WILLIAM MACLEOD RAINE'S 1a Hide ihc JlUtei WbtU COPYRIGHT WILLIAM MACLIOD RAIN! ? WNU SIRVICI CHAPTER XIII? Continued ? tl? "There's only one thing to do with as," Ruth said. "You can take us to Tail Holt and leave us at Ma Presnall's. We'll be safe there. You'll have us under your eye all the time." "All right," Lee assented. "I'll take you with me ? both of you. I wouldn't if I could help it, but there's nothing else to do, as you say. You and Nelly ft* up your war-bags. We may be there two three days. While we're at Tail Holt you'll stay right in the house every minute. Understand?" Ruth said she understood. They took the road two hours aft er midnight. Steadily they rode, through a lovely night of stars that softened the harsh and desiccated face of Arizona to a strange, ghostly love liness. Even the sahuaros, with their intimation of age-old decay, were like magnificent candelabra waiting to be lit. Peace reigned over the land. Jeff Gray was a light sleeper. Awakened by the furious barking of the blacksmith's dog, almost in stantly he was out of the bunk and at the window. Silhouetted in the moonlight on the brow of the little hill in front of the cabin were a number of men. They were mov ing toward the cabin. The marshal counted eight of them. He called to his companion: "Wake up, Hank, and come here." Ransom struggled to conscious ness. "Lord love ye, man, what are ye doing at the window?" he asked. The dog was still barking savage ly at the intrusion of so many night visitors. "They've found out where I am and are coming to get me," Gray replied. The blacksmith joined him. "The scalawags are scattering to cover more ground." He lifted his Win chester from the wall. "Any chance for me to slip out of the back door down to the rocks in the creek?" Jeff inquired. "Not a chance," Ransom said grimly. "Then I'll have to surrender. They'll only hold me prisoner, if Sherm Howard is running the show. His son is out at the L C. I'll step out with my hands up." "Wait a minute," the old Indian fighter objected. "I'll go out and make a bargain with them. Better tie them up to an agreement. If there weren't so many, I'd say for lis to stand 'em off, but I don't reck on we can do that." A gun cracked. The dog no long er barked. The leathery face of the black smith twitched. "Some damned scoundrel has killed Laddie," he said. "Yes." Gray was thinking that a man who could shoot down a faith ful dog was a villain and not to be trusted. "I'm going to wave the white flag and make terms, Hank. You're not in this. I'm the man they want. First thing is to get you out of this." He sat down on the bed, pulled on his boots, and buckled round his waist the gun-belt lying on a chair. "I'm not in this, ain't I?" the blacksmith blazed. "After they've killed my Laddie?" The marshal returned to the win dow. The men outside were about sixty yards from the house. Jeff put a hand on the shoulder of his friend. "We've got to play our cards the way they are dealt us, old timer. I'm going out with my hands up. You stay under cover. After they have me they won't both er you." Gray unbolted the door and whipped it open. He stepped into the moonlight and lilted a hand, palm out. There was a yell of rage. A bul let knocked a dirt chip from the adobe wall back of the officer. An other du3ted his hat. The roar of a rifle deafened him. From just back of him Ransom had fired. Lead spattered against the build ing. Hank lurched against his. shoul der and fell. 'Tm hit!" he cried, and caught at his right leg. Jeff snatched the rifle from him. "Crawl back into the house," he or dered. "Come on, boys, we've got him!" ? voice shouted. The line of attaokers moved for ward. The marshal fired and missed ? fired again and hit. A running man cried out and stopped abrupt ly. The others faltered. Their guns barked angrily. Gray stepped back into the house and slammed the door. "Get any of 'em?" his companion asked. "One." The officer was at the win dow. "For right now they've had enough and are hunting cover. I've sure got you in a fine jam. Hank. You hurt bad?" "My leg is plugged. It's not bleed ing bad. I reckon the bullet missed an artery." "Look after you in a minute," Jeff said. "Got to fix the tort so we can hold it." He found an axe and knocked a bunk to pieces. Ransom told him where to find nails. The window he boarded up, leaving an inch or two for a loophole. Both doors he bar ricaded as best he could. Mean while, Ransom crawled across the floor and with a hatchet cut a spy hole in the adobe wall. He made it large enough for