I~ST ALMENT 1.

THE Summerlin house hadbeen built to withstand hur-ricanes, It was framed of

heavy timbers. It stood upon tall,thick posts, hand - hewn out ofluart pine. These foundation postswere stoutly braced and cunninglymortised and tenoned into massivesills at top and bottom; they wereheld together with wooden pins,{or not a nail had been used in the!l;t; bound skeleton of the struc-ture.\ Va ves blown from the harbor

had washed under it waist deep attimes. It had rocked and groanedunder the onslaught of those bois-t erous September gal e s whichrornc shouting out of the Carib-bca n. but it had never moved.It was two stories high; it was

square. An elevated" gallery" ranaround its front and its two sidesand connected with another small-er structure, the office, so called,where details of cattle shipments,clearances, and the like were at-tended to.The entire space under the house

was open to the gulf breeze. Itwas the gathering spot for guests,it was the cowboys' lounge, thelobby of the Summerlin house. Itwas carpeted with white beachsand and finely broken particles ofshcll ; the massive sills provided<eats at least as soft as saddlelether, and the square posts madeback rests comfortable to achingshoulders.It was always shady under the

house and agreeably cool. Theplace was free from gnats andmosquitoes. too, for a breath fromthe harbor was constantly stirring.Hcr e sun-browned riders from theMivsirnmee marshes and the rangesnorth of the Caloosahatchie re-newed their friendships and theirenmities with fellows from theOkeechobee prairies. the Big Cy-press and the" Glades country."Of friendships there were many;

of feuds there were few, for theFlorida cattle barons were men of<Toad character in the main and~heir employes were well behaved.These latter carried revolvers

and dirks, most of them rode witha rifle or a shotgun on theirsaddles, and, furthermore, here atPunta Rassa rum was cheap-fivegallons for a dollar, demijohn in-cluded. Nevertheless, breaches ofthe peace were by no means epi-demic. Men who have slept aloneunder the stars for weeks andmonths welcome civilization; theyr~ll its sweetness on their tongues;they enjoy its grateful flavor, andfor a while at least they walk war-ily and keep a bright eye peeledfor "the law."

P U.IT A RASSA was the prin-cipal shipping point for south

Florida stock. Annually sam etwenty thousand head were loadedthere for Cuba, the steers and the"she stuff ,. for beef, the bulls forthe bull ring; and cowboys fromthe piney woods and the cabbagehummocs looked forward eagerlyto the occasional drives thither,knowing t hat they would findfriends and strangers and sights tosee. There were ships. There wasthe salty gulf to swim in. Sharksin the harbor. Dice and cards andaguardiente. And Fort Myers onlytwenty miles away, with its lights,its stores, its pretty houses, and-its women.After the cattle were loaded

some of them stayed a few daysto play poker in the old commis-sary, with its cheesecloth partitionsand its leaky roof. There were al-ways holes in the commissary roof,for good hands were celebrated bypistol shots. Occasionally therewere gunplays of more sinisterportent-and why not, with a five-gallon demijohn of rum ann. pilesof Spanish gold on the table? Thelittle Schultz girl always hoveredaround the players to pick up whatmoney fell to the Roar. It was thehouse percentage. 0, yes! Therewas something doing at PuntaRassa, And then on the way home.Fort Myers I Apples! Cannedgoods! Music I \Vomen! A cor-ner of cowboy heaven. After thatthe wilderness once more; thecreak of lether, the lowing of cat-tle, the hoot of owls, the sigh ofthe wind in lonely pine tops,Some punchers were squatting

under the Summerlin house. Oneof them exclaimed;., Hey, fellows! Here comes the

Lily Snow 1"Immediately there was a scram-

ble; the cowboys streamed outinto the sunshine and thence to thedock, where a Cuban four-masterwas moored.

