Duncan Adds Two And Two
: The Trail To YesterdayHad Langford known that there had been a witness to his visit to Dakota he
might not have ridden away from the latter's cabin so entirely satisfied
with the result of his interview.
Duncan had been much interested in Langford's differences with Doubler. He
had agitated the trouble, and he fully expected Langford to take him into
his confidence should any aggressive movement be contemplated. He had even
ex
as its object the downfall of the nester, for thus he hoped to satisfy his
personal vengeance against the latter.
But since the interview with Doubler at Doubler's cabin, Langford had been
strangely silent regarding his plans. Not once had he referred to the
nester, and his silence had nettled Duncan. Langford had ignored his
hints, had returned monosyllabic replies to his tentative questions,
causing the manager to appear to be an outsider in an affair in which he
felt a vital interest.
It was annoying, to say the least, and Duncan's nature rebelled against
the slight, whether intentional or accidental. He had waited patiently
until the morning following his conversation with Langford about Dakota,
certain that the Double R owner would speak, but when after breakfast the
next morning Langford had ridden away without breaking his silence, the
manager had gone into the ranchhouse, secured his field glasses, mounted
his pony, and followed.
He kept discreetly in the rear, lingering in the depressions, skirting the
bases of the hills, concealing himself in draws and behind boulders--never
once making the mistake of appearing on the skyline. And when Langford was
sitting on the box in front of Dakota's cabin, the manager was deep into
the woods that surrounded the clearing where the cabin stood, watching
intently through his field glasses.
He saw Langford depart, remained after his departure to see Dakota
repeatedly read the signed agreement. Of course, he was entirely ignorant
of what had transpired, but there was little doubt in his mind that the
two had reached some sort of an understanding. That their conversation and
subsequent agreement concerned Doubler he had little doubt either, for
fresh in his mind was a recollection of his conversation with Langford,
distinguished by Langford's carefully guarded questions regarding Dakota's
ability with the six-shooter. He felt that Langford was deliberately
leaving him out of the scheme, whatever it was.
Puzzled and raging inwardly over the slight, Duncan did not return to the
ranchhouse that day and spent the night at one of the line camps. The
following day he rode in to the ranchhouse to find that Langford had gone
out riding with Sheila. Morose, sullen, Duncan again rode abroad,
returning with the dusk. In his conversation with Langford that night the
Double R owner made no reference to Doubler, and, studying Sheila, Duncan
thought she seemed depressed.
During her ride that day with her father Sheila had received a startling
revelation of his character. She had questioned him regarding his
treatment of Doubler, ending with a plea for justice for the latter. For
the first time during all the time she had known Langford she had seen an
angry intolerance in his eyes, and though his voice had been as bland and
smooth as ever, it did not heal the wound which had been made in her heart
over the discovery that he could feel impatient with her.
"My dear Sheila," he said, "I should regret to find that you are
interested in my business affairs."
"Doubler declares that you are unjust," she persisted, determined to do
her best to avert the trouble that seemed impending.
"Doubler is an obstacle in the path of progress and will get the
consideration he deserves," he said shortly. "Please do not meddle with
what does not concern you."
Thus had an idol which Sheila worshiped been tumbled from its pedestal.
Sheila surveyed it, lying shattered at her feet, with moist eyes. It might
be restored, patched so that it would resemble its original shape, but
never again would it appear the same in her eyes. She had received a
glimpse of her father's real character; she saw the merciless, designing,
real man stripped of the polished veneer that she had admired; his soul
lay naked before her, seared and rendered unlovely by the blackness of
deceit and trickery.
As the days passed, however, she collected the fragments of the shattered
idol and began to replace them. Piece by piece she fitted them together,
cementing them with her faith, so that in time the idol resembled its
original shape.
She had been too exacting, she told herself. Men had ways of dealing with
one another which women could not understand. Her ideas of justice were
tempered with mercy and pity; she allowed her heart to map out her line of
conduct toward her fellow men, and as a consequence her sympathies were
broad and tender. In business, though, she supposed, it must be different.
There mind must rule. It was a struggle in which the keenest wit and the
sharpest instinct counted, and in which the emotion of mercy was
subordinate to the love of gain. And so in time she erected her idol again
and the cracks and seams in it became almost invisible.
