Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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CHAPTER X? Continued ?12 ? Crooked Bill laughed pleasurably. He liked this young man's gay frank ness and humor although it disturbed him. Here (he reflected) was exactly the sort of male biped to appeal to his niece. **I hear Antrim's niece, who is his heir. Is a guest at your ranch, Mr. Hlguenes," he said cautiously. "Is she anything like her uncle?" "Tom Antrim was her misfortune, not her fault Miss Antrim is, without doubt, the most delightful, fascinating, provoking, adroit, belligerent, sports man-like and honest young lady It has ever been my fortune to meet" "You're In love with her," Crooked Bill charged. It was his habit to at tack without warning, for he knew the value of surprise and grasping the initiative. Don Jaime shrugged. "What else would one expect?" "Well, do you stand a Chinaman's chance?" "Alas, no! I killed her uncle." "Yet she's your guest." "Oh, she realized I had no other al ternative. However, under the cir cumstances I have thought it the part of wisdom to remain the good friend. I am afraid of that young woman. I fear she would not be an ideal wife for a Hlguenes." "You're an ass, young man," Crooked Bill cried sharply, all of his love and loyalty to his niece Instantly out raged. "If she's all that you have Just told me she Is, she's a prize and you're a lobster not to go In and win her." ? "I have some pride," Don Jaime murmured sadly. "I could not risk a refusal. It would kill me. Moreover, there is another man ? some fellow in New York." He sat down to permit the Juleps to chilL "Oh I" Crooked Bill was relieved. He was discovering things, and dis coveries were not unpleasant. "So you're going to buy the Antrim Sheep?" Don Jaime resumed. "I've bought them ? subject to the approval of the heir and the probate court." "I'm very much afraid neither one will approve, Mr. Blodgett Unfor tunately, I want those sheep. They've been feeding for two months on grass that's rightfully mine and they've done so much damage to my range I might as well keep them there and make a profit out of them ? for Miss An trim. She tells me her uncle, who was very rich, has gone broke In the mar ket and she's hocked the sheep and the ranch to help him out" "By George, she Is a sport, isn't she?" "If I permit you to buy those sheep where do you Intend to. graze them?" "Don't Intend to graze them. I'm going to sell them Immediately." "Locally r "Perhaps," "That makes It a little binding. I Wouldn't like to see you sell those sheep locally. While I can stand them on my range, for Miss Antrim's sake, my forbearance would cease If they be longed to anybody else and continued to trespass on my range." "Is it your range?" "No, It's state land, but I control the water. So I fear I'll have to outbid you on those sheep, Mr. Blodgett." . "I've got my heart set on them, son, and when that happens I usually get what I go after." Don Jaime concluded it was time to strike, "You went after my dad once ? and you didn't get him. He got you ?In the heel ? you cunning old four flusher. And I'm here to tell you that the old greaser spirit isn't frozen In the veins of Patricio's son, Mr. Wil liam B. I,atham I" "H? l's fire!" Crooked IHll appeared about to collapse In his chair. "I haven't figured out what you're up to, Mr. Crooked Bill, but it's de vious, and Mr. Glenn Ilackett is help ing you out. You're framing some thing on me, and I think you merely want to get those sheep out of the way so 'your niece can be ordered home, leaving little Jaime Miguel Hlg ^uenea bereft Not so, Bolivia. Those P?heep stay and Roberta stays. Your niece Is an outrageous coquette, If you must know it? and I bet you do? so It's my Job to bust thnt young woman ? and marry her and I'd like to see the photograph of the antediluvian uncle that cnn throw a cold chisel into my cogs and get away with It." , Crooked Bill thought swiftly of nil the things he would have to explain tt Roberta ever learned what he had. been up to, and bis thoughts saddened him. "Can you fix it with the Judge to disapprove the sale?" ;?& "Certainly, pn ofTer ten cents a head more for those sheep than you have. I can't spare that amount of ready cash to put Into sheep Just now, *? you'll loan me the money, secured by a chattel mortgage on the sheep?" But Crooked Bill had been crowded fit enough. "Pit see you in h? i first." ?