the creek for a few miles.
Sorley chose for a campground a
little mesa three or four hundred
yards from the stream. No fire was
lit, and the night was cold, as Ari
zona nights in the high hills are
likely to be. Pat made a bed of
pine boughs for Ruth and tucked
her up snugly in two blankets.
“One of us will be on guard all
night,” he explained to her. “Don’t
worry about a thing, but let go of
yoresilf and slip off to slape like a
good gir-rl.”
She promised that she would, add
ing with a smile, “You've been aw
f’ly good to me, Pat.”
Sherm Howard was alone In the
house. He had spent the evening at
the Golden Nugget and had come
home to sleep, but he knew that
was not going to be possible for
many hours yet. He sat at a table,
a small coal-oil lamp at one corner
of it, looking down savagely at the
solitaire layout in front of him.
There was no pleasure for him in
the game. While he dealt and
played automatically, the undercur
rent of his mind was absorbed by
the difficulties confronting him.
A heavy gloom lay on his spirits.
He was in a jam and knew it. Fifty
times he had gone over the faots
anxiously looking for an out, and
he had not been able to find one. Un
til the situation had resolved itself
one way or another he could be
sure of nothing.
Howard came to an impasse in
the game, gathered up the cards,
and shuffled them. He started to
deal, but stopped with a card
poised. The outside door of the
house had opened a few inches.
Through the crack a pair of eyes
gleamed. Very little more of the
face could be seen, for the hat was
well pulled down and a bandanna
handkerchief covered the nose and
mouth.
Sherm Howard had time for a
moment of fervent regret. How had
he happened to forget to bolt the
door, with hi? forty-four lying in the
cupboard a long five yards away
from him?
The door opened farther and a
lithe body slid through the widened
crack into the room. The eyes of
the self-invited guest did not lift
from his host while a brown hand
closed the door and pushed home the
bolt.
Howard’s stomach sagged as if
from a weight of ice-cold lead. His
mouth went dry. The man standing
with his back to the door was Mor
gan Norris.
Norris grinned evilly. “Didn’t ex
pect me, did you, Sherm? Figured
some of yore boys had dry-gulched
me up in the hills. But I’ll bet you
are real pleased to see yore old
friend.’’
The fat man pulled himself to
gether. “What you doing here,
Morg?’ he asked. “Don’t you
know this whole county is out look
in’ for you?’
“Including all Sherm Howard’s
willing lads. Sure I know it.” The
desperado limped forward. “But I
dropped in because I knew you’d
hate for me to pass through with
out thanking you for sicking the
boys on me.”
The man was in bad physical con
dition. A blood-stained handkerchief
was tied around his head. Another
served as a bandage for his arm. He
looked travel-worn and haggard.
But he was undaunted. Never in
his wicked, ribald lifetime had he
seemed more master or tne situa
tion. Howard expected that the fel
low had come to kill him. Morg
must have met one of the boys and
learned that Howard had thrown in
with his hunters.
“What’s all this crazy talk about
me sicking the boys on you?” How
ard asked. "You ought to know bet
ter than that. Fact is, you’ve played
the devil, Morg. I thought you had
more sense than to pull the dumb
thing you did. This country won’t
stand for doing harm to women.
You ought to know that too.”
“Don’t preach at me,” Norris
snarled out of the corner of his
mouth. “Get me food, and water
to wash my wounds. But first off,
I want a drink.”
The heart of the big man lifted.
“Sure,” he said. “Surest thing you
know.”
He heaved himself out of the chair
and waddled across to the cupboard.
Beside the bottle lay the forty-four
he had unwarily separated himself
from when he reached the house.
This he pushed down between his
trouser-belt and shirt. The bottle
and a glass he brought back to the
man at the table.
Norris poured a large drink into
a tumbler. He held it in his hand
and slid a menacing look at his
host.
“I saw you get that gun,” he
said, lifting his upper lip in a jeer.
“Fixin’ to gun me if you get a
chance, you damned double-crosser.
