Luther Register. (Luther, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 12, 1920 Page: 3 of 8
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THE LUTHER REGISTER
Crooked Trails and Straight
By
William MacLeod Raine
(Copyright by O W Dillingham Co.)
I
CHAPTER V—Continued.
-12-
Luck turned. The cabin was built
o . u ledge far up on the mountain-
side. From the back wall sloped for
a hundred feet an almost perpendic-
ular slide of rock.
“There’s u prospect hole down
there.” Blackwell explained savagely.
“You’d go down the Devil’s Slide—
what’s left of you, 1 mean—deep into
that prospect hole. The timberings
ore rotted and the whole top of the
forking ready to cave in. When your
body hits it there will be an avalanche
—with Mr. Former-Sheriff Culllson at
the bottom of it. You’ll he buried
without any funeral expenses, and 1
reckon your friends will never know
where to put the headstone.”
The thing was devilishly simple and
feasible. Luck, still looking out of
the window, felt the blood run cold
down his spine, for he knew this fel-
low would never stick ut murder If
he felt it would be safe.
“So you see I’m right; you’d better
pray your friends won't find you.
They can't reach here without being
heard. If they get to hunting these
hills you sure want to hope they’ll
stay cold, for Just as soon as they get
warm it will be the signal for you to
shoot the chutes.”
Luck met his triumphant savagery
with an Impassive face. “Interesting
If true. And where will you be when
my friends arrive? I reckon it won’t
be a pleasant meeting for Mr. Black-
well.”
“I’ll be headed for Mexico. I tell
you because you ain't liable to go
around spreading the news. There’s
a’horse saddled in the dip back of the
hill crest. Get It?”
From fur below there came through
the open window the faint click of a
horse’s hoofs ringing against the
stones in the dry bed of n river wash.
Swiftly Blackwell moved to the door,
taking down a rifle from its .rack as
he did so. Culllson rose noiselessly In
his chair. If It cnme to the worst he
meant to shout aloud his presence and
close with this fellow. Hampered ns
he was by the table, the man would
get him without question. But if he
could only sink his Angers into that
hairy throat while there was still life
In him he could promise that the Mex-
ican trip would never take place.
Blackwell, from his pla.ce by the
door, could keep an eye both on his
prisoner and on a point of the trail
far below where horsemen must pass
to reach the cabin.
A rider came into sight and entered
the mouth of the canyon. He was
waving a white handkerchief. The
man In the doorway answered the sig-
nal.
“Not your friends this time, Mr.
Sheriff,” Blackwell Jeered.
“I get a stay of execution, do I?”
The cool drawling voice of the cattle-
man showed nothing of the teuse feel-
ing within.
He resumed his sent and the reading
of the newspaper. Presently, to the
man that came over the threshold he
spoke with a casual nod.
‘‘Morning, Cass.”
Fendrlck mumbled a surly answer.
The manner of ironical comradeship
his captive chose to employ was more
than an annoyance. To serve his ends
"Not Your Friends This Time, Mr.
Sheriff."
It wns necessary to put the fear of
death Into this man’s heart, which was
a thing he had found impossible to do.
The logic of circumstances was driv-
ing the sheepman into a corner. He
had on Impulse made the owner of the
Circle C, his prisoner. Seeing him lie
there unconscious on the floor of the
Jack of Hearts, It had come to him
In a flash that he might hold him and
force a relinquishment of the Del Oro
claim. His disappearance would ex-
plain Itself If the rumor spread that
he was the W. & S. express robber.
Cass had done it to save himself from
the ruin of his business, but already
he had regretted It fifty times. Threats
could not move Luck in the least. He
was as hard as Iron.
So the sheepman found himself be-
tween the upper and the nether mill-
stones. He could not drive his pris-
oner to terms anti he dared not release
him. For If Culllson went away un-
pledged he would surely send him to
the penitentiary. Nor could he hold
him a prisoner indefinitely. He had
seen the “personal" warning in both
the morning and the afternoon papers.