shooting purposes. "I'd like first-rate to get that bull rattler Morg Norris," Ransom said. "I've a notion if we picked off that slit-eyed cabron, and maybe one or two more, the rest of the lads would drag it." Gray was of another opinion. By this time the whole village would know what was going on, and the attackers would be recruited if nec essary by others. Reinforcements were likely to come in from the hills. Having gone so far, Sherm Howard would feel that safety lay in finishing the job. But the mar shal did not say what he thought." "I certainly picked me a top hand for a partner, this trip," he said "Gimme a hand, pardner!" he drawled. lightly. "They're beginning to close in on us. I better discourage that." He took aim at a dodging figure and fired. "Get him?" asked Ransom, scraping the dirt out of the hole he had dug. "No. Some of them are moving up the hill. Going to take us in the rear, I reckon." The rifle of the blacksmith boomed. Hank gave a yell. "One of 'em won't take us in front or rear. He's down." A bullet tore through the window and the plank with which Jeff had shuttered it. It broke a glass in the cupboard. The defenders could hear others showering dirt from the adobe wall. Ransom dragged his wounded leg across the room to his loophole in the rear. "Where did those fellows go?" he asked after a time. "No sign of them back here." "That's funny. They headed to ward the rimrock. Four or five of them. Must be figuring to work back of us, don't you reckon?" "Love of Moses!" the old sol dier cried. "They're going to crash boulders down on us." The marshal knew at once that Ransom was right. The cabin lay in the path of an old slide. At the edge of the rimrock, a hundred feet above them, lay hundreds of loose boulders large and small. A half ton of rock, hurtling down that pre cipitous slope, would crash through the soft adobe wall as if it were paper. "I've got to stop that, Hank," the younger man said. "The firing down here is a bluff to keep our minds busy. They won't charge the cabin till those above have smashed it. I'm going up to stop their game if you don't mind sticking it out here alone." , "They'll pick you off before you've gone a dozen yards, boy," the blacksmith told him. "Maybe not. The moon is under a cloud now. For one thing they won't be expecting me up there." "They must have someone witch ing the back door." "Not near enough to see in this darkness. See you later, old-timer." Jeff tore down the planking with which he bad reinforced the back door. Ransom said "Sure," and did not believe that either of them would be alive an hour from then. .Bolt the door after me. I may come back on the jump. Be ready to let me in prontito." The marshal opened the door and slipped out. Clouds were scudding across the sky. Jeff lay behind a woodpile, eyes and ears alert. Someone must have been sent to make sure the trapped men did not escape by the back door. The man was probably crouched back of a rock some dis tance from the cabin. He might or might not have seen the door open, since the sky was now overcast. Gray wished he knew whether he had been observed. If he moved from the shelter of the woodpile, he was likely to find out. He crept up the hill, taking ad vantage of every rock and bit of cactus that would give him cover. From the front of the house came the occasional crack of a gun. This was good news, since it told him the attackers were not rushing the house yet, but were waiting for the rock-rolling brigade to drive out the doomed men. He was close to the top when a sound brought him to rigid stillness. A man was standing on the crest ]ust above him. He was striking a match to light a cigarette. For a moment the flare of light showed Jeff a face he did not recognize, yet one that seemed oddly familiar. In an instant the man would look down and see him. The marshal did not wait for discovery. "Gimme a hand, pardner," he drawled. The match went out. "Who in hades are you?" a heavy voice rasped. "Bud Taylor," Jeff said evenly. "Sherm sent me with a message. The man above lent a hand to pull the climber over the edge. Looking at the iron-gray hair, the scarred cheek, the shifty eyes, Jeff remembered where he had seen that face before. It had been in a sheriff's office in Texas, on a photo graph beneath which had been writ ten the caption, "Clint Doke, Want ed for the robbery of the Texas and Southern Flyer." A fraction of a second later the light of recognition began to dawn on the hairy face of the outlaw. He had seen this man once in San Antonio, had had him