While she had been restoring her idol there had been other things to
occupy her mind. A thin line divides tragedy from comedy, and after the
tragedy of discovering her father's real character Sheila longed for
something to take her mind out of the darkness. A recollection of Duncan's
jealousy, which he had exhibited on the day that she had related the story
of her rescue by Dakota, still abided with her, and convinced that she
might secure diversion by fanning the spark that she had discovered, she
began by inducing Duncan to ask her to ride with him.
Sitting on the grass one day in the shade of some fir-balsams on a slope
several miles down the river, Sheila looked at Duncan with a smile.
"I believe that I am beginning to like the country," she said.
"I expected you would like it after you were here a while. Everybody does.
It grows into one. If you ever go back East you will never be
contented--you'll be dreaming and longing. The West improves on
acquaintance, like the people."
"Meaning?" she said, with a defiant mockery so plain in her eyes that
Duncan drew a deep breath.
"Meaning that you ought to begin to like us--the people," he said.
"Perhaps I do like some of the people," she laughed.
"For instance," he said, his face reddening a little.
She looked at him with a taunting smile. "I don't believe that I like
you--so very well. You get too cross when things don't suit you."
"I think you are mistaken," he challenged. "When have I been cross?"
Sheila laughed. "Do you remember the night that I came home and told you
and father how Dakota had rescued me from the quicksand? Well," she
continued, noting his nod and the frown which accompanied it, "you were
cross that night--almost boorish. You moped and went off to bed without
saying good-night."
It pleased Duncan to tell her that he had forgotten if he had ever acted
that way, and she did not press him. And so a silence fell between them.
"You said you were beginning to like some of the people," said Duncan
presently. "You don't like me. Then who do you like?"
"Well," she said, appearing to meditate, but in reality watching him
closely so that she might catch his gaze when he looked up. "There's Ben
Doubler. He seems to be a very nice old man. And"--Duncan looked at her
and she met his gaze fairly, her eyes dancing with mischief--"and Dakota.
He is a character, don't you think?"
Duncan frowned darkly and removed his gaze from her face, directing it
down into the plain on the other side of the river. What strange fatality
had linked her sympathies and admiration with his enemies? A rage which he
dared not let her see seized him, and he sat silent, clenching and
unclenching his hands.
She saw his condition and pressed him without mercy.
"He is a character, isn't he? An odd one, but attractive?"
Duncan sneered. "He pulled you out of the quicksand, of course. Anybody
could have done that, if they'd been around. I reckon that's what makes
him 'attractive' in your eyes. On the other hand, he put Texas Blanca out
of business. Does that killing help to make him attractive?"
"Wasn't Blanca his enemy. If you remember, you told father and me that
Blanca sold him some stolen cattle. Then, according to what I have heard
of the story, he met Blanca in Lazette, ordered him to leave, and when he
didn't go he shot him. I understand that that is the code in matters of
that sort--people have to take the law in their own hands. But he gave
Blanca the opportunity to shoot first. Wasn't that fair?"
It seemed odd to her that she was defending the man who had wronged her,
yet strangely enough she discovered that defending him gave her a thrill
of satisfaction, though she assured herself that the satisfaction came
from the fact that she was engaged in the task of arousing Duncan's
jealousy.
"You've been inquiring about him, then?" said Duncan, his face dark with
rage and hatred. "What I told you about that calf deal is the story that
Dakota himself tells about it. A lot of people in this country don't
believe Dakota's story. They believe what I believe, that Dakota and
Blanca were in partnership on that deal, and that Dakota framed up that
story about Blanca selling out to him to avert suspicion. It's likely that
they wised up to the fact that we were on to them."
"I believe you mentioned your suspicions to Dakota himself, didn't you?
The day you went over after the calves? You had quite a talk with him
about them, didn't you?" said Sheila, sweetly.
Duncan's face whitened. "Who told you that?" he demanded.
"And he told you that if you ever interfered with him again, or that if he
heard of you repeating your suspicions to anyone, he would do something to
you--run you out of the country, or something like that, didn't he?"
"Who told you that?" repeated Duncan.
"Doubler told me," returned Sheila with a smile.
Duncan's face worked with impotent wrath as he looked at her. "So
Doubler's been gassing again?" he said with a sneer. "Well, there's never
been any love lost between Doubler and me, and so what he says don't
amount to much." He laughed oddly. "It's strange to think how thick you
are with Doubler," he said. "I understand that your dad and Doubler ain't
exactly on a friendly footing, that your dad was trying to buy him out and
that he won't sell. There's likely to be trouble, for your dad is
determined to get Doubler's land."
