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FIFTEENTH INSTALMENT SYNOPSIS: Ruth Warren, who lived in the East is willed three-fourth in- terest in the “Dead Lantern" ranch in Arizona by her only brother who is reported to have met his death while on business in Mexico. Arriving in Arizona with her husband who has ailing lungs and their small child, they leam that the ranch is located 85 miles from the nearest railroad. 01d Charley Thane, rancher and rural mail carrier agrees to take them to the “Dead Lantern” gate, 5 miles from the ranch house. As they trudge Wearin through a gulch approaching the ranch house, a voice whispers “Go backl . . . Go back!" At the ranch house they are greeted suspiciously by the gaunt rancher partner, Snaveâ€" ly, and Indian Ann, 8. herculean wom- an of mixed negro and indian blood. Snavely is difficult to understand but regardless, Ruth takes up the task of trying to adjust their three lives to the ranch and its development. Ken- neth, Ruth’s husband, caught in chill. ing rain contracts pneumonia and passes away before a doctor arrives. Ruth tries‘to carry on. She is not encouraged by Snavely in plans to try and stock the ranch or improve it. She writes to her father in the East asking a loan with which to buy. cattle. ‘ She receives no reply. Will‘ Thane comes home to visit his fatherJ and Ruth meets him. A rancher near- by decides to retire and offers to sell; Ruth and Snavely his livestock on credit. Suaver tries to balk the deal but Ruth buys to the limit of her: threeâ€"quartet interest in Dead Lan- tern ranch. ' , 74 Yonge St. “You see,” explained Will, “The rain that falls between the top of the mountain range and the dike sinks into the ground and goes down to bed- rock. But it can’t get past the dike and is impounded under the surface. Where the wall crosses this arroyo is the lowest point, and it’s there we found wet sand last year.” Ruth could hardly conceal her dis- appointmentâ€"she had pictured a pleasant little pool, and the bottom of the sandy hole looked as though some one had spilled half a pail of water there, twenty minutes before. But Will Was boyishly enthusiastic. “There she is! Believe me, when you find a damp place in this weather, there’s something doing.” They came up to the dike. Fifty feet above the arroyo bed it rose, forming a water fall during rains, and below was a great sand-y hole. The bottom of this hole was damp. NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY CHIMNEYS BUILT & REPAIRED EAVESTROUGHING FURNACES FARM implements Cockshutt Frost & Wood Harness The well known Samuel Trees Brand Sets from $25 up W m. NEAL xGENT FOR THE FAMOUS and Harness Parts R. H. KANE VTuuau muuuun‘dv‘ <J7JOIIN “ . [LEAR r? g» . PAGE ISIX at new low levels PHONE 210 RICHMOND HILL. DeLAVAL RICHMOND HILL Roofing LAVAL CREAM SEPARATOR Phone 92F No one made a sound. Will dropped the sledge. Every eye was on Don Francisco. With both hands he worked the drill up and dowu to loosen it. Slowly he'pulled it out and as it came, water spurbed around it in ever increasing volume. The drill was out and a. muddy spout of water struck the sand three feet away from the wall. Every one, from David to old Don Francisco, made some kind of noise. Ruth hugged the first person at hand, until she dlscovered it was Snavely. And even Snavely shook hands all aroundâ€"real running water was too much for the old cattleman. No one slept that night. They kept the fire going for its light and sat around watching the spout of water. Every now and then, some one took a drink, and although the water was still quite muddy, declared that it was probably the purest water in Arizona. With the proper troughs it would water every head of stock the Dead Lantern could ’ever carry and, incidentally, although Ruth did not suspect it, the value of the ranch had increased by some thousands of dollars since that last blow from Will’s sledge. Four hours after they had begun, the sound of sledge on drill began to change subtlyâ€"“It’s coming; We’re almostâ€"through!” Will’s voice was tense with excitement as he swung the sledge. A few more strokes, and the drill shot in six inches at one blow. By daylight attemporary (lam had been thrown across the arroyo for the use of the cattle until the water could be piped to a permanent pond. Snavely had actually helped to build this dam. But when the cattle had_ been driven up the arroyo and every one was going back to the ranch house for breakfast, Ruth sensed that Snavely was rapidly returning to nor- mal. , On the way to the mail box the three friends talked incessantly. David rode with Will. It was when Old Charley’s car ap- peared far down the highway that Will said, “I’m planning a little joke on Dad. He is always kidding me about; leaving the ranch for the cityâ€"â€" I know that he hopes some day I’ll come home for good 'and help him raise cattle. There’s a piece of home- stead property which joins our place on the east and yours on the south-â€" he’s always hinting that I ought to take it up before anyone else does. He watches that section like a hawk. Well, here’s the point, I’m not saying After the midday meal Ruth and David accompanied Will to the mail box to meet Old Charley. Before they left, however, Will had to take a last look at the water. Not a single cow was at the pond; they had all had their water and now scattered over the pasture. I She and Will returned to the barn for a rock drill and a sledge_the plan was to drill through the dike into the water beyond. Will and Alfredo took turns at swinging the sledge, while Don‘Fran- cisco held the drill, giving it a quar~ ter turn at each strokke. The drill sank in steadily; at every blow a little more water trickled around the inch- thick bar of