*Pect to land your ?elf If Bobby hears what you've been dp to? Uncle Bill, Jim Higglns Is talking to you now.'* "Don't you call me Uncle Bill. D? n yen, you're Impertinent** "How you do vlolAte the rules of '"w "? ? x . v $ ? hospitality I Well, please answer my question.* ? . "You've got me fouL Don Pru den do Alvlso evidently dldnt receive any Instructions from you regarding those sheep, so the deal's gone through." Don Jaime sighed. "I wanted it to go through ? until I discovered the identity of the buyer. But I wasn't certain about you until I suggested a drink. I wanted to see you walk. If you didn't limp I was going %to let you have the sheep. But If you limped ? " "You've been slow on the trigger. Jim Higglns. Just a few hours, though." ' Evidently. Why did you want those sheep ?" "So my niece would have no further excuse to remain at Valle Verde. I'm not playing you as the favorite in this race. Mr. Hlgglns, I don't want my niece to marry you. You confounded Latins are too mercurial. Besides, I donjt want Roberta to live In Texas. She's like a daughter to ma I'd miss her. I'm an old man ? " Don Jaime sipped his Julep thought fully. "I wouldn't bet more than a five-cent bag of tobacco that you're go ing to have your peace of mind dis turbed, but? I'll disturb it if I can. You don't figure very largely In my plans, either, and I don't believe you ever went bust. Judging by the care less way you buy sheep, you must have money to bura Who did you sell the sheep to?" "Bill Dingle. That Is, I haven't sold them to him yet, but the deal is ready to be closed." Ah, on Jawbone, eh? You're going to take a chattel mortgage and sell at a loss, for Dingle Is too good a sheep man to give you a profit on your deal." Don Jaime commenced to chuckle. "You're doomed to pay a high price for your fancies, Uncle William. Din gle will sell those sheep as soon as he can and beat it for parts unknown with the money, leaving you to charge that chattel mortgage ofT on your next Income tax statement." Crooked Bill's face registered alarm. "You think so T* "Well after you've closed the deal I'll bet you a hundred thousand dollars he 11 try to. And he'll succeed unless he's stopped. Let me know the min ute the deal with Dingle Is closed, be cause Immediately thereafter I'm going to guard every water-hole, and those sheep of yours will die of thirst before Dingle can move them off that range." I think Til sell you those sheep," Crooked BUI faltered. "You're regaining your senses. I'll buy them from you? at two dollars a head less than you paid for them. I'll teach you to take a joke, mister. You horned In on my private affairs and now you've got to fee the fiddler. And 1 11 not pay cash, either. Five per cent' interest on a chattel mortgage. How ever, you'll be safe with a chattel mortgage of mine." If I sell to you will you give me your word of honor never to tell Ro berta a word about this?" "I'm willing to make that stipula tion a part of the contract. Let's shake hands on It" They shook hands. "You're a smart devil," said Crooked Bill admiringly. "I'm sort of sorry I conspired against you, but I had my reasons. I wanted Glenn Hackett, my attorney, to be my nephew-ln-lnw. He's a gentleman." ''So am I." "You're a wild Irish bandit. You Just get by, and one of these days you'll not. Somebody will tunnel you yet." They hnd dinner, after which they strolled over to Don Prudenclo Al vlso's office and closed the sale of the sheep. "And now," Crooked Bill de manded. when the deal wns consum mated, "I'll forgive you a whole lot, JiUfi Higglns, if you'll tell me how come you got on to me." So Don Jaime told him. "Serves me right," the old gentleman declared. "I played my hand poorly. Well, I'm out of the sheep business, it Beerns so about all that's left for me to do now Is to go back to New York." "Oh, say not so, Uncle Bill. Ju?t go , back to the hotel, climb Into your reg ular clothes and come along out to the ranch with me. You'll surprise Ro berta. Sho'll think I sent for you, Jnst to give her a pleasant surprise, and she'll be very grateful. Thus I shall boom my stock a bit with her. No sldes, I wnnt you to see Valle Verde." "I saw It twenty five years ngo." "You'd never know the old home stead now. I want to show you the room you'll occupy six months of the year. Then, when I visit you at Dobbs Ferry you can reciprocate and show me the room I'll occupy there nix months of the year? provided I mnrrv Roberta." "You going to ask