VERNONIA EAGLE, VERNONIA, OREGON
GUNLOCK RANCH 'S.".
Copyright Frank H Spearman
SYNOPSIS
Sleepy Cat, desert town of the
Southwest. Is celebrating the Fourth
of July. Jane Van Tambel, beautiful
daughter of Gus Van Tambel, hated
owner of Gunlock ranch, has ar
rived from the East for the first
time She watches the Frontier Day
celebration In company with Dr.
Carpy, crusty, tender-hearted friend
of the community. Henry Sawdy of
the Circle Dot ranch, tricked In a
fake horse race the day before by
Dave McCrossen, foreman at Gun
lock, plans revenge. He enters Bill
Denison, a handsome young Texas
wrangler, In the rodeo which Mc
Crossen is favored to win, and lays
heavy bets on him. Unknown to the
crowd. Denison Is a champion horse
man. McCrossen and the young
stranger tie In the various events.
Denison drops a cigarette carelessly.
Racing down the track full tilt, he
picks up the cigarette. The verdict
goes to Denison when McCrossen re
fuses to attempt the stunt. Entreat
ed by the crowd, Denison agrees to
perform another trick.
Jane Is
asked for her bracelet, and throws
It on the track. Just as Denison
rides to pick it up a yell from Bar
ney Rebstock, a McCrossen hench
man, scares the pony, nearly costing
the rider his life. Gun play is pre
vented by the intervention of Dr.
Carpy. Back on Gunlock ranch aft
er two years in Chicago, because of
her father's illness, Jane gets lost
riding in the hills and meets Deni
son, now a neighbor, who guides her
home. Not knowing her Identity, he
speaks bitterly of Van Tambel. She
tells McCrossen who brought her
home and he denounces Denison as
a cattle thief. Later she asks Dr.
Carpy why ner father Is unpopular
and he tells her It is because of Van
Tambel's' ruthless and unscrupulous
character. Later McCrossen tries to
woo Jane, but is sharply rebuffed.
Once again she loses her way In
the hills and meets Denison. On Im
pulse she gives him her bracelet for
guiding her home. Their Interest In
each other growing, she reveals her
Identity to him. Jane Is distressed
to learn from Carpy that her father
had wronged Denison. The Texan
had worked at Gunlock as foreman
and been promised a share in the
profits. When he quit. Van Tambel
reneged. In reprisal Denison has
been running cattle off Gunlock
ranch. Shamed and humiliated, Jane
avoids Denison, but longs to see
him. Then they meet by accident.
CHAPTER V—Continued
"For ever coming to this country
at all, if you must know,” she de
clared in angry desperation.
“But, Jane, that doesn't sound
reasonable,” protested her com
panion.
"I can’t help that,” she said petu
lantly. “I wish I'd never seen this
country. And I'm going to leave it,
the very first minute I get a chance.
Don't see me any more. I don’t
want to see anybody till I can leave
here.”
»
“Just as you say, Jane. But if I
can’t see you any more, please re
member that wherever you are, I
love you.”
Jane got home thinking of how
wretchedly she had handled the sit
uation with Denison.
It proved to be her foreman, Mc
Crossen, who had been cut up in a
gambling quarrel.
Jane kept Dr. Carpy for supper,
and that evening she held him so
long as she could. She felt down
In the depths.
When he started for town, Jane
walked out in the moonlight with
him, talking and clinging to his
hand. When he mounted, she still
asked questions to keep him talking
and kept his hand In hers.
“Jane," he said, “there’s some
thing hurting your mind, not your
body. Do you want to tell me, girl?”
"Not tonight, doctor.”
"Sometime, maybe—come to me
just the same as If I were your fa
ther.”
Her face fell against his hand.
He felt on It the warmth of her
tears. "Mustn’t worry, my child.
And if the load, whatever It is, gets
too heavy—yon know where to bring
It,” he added, wheeling away.
She bad promised Dr. Carpy to
ride every day, and while attending
the wounded man he kept close tab
on her, but she avoided the main
WNU Service
trails and kept to the hills near the
ranch house. Carpy brought little
news from Sleepy Cat, but he spoke
of the forest fires north of town.
“I hope we shan't be bothered
here.” said Jane.
"No danger here unless they cross
the river. You haven't much tim
ber on the east ranch. There’s none
to speak of over on the range. But
you've got a lot scattered around
here in the hills. If it should get
down into the reservation timber,
there would be hell to pay.”
