Illinois Valley news., August 21, 1941, Page 6, Image 6

Illinois Valley News. Thursday, August 21, 1941
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INSTALLMENT 1.3
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THE STORY SO FAR:
Dusty King and Lew Gordon had built
■p a vast string of ranches King was
killed by his powerful and unscrupulous
competitor, Ben Thorpe
Bill Roper,
King's adopted son. was determined to
avenge his death In spite of the opposl-
• •
CHAPTER XVII—Continued
A shiver ran the length of Jody
Gordon's body. Casually, as if they
were talking about getting breakfast,
these quiet-faced men were speak­
ing of a proposed death—the death
of a boy who had once been very
close to her, and very dear. Sud­
denly she was able to glimpse the
power and the depth of the animosi­
ty behind the mission of these men.
No effort and no cost would seem
to Ben Thorpe too great if in the
end Bill Roper was struck out of ex-
istence.
"Jim," the younger rider said so-
berly, “if Roper's got his wild bunch
with him—Jim, it's such a fight as
none of us have ever gone into yet!
When you stop to think that any
time—any minute—a bunch of ’em
may land in here—”
"Charley’s on lookout,” Jim Leath­
ers shrugged. "We’ll know in plenty
time."
A silence fell, a long silence.
Heavy upon Jody Gordon was the
panic of an open-space creature held
helpless within close walls.
Her
voice was low and bitter. "You're
■et on holding me here?”
“No call to put it that way,” Jim
Leathers said mildly, almost gen­
tly
But his eyes denied that mild­
ness, so that behind him Jody sensed
again the vast animosity built by
the Texas Rustlers' War.
"I want a flat answer,” Jody said
bravely. "Are you going to give
me a horse, or not?"
Once more Jim Leathers' canine
teeth showed in his peculiarly un­
pleasant grin. "Hell, no," he said.
tlon of his sweetheart. Jody Gordon, and
her father. After wiping Thorpe out of
Texas. Roper conducted a great raid
upon Thorpe's vast herds in Montana
Roper left for Lew Gordon’s home when
told that Jody had disappeared. Unable
a
•
to reconcile her father with Roper. Jody
had set out with Shoshone Wilce to find
hirn
They were attacked by some of
Thorpe's men hiding tn Roper’s shack.
Wilce escaped but Jody was captured.
The men decided to hold her as batt.
' beyond his age, in a face so dark
and lean-carved it was hard to rec-
. ognize behind it the face of Dusty
King's kid
He made no attempt
to answer a question which was nec­
essarily meaningless to him.
He
finished pulling off his gloves, unbut­
toned his coat, and hooked his
thumbs in his belt before he spoke.
“I heard yesterday that Jody has
turned up missing," he said.
"I
came to Miles hell-for-leather to see
if it's so. From what I could find
out down m the town, no word has
come in on where she is. If that's
true, I don’t aim to give my time
to anything else until she's found."
"It was your own man talked her
into it,” Gordon said with menace.
"My own man? What man?"
"A little sniveler called Shoshone
Wilce. Everybody knows he was a
scout coyote for you, before Texas
ever run you out.”
"Nobody run me out of any place,”
i
Roper said; but his mind whipped
to something else. It was true that
he talked to certain men in the town
before he had come here, Now sud-
denly he knew that he had learned
what he had come to find out. He
buttoned his coat, pulled on his
gloves.
Gordon confronted him stubbornly.
"I mean you shan't leave here with­
out telling me what you know.”
A glint of hard amusement was
plain in Bill Roper's eyes, “I know
what you’ve told me. But I’ll add
this onto it.
I think you’ll soon
have back your girL I'm walking
out of here now. Lew. because it's
time for me to look into a couple of
things. But I'll be seeing you—if
Thorpe don't get you first."
The veins st^od out sharply on
Lew Gordon’s forehead, high-lighted
by a faint dampness. “In all fair­
ness I'll tell you this,” he said. "It’s
true I can't lift a gun on you, or
on any man who stands with empty
hands. But as soon as you're out of
that door, all Miles City will be on
the jump tn see you don't get loose.
Twenty thousand hangs over your
head, my boy!"
"Quite a tidy little nest egg.” Rop­
er agreed. 'Td like to have it my­
self."
A trick of the wind sent a great
whirl of papers across the room as
he went out.”
He had not come here without pro­ i
viding that the horse which waited
under his saddle was fresh and good.