her?" "At the proper time." "Thanks for the proffer of your hos pitality, son, but I'll not accept it. You see. I 'm going to put the skids under you and it Just wouldn't ho right to harbor such Intentions while under your roof." "So you're going to make Roberta coma homo, are you?" "That's the program." "Oot * good excufee?" MTho best in the world. I've mnde another killing in the market, the sheep have been sold to advantage, and she hasn't an excuse in the world for hantfpf arppnd Valle Verde; wait ing for you to screw your courage up to the point of proposing." Don Jaime sighed. "Well, I'm not exactly shackled to those sheep. I have good men to care for them. I suppose there's a hotel of sorts In Dpbbs Ferry where I can put up while paying court to Roberta," he announced plaintively. "She'll invite me to the house, of course, and you'll have to stand for it, because you can never give a good and sufficient reason for objecting to me. Tou know, deep in your wicked old heart. Uncle Bill, that I'm quite a fellow. Before I ask Ro berta to msrry me I mean to be cer tain she's going to like Texas well enough to live in it I want to know that life will no{ be dull for her on "You Confounded Latins Are Too Mercurial." i Valle Verde. I want her to know the Job I'm doing and why I'm doing it. I want her to realize that If she mar ries me she's got to be an asset, not a liability. Consequently, I want her to stay another month, at least, and learn things." "She'd never be happy with you. You're too fierce and tough, in your friendly, humorous way, which is just your camouflage. You're a dangerous man." "Look here. Uncle Bill, has it oc curred to you that an Hlguenes is step ping out of his class to mate with an Antrim?" All the fierce, hot pride of his Spanish ancestors was flaring In Don Jaime's black orbs. "You knew my father. You know the tribe of Hlguenes. We have no family skele tons, and If Tom Antrim suborned one murder he suborned half a dozen. My Spanish Ancestors were not peasants, I'll have you understand." **Oh, I know that I It's your Irish ancestors that I object to." ??Ireland was Ireland when England was a pup. My Irish ancestors were twanging harps in Tara's halls when your Anglo-Saxon progenitors were blubbering because somebody had stolen their bearskins and left them naked." "Oh, well, let's not talk about it. You've had your way with me and now I'll have my way with you if I can. I wouldn't fool you, boy." CHAPTER XI An hour later Crooked Bill boarded the train for El Paso, but before doing so he sent the following telegram to Qlenn Hackett: "The ship Is sunk without a trace so brace yourself for bad news stop This Hlgglns boy gave me cards and spades four aces big and little casino and bet me to death on the sweeps stop I am mighty sorry you have lost but far from depressed that he ap pears to bo going to win stop I belong in a homo for the feeble-minded." At almost the same time Don Jaime Joined Ken Hobart in front of the Mansion house. "Any luck?" Hobart queried nnx iously. "I'm In the sheep business nnd may God have mercy on my soul, Ken. To morrow morning we'll pay off that gang of murderers Dingle hns herd ing those sheep and put our own men on the Job. Dingle gets the raus, too." "Well, you'll clear a nice profit, won't you, chief?" "What," replied Don Jaime mourn fully, ,"doth It profit a man If he galneth the whole world and suffereth the loss of the lode-star of his exist ence?" "None whatever," Ken admitted, without knowing In the least what he was talking about. Five miles outside Los Algodones his sharp eyes observed something far ahead and off the side of the road. He called Don Jaime's attention to it. In the starlight a tiny red dot gleamed. "Cigarette? Mexican ? careless," Don Jaime murmured. "Ah, he's doused It (letting ready for business." He reached down into the tonneau and brought up a carbine; simultaneously Ken Hobart, swung the car off the road and went crashing away through the low sage In a wide arc. (There may bo holes and dry watercourses on this road," he announced calmly, "but we'll have to take a chance." He switched off the lights just as a volley of rifle Are broke the stillness of the night The car was hit twice but most of the bullets droned over head. Don Jaime pumped his carbine, firing at the flashes, and the car crashed on; when the magazine was empty he set the rifle back in the ton neau. "They'll be careful after that," he announced