He guessed that the presence of the
ranger. Bueky O’Connor, In Sagunche
wus not a chance. The low was clos-
ing In on him. Somehow Culllson must
be made to come through with a re-
linquishment and a pledge not to
prosecute. The only other way out
would be to let Blackwell wreak his
hnte on the former sheriff. From this
he shrank with every Instinct. Fen-
drlck was a hard man. He would
have fought It out to a finish if nec-
essnry. But murder was a thing he
could not do.
“Brice of sheep good this week?”
Culllson asked amiably.
"1 didn’t come here to discuss the
price of sheep with you.” Fendrlck
spoke harshly. "Are you going to sign
this relinquishment?”
Luck's face showed a placid sur-
prise. “Why no. Cass. Thought I
mentioned that before.”
"You’d better.” The sheepman’s
harassed face looked ugly enough for
anything.
“Can’t figure it out that way.”
"You've got to sign it. By G-,
you’ve no option."
"No?” Still with pleusnnt incre-
dulity.
"Think I’m going to let you get
away from here now? You’ll sign and
you'll promise to fell nothing you know
against us.”
Luck’s answer came easily nnd light-
ly. "My friend, we’ve already dis-
cussed that point.”
“You won’t change your inihd?”
"Your arguments don’t justify it,
Cass.”
The sheepman looked at him with a
sinister significance. “Good enough.
I’ll bring you one that will Justify it
muy pronto.”
CHAPTER VI.
Cass Fendrick Makes a Call.
Kate was in her rose garden super-
intending the stable boy as he loos-
ened the dirt around the roots of some
of the bushes. She had returned to
the Circle C for a day or two to give
some directions in the ubsence of her
father. Buck and the other riders
came to her for orders and took them i
without contempt. She knew the cat-
tle business, and they knew she knew
it. To a man they were proud of her. j
of her spirit, her energy, and her good
looks.
The rider who cantered up to the
fence, seeing her in her well-hung
corduroy skirt, her close-fitting blouse,
and the broad-rimmed straw hat that
shielded her dark head from the sun.
appreciated ♦he fitness of her sur-
roundings. She, too, was a flower of
the desert, delicately fashioned, yet
vital with the bloom of health.
At the clatter of hoofs she looked
up from the bush she was trimming
And at once rose to her feet. Beneath
their long lashes her eyes grew dark
nnd hnrd. For the man who had
drawn to a halt was Cass Fendrick.
From the pocket of his shirt he drew
a crumpled piece of stained linen.
"I’ve brought back your handker-
chief, Miss Culllson.”
“What have you done with my fa-
ther?”
He nodded toward the Mexican boy
und Kate dismissed the lad. When he
had gone she asked her question again
In exactly the same words.
He swung from the horse and threw
the rein to the ground. Then, saun-
tering to the gate, he let himself in.
I "You’ve surely got a nice posy gar-
| den here. Didn't know there was one
! like it in all sunbaked Arizona.”
She stood rigid. Her unfaltering
eyes, gloe-blnck in the pale face, never
lifted from him.
"I want you to tell me what you
have done with my father."
He laughed a little und looked at
her with eyes that narrowed like
those of a cat basking In the sun. He
had something the look of the larger
members of the cat family—the soft
long tread, the compact rippling mus-
cles of a tame panther, and with these
the threat that always lies behind Its
sleepy wariness.
I "You’re a young Indy of one idea.
! No use arguing with you, I reckon.”
“Not the least use. I’ve talked with
Mrs. Wylie.”
He raised his eyebrows. "Do I know
! the Indy?"
I "§he will know you. That is more
| to the point.”
1 "Did she say she knew me?” he
! purred.
"She will say it In court—If it ever
comes to that.”
"Just what will she say, if you
please?"
Kate told him in four sentences with
a stinging directness that was the out-
standing note of her, that and a fine
self-forgetful courage.
"Is that all? Comes to this then,
that she says I heard her scream, ran
In, nnd saved your father’s life. Is
that a penitentiary offense?"
"You helped the villain take his
body Into the cellar. You plotted with
him to hold father a prisoner there."
"Says that, does she—that she over-
heard us plotting?”
"Of course she did not overhear
what you said. You took good crire of
that. But she knew you were conspir-
ing.”