Chicago Sunday Tribune

Thrilling Serial of the Law less Florida Cattle Country of thea Master Novelist Writes Stirringly of

Romance

In aThe arrival of

the Tampa steam-er was an eventfor these horse-men; a certain excitement invari-ably accompanied it. Eagerly nowthcy stared at a rusty side-wheelcraft which had rounded Sanibelpoint and was plowing up the bay.A plume of black pitch pine smokerose from its funnel, its walkingbeam liftcd and fe1l, its prow clovethe placid waters, turning gracefulfurrows of foam. To the observ-ers the Lily Snow was a thing ofbeauty.The schooner at the dock was

loading cattle from a chute; itsdeck carried stalls into which thelean, long - horned animals weredriven one by one. They were wildand unruly, they were frightened,too; from the pen whence theyissued came a gr cat bawling andbellowing.This particular shipment 1'1 a s

being handled on a cash basis andthe simplicity of the transactionwas characteristic of the Floridacattle business. There was nobookkeeping involved. Alongsidethe narrow chute stood the twoprincipals in the deal, and eachcarried a let her bag. As an ani-mal crowded past, the buyer hand-ed to the seller a Spanish doubloon.

FROM the cabin deck of thc in-coming steamer Tom Kennedy

looked down at the scene on thedock and thrilled at the sight of it.'With interest he studied the men,the shore, the houses. PuntaRassa at last 1 A mighty smallplace to have its name printed sobig on the map; he had expectedto see quite a city. A1I the sameit was pretty. It reminded him ofpictures he had seen of the WestIndies. Those leaning trees withthe funny clusters of fruit werecoconut palms. And those queerbushes standing high up on sprad-dling, crooked legs were man-groves. He wondered how a man-grove ever got its start in life.Ordinary trees spring from roots,but evidently these sprouted inmidair and dropped roots downinto the mud. Silly idea 1 He wastempted to comment on its absurd-ity to the girl standing near by,and he glanced at her. He hadtried more than once to meet hereyes, but always unsuccessfully;what was more, she seemed tofeel his gaze and turned away.Now, with her attention fixed uponthe shore, he was free at least tostare at her as intently as he de-sired.She was lovely. T011l felt a

stirring, breathless excitement rac-ing through his veins. She wasslim. dark, olive skinned. Her eyeswere black and lustrous, and theyhad thrown him into a panic themoment they rester! on him. Thatwas when she came aboard atTampa with her elderly womancompanion. He had been in a dazeever since.A dozen times on the trip down

he had prayed for tempest or ship-wreck, or for the Lily Snow toburst her boiler, so that he couldsave this girl's life. Instead theweather had remained balmy, theboiler had held together.He guessed she'd be mighty sur-

prised if he stepped up to her justas the ship was sinking, took offhis hat, and said politely:"Don't be in the least alarmed,

Miss Mendez. I'll save you."He'd have to say it in Spanish,

of course.That would make her open her

big black pansy eyes, all right.After they were safely ashore onsome uninhabited island he'd ex-plain his knowledge of her Ian-guaz e by te1ling her he was fromthe Rio Grande country.Her name was Rita Mendez,

Her father was a rich Cuban. She\"a, going to Fort Myers to visitrelatives. The woman she wastraveling' with was not her mother,but a maid, a companion. All thisTom had Icarned from the purser.\\'ell, that meant he would be

able to meet her. If necessary he'dret , guitar and ., play bear" underher \\ indow.The steamer had docked. Valise

in hand. Tom lingered until hecould follow Miss Mendez and herduenna ashore. He wondered howany zir l could walk on such highheels-but she managed it. Why,her feet weren't as big as mice.If e could span her waist with hisfingers. neverthe less her hips andher bust were rounded and shewas alive with health and vitality.