calmly. "They'll not close with us, because they know we're bad medicine at close quarters, Ken. Bet ter swing back into the road." They did, and reached the hacienda without further Incident. Don Jaime alighted and entered the patio, while Ken Hobart drove the cur to the garage. Roberta ran swiftly to meet Don Jaime. "You're safe, Jimmy?" she cried in a choking voice. "Reasonably so, Bobby," he replied. "My information was correct. Dlu gle's crowd of imported killers laid for us. Well, that finishes Bill Dingle in Las Cruces county. Tomorrow he goes and on the run, or somebody will be carrying him to slow music that he won't hear. Have you been worried, ! Bobby?" he asked gently. She nodded. "It's been a long time since anybody ; worried over me, Bobby. What will I do when you're gone?" "What did you do before I came, Jimmy? And I think? Jimmy, I'd better go soon. There's really nothing more of a business nature for me to attend to. There never was, in fact ? Just a few papers to sign, some sheep to look at ? and they're really your worry, not mine. This afternoon i re ceived a letter from my uncle. It seems that after losing his money on a big rise, he plunged again on the ' same stock, anticipating it would drop sharply. Our friend ? Glenn Ilackett? backed him. and I secured Glenn with an assignment of the Antrim estate. There are no other heirs, you see. Well, the stock performed as expected, and Uncle Bill is on his feet again. Glenn Is paid back, and Uncle Bill wants me to sell the sheep for what ever I can get for them and come home." "Well, that's certainly very nice news for all hands* with the exception of the Hlguenes boy. I don't want you to go, Bobby. We're Just getting ac quainted with each other." "And I don't want to go. either? so soon. It's been wonderful to visit Valle Verde. It's quiet here, so peace ful. At first I thought it such a for lorn country, but now I can see beauty in it I can understand why you love It, Jimmy, and why you wouldn't give It up for anything in the world. It's yours. This land Is part of you, these people are your responsibilities. It must be wonderful to have responsi bilities. You mustn't take risks. You mustn't fight with that Dingle man." "Oh. there will be no fight I'll Just tell him to get out of Las Cruces coun ty and he'll get out By the way, is Glenn Hackett a pretty fine fellow?" "As fine as a man can be, I think." "Are you going to marry him, Bob- i by?" ] "No." She fairly fired the word at him. "Kxcuse me for being curious about your business Roberta, but I Just wanted to know If you had a reason able excuse for going back to New York. You're very welcome here. Won't you please stay a little longer?" "No, I think not Jimmy." He shrugged. ''Well, suit yourself. But anyhow, we'll tie a can to Dingle and his men before you go." He stifled a little yawn. "I'm tired, Bobby. Breakfast at six tomorrow morning. Will you Join me? Then we can get an early start for the old Antrim ranch and Jolt Mr. Dingle out of his complacency." She nodded and turned away to hide the tears of mortification that were welling to her eyes. Why couldn't he see that she did not want to leave Valle Verde at all? Why had he not urged her to stay? Of course he had urged her, but then he had not been persistent in it. If ho had persisted she would have reconsidered. No, he did not love her. Absolutely not I Out wardly he was fiery ; Inwardly he was cold. * Roberta felt very miserable as she bade him good night with a little catch in her throat. At breakfast Jimmy noted the faint circles under her eyes and rejoiced exceedingly thereat "When they worry so about a fellow that they can't aleep, .a dpaf man with hla ear to the ground may not infrequently catch the faint sound of distant wed* ding bells," he reflected. They chatted in desultory fashion during the meal ; then Roberta went to fetch her coat and hat She was wait ing for him at the patio gate when he emerged from the ranch office, a car bine In his hands, a belt of ammuni tion around his waist and the two pearl-handled pistols tied down to his legs, Julio brought the en closed car up and when they cflrnoed In. Roberta noticed that beside Julio Bat Ken Hobart He was armed sim ilarly to his chief and carried a spare carbine ? for the use, in an emergency, of the boj^Jullo. doubtless. An hour Inter they pulled up at the Antrim ranchhouae. Ken Hobart got out, walked to the front door and banged on It