“Just naturally knew It without
overhearing,” he derided. "And of
course If I was In a plot I must have
beeu Johnny-on-the-spot a good deal of
the time. Hung round there a-plenty,
I expect?”
He had touched on the weak spot of
Mrs. Wylie's testimony. The mun who
had saved Culllson’s life, after a long
talk with Blackwell, had gone out of
the Jack of Henrts and had not re-
turned so far as she knew. For her
former husband hud sent her on an
errand just before the prisoner wns
tuken away and she did not know’ who
had helped him.
Kate was silent.
"How would this do for an explana-
tion?” he suggested lazily. "We’ll say j
Just for the sake of argument that
Mrs. Wylie’s story is true, that I did
save your father's life. We’ll put it
that I did help carry him downstairs
where it was cooler aud that I did
have a long talk with the fellow Black-
well. What would I be talking to him
about, if I wasn’t reading the riot act
to him? And after he hud said he was
sorry why shouldn’t I hit the road out
of there? There’s no love lost between
me ami Luck C’ullison. I wasn’t under
any obligations to wrap him up in cot-
ton ami bring him back this side up
with care to his anxious friends. If
he chose later to take a hike out of
town on p.d.q. hurry up business 1
ain’t to blame. And I reckon you’ll
find a jury will agree with me.”
She brushed his explanation aside
with a woman’s superb indifference to
logic.
“You can talk of course. I don’t
care. It Is all lies—lies. You have
kidnaped father and are holding him
somewhere. Don’t you dare to hurt
him. If you should—Oh, if you should
—you will wish you had never been
born.” The fierceness of her passion
bent upon him like sudden, summer
hail.
He forgot for the moment that he
was a man with the toils of the law
closing upon him, forgot that his suc-
cess and even his liberty were at stake.
'All Right; I’ll Take You to Him.’
He snw only a girl with the hunger of
love in her wistful eyes, and knew
that It lay In his power to bring back
the laughter and the light into them.
"Suppose 1 can’t fight fair any long-
er. Suppose I’ve let myself get trapped
Htid it isn’t up to me but to somebody
else. Up to your futher, say?”
“My father?”
"Yes. How could I turn him loose
when the first thing he did would be
to swear out a warrant for my arrest?"
"But he wouldn't—not if you free
him."
He laughed harshly. "I thought you
knew him. He’s hard as nulls." lie
laughed again, bitterly. "Not that it
matters. Of course I was Just putting
a case. Nothing to it really.”
He was hedging because he thought
he had gone too far. but she appeared
not to notice it. Her eyes had the far-
away look of one who communes with
herself.
‘‘If I could only see him nnd hnve a
talk with him. I think I could get him
to do as I ask. He nearly always
does." Her gaze went swiftly back to
him. "Let ine talk with him. There’s
a reason why he ought to be free now,
one that would appeal to him.”
This was what he had come for, but
now that she had met him half way he
heslti^ed. If she should not succeed
he would be worse off than before. He
could neither hold her a prisoner nor
free her to lead the pack of the law
to his hiding place. On the other hand
if Culllson thought they Intended to
keep her prisoner he would have to
compromise: He dared not leave her
In the hands of Lute Blackwell. Fen-
drlck decided to take a chance. At the
worst he could turn them both free
nnd leave for Sonora.
“All right. I’ll take you to him.
But you’ll hnve to do as I say.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
“You’ve got to persuade Luck to
BROUGHT STRIKERS TO TERMS
African Explorer Put His Wits to Bear
in Controversy With Obstrep-
erous Paddlers.