However, that was a subject upon which Sheila did not care to dwell.
"I don't think that I am interested in that," she said. "I presume that
father is able to take care of his own affairs without any assistance from
me."
Duncan's eyes lighted with interest. Her words showed that she was aware
of Langford's differences with the nester. Probably her father had told
her--taking her into his confidence while ignoring his manager. Perhaps he
had even told her of his visit to Dakota; perhaps there had been more than
one visit and Sheila had accompanied him. Undoubtedly, he told himself,
Sheila's admiration for Dakota had resulted from not one, but many,
meetings. He flushed at the thought, and was forced to look away from
Sheila for fear that she might see the passion that flamed in his eyes.
"You seen Dakota lately?" he questioned, after he had regained sufficient
control of himself to be able to speak quietly.
"No." Sheila was flecking some dust from her skirts with her riding whip,
and her manner was one of absolute lack of interest.
"Then you ain't been riding with your father?" said Duncan.
"Some." Sheila continued to brush the dust from her skirts. After
answering Duncan's question, however, she realized that there had been a
subtle undercurrent of meaning in his voice, and she turned and looked
sharply at him.
"Why?" she demanded. "Do you mean that father has visited Dakota?"
"I reckon I'm meaning just that."
Sheila did not like the expression in Duncan's eyes, and her chin was
raised a little as she turned from him and gave her attention to flecking
the grass near her with the lash of her riding whip.
"Father attends to his own business," she said with some coldness, for she
resented Duncan's apparent desire to interfere. "I told you that before.
What he does in a business way does not interest me."
"No?" said Duncan mockingly. "Well, he's made some sort of a deal with
Dakota!" he snapped, aware of his lack of wisdom in telling her this, but
unable to control his resentment over the slight which had been imposed on
him by Langford, and by her own chilling manner, which seemed to emphasize
the fact that he had been left outside their intimate councils.
"A deal?" said Sheila quickly, unable to control her interest.
For a moment he did not answer. He felt her gaze upon him, and he met it,
smiling mysteriously. Under the sudden necessity of proving his statement,
his thoughts centered upon the conclusion which had resulted from his
suspicions--that Langford's visit to Dakota concerned Doubler.
Equivocation would have taken him safely away from the pitfall into which
his rash words had almost plunged him, but he felt that any evasion now
would only bring scorn into the eyes which he wished to see alight with
something else. Besides, here was an opportunity to speak a derogatory
word about his enemy, and he could not resist--could not throw it
carelessly aside. There was a venomous note in his voice when he finally
answered:
"The other day your father was speaking to me about gun-men. I told him
that Dakota would do anything for money."
A slow red appeared in Sheila's cheeks, mounted to her temples,
disappeared entirely and was succeeded by a paleness. She kept her gaze
averted, and Duncan could not see her eyes--they were turned toward the
slumberous plains that stretched away into the distance on the other side
of the river. But Duncan knew that he had scored, and was not bothered
over the possibility of there being little truth in his implied charge. He
watched her, gloating over her, certain that at a stroke he had
effectually eliminated Dakota as a rival.
Sheila turned suddenly to him. "How do you know that Dakota would do
anything like that?"
Duncan smiled as he saw her lips, straight and white, and tightening
coldly.
"How do I know?" he jeered. "How does a man know anything in this country?
By using his eyes, of course. I've used mine. I've watched Dakota for five
years. I've known all along that he isn't on the square--that he has been
running his branding iron on other folks' cattle. I've told you that he
worked a crooked deal on me, and then sent Blanca over the divide when he
thought there was a chance of Blanca giving the deal away. I am told that
when he met Blanca in the Red Dog Blanca told him plainly that he didn't
know anything about the calf deal. That shows how he treats his friends.
He'll do anything for money.
"The other day I saw your father at his cabin, talking to him. They had
quite a confab. Your father has had trouble with Doubler--you know that.
He has threatened to run Doubler off the Two Forks. I heard that myself.
He wouldn't try to run Doubler off himself--that's too dangerous a
business for him to undertake. Not wanting to take the chance himself he
hires someone else. Who? Dakota's the only gunman around these parts.