"How is McCrossen coming on.
doctor?” asked Jane.
"He’11 be up in a few days now.
The infection is disappearing. How
are you? You’re the one I'm inter
ested in.”
“Following orders like a lamb,
doctor. Don’t you see how brown
I’m getting?”
“Yes. outside. But what about
Inside? That’s where I want you to
get brown. By the way, your friend
Bill Denison was in to see me the
other day. He’s been up north with
the fire fighters—'way up on the
Crazy Woman at Jim Laramie's
ranch. Look here, girl,” he contin
ued, “what are you doing tomor
row? We are going to have a moose
dinner. Ever eat moose? Come In
and trv it.”
Jane hesitated, "Oh, I don’t
know—”
“Come along. There’ll be nobody
else there, it that's what you’re
afraid of?”
Sleepy Cat looked deserted when
.Tane rode in next day. She asked
McAlpin at the barn where all the
men were.
“Up north, fire fighting.”
"Is it as bad as that?”
“I never saw it so bad in the
twenty years I’ve lived here and at
Calabasas! They brought In a wag
onload yesterday of the worst burnt
men I ever seen in my life. The
hospital’s pretty near full.
Doc
Carpy was there all night”
Jane was for going home. She
walked up to the hotel and talked
with Puss, the housekeeper. “Don’t
you go,” counseled Puss. “If the
doctor’s expecting to see you, he'll
be all upset if you don't stay.”
“But with all these men in the
hospital? I'd rather wait till he
has a free day,” suggestel Jane.
The housekeeper laughed.
“If
you wait for a free day for the
doctor, you’ll wait till Judgment day.
And he might be busier then than
he Is now. There’s a preacher in
town this week, baptizing folks
down in the river.
’Cording to
what he says, there’ll be a lot more
Sleepy Cat fire fighters needing help
Judgment day than is needin’ it
now. Come in here and take off
your things.”
When Jane sat down with the doc
tor in his private dining room for
the moose dinner, he made light
of the fire situation as well as of
his labors.
“All in the day’s work. Puss is
an alarmist. She's always telling
me I'm working too hard.”
Jane repeated the anecdote of
the preacher and Puss' application
of it to the doctor himself on
Judgment day.
Carpy laughed ‘That's Panama
she’s talking about. Puss Is power
ful afraid of him . . . Who is he?
Why, a pretty good fellow—used to
be an auctioneer and all-round gam
bler—got converted—preaches up
and down the line from Medicine
Bend to Sleepy Cat. But he volun
teered for fire fighting. He’s one
of the men got burnt yesterday, and
he's up with the rest of 'em at
the hospital.
The ex-sheriff. Bill Pardaloe, rode
out to Gunlock two days later and
conscripted the men to fight fire
coming down the Crazy Woman and
threatening Sleepy Cat
The quiet of that day and the
next was like a calm before a
storm. After supper Jane ordered
her pony saddled and rode clear
up to the summit of Gunlock Knob,
where she could see the northern
country for many miles.
When she reached the top she
was sorry she had attempted the
climb. The spectacle was awe-ln-
splrlng, but terrifying.
Far beyond the hills and all along
the northern horizon she saw
patches of dull, silent red, slowly
rising and falling, at moments in
creasing, and again subsiding.
She fell asleep early, but after
midnight she woke. The sky was
fairly clear, and she could hear the
wind singing In the pines about the
ranch house. She was roused from
her thoughts by the approaching
clatter of galloping hoofs. Raising
herself to support her head on her
The clatter'
elbow, she listened.
came nearer, the galloping faster. In
a moment she heard a man pull
his horse sharply up and spring
from the saddle under her window.
"Miss Jane!” he called. "Wake up,
please!”
She knew the voice. “I'm awake,
Bull. What Is it?”
“The boys are rldln’ in behind
me.”
“All of them?”
“Everybody. They’ll be here in
side twenty minutes.”
“What time is it. Bull?”
"From the moon, about two
o’clock. The boys’ll want somethin'
to eat. They’re rldln’ right out
again. I’ll call Quong.”
“What’s the matter, Bull—what
are they riding out again for?”
“The fire has crossed the river.”
CHAPTER VI
ULL PAGE, the messenger of
alarm, turned in with Quong and
B
Jane to make ready a hasty sup
per for the hungry, weary men.