* *

FeudsTom heard somebody direct the

women to the Schultz hotel, a placewhich he inferred was too rich forhis blood, so regretfully he walkedacross to the Summerlin house andasked how he could get to FortMyers.There was no stage line, he was

told. Neither was there any regu-lar boat service. He would haveto beg a ride from some returningcattle outfi t or hire a craft of somesort to set him up the river.Mr. Kennedy did not choose to

charter any boat for the very goodreason that he had been travelingfor three weeks solid-quick timefrom west Texas to south Florida-and he had so calculated his ex-penditures en route as to have histrip and his money peter out atthe same time. Asidefrom a few silver coinshe was broke,He was not greatly

concerned thereat, how-ever, for this was jour-ney's end.The two men Tom

He was free to stare at her asintently as he desired.

had seen at the cattle chute as hecame ashore entered the office athis left and for a while they talked.When the Cuban left, Tom enteredand inquired of the other:.. Are you the boss of this cattle

outfit? "The man turned with a frown,

and Kennedy saw that he had beendrinking, for his face was flushedand a demijohn on the table wasfar Irorn Iull... Yes, I'm the boss. And I have

all the hands I need."

THE speaker was ali the,sandy - haired fellow several

years older than Tom. His fea-tures were clean cut and promi-nent, his eyes were bold, and therewas an insolent curl to his lips.He was handsome and he carriedan air of consequence."I'm not looking for a job, mis-

ter. I thought you might have achuck wagon going to Fort Myers,or maybe an extra horse--"Carelessly the man shook his

head. Deliberately he turnerl hisback.Kennedy felt himself color at

the fellow's callous indifference.In order to say something he ex-plained: "I'm all the way fromTexas, and these are the first Flor-ida cow brutes I ever saw. Kindof poor compared with our cattle.I guess your range isn't as goodas ours.""And you're the first Texas

cow hand I ever saw." The manturned and stared over his shoul-der. He ran his eyes over Tomfrom head to foot. "1'11 bet you'rea top hand and know all aboutcattle.".. I can tell a hull from a hefer,"

the newcomer admitted... \\ ell, Florida pickings are poor.

You won't fatten up much. either.""I'll manage to winter it out."

Kennedy wondered if all cattlemenin this country carried their liquoras badly as this one, or if Floridarum had lightuins; in it. "I'd cer-tainly like to get to Fort Myers.".. Did you ever think about walk-

mg?"\Vhen Tom answered his voice

had soften cd, but not his expres-sion. ..Why, no 1" he said in asilky tone. "That thought neveroccurred to me. Out my way it'san unfamiliar form of exercise forcow men. Farmers and sheep-herders make it a practice, but wenever took up the practice. Forone thing, we aren't shod for walk-i'1:;!'. Tom looked down at histight. hizh-heeled calfskin boots,the tops oi which he wore con-

Fig 11tingcealed bencath his pants legs.They were expensive boots. and.like all cowboys, he was proud ofhis feet. "K 0, sir, that never oc-curr ed to me. 1 can ride in theseboots and fight in them; they'll doto kick a man in the belly with orstomp on his face if he gets impu-dent; but they're no good forwalking. . . . My name is Ken-nedy. It's easy remembered. I'llbe shipping cattle over this docksome day, and if ever you wantthe loan of a pony don't fail toask me."He stood for a moment in silent

cxpccta ncy ; then he sauntered outupon tbe gallery. Inwardly hewas boiling; he was still seethingwhen the dinner bell rang and hejoined the resulting stampede.

The dining room of the Summer-lin house was furnished with along, bare table and two benches.The fare today was the same asalways - f r i e d ham, grits, andgra vy. Kennedy ate in silence fora while, then he spoke to the manon his right:"\\'hat's the name of the fellow

who's shipping that stock? ""Tall, sandy-haired man?

That's Tad Dolman."" You one of his hands? ""Who? Me?" The cowboy

shook his head. "What's the mat-ter? ""This Florida liquor must he

about four-thirds panther sweat.""It ain't Florida Ji'IU"', it's

Cuban rum; 'augerdent,' they callit. Did he treat you rough)Him an' Sonny have been rizhtpeevish for a couple of days.Sonny is mean. He's Tad's kidbrother." The speaker speared asecond piece of ham. "Fightin' isin a man's blood. not in hi, liquor,as I see it. Now, with me auger-dent brings out all thc sweetnessan' beauty of my nature. I ain'tat my best till my legs get limber;then children faller me an' womenmelt at my smile.""What riled up this Dolman?""Us boys have been eheckin' up

on his steers, an' we found someof our brands."" So? That goes on down here,

eh? "" I reckon it goes on everywhere.