Although the plan Is not capable of
wide application, the tule of a strike
In central Africa, told by an exploring
member of the English Royal Anthro-
pological Institute, is pleasant reudlng
for the promptness with which the
matter was settled. The explorer w as
Journeying by water and. coming to
an African village where he needed a
new relay of paddlers. he found that
ull the available paddlers had "struck,"
not for higher wages but agnlnst any
paddling whatever. The expedition
was held up, and the men who refused
to paddle stood apart und evidently
considered the plight of the explorer
a matter of considerable unsympa-
thetic amusement. The explorer, how-
ever, thought he saw n way out. He
asked some of the women of the vil-
lage to come aboard his boat and sell
him food ; nnd as soon ns several of
them were on board he unfastened the
hawser, the boat swung out from the
■bore and begun to travel with the
current. Ashore and afloat anxiety
followed. Presently the men who hud
come through with an agreement to
let go of that Del Oro homestead and
to promise not to prosecute us. He j
won’t do It to save his own life. He’s ;
got to think you come there ns my i
prisoner. See? He’s got to wrestle
with the notion that you’re In the
power of the damnedest villain that
ever went unhung. 1 mean Blackwell.
Let him chew on that proposition a
while and see what he makes of it."
She nodded, white to the lips. "Let
us go at once, please.” She called
across to the corral: ’Manuel, saddle
the pinto for me. Hurry!"
They rode together through the
wind-swept sunlit land. From time to j
time his lazy glance embraced her, a
supple, graceful creature, at perfect
ease In the saddle. What was it about
her that drew the eye so Irresistibly?
Prettier girls he had often seen. Her
fentures were Irregular, mouth and j
nose too large, face n little thin. Her
contour lacked the softness, the allure
that in some women was an uncon-
scious Invitation to cuddle. Tough as
whipcord she might he, hut In her
there flowed a life vital and strong;
dwelt a spirit brave and unconquer-
able. She seemed to him as iittle subtle
as any woman he had ever met. This
directness came no doubt fiom living
so far from feminine Influences. But
he had a feeling that If a man once
wakened her love, the instinct of sex
would spring full-grown Into being.
Luck lay stretched full length on a
bunk, his face to the roof, a wreath
of smoke from his cigar traveling slow-
ly toward the ceiling Into a filmy blue
cloud which hung above him. He
looked the personification of vigorous
full-blooded manhood at ease.
By the table, facing him squarely,
sat Jose Dominguez, a neatly built
Mexican with snapping black eyes, a
manner of pleasant suavity and an
over-ready smile that displayed a dou-
ble row of shining white teeth. That
smile did not for an instant deceive
Luck. He knew that Jose had no
grudge against him, that he w as a very
respectable citizen, and that he would
regretfully shoot him full of holes if
occasion called for so drastic a ter-
mination to their acquaintance. For
Dominguez had a third interest in the
F. ranch ami he was the last man in
the world to sacrifice his business for
sentiment. Having put the savings of
a lifetime into the sheep business, ho
did not propose to let anybody deprive
him of his profits, either legally or
illegally.
The tinkle of hnofH from the river
bed in the gulch below rose through
the clear air. The Mexican moved
swiftly to the door and presently
waved a handkerchief.
“What gent are you wig-wagging to
now?” Luck asked from the bed.
“Thought I knew all you bold bad ban-
dits by this time. Or is it Cass back
again?”
“Yes, it’s Cass. There’s some one
with him, too. It is a woman," the
Mexican discovered in apparent sur-
prise.
“A woman!" Luck took the cigar
from his mouth in vague unease.
“What is he doing here with a wom-
an?”
The Mexican smiled behind ids open
hand. "Your question anticipates mine,
senor. 1 too ask the same.”
The sight of his daughter III the
doorwuy went through the cattleman
with a chilling shock. She ran for-
ward and with a pathetic cry of Joy
threw herself upon him where he
stood. His hands were tied behind
him. Only by the turn of his head
could he answer her caresses. There
was a look of ineffable tenderness on
his fuce, for he loved her more than
anything else on earth.
“Mr. Fendrick brought me,” she ex-
plained when urticulate expression
wus possible.
"He brought you, did he?" Luck
looked across her shoulder at his en-
emy, and his eyes grew hard as Jade.
"Of my own free will," she added.
“I promised you a better argument
than those I’d given you. Miss Culllson
Is that argument,” Fendrick said.
The cattlemnn’s set face bad a look
more deadly than words, it told Fen-
drlck he would gladly have killed him
wk<*re lie stood. For Luck knew he
was cornered and must yield. Neither
Dominguez nor Blackwell would con-
sent to let her leave otherwise.