loudly. A Chinaman, in a greasy apron, opeu?d it. "Where's Dingle?" the foreman de manded. "He go ketchum sheep. No come back long time." Hobart walked around the house and Inspected the interior of an equal ly dilapidated bam. "I Imagine the Chinaman's tel\ln^ the truth. Dingle's car la not in the barn," he reported. "We've had our drive for nothing. Ken. Well, we'll go back to Valte Verde, put a couple of saddle horses in a truck and run down to the range where the sheep are. We'll go as far as we can with the truck, and this car, then unload and ride up into the hills. Game for the Journey, Hobby V She nodded and they whirled across the dusty plain to Valle Verde. Here four horses were saddled and led up a ramp Into a large motor truck, and, preceded by the motorcar, they headed down the road toward Los Algodones. They l^ft the road presently and broke trnll ocross the sage to the fool hills, where the ramp was let down from the rear of the motor truck and the horses backed out. "Ken. you and Julio ride in a north easterly direction," Don Jaime ordered. "Miss Antrim and I will ride in the general direction of that butte yonder to the southeast. Aurello, you will re main here with the truck and motor car. We will meet here not later than four o'clock this afternoon, Ken." Roberta mounted the hunter Don Jaime had given her. To her surprise she found a light carbine protruding from a holster swung under the sweat leather on her stock saddle, and a belt of cartridges hung over the pommel. "Am I expected to do some shooting In the event of emergency, Jimmy?" she queried. "Not at all. But you can shoot ? at least that magazine article I read about you so stated. If we should get separated, even briefly, I'd feel better to know you were armed. I've been charged on this range by wild hogs." "In that event I Imagine I can take care of myBelf," she assured him. They rode steadily Into the south east, gradually climbing the butte; when they reached Its crest a wide val ley lay outspread before and below them, and Don Jaime reined In his horse. With his binoculars he swept the country for miles In every direc tion, but there was no sign of the vast flock. "It would seem we're In for a good hard ride If we are to find Mr. Dingle with those sheep," Roberta ventured, as he lowered the binoculars. "They were In thnt valley yesterday and two miles south of It the day before. There's feed for a week yon der. ... I don't understand." He searched with the glass again to the south, then handed It to her. "Do you see a slight film of white dust In the sky ? rising beyond those low slate colored hills yonder?" lie pointed. Roberta adjusted the glasses and looked. Tho cloud In question wns very faint, but ? It was a cloud. "Sheep moving ? south," Don Jnlme Informed her laconically. "Roberta, I have a hunch your Mr. Dingle Is yon der with that dust cloud headed for Mexico with the said sheep." "You mean ? he's stealing them?" "I do. There's fair range below the Rio Orande for sheep ? and It Isn't at nil a difficult Job for the Dingles of this world to get across the line with out being detected. Well, we can't af ford to lose our sheep, can we?" "It would mean a severe loss," Ro berta answered. "Is there no way to stop him?" (TO HE O'ONTlNURn.) Nature Responsible for Bestowal of Talents Bvery Anntomy In defective ?om? where. IteARonlng by analogy, can wo expect perfect Intelligence in our Relveii or In others? Scorn for the moron aeema to Imply that we think that the moron, by taking thought, might cease to be one. I^t oar own deflclenclcM make na charitable. Do we comprehend the Klnatetn theory; do we know what the financial col umn* on the market and bust nets page* mean to a degree that we cAn make money by them an some do; could we Inrent Anything mechan lonl? Whnt in tho onpnclty of our mind? Providence bestow* upon u* our tnlenta ?? It bo?town upon um our nrmft, Iojjr n?