Stock drifts. When a cow ispenned up a Triangle H sometimeslooks so much like a Crescent S,or mebbe a swallow fork in eachear resembles a double crop soclose that a shipper can't tell 'ernapart." This mild sarcasm broughta smile to the listener's lips. "I'mwith the Sprague outfit, CrescentS; earmark, crop split on the right,lower square on the left. I foundten head in the Dolman pen. Ofcourse Tad would of settled, but-it didn't hurt for me to be here.. . My name is Bide Willing,""Tom Kennedy is mine."" Proud to meet you.""I'm going to work for Mr.

.•.'oble. You know him? ".. Everybody knows Cap'n Ben.""He's my uncle."\ Villing's expression a 1t ere d.

Thereafter he treated Tom with arespect which made it evident thatCapt. Ben • Table was a man ofstanding in the community. As toTom's predicament, the regularboat for Fort Myers was out of

by

commission, but there would likelybe another leaving during the aft-ernoon, he declarcd, and if nut,somebody would surely be drivingup. When the meal was finishedBide introduced Tom to some ofthe other cowboys, and all repairedto the shady retreat under thehouse.There was the customary banter,

the usual cattle talk, ail familiar tothe visitor, but t inzcd now with anew color and pointed by an idiomwhich he found a little stran-r-.Soon somebody spread a saddleblanket and began throwing dice.The stakes were mod-irate, andKennedy edged into t he circle. Hewon and lost for a while, then hisluck changed for the better, Thecoins in front of him grew. He

was on his knees warming the dicewith his breath and earnestly im-ploring them to come six when thegame was unceremoniously inter-rupted.Rapid hoof heats sounded upon

the shell road, there was a yell,a rider approached at a gallop.As he cam c abreast of theSummerlin house he turned hishorse sharply and rode under it,straight at the squatting group.The men scattered like a covey ofquail, but a couple of them werebowled over as the rider set hishorse down in their very midst."Hey, Sonny 1 You aimin' to

kill somebody? " protested one fel-low who had escaped a flying hoofby inches." Get that horse off our money,"

another cried.To a chorus of this sort Tom

Kennedy picked him s elf up,brushed off his clothes-he waswearing his best suit - and spatsand from his lips. His pile ofquarters had been flung broadcast,and he retrieved them one by one.He had sec n a woolly Texasroundup hand scatter a crowd ata campfire in this very manner,but on that occasion the cook hadpromptly put a dent in his skullwith a skillet. Tom awaited somesimilar move from his companions.Evidently customs differed, how-ever, for none came. From theresentful, hangdog demeanor ofthese cowboys he assumed thishorseman was something of abully.

THE confusion he had createdappeared to amuse the latter.

He sat his quivering pony andgrinned down at the group." Don't mind me," he said. "It's

just one of my capers." Tornreached for a coin, whereupon therider spurred his horse. It all buttrod on Tom's hand. When hemade another move the maneuverwas repeated.The Texan straightened himself;

he spa keto the bystanders."These dice are mine, and I hadthat six as good as made. Now,mister," he lifted his eyes to thefigure above him, "here's a caperto put with yours."Wit h these words he seized

Sonny by the belt and simul-taneously prodded his horse in thatsensitive portion of its anatomyjust back of its ribs. The animalleaped forward, its master wassnatched out of the saddle andcarne sprawling to the ground.There was a startled clamor, butTorn did not hear it, for his tem-per, never very trustworthy, wascompletely out of control and he