pointed out as the famous man-hunter, Jefferson Gray. Doke opened his mouth to let out a cry. Already Gray's fist was trav eling in a powerful short-arm jolt toward the drooping chin. The cry materialized as a strangled groan, and the outlaw pitched down as if he had been hit with the back of an axe. Jeff did not dare to leave him to recover in a minute or two. He pistol - whipped the fallen man across the temple. His gun he kept for immediate use. Someone called, "Come here, Clint." Jeff stepped behind a boulder. He could see three men grouped to gether against the skyline. With Doke's gun he fired three times rap idly above their heads. One of the men gave .a yell of consternation. He started to run. Another fired in the direction of the marshal. Jeff pumped lead at him. "Let's get out. Mile High," the third man shouted shrilly. "We're being bushwhacked." It might be true. Mile High did not wait to find out. In another moment it might be too late to es cape. He flung one last defiant shot and followed his companions into the darkness. Jeff started to descend the rim rock. It was time for him to get back to Ransom. As soon as Morg Norris learned of the fiasco above, he would rush the cabin. At the foot of the rimrock Jeff broke into a jog-trot, reckless of being seen by the watcher at the back. Abruptly he stopped. Four or five figures came into the open, as if from the creek bed, and ran to ward the cabin. He heard shout ing, but could not make out the words. There was the crack of a gun. The figures vanished into the house. From inside it came the crash of revolvers. Jeff Gray's heart died within him. He knew that Ransom had been killed. The old soldier had come to his death after he. had apparently deserted him. If he had stayed in the cabin, they might have driven back the attack. In any case he could have gone down fighting with his friend. Sick with despair, Jeff turned to the left, reached the foot of the slope, and dropped down into the creek. He could neither see nor hear anybody. Through the brush he made a circuit and reached the cottonwood grove. Occasionally he could hear the spitting of guns. The best thing he could do was to get down to the Alamo corral and force Reynolds at the point of a gun to lend him a horse. If possible, he must ride back to the L C and get the reinforcements Lee Chis wick had promised. He knew that Lee could stir up some of the other cattlemen and that a large fighting force could be organized. That excitement in the village had reached a high point he could see. Many men were in the street, most of them farther uptown in the little business center. He had to wait for a chance to get across the road unobserved. More than once some one appeared just as he was about to start. He took the street at a run, and swarmed over the same wall he had gone over on the night of his adventure with Frank Chiswick. He passed the blackened site of the sta ble that had been burned, crossed the creek, and moved down along its bank. Another burst of gunfire filled the night. Jeff could not understand this, unless the victors were setting off fireworks in celebration of their victory. The officer's jaw set grim ly. They had better wait until they 1 had finished the job. He intended to make them pay for what they had done to Hank Ransom, if they did not get him before he could slip out of town. There were too many people afoot As he made a circle around the Presnall boarding-house, three men carrying rifles walked toward him. He did the only thing possi ble, dodged into the same door he had entered some hours earlier when he had been looking for Curly. The men stopped to talk for a moment at the door. One of them was coming into the house, Jeff gathered from what he said. Gray went gingerly up the stairway. He heard a crisp "See you later," and knew that the man was coming up stairs too. Jeff had no time to pick and choose. He whipped open the first door he saw, walked into a room, and closed the door behind him. On the table there was a lighted lamp. At the window a woman stood, clean-limbed and slender. She turned toward him a haggard face, eyes shadowed and fear-filled. For an instant she looked at him incred ulously. Her amazement was no greater than his own. The woman was Ruth Chiswick. A dressing - gown, open at the throat, was wrapped tightly around her lithe long body. Beneath the edge of it here bare feet peeped out. Jeff was aware, without giv ing the matter any weight, that Nelly lay asleep in the bed. "You!" she cried. "I thought ? I was afraid ? " Her tremulous voice broke, quiv ering with emotion. