Page:Honore Willsie--Judith of the godless valley.djvu/226

 get real dangerous, till now!" exclaimed Young Jeff. "Listen, don't try to put that guy over on us, Doug!" Scott stood eying Douglas with a mixture of curiosity and impatience in his hard eyes. He had just parted his lips to speak when the door opened and Charleton and Jimmy came in.

"Look at here, Charleton!" roared Young Jeff. "Look at the address on this bag!"

The two newcomers scrutinized the tag. "Well," said Jimmy, "I'll be everlastingly dehorned, vaccinated and branded!"

Charleton's mouth twisted. "So the old fool got you, Doug! You've got hard nerve, that's all I have to say!" "Nerve! I'll say so!" cried Scott. "What's the great idea, Doug? Going to bring Lost Chief up to your level, huh?"

Douglas' cheeks were burning. He jerked the suitcase from the table and started for the door.

"Believe me, cowman," called Scott after him, "you and the sky pilot have laid out a course of trouble for yourselves."

Douglas paused with his hand on the latch. "You are a pack of coyotes!" he said and he slammed the door after himself.

And so the secret was out! Nothing that had occurred in the Valley for years had stirred the ranchers so deeply. There was much joking and derisive laughter but beneath this was a sense of resentment that grew day by day. Grandma Brown, Peter of course, and Frank Day were sympathetic to the idea. Some of the older women wondered if it might not be a good thing in giving the young fry a place to go on Sundays. But the young fry, with huge enjoyment not untinged with malice, planned to run the preacher out of the Valley in short order and to