GUNLOCK RANCH
’ by Frank H. Spaarnoa
SYNOPSIS
SImpt Cat, d*aart towr of lha South-
w**t la calabratlnc tha Pourth of Jaljr.
Jana Van Tambal. ftaaHttful dauchtar
of Qua Van Tambal, hatad ownar of
Gunlock ranch, haa arrlvad from tha
Kaat for tha flrat tlma Sha watchaa tha
Prontlar Day calabratlon In company
with Dr. Carpy. cruaty, tendar-haartad
friend of tha community. Henry Bawdy
of the Circle Dot ranch, tricked In a
fake hgrae race the day before by Dave
McCroasen. foreman at Gunlock, plana
revenue. He entera BUI Denlaon, a
handsome younK Texas wranRler, In
the rodeo which MoCroaaen la favored
to win, and lays heavy beta on him
with Harry Boland, saloonkeeper and
crony of McCroasen. Unknown to the
crowd, Denison Is a champion horse
man. McCroasen and the younK atramcer
tie In the various events. They are
then asked to propose their own stunts.
McCrossen wlnnlnK the toss, picks up
a handkerchief from the K rnund rldlnK
full speed, faclnK backward. Denison
easily follows suit.
CHAPTER I—Continued
—3—
It was now the Texan’s turn. Snwdy
ran out on the track to his side. “C.lve
him the saddle and bridle trick,” he
whispered.
The wrangler, still breathing fast, de
murred. “He’s seen It done. Probably
he can do It himself, Sawdy.”
“No matter. It’ll make a hit, tire
him out.”
“I’m getting tired of this show my-
aelf. It’s been pretty long.” objected
the rider. ‘T.eave It to me, will you?
I’ll give him one he’s never seen—one
you’ve never seen.” There was a fur-
iier whispered conference.
“Oo to It!" exclaimed Sawdy, after
a moment, seemingly confident of his
repreaentstlve. Then he turned to the
little grsndstand.
“Ijidles ’n’ gentlemen an’ honorabl*
Judges,” he began. "Circle Dot has
tried to contribute In a humble way to
yoor entertainment thla afternoo*.
You r* all anxlooa to see thla contest,
grand aa It haa been, brought to a de
rision. Our entry for the prise will
bow present a feat never before seen
in Sleepy Cat."
Reining to the middle of the track,
the wrangler drew from a buttoned
breast pocket of his Jersey a packet of
rlgarefto paper* and a small aack of
tobacco, Seated oa bla pawing horse
ho rolled bla cigarette, pat away the
makings, bang the cigarette oa bla Up.
and lifted bla hat aa be looked ep at
the spectator* and felt In another
pocket for a match. While doing no ho
awkwardly dropped the rtgnrette; It
fell from hie lip te the daety track. II#
hast ever la the saddle te took regret
f*lly down at tha cigarette where H
lay : thee tarsed hie hocae and awwty
circled the rod leg abject aa he c*ro
fatty arrvtlalaed the tie
Hewdy atepped te tbe aide ef the
graodetend and after hie wewal aelete
ti«o. began, hat la hand “thw Ctrrfte
tSag wrangler sremi t* he a Utile a*i
ward te«tay -aeevawe. awyho Tea
ere. lod.ee he heon t had eark a bevy
of elegant eomea te look at foe assay,
many weeks Wove bora ea a Uag.
herd drive aa' haveel sera oe mark as
a part are ef a omen girt fee sigh
threw aeealhe— ae wwadee Ne t aerveaa*
“Hear I Hear T cried Carpy sad hie
“Where r * he demaaded. And getting
rely a tough omtlaoed
W halevee the rraeua. ledtea so
gent* the hoy has dropped hie rigs
retle Ilea mehia' motions ts am ta
H< h It sp Rat It's toe mark Is ask
of a fat mas let him pirfc ap the
cigarette hlaasrlf (»o, buy. gar*
As the wrangler cantered leisurely
down the track. Sawdy. os spicier. r*a
tinned te eiplaln :
“He will »<>w try ridtn' at top speed,
to pick op his cigarette If he sac
credo. I am sure yoe will all be wtllia’
to ore him enjoy omokia' It. after a
hard hour s work. If be falls under
these speed conditions, he will retire
aa gracefully as i>oasthle frtm the
track an' turn a similar Job over to bla
esteemed rival. Our wrangler will use
the quirt oo bis pony for the drat time
today. All we'll s*k Is. Just please give
the boy quiet when he rbleo up."
The wrangler had wheeled his horse
fifty yards down the track and sat
waiting for Sawdy’a signal.
The cowman raised a warning hand.
“Are you ready?" The wrangler nod
ded. “Go!” shouted Sawdy.