EXfelt a s w i it 1ymounting rage.Sonny rose to

his knees snarl-ing. He reached for his revolver,and the bystanders broke ground,but as the weapon came from itsholster Kennedy neatly kicked itout of his ha rd, sent it flying. Theowner uttered a cry of pain andsurprise which ended in a chokinggasp as he felt himself dragged tohis feet and an open palm smotehis cheek with blinding force.His limber lack of balance indi-

cated that he was drunker than hehan. appeared on horseback, soTom held hill! up, shook him likea wet shir t, slapped him again andagain. He had about finished whenhe heard a cry of warning, thenfelt something hard and bluntdriven forcibly into his ribs. Aharsh voice back of him shouted:"Drop that kid! "Kennedy stiffened. He released

his victim, he elevated his handsuntil they were at the level of hisears. Hc heard somebody exclaimaffrightcdly:" Hey, Tad! Don't shoot! "Over his shoulder he glimpsed

the face of the man he had seenearlier in the office. It was dis-torted now with fury: the fellowwas spilling curses."For God's sake. Tad, you can't

do that!" It was the voice ofBide Willing. "Sonny rode hishorse right over us--"Sonny himself broke in with

hoarse passion: ., Kill 'im, Tad!You kill 'irn or I wiI!." He fum-bled for the knife at his belt, buthands pinioned him and removedthe weapon. He struggled tothrow them off.The tableau lasted only a second

or two, but it was indelibly fixedupon the memory of those present.Some of them doubtless were im-pelled to intervene forcibly, butthey were frozen in a paralysis ofdread, fearing to move lest theyprovoke the insane elder brotherto act.Again Bide Willing lifted his

voice in earnest entreaty. " Thisman's a stranger here. He don'tknow y'all, Tad. He wouldn't ofdone a thing if--""Nobody's going to beat up my

kid brother."

EAC" Quick! Before 1 bend this allyou. Kennedy is the name. It'seasy remembered."The brothers were sobered. To-

gether they lurched out into theglare of the white shell road.Tom watched them go, then he

picked up the dice and rolled thembetween his palms."Now let's get some action on

that six," he said, and spilled themout upon the blanket.The cowboys stared at him, but

interest in the game languished.What a rotten introduction to

Florida, '1' a m reflected ash cmounted the steps to the hotel afew minutes later. He couldn'thave made a worse beginning, andall on account of his temper.Idiot 1 It wouldn't have hurt himto swallow Sonny's affront. Evi-dently these Dolmans were peopleof consequence. Presumably theywere friends of his uncle, or pos-sihly eve n business associates.Wasn't that his luck? Tom knewcomparatively little about his uncleexcept that he was a sober, God-fearing man who stood well in thecommunity. Hm-m! The soonerhe got to Fort Myers and laid hisside of the affair before Capt. BenNoble the better.He noticed that a trim little sail-

hoat had been moored to the dockwithin the last half hour, and heassumed it must have come fromFort Myers, so he went in searchof its owner. The skipper turnedout to be a Cuban boy of aboutfourteen. His name was MiguelRubio, and he was talkative.Here was some good luck at last.

Eagerly Tom tried to arrange pas-sage with Skipper Miguel, but theboy shook his head. He was will-ing to oblige, but his sister, Luisa,would never consent. Nor wouldthe other two women. Ofelia, thecousin's duenna, was an old cross-patch. She'd be scandalized. Herprincipal business in life was toprevent precisely such things asthis. Spanish conventions wererigid, and Rita was not American-ized like Miguel and his sister.Tom did not press the point. He

engaged the boy in conversation ofa general nature, he discussed thecattle business, he spoke of Texasand the Rio Grande, of the westernranges and the western herds.

MIGUEL was interested. Hisfather owned several cattle

ships like the one which was load-ing here. He, Miguel, intended tobecome a vaquero. Tom wonderedif he had ever seen any real Mexi-can roping. It would be an accom-plishment for Miguel to master it.How? That was simple. Tomwould teach him.When Senorita Rubio, her cous-

in, and the latter's companion camedown to the dock Miguel shockedthem into a stupefied silence byannouncing that the sloop had an-other passenger. With a flourishhe introduced his friend."I'm afraid that is-impossible,"

Miss Rubio said. "I mean-yousee--" She avoided Tom's eyes.She was considerably embarrassed."0, you make me sick!" her

brother broke in. "Mr. Kennedyis the nephew of Captain Noble.""You are? Is that true? " the

girl inquired eagerly."Yes'm."" Why, then--" Again she

hesitated and cas t a troubledglance toward her two compan-ions, whereupon the elder womanasked in Spanish:"What are you talking about?