"You’ve played a rotten trick on me,
Fendrick. 1 wouldn’t have thought it
even of a sheepman.”
(TO UK CONTINUED.)
J refused to paddle the explorer were
paddling their own little canoes in
pursuit nnd volubly demanding the
return to their womenfolk. The Inrger
craft, and presumably the armament,
of the traveler gave him an advantage.
He was able to issue an ultimatum.
No women, lie said In effect, without
pndillers. hut one woman for every
man of the tribe who would agree to
I help paddle the expedition through the
! next stage. The men uccepted the
j bargain; and as there were some
i thirty women on the boat the expedi-
tion got Its necessary complement of
1 puddlers nnd tin* strike was over.
Tree’s Products Valuable.
From the "blackboy” tree of Aus-
tralia a new company Is producing
tnrs thut ure free from harmful adds,
tarpaulin dressings, rope tin and sani-
I tury tar, lacquers, paint, stains,
| pitches, phenol, benzol, alcohol coke,
potash. The production of dyes, per*
i fumes nnd formalin is pluuued.
Use the r, othbru«h.
Beware the Infected man whose
I germs fly about the world seeking
j whom they may defile. "Spare the
brush arid spoil the teeth"—that’s what
pays the pyorrhea specialist.
Some More Truths.
W/OULD you use a sleam shovel to move a pebble? Certainly not. Implements
*v are built according to the work they have to do.
Would you use a grown-up’s remedy for your baby’s ills? Certainly not.
Remedies are prepared according to the work THEY have to do.
All this is preliminary to reminding you that Fletcher’s Castoria was sought
out, found and is prepared solely as a remedy for Infants and Children. And let
this be a warning against Substitutes, Counterfeits and the Just-as-good stuff that
may be all right for you in all your strength, but dangerous for the little babe.
All the mother-love that lies within your heart cries out to you: Be true to
Baby. And being true to Baby you will keep in the house remedies specially
prepared for babies as you would a baby’s food, hairbrush, tootbrush or sponge.
:t Contents 15FJuid Draol
ALCOHOL-3 PEH CENT.
iSSSSS^,
Thereby Promoting W1’*®
Mineral. NotXahootic
m:\v vohk-
Children Cry For
i«jfesr
1 and Feverishness
, LOSS OF SLEEP
1 reset tie i thereto™-" Min£'
facsimile
Are You Prepared?
A doctor in the house *11 the time would be a good idea. Yet yon
can’t afford to keep a doctor In the family to keep baby well or pre-
vent sickness. But you can 4o almost the same thing by having at
hand a bottle of Fletcher’s Castoria, because it is a wonderful remedy
for indigestion, colic, feverishness, fretfulness and all the other dia-
orders that result frsm common ailments that babies have.
Fletcher’s Castoria is perfectly safe to use. It is a harmless sub-
stitute for Castor Oil, Paregoric, Drops and Soothing Syrups. Children
-ry for Fletcher's Castoria, and mothers recommend it because they
hare found it a comfort to children and a mother’s friend.
If you love your baby, you know how sweet it is to be able to
. . ____1______Kim enmM ’Yon fcH nilOt Si WA VS Call UPOI1 a dOCtOI.
cause they know that it can omy uu - — - — rr*
harm and they wouldn’t want you to use for baby a remedy that
you would use for yourself.
„0THl«S SHOULD HUD THE BOOKLET THAT IS AHOUHD LVEHV BOTTLE OF FULCHER'S CASTORIA.
.GENUINE CASTORIA *LW*YS
Bxact Copy of Wrapper.
THI CINtAUH COMPANY, HCBW VQWK CITY.
ALGIERS RICH IN SUNDAYS
Holy Day Observed Three Times a
Week by Followers of Different
Religions.
Although no fewer than three Sun-
days are observed each week in Al-
giers, writes a correspondent, only
one could in any sense be called a
"day of rest.” For while the prophet
enjoined his followers to attend wor-
ship on Sunday, he warned them
against allowing It to become a day
of Idleness. An Arab or Moor, there-
fore, will frequently leave his wares
unattended in his shop while he goes
off to the mosque to pray, and he sel-
dom bus occasion to regret this course,
cases of robbery being extremely ran*.