Well, you don’t get it.” Norris raised
the glass. “Here’s to a short life
and a smoky end for traitors,
Sherm.”
He poured the liquor down at a
gulp.
Coldly Howard defended himself.
“Your information is not straight,
Morg. Where did you heir I had
turned against you?"
"I heard it from a ledge back of
Coal Creek," Norris told him harsh
ly. "Yore boys were camped just
below. I heard ’em talk. Didn’t
know who they were at first. I
found out you'd sent them out to
get me, by crikes.”
"Why don’t you use your bean
to think with, Morg? Of course I
sent them after you. After you had
gone crazy, I had to make a bluff,
didn’t I? I had to make out we were
all hunting you to. save our own
bacon. Talk about me throwing
down on you. What have you done
but throw down on every last one of
us?"
Howard spoke impatiently, irrita
bly. He wanted to talk the young
killer into a frame of mind less
deadly, and the best way to do this
was to put him in the wrong.
“What you mean, throw down on
you?" the fugitive asked sulkily.
“You know what I mean, Morg.
When you took that girl with you
to the hills you set this whole dis
trict ablaze against us as well as
you because we are your friends."
“Lou ran off with her first,” Nor
ris said.
“With her own consent. That’s
different. Where is the girl, Morg?
What did you do with her?"
“I didn’t do a thing,” Norris
growled. “Are you aiming to fix
me up some food? Or ain’t you?”
“Don’t push on the reins, Morg. I
asked you a question.”
Norris gave information, very re
luctantly, for what he had to tell
hurt his inordinate vanity. “I turned
her over to that double-crossing son
of-a-gun who calls himself Jeff
Gray,” he said.
The opaque eyes of the big man
rested on him. “Tell it to me,
Morg,” he ordered.
“I’ll tell it while you make me
some supper," Norris told him.
“Me, I could eat a government
mail-sack. Haven’t seen grub for
nearly two days.”
me young aesperauu ncipcu uuu
self to a second drink, then aat
down and pulled off his boots. He
was careful not to turn his back to
Howard. Sherm began to knock to
gether some food, always with his
eye on the other.
Norris told the story of what had
occurred, edited in such a way as
to protect his self-conceit. He said
that three men had attacked him
at his camp in Wild Horse basin and
that he had fought them until the
revolver was shot from his hand.
He had made his getaway on foot.
"You didn't walk all the way from
Wild Horse,” Howard said, after he
had broken a fourth egg into a fry
ing-pan.
“Most of the way.” The outlaw
looked down at his swollen feet.
High-heeled cowboy boots are not
made for walking, and he had been
tortured cruelly during the long
hours of trampingv'T roped a bronc
at Walker’s in the night and found
a saddle in the stable. Most of the
day I lay holed up in the rocks."
“What with yore wounds and all
you must have had a hell of a
time,” Howard suggested.
The young man looked at him,
fury in his eyes. “I’m sayin’ so.”
“If they shot yore gun from yore
hand, I reckon you’re not armed,”
Sherm said, very casually.
The killer watched him through
slitted lids. “Don’t you bank on
that, Sherm,” he drawled, his
words dripping warning.
Howard said lightly, “I was think
ing I’d have to fix you up with a
gun if you had lost yore own.”
What he had been thinking was that
if Norris was unarmed, he could
pump lead into him and take the
credit for killing the man.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Chinese Elm Is Good for Rapid Growth;
Tree Thrives Throughout United States
Whenever a tree is to be set out,
the careful gardener takes plenty of
time for thought. For there is some
thing permanent about this type of
planting in which mistakes are in
tensified rather than obliterated by
time, states a writer in the Phila
delphia Record.
Need often is felt for something
fast-growing to relate a new house
to its location or to give quick
shade, screening or protection from
wind. Too often poplars are se
lected because they come along
quickly. Time, however, soon re
veals their undesirably vast and
greedy root systems, while a row
rarely gets established before one
or another of the trees dies, spoil
ing the looks of the whole.