Therefore, your dad goes to Dakota. He and Dakota signed a paper--I saw
Dakota reading it. I've just put two and two together, and that's the
result. I reckon I ain't far out of the way."
Sheila laughed as she might have laughed had someone told her that she
herself had plotted to murder Doubler--a laugh full of scorn and mockery.
Yet in her eyes, which were wide with horror, and in her face, which was
suddenly drawn and white, was proof that Duncan's words had hurt her
mortally.
She was silent; she did not offer to defend Dakota, for in her thoughts
still lingered a recollection of the scene of the shooting in Lazette. And
when she considered her father's distant manner toward her and Ben
Doubler's grave prediction of trouble, it seemed that perhaps Duncan was
right. Yet in spite of the shooting of Blanca and the evil light which was
now thrown on Dakota through Duncan's deductions, she felt confident that
Dakota would not become a party to a plot in which the murder of a man was
deliberately planned. He had wronged her and he had killed a man, but at
the quicksand crossing that day--despite the rage which had been in her
heart against him--she had studied him and had become convinced that
behind his recklessness, back of the questionable impulses that seemed at
times to move him, there lurked qualities which were wholly admirable, and
which could be felt by anyone who came in contact with him. Certainly
those qualities which she had seen had not been undiscovered by
Duncan--and others.
She remembered now that on a former occasion the manager had practically
admitted his fear of Dakota, and then there was his conduct on that day
when she had asked him to return Dakota's pony. Duncan's manner then had
seemed to indicate that he feared Dakota--at the least did not like him.
Ben Doubler had given her a different version of the trouble between
Dakota and Duncan; how Duncan had accused Dakota of stealing the Double R
calves, and how in the presence of Duncan's own men Dakota had forced him
to apologize. Taken altogether, it seemed that Duncan's present suspicions
were the result of his dislike, or fear, of Dakota. Convinced of this, her
eyes flashed with contempt when she looked at the manager.
"I believe you are lying," she said coldly. "You don't like Dakota. But I
have faith in him--in his manhood. I don't believe that any man who has
the courage to force another man to apologize to him in the face of great
odds, would, or could, be so entirely base as to plan to murder a poor,
unoffending old man in cold blood. Perhaps you are not lying," she
concluded with straight lips, "but the very least that can be said for you
is that you have a lurid imagination!"
In Duncan's gleaming, shifting eyes, in the lips which were tensed over
his teeth in a snarl, she could see the bitterness that was in his heart
over the incident to which she had just referred.
"Wait," he said smiling evilly. "You'll know more about Dakota before
long."
Sheila rose and walked to her pony, mounting the animal and riding slowly
away from the river. She did not see the queer smile on Duncan's face as
she rode, but looking back at the distance of a hundred yards, she saw
that he did not intend to follow her. He was still sitting where she had
left him, his back to her, his face turned toward the plains which spread
away toward Dakota's cabin, twenty miles down the river.
More
-
Where Northern Lights Come Down O' Nights
The Mission House at Togiak stands forlornly on a wind-swept Alaskan spit, while huddled around it a swarm of dirt-covered "igloos" grovel in an ecstacy of abasement. Many natives crawled out of these and stared across the bay as down a gully cam... Where The Path Led
By daylight next morning every man and most of the women among the new arrivals had disappeared into the hills--the women in spite of the by-laws of Lee's Creek, which discriminated against their sex. When a stampede starts it does not end with th... Where The Wheel Tracks Led
Bud Jessup removed a battered stew-pan from the fire and set it aside to cool a little. "Well, by this time I reckon friend Tex is all worked up over what's become of me," he remarked in a tone of satisfaction, deftly shifting the coffee-pot to... Wherein A Woman Lies
"Aren't you going to welcome me, dearie?" From the porch of the Bar B ranchhouse Rosalind had watched the rapid approach of the buckboard, and she now stood at the edge of the step leading to the porch, not more than ten or fifteen feet distant ... Wherein Andy Green Lies To A Lady
In the soft-creeping dusk came Andy Green, slouched in the saddle with the weariness of riding since dawn; slouched to one side and singing, with his hat far back on his head and the last of a red sunset tinting darkly the hills above him. Tip-toe o... While The Going's Good
At supper Bud noticed that Marian, standing at his right side, set down his cup of coffee with her right hand, and at the same instant he felt her left hand fumble in his pocket and then touch his elbow. She went on, and Bud in his haste to get outs... White Sage
THE night was as a blank to Hare; the morning like a drifting of hazy clouds before his eyes. He felt himself moving; and when he awakened clearly to consciousness he lay upon a couch on the vine-covered porch of a cottage. He saw August Naab open... Whose Letters?