He struck westward now out of Miles
City, unhurrying. At the half mile
he found a broad cross trail where
some random band of cattle had
trampled the snow into a trackless
pavement. He turned north in this,
followed it for a mile, then swung
northwest over markless snow. Now
that this horse was warmed a lit­
tle he settled deep In his saddle and
pushed the anima) into a steady
trot; at that gait, even in the snow,
he could expect the tough range-
bred pony to last most of the night
“You mean to deny you know
where she is?” Gordon shouted.
Roper's voice did not change.
"You talk like a fool.” he said.
Lew Gordon's eyes were savagely
intent upon Roper’s face; he was
trying to discover if this man could
be believed.
“You may be lying," he added at
last, "and you may not, but I'll tell
you this—you sure won’t leave here
CHAPTER XVIII
Perhaps Lew Gordon should have
known that if Bill Roper learned of
Jody's disappearance at all, Roper
would come directly to him.
And, knowing this, he should have
prepared himself. But Lew Gordon
had not met Roper face to face in
nearly two years; and nothing was
farther from his mind than the pos­
sibility that Roper would walk in
upon him now.
Upon this night Lew Gordon was
pacing tlie main room of his little
Miles City house; forty-eight hours
hud passed since his daughter's dis­
appearance and the old cattleman
Lew Gordon'* eye* were savage­
had lashed himself into a state of
ly intent on Roper’s face.
repressed fury comparable to that
of a trap-baffled mountain lion, or till I find out where my girl is.
a goaded bear.
Everything that You’re wanted anyway, my laddie
could be done to locate his daugh­ buck; there's a legal reward on your
ter was being done.
,
head, right now—and part of it was
He knew that Jody's disappear­ put up by me."
ance was voluntary, and he knew its
"I heard that," Bill Roper said.
purpose. The brief but highly in­ "When I get ready to leave, I'U
formative note that Jody had left leave, all right. My advice to you is
him told him that much It simply to begin using your head. I may be
said:
in a kind of funny position. But it
"One of you must be made to see I puts me where I know things about
reason. I am going to talk to Billy the Montana range that neitlier you
Roper myself."
nor your outfits have got any clue to.
What ttiis did not tell him was If you want your daughter back you
where Roper was. or how Jody ex I J better
figure to use what I know
peeled to find him.
Impatient of I about the Deep Grass."
mystery and delay, he could not un- |
Lew Gordon compelled himself to
derstand why his many far-scattered 1
i temporize.
What he couldn't get
cowboys could dig up no word. For
■ around was his own belief that Rop­
al) he knew, his daughter was by
er knew something definite, specific,
this time lost somewhere in Uie
about where Jody had gone—or had
frozen wastes of snow, in immedi­
started out to go. He must have
ate desperate need of help.
known also, in spite of the bluff to
Lew Gordon sat alone for a little
which anger had prompted him, that
while. For Uie moment his help­
he could not hold Roper here when
less anger was burned down mto a
Roper decided to leave, nor force
heavy weariness. His mind was full
any information from him in any
of his daughter, whom he persistent­
way whatever.
ly pictured as a little girl, much
"What is it you want to know?”
more of a child than she actually
he asked at last, helpless, and angry
was any more.
Suddenly it struck him how curi­ in his helplessness.
ous it was that in this bare room
in which he sat there was no sign
of any kind that Jody had ever been
here at all. This was partly be­
cause she had never lived here nor
even been expected here; but it
brought home to him sharply how
much of his life had been given
to cattle, how little to his daughter
It made him realize how little he
knew his daughter, and how little
he had ever given her of himself
This was Lew Gordon's stute of
nnnd as Uie door thrust open, let­
ting in a brief lash of wintry wind;
and he wheeled in his chair to face
Uie last man on earth he had ex
pected to see.
Bill Roper shook a powdering of
dry snow off the roll of his coat
collar. then stood looking at Lew
Gordon in a cool hard silence as he
pulled off his gloves. Once this man I
had been almost a son to Lew Gor
don the adopted son, in actuality, of
Lew Gordon's dead partner. But a 1
detln'te enmity now replaced what
a little while ago had been a friend­
ship as deep and close as the vari­
ance in their ages could permit All
the meaning of their association, al­
most as long as Bill Roper's life,
was gone, wiped out by those two
smoky years since the death of
Dusty King.
For a moment or two Lew Gordon
stared at him in utter disbelief. Then
be whipped to his feet.
