d 230
XXIV The Secret of North Pasture 239
XXV The Trap 248
XXVI Sheriff Hardenberg Intervenes 256
XXVII An Hour Too Late 268
XXVIII Forebodings 276
XXIX Creeping Shadows 284
XXX Lynch Scores 291
XXXI Gone 301
XXXII Buck Rides 309
XXXIII Carried Away 319
XXXIV The Fight on the Ledge 332
XXXV The Dead Heart 339
XXXVI Two Trails Converge 345

SHOE-BAR STRATTON

CHAPTER I

BACK FROM THE DEAD

Westward the little three-car train chugged its way fussily across the
brown prairie toward distant mountains which, in that clear atmosphere,
loomed so deceptively near. Standing motionless beside the weather-beaten
station shed, the solitary passenger watched it absently, brows drawn into
a single dark line above the bridge of his straight nose. Tall, lean, with
legs spread apart a bit and shoulders slightly bent, he made a striking
figure against that background of brilliant sky and drenching, golden
sunlight. For a brief space he did not stir. Then of a sudden, when the
train had dwindled to the size of a child's toy, he turned abruptly and
drew a long, deep breath.

It was a curious transformation. A moment before his face--lined,
brooding, somber, oddly pale for that country of universal tan--looked
almost old. At least one would have felt it the face of a man who had
recently endured a great deal of mental or physical suffering. Now, as he
turned with an unconscious straightening of broad shoulders and a
characteristic uptilt of square, cleft chin, the lines smoothed away
miraculously, a touch of red crept into his lean cheeks, an eager, boyish
gleam of expectation flashed into the clear gray eyes that rested
caressingly on the humdrum, sleepy picture before him.

Humdrum it was, in all conscience. A single street, wide enough, almost,
for a plaza, paralleled the railroad tracks, the buildings, such as they
were, all strung along the further side in an irregular line. One of
these, ramshackle, weather-worn, labeled laconically "The Store," stood
directly opposite the station. The architecture of the "Paloma Springs
Hotel," next door, was very similar. On either side of these two
structures a dozen or more discouraged-looking adobe houses were set