There is something about a night alarm of fire at a military post that borders on the thrilling. In the days whereof we write the buildings were not the substantial creations of brick and stone to be seen to-day, and those of the scattered "camps"... Why Bud Missed A Dance
"Bud, you're fourteen kinds of a damn fool and I can prove it," Jerry announced without prelude of any kind save, perhaps, the viciousness with which he thrust a pitchfork into a cock of hay. The two were turning over hay-cocks that had been drenche... Why Don't You Give Them Something Real?
"Well, you don't seem crazy about it. What's the matter?" Robert Grant Burns stood in his favorite attitude with his hands on his hips and his feet far apart, and looked down at Jean with a secret anxiety in his eyes. Without realizing it in the l... With Bare Hands At Last
In after years, when Wade tried to recall that mad ride, he found it only a vague blur upon his memory. He was conscious only of the fact that he had traveled at a speed which, in saner moments, he would have considered suicidal. Urging the big bl... With Bridges Burned
Louis Mitchell knew what the telegram meant, even though it was brief and cryptic. He had been expecting something of the sort ever since the bottom dropped out of the steel business and prices tobogganed forty dollars a ton. Nevertheless, it came... With Interest To Date
This is the tale of a wrong that rankled and a great revenge. It is not a moral story, nor yet, measured by the modern money code, is it what could be called immoral. It is merely a tale of sharp wits which clashed in pursuit of business, therefor... With Malice Aforethought
Town lay twelve straight miles before the lover and his sweetheart, when they came to the brow of the last long hill. All beneath them was like a map: neither man nor beast distinguishable, but the veined and tinted image of a country, knobs and f... Without Benefit Of Clergy
When the steamer had gone Napoleon Doret went to look for Necia, and found her playing with the younger Gales, who revelled in the gifts he had brought. Never had there been such a surprise. Never had there been such gorgeous presents for little f... Wolf
ON the anniversary of the night Mescal disappeared the mysterious voice which had called to Hare so often and so strangely again pierced his slumber, and brought him bolt upright in his bed shuddering and listening. The dark room was as quiet as a... Woman-walk-in-the-night
The dawn of another cloudless day was breaking and the dim lights at the guard-house and the hospital burned red and bleary across the sandy level of the parade. The company cooks were already at their ranges, and a musician of the guard had been ... Woman-walk-no-more
More morning suns than could be counted in the field of the flag had come, and gone, but not a sign of Natzie. Wren's own troopers, hot on Punch's flashing heels, were cooling their own as best they could through the arid days that followed. Wren ... Word To Bennington
They kept their secret for a while, or at least they had that special joy of believing that no one in all the world but themselves knew this that had happened to them. But I think that there was one person who knew how to keep a secret even better... World's End
Barbara Morgan had fought Deveny until she became exhausted. Thereafter she lay quiet, breathing fast, yielding to the nameless terror that held her in its icy clutch. The appearance of Deveny so soon after the end of the heartbreaking ride dow... Would You Be A Parson?
