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PAGE TEN APO 55 UW PALTRY VOY APSARA 3 oo EEA UE AOR, THE COW 2 PUNCHER | & Chapter 2 Continued from Tuesday, Mr. Elden promptly engaged tho doctor. in conversation, and in a few moments had gleaned the main facts in connection with the accident and the fatlier and daughter which it had brought so involuntarily under his roof. He was quite sober now, and his speech, although slovenly, was not indelicate. He was still able to pay to woman that respect which curbs the coarseness of a Hongue for years subjected to little discip- line. After breakfast Irene attended to the wants of her father, and by this time the visiting doctor was mani- festing impationce to be away. Other fees were calling him, and he assur- ed Doctor Hardy,, what 4he latter quite well knew, that nothing more could be done for him at pgesent, He would come again at any time if summoned by the young man, or if his professional duties should bring him into the neighborhood of the El- den ranch, But Dave declared with prompt finality that the horses must rest until after noon, and the doc- tor, willy-nilly, spent the morning rambling in the foothills, Mean- while the girl busied herself with work about the house, in which she was effecting a rapid transforma. tion, After the midday dinner Dave har- nessed the team for the journey to town, but before leaving inquired of Irene if there were any special purchases, either personal or for the use of the house, which she would recommend. With some diffidence she mentioned one that was upper- RY the only matter of grave doubt vre- lated to its termination, Dave, still] holding fast to the reins, ran beside the car with prodigious strides which enabled him to bring but little re- straint upon the team, and Irene held to the steering-wheel with grip of desperation, Then they struck the water. It was not more than two feet deep, but the extra resistance it caused, and the extra alarm it excited in the horses, resulted in the breaking of the lariat. Dave still clung fast to] his team, and, now that the terrify- ing rival no longer pursued them, they were soon brought to a stand- sill. Having pacified them he tied them to a post and returned to the stream, The car sat in the middle; the girl had put her feet on the seat beside her, and the swift water flow- ed by a few inches below, She was laughing merrily when Dave, very wet in parts, appeared on the bank. "Well, I'm not wet, except for a little splashing," she said, 'and you are, Does apything occur to you?" Without reply he walked stolidly into the cold water, took her in his arms and carried her ashore. The lariat was soon repaired, and the car hauled to the ranch buildings with- out further mishap. Later in the day he said to her, "Can you ride?" "Some," she answered. 'I have ridden city horses, but don't know about these ranch animals. You know, a city horse has to do as he is told, but a ranch horse seems to do | pretty much as he likes. But I would like to try---if I had a saddle." "I have an extra saddle," he said. most in her thoughts--soap, both laundry and toilet. Dr. Hardy had| no hesjtation in calling for a box of his favorite cigars and some new magazines, and took occasion to press into the boy's hand a bill out of all proportion to the value of the supplies requested. There was an argument in the yard, which the girl did not fully hear, between father! and son, but she gathered that the old man insisted on going to town, and, failing that, that Dave should replenish his stock of whisky, to neither of which would the young man consent. It was evident that Dave was the responsible person in the affairs of the Elden ranch. The day was introductory to oth- ers that were to follow. Dave re- turned the next afternoon, riding his own horse, and heavily laden with cigars, magazines, 'soap, and with a soft little package which prov-| ed to be a sponge, which he had bought on his own initiative, and which he tendered to Irene. She took it with slowly rising color, | and with a strange misgiving | whether this was a bona fide contri-| bution to the toilet equipment of the | house, of a quiet satire designed to] offset the effect of the appeal soap. . The following day it was decided for |a saddle. "But it's @ man's. . . They all ride that way here." She made no answer. and the sub- ject was dropped for the time. But the next morning she saw Dave side away, leading a horse by his side. He did not return until evening, bui when he came the idle horse carried a saddle. "It's a strad-legger," he said when he drew up beside Irene, "but it's a girl's. I couldn't find anythin' else in the whole diggin's." "I'm sure it will do--splendidly --if I can just stick on," she replied. But another problem was already in her mind. It apparently had not oc- curred to Dave that women require special clothing for riding, especial- ly if it's a "strad-legger." She opened her lips to mention this, then closed them again. He had been to enough trouble on her ac count. He had already spent a whole day scouring the country for She would manage some way. Late that night she was busy 'with scissors and needle. Re lover for a haven from the intrusion |of business or professional cares, he | could have found it nowhere in great- |er