"Where is she?” he demanded in­
tensely, furiously. "What have you
done with her?”
Bill Roper no longer looked like '
the youngster Dusty King had raised
on the trail
His gray eyes looked
bard snd extremely competent, old i
I
"In the first place. I want to know
what made you think Jody was
with me?"
"You swear.” Lew Gordon de-
manded. "you don't know the an-
swer to that?"
"1 don't swear anything," Roper
said. "I asked you a question. Lew ”
I.ew Gordon hesitated. It was a
good many years since anyone had
talked to him in the tone Bill Roper
took; but for once the purpose in
hand outpowered the violence of his
natural reaction. He turned from
his litter of papers, and handed Bill
Roper the little scrap of Jody's
handwriting which was all she had
left to indicate where she was gone.
"One of you must be made to see
reason. I am going to talk to Billy
Roper myself."
When Bill Roper had read that.
the eyes of the two men met in hos­
tile question.
"Thia looks mighty like a false
lead, to me," Bill Roper said at last.
"Like as if she aimed to cover up
where she really went,
Don't
hardly seem likely she'd start out
to come to me."
"I know she went
you
becaus« she said she did. My girl
don't lie."
Roper shrugged ' Why should she
do that?"
I hi J IS «
/
A
Mill
f
I N I
I I c » I O N
CHAPTER XIX
A tired horse is not much In­
clined to shy, toward the end of a
long day's travel; ana when Lull
Roper's horse snorted and jumped
sidewise out of its tracks the rider
looked twice, curiously, at the car­
cass which had spooked his pony A
dead pony on the winter range be­
ing a fairly common thing, he was
about to ride on, when he noticed
something about this particular dead
pony which caused him to pul) up
and dismount for a closer examina­
tion.
After leaving Lew Gordon he had
ridden deep into the night. Half an
h"ur would bring him within sight
of the Fork Creek rendezvous, and
he was eager to push on. so that his
deduction as to Jody’s whereabouts
might have a quick answer, one way
or the other; but when he had ex­
amined the dead pony he was glad
that he had checked.
This was no winter-killed pony.
The bright trace of frozen blood that
had first caught Roper's eye was
the result of two gunshot wounds in
neck and quarters.
A dark foreboding possessed Rop­
er as he studied the dead pony. Rop-
’ er himself was short-cutting through
I the hills, following no trail The co­
incidence that he had stumbled upon
, the carcass in all those snowy
wastes could be accounted for only
in one way: both Roper and the
pony had followed a line of least
resistance through the hills—a line
that had the Fork Creek rendezvous
at its far end. His discovery told
him that there had been fighting at
Fork Creek within the last forty­
eight hours
If he was right in
believing that Jody had come to
Fork Creek—
He remounted and swung north­
ward, mercilessly whipping up his
weary pony, but approaching the
Fork Creek camp roundabout, be-
hind masking hills and through hid-
den ravines.
An hour passed be-
fore he threw down his reins .md
crept on hands and knees to the
crest of a ridge commanding the
valley of the Fork
He moved a half nnle closer and
resumed his watch; but for some
time he could make out nothing.
Then just as the sun set. three
men moved out of the cabin. For a
moment or two they stood in the
snow close together One went back
into the cabin The two others dis­
appeared for a moment, to reappear
mounted. They separated, and Rop­
er watched them ride in opposite di­
rections up the nearest slopes of the
hills These passed beyond his sight,
but in another minute or two their
ways were retraced by two other
riders.
“Outposts."
Roper
decided,
"Somebody's keeping a bell of i
careful watch."
(TO Hi COX TIM ID)
ILLIONS of those who follow
baseball on the field or through
the sporting pages of the country
have become steamed up over the
stretch batting battle between Ted
Williams of the Boston Red Sox and
Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yan­
kees. Here are the two great mod­
ern hitters, the ranking class of 1941
with .400 or thereabouts set as the
winning goal.
They deserve all the plaudits and
the hoarse huzzas of those who fol­
low the base hit
from the single to
the home run. But
if a few of these
millions don't mind
I’d like to take
them back into a
younger country
and tell them the
story of three ma­
jor hitting contests
that I believe over­
shadow Williams
Grantland Rice and DiMaggio.
It may be the en-
croaching years. It may be the
humidity. But I’ll stand on the fig­
ures and the class, as the multi­
tudes of 1941 stifle a laugh.