The Chinese elm (UlnUs parvifo
lla) has none of those drawbacks,
but it does grow quickly. Indeed,
it is a matter of record that one
young tree grew to 28 feet in 3
years, that a 4-foot specimen
reached 40 feet in 5 years and a
6-footer in 4 years attained 30 feet.
Although native to northern and
central China, Korea, and Japan,
the Chinese elm thrives throughout
the United States, eventually grow
ing to 46 feet. It develops a broad,
round head and in maturity is as
graceful as a cutleaf bitch and quite
as hardy as the oak. It is good not
only for the suburban lawn, but for
street planting in the city as well,
since it can withstand soot and gas.
Drouth resistance was revealed
as another attribute during the se
vere dry spell of 1936. Where new
ly planted weeping willows, Lom
bardy poplars and cutleaf birches
succumbed, the Chinese elm came
through triumphantly.
To obtain maximum speed and
development and a deep green color
in the foliage, feed the tree yearly
with a well-balanced plant food. Ei
ther early spring or late summer is*
a good season.
Chauvinism
Chauvinism, the word used to ex
press exaggerated patriotism or jin*
goism, is derived from a soldier of
the French republic and of the First
empire, says the Standard Ameri
can Encyclopedia. Nicholas Chau
vin’s name became a synonym for
a passionate admirer of Napoleon,
and the word Chauvinism was
formed to signify the almost idolat
rous resoect entertained by natg
for the first emperor.
Noted Food Authority TeU* ^ You Should
Eat More of the Food That Is So
Rich In Protective Elements.
By C. HOUSTON GOUDISS
C Eeet 39th St., New Tort City. ....
FOR many years, men with an inventive turn of mind have
dreamed of creating a product that would concentrate all
the important food elements in a small tablet or capsule.
They have been inspired by a desire to simplify meal prep
aration without sacrificing nutritive values.
No one has ever succeeded'
in making a synthetic food
that would both satisfy hun
ger and properly nourish the
body. But aU the while, the re
searchers have overlooked the
magnificent possibilities of cheese,
one of the most concentrated,
nourishing, satisfying and versa
tile of foods.
• —
Cheese—The Body Builder
Cheese is the most concentrated
source of protein known. More
over, the protein is
of such high type
that if it were the
only body - building
food in the diet,
given in sufficient
quantities, it would
be adequate not
only to maintain
life, but to support
normal growth.
One-half pound of
American Cheddar
cheese will supply
all the protein required by an
adult for an entire day.
Cheese—The Energy Food
In addition to its rich store of
protein, cheese is also a fine
source of energy.
A cube of Cheddar cheese one
and-one-eighth inches square pro
vides 100 calories or the equiva
lent in energy value of the lean
meat of one lamb chop or one
medium-sized potato. One-half
pound of Cheddar cheese furnishes
1,000 calories, about half the daily
requirement of an adult leading a
sedentary life.
—
Cheese for Mineral Salts
Because milk is rich in miner
als, it follows that cheese, which
is made from milk, contains these
precious substances in highly con
centrated form. It is an excellent
source of calcium, the mineral
which is responsible for building
strong bones and sound teeth, and
for . keeping the heart beating
normally. A one-and-one-fourth
inch cube of American Cheddar
cheese contains as much calcium
as an 8-ounce glass of milk.
The individual who does not
care for milk as a beverage can
easily obtain the necessary cal
cium from cheese. But it is prac
tically impossible to get adequate
amounts of this mineral without
either milk or cheese.
In rennet cheese, phosphorus,
as well as calcium, is present in
the same proportions as in milk,
but is much more highly concen
trated. As in milk, these min
erals are in a form that is most
nearly perfect for easy assimi
lation. Rennet-curd cheese is al
ways high in sulphur and fairly
high in iron. Furthermore, the
iron is in the most readily assimi
lated form.