perfection than in the foothill cen- By Robt. J, C. Stead - OSHAWA, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1922 CHAPTER IIL Dr. Hardy recovered from his in- juries as rapidly as could be expected, and, while he chafed somewhat over spending his holidays under such cir- cumstances, the time passed not un- happily. Had he sought the world tring about the Elden ranch, Here was an Arcadia where one might well return to the simple life; of still water sheltered from the on- rushing tide of affairs by the warm hrown prairies and the white-hosomed mountains towering through their draperies of blue-purple mist, It was life as far removed from his accus- tomed circles as if he had heen sud- denly spirited to a different planet, It was life without the contact of life without the crowd and jostle and haste and gaiety and despair that are a little bay | A, ar ty helene dat ---- ------ that," he continued, "He despises me because he thinks 1 wasn't fair to his mother, He can't understand, He doesn't know yet that there's things--pulls and tugs of life, that lead a man as helpless as a steer chokin' in his lasso. 1 was like that, 1 whnted to be good to her, to be close to her, Then I took to booze, as natural ag a steer under the brandin' iron roars to drown his hurt. But the hoy dont' under- stand." The old man got up and stood at the western window, watch- ing the gold of approaching sunset gather on the mountains. . YHe despises me." Then after.a long si- lence, "No matter, 1 despise my- self." A ): The doctor approached and placed a hand on his shoulder, "But Flden was himself again, The eurtains of his life, which he had drawn apart for a moment, he whipped together again rudely, almost viciougly, and called Mfe; but the doctor wondered if, after all, it did not come nearer to | filling the measure of experience which is life, A considerable acquaintanceship | had sprung up between him and the senior Elden, The rancher had come | rom the Kast forty years before, but | in turning over their memories the | two men found many links of associ-| ation; third persons known to them | both; places, even streets and houses | common to their feet in early man- hood; events of local history which each could recall, although from dif- ferent angles. And Elden's life in the West had been a treasury of experi-| ence, in which he now dipped for the with tales of the open range long he fore barbed wire had stuck its pois- oned fang into the heart of the ranch- first time in years, regaling his guest | covered his confusion by plunging into a tale of how he had led a hreed suspected of cattle-rustling on a little canter of ten miles with a ropa {about his neek and the other end tied to the saddle. "He ran well," said the old man, chuckling still at the reminiscence. "And it was lucky he did, It was a strong rope." The morning after Dave had brought in the borrowed saddle Irene appeared in a sort of bloomer suit, somewhat wonderfully contrived from the spare skirt to which alln- sion has been made, and announced a willingness to risk life and limb on any horse that Dave might select for that purpose, Ile provided her with a dependable mount, and their first journey, taken somewhat gin- gerly along the principal trail, was accomplished without incident. forded her many sidelights on the remarkablé nature of her escort, His patience was infinite, and, al-| though there were no silk trappings to his courtesy, it was a very gen-| uine and manly deference he paid her, She was quite sure that he would at any moment give his life if needed to defend her from injury-- and accept the transaction as a mat- | ter of course, His physical endur- ance was inexhaustible, and' his knowledge of prairle and foothill seemed to her almost uncanny, When she had heen utterly lost for hours he would suddenly swing their: horses' heads about and guide them | home with the accuracy of the wild! goose on its flights to the nesting-| grounds, He read every sign of | footprint, leaf, water, and sky with | unfailing insight, He had no know!- edge of hooks, and she had at first | thought him ignorant, but as the days went by she had found in him a mine, k of wisdom wlfich shamed her ready-made education. After such a ride they one day dis- mounted in a grassy opening among the trees that hordered a mountain | canyon. The waters of ages had chigelled a sharp passage through the rock, and the blue stream now swirled in its rapid course a hundred feet below. Fragmants of rock, loosened by the sun and wind and frost of centuries, had fallen from time to time leaving sheltered nooks and shelves in the walls of the can- yon, In one of these crevices they It was the forerunner of many others, | With found a flat stone that gave comfort- able seating, and here they rested while the horses browsed their af-| ternoon meal on the grass above. Little irregular bits of stone had broken off the parent rock, and for | a while they amused themselves | tossing these into the water. "The Reason Why CHASE & SANBORN'S Oo he A A -- tn. rans COFFE it is good. $s wanted-is Simple, isn't it? man; tales of horse stealing and cat- tle-rustling, with glimpses of sudden justice unrecorded in the official doc- uments of the territory; of whisky running and excess and all tohse large adventures