Cobb-Jackson—1911
When the American league season
of 1911 opened Ty Cobb, the Georgia
Peach, had led his league four suc­
cessive seasons. At the age of 25
he was just coming to his peak.
That same year a tall, lanky cn-
try from Brandon Mills. S. C., had
reported to Cleveland from New Or-
leans. His name was Shoeless Joe
Jackson.
"The Carolina Crash­
smith," picked by Cobb, Ruth and
Speaker as "the greatest natural
hitter that ever lived.”
“O, the brave song his black bat
sung" as Shoeless Joe stepped into
the ball. Cobb, on
his way then to nine
straight batting
championships and
a run of 12 league­
leading years out of
13 in a row. kept
waiting for the Car­
olina rookie to
break. Cobb started
above .400 and he
kept above 400 But
he couldn’t shake
off
the
gangling
Ty Cobb
challenger with the
free-wheeling and effective swing
And those were the days when Ed
Walsh was spinning his famous
"spitter” through—when they were
using emery balls, and every type
of fuzz to make the ball dip and
skid and duck and slide.
f A.
About Jackson
Who was this rookie who could
neither read nor write, who had
gone shoeless in most of his earlier
games, to challenge the great Cobb’
Connie Mack had turned him back
in 1908 and 1909.
Cleveland had
turned him back to New Orleans in
1910. Why. we'll never know. For
his lowest average in those years
had been .354
Even a blind man could sense the
lyrical smoothness of his swing.
That year Shoeless Joe carried Ty
Cobb to the wire. Ty finished at
.420. Jackson, the rookie, at .408.
Ty needed his greatest year to beat
Jackson out.
Was Shoeless Joe merely a one-
year fluke?
A year later Cobb found himself
down the stretch, again batting
above 400. with Jackson now in the
lead.
Jackson was .420.
It was
here that Ty. applying winning psy­
chology, refused to speak to Jack-
son in a Detroit-Cleveland series and
Shoeless Joe. wondering what he
had done to offend a friend, fell into
a brief slump.
At least this is the story of those
days. In any event. Ty went on to
win with an average of .410 against
Jackson's 395.
In those two seasons the Shoeless
Swinger had averaged 402 for his
first two years in the majors, yet he
couldn't lead the league.
Cobb and Speaker
Cobb had run into a close call
years before against Larry Lajoie,
the most graceful ball player of all
time and one of the game's great
hitters. But he came to the cam­
paign of 1916 for his tenth consecu­
tive shot at the batting champion­
ship. Today they rave about one
year at the top.
Here was his chance to lead his
league 10 straight years.
Cobb
went into a tailspin. He batted only
.371 as Speaker finished at 386
He had been facing such pitching
stars as Cy Young. Walter John-
son. Ed Walsh. Addie Joss. Rube
Waddell, Eddie Plank. Chief Bend-
er. Jack Coombs. Smoky Joe Wood
—an amazing galaxy.
Except for this one year interlude,
Cobb would have led the big parade
13 straight years As it was he came
back to make it 12 out of 13 and to
finish with a 24-ycar average around
3«3
We are removing no credit from
the extremely able hitting of Ted
Williams and Joe DiMaggio. We are
merely offering them a target at
which they can shoot.
Cobb—Jackson—Lajoie—Speaker
—they were "far away and long
ago ” But they could lather that
whirling apple
Don't let anyone
tell you differently.
All or Nothing
The Glutton
Shyly the young man stood be­
fore the father of his adored.
“Mr. Jones,” he stammered, “I
—er—will—er—what I want is to
ask you for your daughter’s
hand."
The old man frowned as he took
his pipe from his mouth.
“Can’t do that.” he growled;
“you must take the whole girl or
nothing.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” shout­
ed the street performer, “in a few
moments I will astonish you by
eating coal, stones, and nails. I
will also swallow a sword after
which I will come around with the
hat, trusting to get enough for a
crust of bread.”
“What!” came a voice from the
crowd. “Still hungry?”
The growls of a bear were
broadcast the other afternoon
from a zoo, and in some homes
tiny tots were heard to remark
that Daddy had come home early.
Tom—Hi, what's the idea of
wearing my raincoat?
Tim—Well, you wouldn’t like
your new suit to get wet, would
you?
Slight Slip
NEW EFFECTIVE HAY FEVER
RELIEF
Considerate
Forced to put on his brakes suddenly,
the driver of the sports car found it
shooting crubuise across the road, just
missing a lamp-post before it stopped.