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I made Father bring me. He came to help you ? after Lou How ard got away." "Got away?" (TO BE CONTINUED) Drouth Is Seen as Cause of Ancient r Indian Exodus From Northern Arizona A drouth producing the same re sults as the modern dust bowl of the Middle West may have driven a cultured race of Indians from the region of northern Arizona' more than 700 years ago, according to Dr. Ralph L. Beals, instructor of an thropology at the University of Cali fornia at Los Angeles, says the Los Angeles Times. The cliff dweller ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni Indian tribes began building their huge communal homes around the year 1250. A southern exposure was apparently as desirable for the home at that time as it is at present, since only huge cliff caves opening to the south were used for building. The cliff home was used only during the win ter time, the tribe moving to the valleys for summer. Suddenly, around the year 1300 the dwellings were abandoned, probably all at the same time, ac cording to Doctor Beals. The time of the evacuation was established by rings on timber used in repair ing the buildings. A drouth of about IB years laid waste the land. Like the present situation in the Midwest, water was scarce and men and animals could not live on the scanty vegetation. Corncobs in the bottom of trash piles at the beginning of the drouth were very large, while at the end of the period, the ears had become very small, according to Doctor Beals. The people migrated from I the district in much the same man ner as refugees are leaving the dusty Middle West. Costa Rica Most Flowery Plants of the little country with more varied vegetation than any area of its size in America ? a coun try with about 6,000 varieties of flowering shrubs and trees, includ ing more than 1,000 different kinds of orchids ? are described in "Flora of Costa Rica," published by Field Museum Press. No other area of its size in North or Central Amer ica has a flora so rich and varied j as Costa Rica. In area, the coun try is about the size of West Vir ginia, but its flowers and plants are about three times as numerous as those of that state. Few tropical countries anywhere in the world can rival Costa Rica in the variety of its orchids and ferns. IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY I chool Lesson of Chicago. ? WuUm Ntwipaptr Union. Lesson for July 31 SAMSON: STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS LESSON TEXT? Judges 14:1. ?; 15:11-14; 16:15-21. GOLDEN TEXT? Be strong In the Lord, and In the power of his might.? Ephesisns 1:10. PRIMARY TOPIC? A Men Who Wasted His Strength. JUNIOR TOPIC? How Strong Was Sam son? INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC? Who Is Strong? YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC? Physical Strength and Moral Weakness. There is no more tragic Individual among the sona of men than the one who entered upon life with every promise of success, who has lived for a time in favor with God and with man, and then because of moral failure is set aside by God, shunned by man, and ends life as a disappointment and a failure. "And yet such disastrous climaxes of what should have been great and victorious careers lie all about us, and nowhere with such frequency and inexcusableness as among those whom God has called W preach, evangelize, and teach His Word. The saddest tragedy in all the world is a man who once knew the power of the Holy Spirit and who now walks the streets of some great city or is buried in the cottage of an unknown countryside, without power, without work, without joy, without the lead ing of the Lord. He knows a weari ness that labor never gives, for he wakens every morning more tired and weary than when he went to sleep the night before" (Wilbur M. Smith). The life story of Samson brings us the picture of God's patient and gracious dealing with such a failure, reveals the inexorable law of cause and effect in the moral realm as well as the certainty that the wages of sin not repented of and forsaken is death. I. Physical Strength and Favor With God (15:5, .6). Samson had the distinction (given to only one other Old Testament character) of Having his birth an nounced beforehand. He was to be a Nazarite and was to "begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistine" ? a commission which sin kept him from ever finishing. God gave him the marvelous herit age of a strong and healthy body as well as His own blessing