that drink the red blood of the wilderness. In his grizzled head and stooping frame he carried more element of danger was by no means a experiences than would fill a dozen mere fancy, and into regions where well-rounded city hives, 2a he had the girl's sense of aistance and di- the story-teller's art which scorns to i ran ais. spoil dramatic effect by a too strict ad- rection were totally confused, herence to fact, But over one phase of his life he kept the curtain reso- Jutely down. No ray of conversation would he admit into the more person- al affairs of his heart, or if the wom- an who had been his wife, and even when the talk turned on the boy he quickly withdrew it to another topic, as though the subject were danger- ous or distasteful, But once, after a long silence following such a.diver- sion, had he betrayed himself into a whispered remark, an outburst of feel- ing rather than a communication. "I've been alone so much," he said. "It seems I have never been anything but alone. And---sooner or later--it gets you--it gets you." "You have the boy," ventured the doctor. "No," he answered, almost fiercely. "That would be different. I could stand it then. But I havent' got him, | jand I can't get him. He despises me because--because I take too much at | times." He paused as though wonder- | ing whether to proceed with this un wonted confidence, but the ache his heart insisted on its right human sympathy. "No, 1t ain't |plunging deeper and deeper into the | But both were conscious of a grad- | fastnesses of the foothills, and even ually increasing tension in the at-! into the passes of the very mountains | mosphere. For days the hoy had! themselves. Re zr rides r Wi : | 1iemselves. These long rides through {been moody. It was evident he was! the almost untracked wilderness, | | that was call-| frequently along paths on which the Darboring something | (ing through his nature for expres- sion, and Irene knew that this af- ternoon he would talk of more than af- Continued on Page Eleven, A Low Priced Electric Range WE have just introduced a new bigh-quality Moffat Electric Range to sell at a really low price. It has three top elements, a large oven, size 18 x 14 x 12, with two elements, and two three - heat switches. It has all the latest im- provements and is identical in quality and will do as good work as our hest range. Write for free booklet to Moffats, Limited, Weston, Ontario. in to Hands were madetowork with, and to be soiled. Washthem with Lifebuoy when the work is done= --and they will keep white and fine. Lifebuoy's health odour is delightful, that the automobile, which since the | accident had lain upturned by the] roadway, should be brought to the| ranch buildings. Dave harnessed | his team, and, instead of riding one of the horses, walked behind, driyv- ing by the reins, and accompanied by the girl, who had proclaimed her ability to steer the car. When they reached the stream she hesitated, remembering her mishap, but the boy slipped his unoccupied hand firmly under her arm, and they walk- ed the log in safety. It seemed to Irene that he continued his assist- ance when it was no longer need- ed, but she accepted the courtesy without remark. With the aid of the team and Dave's lariat the car was soon right- ed, and was found to be none the worse for its deflection from the beaten track. Irene presided at the steering-wheel, watching ithe road with great intentmess, and turning the wheel too far on each occasion, | which gave to her course a some what wavy or undulating order, such as is found in bread knives, or perhaps a better figure would be to compare it with that rolling motion affected by fancy skaters. However, the mean of her direction corres- ponded with the mean of the trail. | and all went merrily until the stream - hE TT ~ ht CHEWING GUM (4 ¥7 / For Children Comfort Is Happiness "If a child's underclothing irri- tates him don't be surprised if he is cross: Qo good for the teeth and is sppresciod Here ves 3 Tah mouth and so stron gly ! sudden purpose to engage the horses | in a contest of speed. The animals | Ek recommended by den their strange wagon, and fad tists thought of allowing it to @ssume the | initiative. Now, Irene knew per. | fectly well where the brake was, and | how to use it. In fact, there were | two brakes, operated by different | members, and perhaps it was this duplication, intended to insure safe- | ty, that was responsible for her un-| doing. Her first impulse was to use the emergency, but to do so she must remove her hand from the steering- wheel, where it was very fully oc- cupied. She did start to put this | impulse into effect, but an unusual- | ly wiolent deflection caused her to recomsider that intention. She de- termined to mse the foot-brake, a feat which was accomplished. under | mormal conditions, by pressing one | foot firmly against a contraption somewhere beneath the steering- post. She shot a quick glance down- ward, and to her alarm discovered mot one, but three contraptions, all apparently to rmeceive the of a foot--if one could reach them--and as similar as the steps of a stair. This involved a fur- | ther hesitation, and in antomobiling | ool ie Rg a LR id exp . By time all attention was n it was running away. 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