Cheese and Vitamins
Cheese Is a splendid source of
vitamin A, which promotes growth
and increases resistance to dis
ease. It is especially important
for eye health and is necessary
to prevent the affliction known as
night blindness. The amount of
vitamin A varies with the type of
cheese, bat both American Ched
dar and Parmesan cheese are ex
tremely rich in this substance,
and cream cheese is an outstand
ing source. Vitamins B and G
Do You Want to Learn
Houi to Plan a
lawntlWB Diet?
Get This Free Bulletin
Offered by C. Houston Goudlu
READERS of this newspaper
are invited to write to C.
Houston Goudlss, 0 East 39th
Street, New York City, for a
free copy of his bulletin, "Help
ful Hints on Planning a Laxa
tive Diet"
The bulletin gives concrete
suggestions for combatting
faulty elimination through cor
rsct eating and proper habits of
hygiene. It gives a list of laxa
tive foods and contains a /all
week’s sample means. A post
card is su&ciant'to cany your
request
«
Mx0
Wirt thli Fraa
Bulletin on Planning
a Correct Summer Diet
SEND lor the freo bulletin on
"Keeping Cool with Food,"
offered by C. Houston Goodin.
It outlines the princ.plei of plan
ning • healthful summer diet,
lilts "oooling" and 'heating"
foods and is complete with
menu suggestions.
Just address C. Houston Goudiu,
6 East 39th Street, New York
City. A poet card Is all that is
^^emrytoauT^ou^equ**^
are also found in whole milk
cheese.
With this wealth of food values,
one would expect to find cheese
appearing on the menu in some
form every day. But though tho i
annual production of cheese in tMA
United States exceeds 700,000,0<Xr
pounds, it should be much greater.
The annual per capita consump
tion is only 5V4 pounds—a woe
fully small figure when we con
sider the wide benefits that would
result from its greater use.
The failure of American home
makers to use cheese in the
amounts that they should is, I be
lieve, due to three factors: first,
a lack of knowledge concerning
its splendid food values; second, a
belief in the old superstition that
cheese is not easy to digest; and
third, failure to take advantage of
the many ways in which it . can
be served.
—★—
Digestibility of Cheese
The foregoing outline of its
many food values should give a
new conception of its place in the
diet. As to its digestibility, stud
ies by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture have entirely
disproved the fallacy that it is not
completely digestible.
It was found that on an average
about 95 per cent of the protein
and over 95 per cent of the fat
of cheese were digested and ab
sorbed. The various kinds dy
cheese tested were found to com- ’
pare favorably in digestibility
with the food of an average mixed
diet. It was also demonstrated ex
perimentally "that there was
practically no difference between
cheese and meat ivith respect to
ease of digestion, at least in such
quantities as are commonly
eaten."
There was also a notion that
because it is so high in food value,
cheese should only be eaten in
small quantities. But scientific
tests have proven that cheese may
be eaten by normal individuals in
large quantities, as the principal
source of protein, with entirely
beneficial effects upon health.
Place oi Cheese In the Diet
There is a case on record of a
young man who lived for two
years on a daily diet consisting of
one-half pound of cheese, a one
pound loaf of whole wheat bread
and two pounds of fruit. While
this limited diet might prove mo
notonous to some people, it is pos
sible to utilize cheese as the easi
est method of providing important
food value, varying the diet, and
simplifying meal preparation. For
there are more than 200 distinc
tive varieties of cheese listed by
the department of agriculture, .
ranging from the smooth, delicate- ^
ly flavored cream cheese, which
may be given to very young chil
dren, to the sharp tangy cheese
which is especially popular with
men. Fortunately, almost every
type can be purchased in pack
aged form, in sizes that are con
venient for large and small fami
lies, making it possible to enjoy
a wide variety.
Cheese can be used as a main
dish; in salads or sandwiches; as
a sauce for vegetables; as a des
sert. It is desirable at the same
time to serve bulky foods, such MW
fruits and vegetables. Cheese msjW
also be combined udvantageously’
with carbohydrate foods. This is
because the balanced diet requires
more carbohydratai than protein.
And eheese is essontially a pro
tein food, Intercfciageshle with
meats and ft*.
, e WNP-c. Hiatoa omidui isit n j