The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Forfeit, by Ridgwell Cullum

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Title: The Forfeit

Author: Ridgwell Cullum

Release Date: September 25, 2006 [eBook #19371]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FORFEIT***

E-text prepared by Al Haines

THE FORFEIT

by

RIDGWELL CULLUM

Author of
"The Night Riders," "The Way of The Strong," "The Trail of The Axe,"
Etc.

A. L. Burt Company
Publishers ------ New York
Published by arrangement with George W. Jacobs & Company
Copyright, 1917, by
George W. Jacobs & Company
All rights reserved

CONTENTS

I. AT RAINBOW HILL VALLEY
II. CONFLICTING CURRENTS
III. TRAILING THE "BLACK TAIL"
IV. THE WEAKER VESSEL
V. THE HANGING BEE
VI. THE RAIDERS RAIDED
VII. OUTLAND JUSTICE
VIII. JEFF CLOSES THE BOOK
IX. FOUR YEARS LATER
X. THE POLO CLUB RACES
XI. ELVINE VAN BLOOREN
XII. THE TEMPERING
XIII. THE NEWS
XIV. THE KNOCKING ON THE DOOR
XV. THE HOME-COMING
XVI. THE RANCHMAN
XVII. THE CALL TO ORRVILLE
XVIII. DUG MCFARLANE
XIX. THE RETURN HOME
XX. AT BUD'S
XXI. THE BARRIER
XXII. THREATENINGS
XXIII. THE HEARTS OF TWO WOMEN
XXIV. TO SPRUCE CROSSING
XXV. AN EPIC BATTLE
XXVI. UNDER THE VEIL
XXVII. THE ROUND-UP

THE FORFEIT

CHAPTER I

AT RAINBOW HILL VALLEY

A companionable silence prevailed in the room. At intervals it was
broken, but only by the rustle of paper or the striking of a match.
The heavy breathing, almost amounting to a snore, of one of the two
men, and the inarticulate protests of a laboring "rocker" chair--these
things were only a part of it.

The man at the table was deeply immersed in a miniature sea of
calculations. His fair brows were drawn in deep concentration.
Frequently he was at great pains to relight a pipe which contained
nothing but charred remnants of tobacco and a moist, unsmokable mixture
which afforded only a somewhat offensive taste and aroma.

The partner in this companionship overflowed an undersized "rocker,"
which withstood, with supreme heroism, the ov