, Quirting his pnn^ smartly and bend
ing In the saddle ns the wiry little
gelding sprang In long leaps ahead, the
wrangler, nearing the stand, swung
over to the right so low In the saddle
that he trailed his hand in the dust.
He was going very fast, and his Job
In this straining posture was to locate
a narrow smudge of brown paper lying
in yellow dust.
CHAPTER II
In the grandstand there was a cran
ing of necks, a straining of eyes, and
a hush.
Only the soft clatter of the pony’s
hoofs as he now flew down toward the
grandstand struck the ear. A slender
streak of dust rose from where the An
gers trailed along the track. As he
neared the vicinity of the cigarette,
the wrangler lifted his fingers Just
above the dust and bent his straining
eyes ahead. He passed the grandstand
like k flash.
Aa he did so, his right hand was
Hung out, jnst once, and his fingers
•truck at the dust. He dashed ahead,
straightened himself gradually In the
saddle, and, holding bla right hand
high, checked tbe pony and rode slowly
back.
Th« judges clambered down from
tbatr stand and ran oat on the track
Oaevflsbt rvwak M
WHO ‘
They looked In vain dretamfor a trace
of the cigarette; stirred op the dust
where It might he hidden. But the
wrangler, riding back toward them,
held the damaged cigarette between
the thumb and the forefinger of hla
right hand.
Boland was wild. He rushed out to
Join the Judges. "It's a plain trick!"
he shouted. “He pretended to pick up
one cigarette an’ had another In hla
hand."
“Hell!” blurted out BUI Pardaloe.
"Where's the cigarette he dropped here
In the first place?" he asked, pointing
to the track. “It was right here. I
seen It." He appealed to the other
Judges, "You seen It.” The two nodded
assent. “What you talkin' about, Bo?”
Boland was Industriously searching the
track. "Find It! But be damned care
ful you don’t try to drop another ciga
rette like It! Watch him, John,” warned
I’ardaloe, wrought up.
"The horse might have picked It up
on his hoof," bellowed Boland. "Yes,”
commented Selwood. “Yes. Examine
the pony’s mouth, too, Boland. He may
not have swallowed It yet. I say, gen
tlemen,’’ he added, "the Circle Dot boy
has done a clean Job. Now let’s see
McCrossen perform.”
But McCrossen, stubbornly rejecting
all his backers’ entreaties, refused to
perform. “Wouldn’t I be a sucker to
try to beat a man at hla own game?"
he demanded.
"That trick's do part of frontier
rldin'. It's never been done before at
a Sleepy Cat celebration.”
“It's progress, gentlemen; progress,
I call It If It ain’t been done In Sleepy
Qkt It’s been done plenty at other cel
ebrations. So you," thundered Sawdy,
“want a brilliant crowd of fair women
and brave men to aet here year after
year an’ be bored stiff with the same
old tricks? Gents P be appealed to
tbe Judges. "I call for Jadgment"
Tbe Judges huddled. At a Unit dis
tance Sawdy aad Lefever huddled with
tbe wrangler oa tbe gelding,
ly Lefever stepped ever te tl
"Dents." h<
A •at* t*s R**y Tt
tide, we make
mas will sew
any trick o* e
ckampio* vasts te try. We waat te he
perfectly fair."
"To* mesa." retorted Selwood.
“you r* mesa enough ta beat tha boots
off him aa' carry away the boots. Wed,
Boland." he called out. turning ta tbs
saloon keeper, “you heard tbaL Do you
want to take that challenge?"
“MctTwaaen haa done all tbe tricks
and done ’em well."
“If you decline,” declared Selwood.
"Judgment for the fancy rldin’ goes to
Circle IH>L It la so ordered. Stop your
yawp, Harry Boland.”
Boland continued to protest, but the
verdict, announced to the spectators,
met with wild approval. They declined
to let the wrangler go. Thby swarmed
out on the track and refused to let him
ride away.
He was assailed with cries. “Do It
again! . . . Once more! . . . Again!”
Sawdy, after a conference with the
favorite, made a stentorian announce
ment: “If you’ll all get off the track
and shut up,” he began, "our lad will
give you one more exhibition.”
When the track was cleared and the
men were again seated, the portly
spieler continued: "To show there was
no trick in the cigarette ride, and to
show there's no collusion. I’ll ask any
lady In the audience to throw any lit
tle personal ornament of wear out on
the track. Now hold on.” He held up
his hand In warning as several.women
began to search for something to throw
out. “The object must be not too small
to grasp. ... A ring? Doubtful. ...