(1 Internal ortcnna to l><> nsod n? wo bent know how. If wo hnvo "that kind of n brnln"? nmonx our other "Internnl orRnns" ? thnt In tho kind of brnln wo hnvo. Whom , doe* It become to bo hnrwh nbout the wits of other*? ? F II. (Jollier In tho 8t. Loula Globe-Demoemt. Fool* Btenl time nnd temper. IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY I chool Lesson (Ojr HEV. P. B. PITZWATBR. D. D.. U?m of F*oultjr, Moody BlbU Institute of Cl>lc??o.) Ck INI. WMtwq Niwi^ptr Uol>n. Lesson for January 1 JOHN PREPARES THE WAY FOR JESUS Mark 1:1-11. GOLDEN TEXT ? Prapare ye the *aj of tb? Lord, make hts paths straight. Mark 1:1. ' PRIMARY TOPIC? A Faithful M?i MDger. JUNIOR TOPIC? The King's Mes Mnrer. INTERMEDIATE AND 8ENIOR TOP IC ? Reralds of the King. TOUNO PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC ? Preparing the Way for the Christ, Since the lessons for the first six months of 1033 are mainly taken from the Gospel according to Mark. It Is necessary to grasp the central purpose of this Gospel. In the Old Testament Is set forth an august portrait of the Messiah. He Is the Branch, the King (Jer. 23 :6) ; the Branch, the Servant (Zech. 3:8); the Branch, the Man (Zech. 0:12); the Branch of the Lord (Isa. 4:2). The fourfold account contained In the Gospels, placed alongside the Old Testament predlctlonss tits exactly. Matthew presents him as the King; Mark, the Servant of the Lord ; Luke as the Kinsman-Redeemer, and John as the Son of (Jod. The central theme of Mark Is the gospel of .Tesus Christ, the Son of God (1:1). The key verse Is Mark 10:45. "The Son of man came not to he ministered unto, hut to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." The key words are i ??straightway," ??forthwith." "Immedi ately." The picture of the divine Ser vant energetically doing the Father's work Is most beautiful, for the girded one Is as beautiful as the arrayed one. I. Who la This Servant (v. 1)? This servant who so fully and en ergetically executed the divine will Is the very Son of God. II. The Forerunner of the Divine Servant (vv. 2-S). 1. Who he was (vv. 2, 3). He was John the Baptist who was prophesied of more than five hundred years before #(Isa. 40 :3). 2. His mission (v. 2). It was to pre pare the way for Christ's coming. He represented himself as but a voice of one crying In the wilderness. Fie was therefore God's voice proclaiming the divine will and purpose. He was con tent to be but a voice. 8. Ills message (vv. 3-8). a. Prepare ye the way of the Lord (v. 3). It was customary for servants to go before distinguished personages and prepare the way over which they were to travel. In this preparation there was to be a removal of stones, the leveling of the surface, etc. John's message meant therefore that the peo ple should remove from their hearts everything which hindered the Incom ing of the Lord? He called upon them to humble themselves, to bring down the high places of pride and straighten out the crooked places and confess their sins. b. The baptism of repentance (v. 4). In preparation for the coming of Christ, people were to repent of their sins. Those who repented were to be baptized. Baptism was to be admin istered to those who repented as an expression of penitence which led to forgiveness of sin. c. The coming of the Messiah (vv. 7, 8). The coming one was to be much greater than himself, so great that John was unworthy to loose the latchet of his Bhoes. The superior dignity of Christ was not only In his person but in the work he was to per form. John merely baptized with wa ter but Jesus with the Holy Ghost. 4. His success (v. fi). People from all over Judea and Jerusalem went out and were baptized. John's dress and demeanor were In keeping with his stern mission. He was clothed with camel's hair and bad on a girdle of skin. Locusts and wild honey con stituted his food. His food and dress indicated that he had withdrawn from the world as a protest against Its follies and sins. III. The Divine Servant Baptized (vv. Oil). .Testis was not baptized because be sinned and therefore needed repent ance, but because he had taken the sinner's place and was about to ac complish his work which would con stitute the basis of nil righteousness. He wns now dedicating himself to the task of bringing In righteousness through his sacrificed death. Observe In connection with his baptism: 1. The opened heavens (v. 10). This Indicated bis connection with henven. 2. The descent of the Spirit upon him (v. 10). This was the divine seal to his work. 8. The voice of approval from henven (v. 11). This made clear to John the fact that Jesus was the Messiah. Be Busy . When you are very busy, your be llefs like your clothes will wear out rapidly, and you will provide yourSeir with new ones. But keep very busy. . . Religion Is not what men be lleve. . . . Religion Is what men do with their beliefs. A Dlvin* Man God win not have his work mudo manifest by cowards. It needs it di vine man to exhibit anything dlvln*.? Kmerson.