After this I gave up my experiments in conversation. So that by the final afternoon of our journey, with Sunk Creek actually in sight, and the great grasshoppers slatting their dry song over the sage-brush, and the time at hand when the Virginian ... Wounded Body And Soul
To say the Sioux were furious at the failure of their second attempt would be putting it far too mildly. The fierce charge from the northward side, made under cover of the blinding smoke sent drifting by the gale across the level flats, had been p... Wrangle's Race Run
The plan eventually decided upon by the lovers was for Venters to go to the village, secure a horse and some kind of a disguise for Bess, or at least less striking apparel than her present garb, and to return post-haste to the valley. Mean... Yetmore's Mistake
Three months had elapsed when Tom Connor turned up one day with a very long face. All his drilling had brought no result; he was at the end of his tether; he could see no possible chance of ever repaying the borrowed money, and so, said he, would ... You Can Tell Jessie
In the days that followed Rowdy was much alone. There was water to hunt, far ahead of the herd, together with the most practicable way of reaching it. He did not take the shortest way across that arid country and leave the next day's camping-place t... You Can't Play With Me
Good Indian was young, which means that he was not always logical, nor much given to looking very far into the future except as he was personally concerned in what he might see there. By the time Sunday brought Miss Georgie Howard and the stir of pr... You Re Going To Love Me Before We Get Through
The Swinton barbecue was over. The fiddles were silent, the steer was eaten, the barrel emptied, or largely so, and the tapers extinguished; round the house and sunken fire all movement of guests was quiet; the families were long departed homeward... A Meeting On The River Trail
About ten o'clock in the morning of a perfect day Sheila left the Double R ranchhouse for a ride to the Two Forks to visit Doubler. This new world into which she had come so hopefully had lately grown very lonesome. It had promised much and it had... A Parting And A Visit
The problem which filled Duncan's mind as he sat on the edge of the slope overlooking the river was a three-sided one. To reach a conclusion the emotions of fear, hatred, and jealousy would have to be considered in the light of their relative impo... A Woman On The Trail
Many disquieting thoughts oppressed Miss Sheila Langford as she halted her pony on the crest of a slight rise and swept the desolate and slumberous world with an anxious glance. Quite the most appalling of these thoughts developed from a realizati... Bethune Pays A Call
It was past noon when Patty sank into the chair beside her table and glanced about her with a sigh of satisfaction. Warm June sunlight streamed through the open door and lay in a bright oblique patch upon the scrubbed floor. The girl's glance st... Bethune Tries Again
For several days following the incident of the two struggling horsemen, Patty rode, extending her quest farther and farther into the hills, and thus widening the circle of her exploration. She had overhauled her father's photographic outfit and fo... Bogged Down
Each day during the two weeks that her father had been at the Double R Sheila had accompanied him on his rides of exploration. She had grown tired of the continued companionship, and despite the novelty of the sight she had become decidedly wearie... Converging Trails
It was the barking of a dog that brought Sheila out of a sleep--dreamless this time--into a state of semi-consciousness. It was Dakota's dog surely, she decided sleepily. She sighed and twisted to a more comfortable position. The effort awakened h... Dakota Evens A Score
With the thermometer at one hundred and five it was not to be expected that there would be much movement in Lazette. As a matter of fact, there was little movement anywhere. On the plains, which began at the edge of town, there was no movement, no... Doubler Talks
After the departure of the doctor Sheila entered the cabin and closed the door, fastening the bars and drawing a chair over near the table. Doubler seemed to be resting easier, though there was a flush in his cheeks that told of the presence of fe... Duncan Adds Two And Two
Had Langford known that there had been a witness to his visit to Dakota he might not have ridden away from the latter's cabin so entirely satisfied with the result of his interview. Duncan had been much interested in Langford's differences with ... For Dakota
Though in a state of anxiety and excitement over the incident of Duncan's attack on Doubler and the subsequent shooting, together with a realization of Dakota's danger, Sheila did not lose her composure. She ran to the river and secured the water,... In The Cabin
For a long time after the departure of her visitors, Patty Sinclair sat thinking. Was it true, all this man had told her? She remembered vividly the beautiful tribute he had paid her father and the emotion that had gripped him as he finished. Sure... Into The Unknown
After a time Sheila rose from the bunk on which she had been sitting and stood in the center of the floor, looking down at her father. Dakota had not moved. He stood also, watching Langford, his face pale and grim, and he did not speak until Sheil... Kindred Spirits
Looking rather more rugged than when he had arrived at the station at Lazette two weeks before, his face tanned, but still retaining the smooth, sleek manner which he had brought with him from the East, David Dowd Langford sat in a big rocking cha... Langford Lays Off The Mask