upon him for carrying out the Lord's work. The fact that he i* named among the heroes of faith in He brews indicates that he did have faith in God. Yet his life was a failure. Samson would have been a great favorite in this athletic age. Let those who worship the body and glorify physical prowess take note that such strength is not sufficient to guarantee success in life, and may indeed be a source of tempta tion which may lead to spiritual and moral downfall. Those who live for the flesh "shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Gal. 6:8). n. Moral Weakness and Spiritual Decay (15:11-14). The portion of the lesson selected for our consideration from Judges 15 gives only an act of prowess on the part of Samson, but the reader will recognize it as one of the many deeds of Samson done as an ex pression of his uncontrolled sensual nature. Read the entire chapter and it will be evident that here is a man who, while occasionally re sponding to God's leading, is on the downward path of moral and spir itual decadence. Scripture is absolutely honest in relating the facts as they are ? and here it is not at all an attractive pic ture. It never is, although the world tries to make it appear to be. A learned audience of university people laughed with evident appre ciation at the statement of a pro fessor that "vice is always more interesting than virtue," little real izing that they thus bore testimony to their own attitude toward sin. If the liquor advertisements were honest enough to picture the agony of a drunkard dying of delirium tremens they would present the real truth, but they would sell no "booze." III. Failure, Darkness, and Death (16:15-21). Delilah finally betrayed the foolish Samson who apparently had become so sure of himself that he dared to venture anything. The man who was to be strong for God is now in prison, shorn of hi* strength, blinded by his enemies, and finally he kills himself even as he slays his enemies (16:23-31). Thus he threw away the life that had become to him but a burden and a disgrace. "Thus he who began never com pleted his work, lie column was broken in the middle. The story ends with a comma and a dash, blis tered over by a tear. For the light is turned into darkness, and how great is the darkness" (J. M. Lang). Now Power Cm Defeat God Be not afraid of midden fear, neither of the desolation of the wick ed. when it ettneCi.i.Tw the Lord ahall be fthy coofldanee, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.? Prov. J. 25,24. WHAT TO EAT and WHY ? ? (2. 4fou.lt on Qoudhx "PhcuMeA Cheese?Prince of Proteins Noted Food Authority Tells Why You Should Eat More of the Food That Is So Rich in Protective Elements. By C. HOUSTON GOUDISS ? East 39th St., N?w York atj. 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 all the while, the re learchen have overlooked the magnificent possibilities of cheese, one of the most concentrated, nourishing, satisfying and versa tile of foods. Choose? 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 saflleient quantities, it woald be adequate not only to maintain life, but to lopport normal growth. One-half pound of American Cheddar cheese will supply all the protein required by an adult (or an entire day. Cheese ? The Enerqr 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. ? "At 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 frounce glass of milk. The Individual who does not care for milk as a beverage can easily obtain the necessary cal cium from cheese. Bat it is prae tleally 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. Choose and Vitamins Cheese is a splendid source of vitamin A, which promotes growth and increases resistance to dis ease. It is especially important (or eye health and is necessary to prevent the affliction known as night blindness. The amoont of vitamin A varies with the type of cheese, bat both American Ched dar and Parmesan cheese are ex tremely rich la this snbstance, and cream cheese is an ontstand inf source. Vitamins B and G Do You Want to Learn Houi to Plan a Get ThU from Bulletin Offered br C. Houston Coudlst READERS of thie newspaper are invited to write to C. Houston Qoudift, 6 Salt 39th 3treet, New York City, lor > free copy of hia bulletin, "Help ful Hlnta on Planning a Laxa tive Diet." The bulletin give* concrete auggeationa for combatting faulty elimination through cor rect eating and proper habita of hygiene. It givea a liat of laxa tive foods aad contains a fall WMiff sample menus . A post' cart in su&cient to carry your request. r ???/? ^0?W4