While Jane asked questions, Mc
Crossen lighted a cigarette. "Not a
bit of danger, Jane, to Gunlock—
not while I can get out on the fire
line, anyway. I’ve fought these in
fernal blazes all my life, and I don't
figure this one's goln' to beat me.
The only thing that worries me.
Jane, is to think of your bein’ here
alone at home while we’re fire
fightin’.”
“Of course, 1 can't help some
worry now, with the ranch threat
ened,” she returned thoughtfully.
“Jane,” he said impressively,
"you needn't worry. I like to fight
for a girl like you. While I’m able
to raise an arm, Jane, I'll be out
there thinkin’ of you.” His hands
closed firmly on her shoulders.
She shrugged them and edged
uneasily away. “Saddles, boys!”
shouted McCrossen in his rich,
hearty voice. “Look alive, there,
everybody! Come over to where
my horse is, Jane. I want you to
say good-by to us! Give the boys
a word of cheer.”
"Where are you going?” she
asked.
“Over the Divide. I want to do
some backfirin’ north of the pas
tures. Come along, girl,” he in
sisted, taking her arm firmly.
All at once he caught her in a
vise-like grip of his arms and
kissed her twice before she could
escape. She slapped him indig
nantly and pushed him violently
away.
McCrossen laughed. "Slap me
again, Jane; that was worth a
string of slaps, girl. But why not
take a little practice? You’d get
to like it, same as I do!”
Toward the night of the second
day, the fire crew straggled back
to the ranch house, McCrossen at
their head.
Next morning, the sun rose hot
and In an atmosphere withoot a
breath of wind. Faces were bright
er.
But after breakfast, the mail car
rier, Ignace, from the Reservation,
on his way to town, brought dis
quieting news. A fire had broken
out in the timber along the eastern
boundary, and every buck had been
called out to fight it.
McCrossen
listened
carefully.
“Which way was the wind, Ignace,
when you left?”
“From the east”
"Hell's bells,” exclaimed Mc
Crossen “just where we don’t want
it.” He questioned the carrier
closely. The big ranch was now
threatened on the southeast, and
McCrossen started with the fresh
est of his men for the new danger
point.
In the afternoon Jane rode into
town to order some supplies sent
out. While she was in Rubiao's
store, a white man from the Reser
vation came In. The clerk who
waited on him asked him about the
fires down his way.
“Not so good,” said the man. “A
new one broke out this morning be
tween the Reservation timber and
Bill Denison's ranch. Bill's In get
ting men together now.”
Jane, in another aisle and unob
served, walked quietly outdoors and
down the street for McAlpin's liv
ery barn.
"Mose,” she said to the hostler
on duty, “Is Bill Denison in town?”
“He Is. His horse, Music, Is here
—Bill rode in pretty fast, an’ I
been rubbin* Music down.
Bill
says—”
"Mose, I want to see Bill. Go up
the street and see if you can find
him. Tell him I want to see him
and I’ll be up at the hotel.
Half an hour later Jane, sitting
with the door open in Dr. Carpy’s
office, off the hotel lobby, beard
footsteps approaching and, turn
ing, saw Denison. She rose quickly,
extended her hand, took his without
a greeting, and spoke rapidly and
nervously. “I heard you were in
town,” she said, “and that you were
In danger at the ranch—I suppose,
for that matter, we all are. But
they said you were taking out men,
and I wanted to see you, Bill, and
ask what we could do to help. You
won’t take that amiss, I’m sure.”
“How could I take anything amiss
from you?”
“In a common danger," she said,
flushing in some confusion and in
terrupting him to hide it
“What can we do at the ranch to
help make you safe? Is there any
thing, Bill? Anything to help?”
Both were conscious of slight
strain. Denison shuffled awkward
ly. “Why, Miss Jane—”
“Since when Miss Jane?” she
asked with asperity.
"I didn’t know—” he began.
“Neither did I know, Bill. Now
answer my question. If you’re in
danger, tell me what I can do.”
“Have the boys keep a close eye
on the two Reservation fires. If
either of 'em get around Gunlock
Knob, it’ll be kind of bad for both
ranches.”
"Yes, but, Bill, how am I to know
when or whether they do get around
the Knob? How am I going tc
know whether you yourself need
help?" She was beginning to real
ize that it was Impossible to get
anything but evasive generalities
out of him. “Tell me this: If you
need help from us, will you send
me word? Right away?”