A hatpin? No, for God’s sake, nothin’
sharp. Hold still. That young lady
next to Dr. Carpy"—he pointed—*‘Isn’t
that a small bracelet I see on her left
arm? Just the thing. I^dy, if you’d
lend us that bracelet for a minute,
we'll show you some rldin’.”
Sawdy was addressing Jane Van
TambeL
“Oh. I won't do It!” exclaimed Jane.
Sawdy looked pained, but kept hla
eye fixed on tbe bracelet. “Oo ahead,
girl, throw It out!" suggested Carpy.
“Never! Tbe pony might step on
I it"* protested Jena. •
»
Vexed, hot unwilling to Ignore tbe
growing clamor of the spectators, Jane
rone reluctantly, peaked the slender
gold band over her wrist, and, pausing
for an awkward feminine throir« flung
It out ungraciously on the track. The
crowd applauded. Jane blushed.
The bracelet fell cloae to the grand
stand side of the track. Sawdy thought
too cloae, but tbe wrangler, riding over,
nodded that he could make It.
The wrangler wheeled bla horse, snd
cantered down the track. Wheeling
again, he patted hla pony's neck and
headed up ' toward the grandstand.
Again the pony took the quirt, leaped
ahead, and, with the onlookers mostly
standing to see and holding their
breath, the wrangler dashed for the
bracelet.
Once more he swung over to the
right of his saddle till he could trail
his hand easily along In the dust of the
track. With eyes straining an<f every
nerve taut, the wrangler, sighting the
shining object, struck for It. At the
same Instant, out of perfect silence a
sudden vicious yell rang from some
where about the grandstand. The pony,
startled, sprang straight sidewise,
throwing his rider head first Into the
dust, and bolted across the track, drag
ging the wrangler, caught by one foot
In the stirrup.
A murmur rose, breaking Into cries
of anger and shame. Every eye was
fixed on the dragging rider.
The pony headed for the Inside guard
rail of the track fence. Half a dozen
Circle Dot riders now shot after him.
If the panic-stricken horse should leap
the fence, he would dash the wrangler
against It. probably to death.
Bat while the panicky specta
tors stared, speechless, the wrangler,
dragged along at breakneck speed,
shook loo*e hla foot and. rolling with
the momentum over and over on tbe
track, sprang to hla feet, covered with
dust The boltiiy pony cleared the
fence and dashed across tbe field.
Tbe angry wrangler steadied himself
after a step or twe, hla eye* roving
over the faces before him. striving to
catch bla breath. With bis qalrt still
bsnglBg from bla wrist, his hair rum
pled and bis browsed features dost
smeared, hie shirt torn half off bis
beck, and brsathlog bard and fast, be
•toed eyeinc tbe crowd and raised bis
voles Is • lewd and riser drawl:
"If tbe calf that Jam bedewed far
milt Isn't tee mart ef a coward ta
walk dewa here. It agree la bettie-
fsed him wttb a aaftvt."
There were a few sppUedlac laa«ha.
has way
that
De Year Own Thinking
He abo thinks for himself Is amoaf
thus# whs ara solving tha vorida
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"Yeafe a
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A leag haired, edld voiced ladtas
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yoe!"
Jane was sitting so close te tbs ah
terratloe sbs could have tooebed tbe
nearest man. She rose la slana. Dr.
Carpy pushed her te hla other side.
She heard Sandy thunder, "Ns more
lyin’, Barney! There’s two wltneeees.”
That was almost all she could re
member. There were a few more sharp
words. Then tbe dusty wrangler, short
ening his quirt, sprang at Rebstock.
knocked off hla hat with one hand, and
with the other brought the heavy han
dle down savagely on Rebstock’s fore
head. Jane saw the red follow the
blow like the cut of a knife.
There was Instant uproar. McCros
sen sprang forward to defend Reb
stock. Hd was too late. Ills hand
slipped to his gun holster. Carpy,
Jumping up, stood almost over the
brawlers. “Hold on, there! Hold on!”
he thundered. "The first man tha?
draws a gun here, I’ll run out of
Sleepy Cat!”
Dr. Carpy was the only man In
Sleepy Cat who could have done It
But. his word was the last word in
Sleepy Cat. No one cared to face hla
wrath. He turned to Jane. “Don’t be
frightened, girl. It’s all over."
Cheers greeted the wrangler as he
walked back with his cronies to where
the contrite pony stood oo ths track
Although his attire was In much dis
array, his manner put his hearers per
fectly at ease. “I know,” he said to
those who had returned to the grand-
stanu, and patting his mount, “that
this generally well-behaved little Texas
pony is as much ashamed of his con
duct as 1 am, and I know he would like
to apologize, if you'll glvs him a
chance.”
(TO BE CONTINUED
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