The sun was still an hour above the horizon when Sheila rode up to the corral gates. While removing the saddle and bridle from her pony she noted with satisfaction that the horse which her father had been accustomed to ride was inside the corral. ... Lord Clendenning Gets A Ducking
Patty awoke at dawn and dressed hurriedly. Shivering in the chill air, she lighted a match and pushed back a lid of the little cast iron cook stove. Instead of the "cold fire" of neatly arranged wood and kindlings that she had built before leaving... Patty Draws A Map
That evening after supper, Patty sat upon her doorstep and watched the slowly fading opalescent glow in which the daylight surrendered to encroaching darkness. "How wonderful it all is, and how beautiful!" she breathed. "The indomitable ruggedness... Patty Finds A Glove
Dismounting before her cabin, Patty dropped her reins, pushed open the door, and entered. Her eyes flew to the little dressing table. The packet was gone! With a thrill of exultation she carefully inspected the room. Everything was exactly as she ... Patty Makes Her Strike
It was noon, one week from the day she had returned from the Samuelson ranch, and Patty Sinclair stood upon the high shoulder of a butte and looked down into a rock-rimmed valley. Her eyes roved slowly up and down the depression where the dark gre... Patty Takes Precautions
During the next few days Patty Sinclair paid scant attention to rock ledges. Each morning she saddled her cayuse and rode into the hills to the southward, crossing divides and following creeks and valleys from their sources down their winding, twi... Prospecting
The gray of early morning was just beginning to render objects in the little room indistinguishable when Patty awoke. She made a hasty toilet, lighted the fire, and while the water was heating for her coffee, delved into the pack sack and drew out... Sheep Camp
If Patty Sinclair had anticipated annoyance from the forced attention of her tall horseman of the hills, she was disappointed, for neither at meals, nor during the shopping tour that occupied the whole of the following day, nor yet upon the long h... Sheila Fans A Flame
Sheila departed from the quicksand crossing nursing her wrath against the man who had rescued her, feeling bitterly vindictive against him, yet aware that the Dakota who had saved her life was not the Dakota whom she had feared during her adventur... Sheriff Allen Takes A Hand
The sheriff's posse--three men whom he had deputized in Lazette and himself--had ridden hard over the twenty miles of rough trail from Lazette, for Duncan had assured Allen that he would have to get into action before Dakota could discover that th... Some Memories
When Sheila recovered consciousness she was in Dakota's cabin--in the bunk in which she had lain on another night in the yesterday of her life in this country. She recognized it instantly. There was the candle on the table, there were the familiar... Strictly Business
For two or three quiet weeks Sheila did not see much of Duncan, and her father bothered her very little. Several nights on the gallery of the ranchhouse she had seen the two men sitting very close together, and on one or two occasions she had over... The Bishop Of All Outdoors
The days slipped into weeks, as Patty Sinclair, carefully and methodically traced valleys to their sources, and explored innumerable coulees and ravines that twisted and turned their tortuous lengths into the very heart of the hills. Rock ledges w... The Dim Trail
Sheila had been dreaming of a world in which there was nothing but rain and mud and clouds and reckless-eyed individuals who conversed in irritating drawls when a sharp crash of thunder awakened her. During her sleep she had turned her face to the... The Horse Raid
Patty did not know how long she had slept when she awoke, tense and listening, sitting bolt upright in bed. Moonlight flooded the room through the windows thrown wide to admit the chill night air. Beyond the valley floor, green with the luxuriant ... The Parting On The River Trail
"I'll be leaving you now, ma'am." There was a good moon, and its mellow light streamed full into Dakota's grim, travel-stained face as he halted his pony on the crest of a slope above the Two Forks and pointed out a light that glimmered weakly thr... The Race For The Register
Beside the little table Patty Sinclair listened to the sound of hoofs splashing through the shallows of the creek and thudding dully upon the floor of the valley beyond. When the sounds told her that the horseman had disappeared into the timber, s... The Samuelsons
Patty retired that night with her thoughts in a whirl. So, it was Monk Bethune who, all along, had been plotting to steal the secret of her father's strike? Monk Bethune, with his suave, oily manner, his professed regard for her father, and his bu... The Shot In The Back
For an instant after discovering Doubler lying in the doorway, Sheila stood motionless at the corner of the cabin, looking down wonderingly at him. She thought at first that he was merely resting, but his body was doubled up so oddly that a grave ... This Picture And That
IT was a scene of wild, virgin beauty upon which Sheila Langford looked as she sat on the edge of a grassy butte overlooking the Ute River, with Duncan, the Double R manager stretched out, full length beside her, a gigantic picture on Nature's can... Unmasked
At the Samuelson's ranch they found not only the doctor but Len Christie. Mr. Samuelson's condition had taken a sudden turn for the better and it was a jubilant little group that welcomed Patty as she rode up to the veranda. Vil Holland had mutter...