Ip strolled a policeman.
“If ell,“ he remarked genially, “you
got a nice skid there, sir.”
“Pardon me, officer,” uas the haughty
reply; “this lady is my wife."
Still One
Stranger (watching boy fishing)
—How many have you caught,
sonny?
Sonny—When I get another, I'll
have one.
A man met a friend who owed
him $5. The friend saw it was
impossible to escape. “My dear
fellow," he said. “I owe you 85
and an apology. Please accept the
apology now."
No Waiting
Kidder—Which end of a cow gets
up first?
Chugwater—My experience in
buying beef is that both ends of
the animal rise at the same time.
e- <s. r-. e- e- r- e-
e- o-. n.. t^. (V.
e- o- o- o-
\ ASK ME
ANOTHER
? A General Quiz
o-
(V. (V. o.. (X. (X. 0.. (X. (V. (V.
(V. o-
(N. fi. (X.
The Question»
Hay fever, which annually causes
more sneezes, more inflamed noses
and more red, streaming eyes than
any other scourge, may have itg
I final big fling this September, all
because a Pennsylvania electrical
engineer was served a dish of corn
meal mush which was entirely too
salty.
The engineer, sneezing, and with
all other hay fever manifestations,
stopped at a hotel where he was
served a dish of mush which he
considered sending back as it was
much too salty. Finally he ate it,
however; the hay fever attack
lessened, ultimately ceased. Next
day he had three meals, all over-
■ salted, and experienced his most
comfortable time in years in the
“hay fever season.”
His analytical mind quicklf
grasped the possibility that the
saline substance in his food was
responsible for his relief.
About this time, Dr. E. E. Sel-
leck, a graduate of Columbia Uni­
versity, met the engineer, made
notes, and when he returned to his
home, began experiments. Today
Dr. Selleck declares he has found
a certain means of relief for .hay
fever and is supported in his con­
tention by other medical experts,
and a nationally known chemical
manufacturing concern, the Hol-
lings-Smith Company, at Orange­
burg, New York, has taken over
making the remedy, which is called
Nakamo Bell.
Describing the experiments. Dr.
Selleck said, “After I was sure I
had found a means of quickly re­
lieving hay fever through' the
chloride group, I tested it in the
most practical way I knew. I held
a three day clinic, to which many
hay fever sufferers responded,
from ages ranging from 10 to 60
years. Each person was given two
tablets with a little water. Some
relief came to all within ten min­
utes. Reports on these cases dur­
ing the ensuing weeks showed
practically a complete cessation
of symptoms.”—Adv.
9
1. “Sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and
great!" is a quotation from what
American poet?
2. Over what country did the
Incas reign?
3. Approximately how many
miles of railroad are there in the
United States?
4. How many vestigial organs
Bearing Reproof
has man?
Fear not the anger of the wise
5. Is sunburn caused by the
to raise; Those best can bear re­
heat of the sun?
6. Where was the Tower of proof who merit praise.—Pope.
Babel?
The Answers
»»•»
D
1. Henry W. Longfellow (“The
à IJ
Building of the Ship”).
Cap-Bruth Appi« it or
2 —
Peru.
sites litt «0 .
JUST A
huch rtniHiR
a
3. Approximately 236,000 miles. DASH IN FEATHERS^ go _____________
_____________ at
4. Man
‘
possesses no less than
180 vestigial organs that, although
probably once of vital importance,
are now of little use to him.
Close Relative
5. No, sunburn is caused by the
Indecision is a very near rela­
ultraviolet rays of the sun.
tive to unhappiness. — Stanley
6. Babylon.
Mills.
It's A GOOD
AMERICAN
CUSTOM
SATURDAY NIGHT
BATHShave been on Amer/-
tan custom since the first
settler's wife pointed to the
tub and said: “Climb in and
wash some of that soil off your
hide." Objectors considered
such frequent bathing harmful.
SMOKING KING EDWARD
Cigars is a truly pleasurable custom,
enjoyed by wise smokers every
where. America's favorite cigar.
WORLDS LARGEST SELLER
to 0^
HE PUBLIC nature of advertising bene­
fits everyone it touches. It benefits the
public by describing exactly the products that are offered. It
benefits employees, because the advertiser must be more fair
and just than the employer who has no obligation to the public.
These benefits of advertising are quite apart from the obvious
benefits which advertising confers—the lower prices, the higher
quality, the better service that go with advertised goods and firms.
0