The French Sunday is typically
French. The Jew alone makes hlN
Sunday a day of rest, his religion for-
bidding anything save talking on that
day. A walk through the Jewish
quarter on the Sabbath will carry
one’s thoughts hack many years. The
picturesque groups at the street corn-
ers, in their rich, flowing robes, will
recoil many on Old Testament story
learned In childhood, for the Jew In
his oriental garb has a very different
appearance from the Jew as we know
him In the West.
Why wouldn’t the pink of propriety
he an appropriate flower for our na-
tional emblem?
Seems So.
"Well, the saloon Is out of poli-
tics. " • “Sure 1h. The golf links have
the call now.”
INVENTIVE GENIUS
ROBS CALOMEL OF
NAUSEA AND DANGER
Doctors’ Favorite Medicine Now
Purified and Refined from All
Objectionable Effects. "Calo-
taba”—the New Name.
What will huiTiRV ingenuity do next?
8moke)*-f»n wireless telegraphy,
horneli*KH carriages, colorless iodine, taste-
less quinine,—now comes nauseales?* calo-
mel. The new improvement called "Calo*
tabs" is now on sale at drugstores.
For biliousness, constipation and indi-
gestion the new calomel tablet is a prac-
tically perfect remedy, as evidenced by
the fact that the manufacturers have au-
thorized all druggists to refund the price
if the customer is not “perfectly delighted”
with Calotabs. One tablet at bedtime with
a swallow of water—that’s all. No taste,
no nausea, no griping, no salts. By morn-
ing your liver is thoroughly rleaneo-d and
you are feeling fine, with a hearty appe-
tite Eat what you please—no danger -go
about your business.
Calotabs are not sold in bulk. Get an
original package, sealed. iTice, thirty-
five cents.— (adv.)
If a man lives up to hl.s wife’s ex
peetatlons he is always busy.
Marine Glue.
Marine glue Is prepared by dissolv-
ing one part of Indlu rubber In crude
benzine und mixing with two parts of
shellac, by the aid of heat The wa-
terproof character of this cement In
connection with Its elastic flexibility
makes it a useful substance in many
applications to house construction and
to furniture. This glue Is upplied with
ease when warm, and cools with
promptness. It was originally Intend-
ed to be used chiefly on hoard ship
and is well known In Europe.
A Lady of Distinction
[ Is recognized by the delicate fusrlnat-
i lug Influence of the perfume she uses.
A hath with Cuflcnr* Soap and hot
water to thoroughly cleanse the pores,
followed by h dusting with Cotlenra
Talcum powder usually means a clear,
, sweet, healthy skin.—Adv. -1
/ t
Ingenious Motion Pictures.
Motion pictures of const ruction
work In which a large public hnllding
appears to rise from the ground like
magic, being completed in the ten
minutes’ duration of the film, are b^
lug shown before various engineering
societies by government representa-
tives, according to Popular Mechanic*
Magazine. The structure Is the In-
dustrial building of the United Statos
burouu of standards, and the pictures
were made by exposing a short length
of film every day during the ten
months of work on the building.
WARNING!
The “Bayer Cross” on tablets is the thumb-print which
positively identifies genuine Aspirin prescribed by physicians for
over 20 years, and proved safe by millions.
1
Safety firstl Insist upon an unbroken "Bayer package ’ containing proper
directions for Headache, Earache, Toothache, Neuralgia, Colds, Rheumatism,
Neuritis, Lumbago and for Pain generally. Made and owned strictly by Americans.
foyer-Tablets^Aspirin
Bandy tin boxes of 12 tablet* cost but a few centa—Larger packages
Aaflrta la tfca trad* lurk of Ba/ar Ifanu/aotur* e< Mo»o*cailcMid«et*r ot kUilcjMcackS
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Keyes, Chester A. Luther Register. (Luther, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 12, 1920, newspaper, August 12, 1920; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc925100/m1/3/: accessed March 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.