Who is this man?" Briefly thefacts were put before her, but shefrowned, she shook her head untilher long earrings danced.But now Miss Mendez asserted

herself for the first time. Shesilenced Ofelia, and she assuredLuisa that she could do no lessthan assist the young gentleman tohis destination. The young gentle-man himself she quite ignored, buthe thanked her silently, then lentMiguel a hand in stowing away theluggage and in raising the sail.Soon the sloop was under way.

(Cop~rigbt: 1934: By Rex Beaeh.)(To be continued.)

KENNEDY had said nothing,he had made no move. Ap-

parently the pressure of that gunbarrel had frozen him; then sud-denly his right arm dropped andhe whirled in his tracks. It was amaneuver familiar enough in thewest, where quick draws and pistoltricks of all sorts were practicedby nine cowboys out of ten, but itwas wholly unexpected here. Fur-thermore, it was executed in aflash. Although apparently at ahopeless disadvantage, he was any-thing but that, for his right elbowhad less than a foot to travel be-fore it collided with Dolman's wristand knocked the revolver aside.As a part of the same movementhe turned and seized it.In those days, when gun fighting

had developed a technique of itsown, no experienced law officerever came c los e r than arm'slength to the man he held covered,for more than one had been shotwith his own weapon; some hadeven been forced to pull the trig-ger that fired it.This could have happened to Tad

Dolman now, for not only did Ken-nedy strike his pistol aside, butalso with a continuation of thesame lightninglike movement heflung his arm over Tad's in such away as to lock it in an unbreakablehold. Dolman found himself un-able either to point the weapon orfire it, for his assailant's right handcovered his and exerted a pressurewhich his closed fingers could notresist.As the men struggled the muzzle

of the weapon described an erraticpattern, and the cowboys retreateduntil Tom forced it lower, thensqueezed Tad's fingers and fired itinto the ground once, twice. He "--------------'--_was master of the situation. Hecompelled the owner to burn hislast cartridge.Then vith a sudden wrench he

ripped the gun out of Dolman's • weird ,tr,,?, is told of a well-knownhand and thrust him back. ;P6Cl:~~t8~ef1;~~i;lrip~ar~h~ ••~rath~st~o~~

creal d a pres, tption for arid stomach,"I could have made you gun- ga, pains. heartburn. In(li~CBI;Oll.bloatillil'.

shoot yourself," he cried harshly. ~~lc~~~~:n~.crJ.her iliettP\11e e (1;~l~~n~ao~t~~

" Next time I will." ~~ea~'h~~t 0~~S ~'~e,:-,e1~~ouf~~I~grmeOis!~r~D 1 . id thi . wonderful 1'1'~criplioll. In the past sixa man sal some mg 111 a veal's. 5'.J no ,,"rafefn'persons have written

strangled voice, then cringed as I i;:~t;rl~I)tf~;;lli" 1~~"t~~:~w~C't~\'h{l';;'cired'fh~ifom menacingly raised the heavy tho' IS. uds i'." Ihe V'lga Treatment. All

• • . stomach muter rrt y have a frep ~:'imrlcweapon. Instead of striking WIth by writ ir '- 10 Pop. ~1ll1e :1, Foot-Schutzr-

• Bldz.. t Joul. finn rr seven dnvit the Texan waved him to be gone. trial box of U';'l 'lablets is Boldunder a••Shove off," he cried savagely. g'ooo~Yd=<fsu~v~g:h;le .• atrsfaction by

(ALNERTlSII1ENT)

Dead Doctor HealsStomach. Ailments

Sunday, September 23, 1934