He thought for a moment. ‘TH
send word over to you at the ranch
house, Jane."
She could not escape the signifi
cance of his tone In uttering her
name. But she kept her balance
and spoke steadily:
“Keep your promise, Bill: I shall
be waiting for the word when it
comes."
Along the hill trail as Jane rode
home the air was heavy with smoke
drifting slowly up from the Sbuth.
It was laden with the pungent smell
of brush fire and acrid with the
creosote of burned slashings from
cut-over lands on the Reservation.
Reaching home, she was not sur
prised to find everything there ab
normally quiet McCrossen, with
most of the men, was up in the
hills. The sole exception to the
general atmospheric gloom was
Quong.
When Jane dressed at daybreak
and looked out, the wind had shift
ed and was blowing fresh from the
south.
McCrossen and his men were np
betimes. He reported to Jane that
they had checked the fire up toward
the pass. He was In good spirits.
Jane went to her breakfast feeling
reassured. She was finishing her
coffee when Quong stuck his head
through the kitchen door Into the
dining room and said. “Man to
see I”
Jane walked to the front door
and found a man on horseback.
“What can I do for you?”
“I’ve just come from Bill Deni
son’s. He says If you can spare a
dozen men quick, he can, maybe,
save hls ranch buildings."
•Tell him I’ll do everything I can
to get them over right away. What’s
your name?”
“Scott, ma'am.”
Jane ran over to the corral,
where McCrossen was closing the
wire gate.
“Bill Denison has sent a messen
ger over—”
“I saw him," Interjected McCros
sen curtly.
“—asking for help,” Jane went on
rapidly. 'If we can get a dozen men
over to him quick, be can save bls
ranch buildings—”
“A lot of gall, ain’t it. Bill Dent-
son lookin’ to Gunlock for help?”
“No matter what differences there
have been,” Insisted Jane firmly, “tn
the hills we’re all going to stand to
gether In a time like this. Get the
men together, Dave, and get over
quick and do what you can.”
McCrossen, drawing from his
pocket a plug of tobacco, bit off a
chunk. “I don’t approve of that”
"It’s not a question of your ap
proving, Dave, I want you to go.
Right off; now I"
McCrossen was in no hurry. “Who’s
goln' to look after Gunlock if I go
over to Bill Denison’s?” he asked,
regarding Jane sullenly.
Jane was nobody's fool on the
danger of the situation.
“Dave,” she exclaimed, impa
tiently, "you know the worst threat
to us, with this wind, is from the
south. If the Denison ranch burns
we're in danger ourselves. Will you
saddle up quick and get over there
with the boys?" she demanded.
McCrossen made no move to go.
“I’ll tell you right now I’ve bad a
damned sight more experience In
these forest fires than you have.
And I say my place's right herel”
He spoke loudly and angrily.
Jane grew white. “I want you
to know I’m boss of this ranch. My
father has told you so—And this
order Is going to be obeyed or I’ll
know the reason why.”
McCrossen faced her with as
much animosity as he dared show.
“Well, If you want to know one rea
son why your order won’t be
obeyed, just look at me—I'm a rea
son. I know where my place is
when Gunlock's In danger,” he
thundered.
“Stop your talk!’’ exclaimed
Jane. “Will you do as I tell you or
not?’
“I will not.”
“Then you're discharged as fore
man of this ranch. Take your
things and get off It by tomorrow
morning.”
“Like hell I will.”
Half a dozen cowboys had edged
up to listen to the controversy.
Jane whirled around to them.
“Boys,” she said, speaking in lower
but very determined tones, “take
no more orders from David McCros-
sen. He’s no longer foreman here.”
Reeling off her words rapidly and
firmly, Jane explained the situation
to her growing circle of listeners.
“Now I have discharged McCros
sen," she said in conclusion, “and
I want all of you boys who are loyal
to me to ride with me over to '.he
fire line on the Denison ranch and
see what we can do to save hls
buildings. Those of you who will
go, line up here with me.”
One of the boys, Bull Page,
stepped promptly to Jane's side.
Before he reached it, four more
were on their way. Barney Reb
stock and a crony stood still. It
meant that they sided with the
foreman.
“Now, Bull," she added snapplly,
“hunt up as many of the other
boys as you can find and let's get
going.”
Within a few minutes, with the
ponies dancing and the men shout
ing, a party of ten headed south
tor the Denison ranch.
(TO BE CONTINUED)