steel. Snavely, Ann and the Mexican woman came to look. When Alfredo and Don Francisco came with the shovels; Will directed them in excellent Spanish to dig from the damp spot toward the wall. In less than a half hour there was real water at the bottom of the trench. Alfredo niways pickid ug “lb gui- tar and stood near the door, his eye on the fresno outside. I Late one afternoon Ruth and Al- fredo were returning from the south [pasture driving a poor-grade heifer. The heifer was to be butchered and it [is axiomatic among cattle owners that Within a week after the develop- ment of the water the summer rains had begun. Almost every afternoon brought a brief shower; great, cold, pelting drops making the desert spar- kl-e, redolent with the perfume of greasewood. Usually after these showers, the sun shone for a time be- fore it slipped behind the mountainsâ€" as though to remind the desert that it still was master. There had been two severe storms which turned the arroyos and gullies into angry little riversv,‘ All the deepened ponds were full to overflowing and water lay in small natural pools in many of the deeper canbns. The cattle were everywhereâ€"there was so much water that they could go where the feed was choicest and they made good use of the opportunity. The remains‘ of the cottonseed meal was stored in the barn and the band of bottle-fed calves was scattered. Al- ready, every aniinal on the place seemed two-thirds fat. He laughed, as Old Charley turned from the road. “All right, Ruth, but I’ll be needing boots instead of shoes the next time you see me.” Ruth looked at his feet. “I shall remember that the Dead Lantern OWeS‘ you a pair of shoes, not to mention trousersâ€"why didn’t I ~think to lend you some overalls?” Old Charley honked the horn as he sighted? the three by the mail box. Ruth turned‘ to Will. “It seems dread fully inadequate to say ‘thank you'â€" The Mexicans worked on their housesâ€"Ruth knew that they were happy and would stay indefinitely. Every evening for an hour after sup- per she and the girl Magda had les- sons in Spanish and English. When the hour was up Ruth went back to the ranch house, for, as the end of the lesson approached, Alfredo always picked up his guitar and stood near the door, his eye on the fresno out; side. I my life! The girl laughed. “Be careful he doesn’t take a shot at you before he discovers who it is.” anything to Dad, but this trip I'm going to pull stakes at Los Ange'les and come home for good. I expect to get back about a month before the round-up and I’m not going to say a word to Bad but just sneak out to that homestead and put up a shack and live there. It’ll be a kick when he discovers; somebody équatting on that choice section of his.” Snavely seemed to have changed subtly since the discovery of the water. Ruth sensed that he had beâ€" gun to regard her in a different way; it was as if she had proved that she was not to be frightened, she couM no longer be treated as a child. She had shown him that she knew some- thing about ranching; and, since the drouth was safely past, that she stood a chance of meeting her note. But the girl knew that SnaVely was far from becoming reconciled to her pres- ence on the ranch; he hated her and he hated the Mexicans. Another thing about this strange man had come to her notice; he seem- ed to be looking at the old well when- ever he was near the ranch house. Ruth had never seen him go there since he had built the board fence around it; but many times she had watched him coming up the path from the barn with his narrowed eyes on the clump of bushes by the woodpile. There was much riding to do, as there always is after the summer rains. Ruth was so busy that she still had five books to read of the half dozen Will had sent. her. Each morn- ing she rode out with Don Francisco and Alfredo, often accompanied by David. ' The summer rains, having been un- usually generous, had gradually ceas- ed except for an occasional thunder- storm which hurrie‘i over the San Jorge Valley. 0n the .Dead Lantern the natural surface water in ravine and canon was fast disappearing and the cattle were drifting to the neigh« borhood of the ponds. Every fifth day she carried a slip of paper with numbers from one to Lwenty-two and rode until she had checked all of the bulls. The White numbers on their sides were still glar- ingly conspiciousâ€"sometimes. she could check six or seven animals all within a mile as she looked carefully from a hilltop. She still considered her system of marking very fine. “Good Lord! I’ve had‘ the time of THE LIBERAL, RICHMOND HILL. ONTARIO When they Were crosing the last deep ravine before reaching the ranch house, Ruth rode toward the mounâ€" tains, leaving Alfredo to bring in the heifer alone. There had been water in a pool farther up the ravine the week before and Ruth wished to look at the cattle which would remain in the vicinity as long as the water lasted. She met few cattle in the ravine and upon arriving at the pool found it empty. As she rode out of the ravine along the side of an en- tering gully and neared the upper level, her eye caught a white object hidden among the undergrowth in the gully bottom farther ahead. Presâ€" ently she saw that the object was a numeral six painted upon the red- brown side of a bull. The animal apâ€" peared to be lying stretched out, and even though she could see little dis- tinctly through the clumps of cat claw and ocatillo‘, Ruth felt with a quick ] tightening at her throat that the bull’s position was unnatural. Dismounting, she half ,walked, half slid, to the bot- tom of the gully and picked her way toward the bull. As she appro‘ached, half a dozen great buzzards fIApped into the air on reluctant Wings. only the off-color, the dishâ€"faced, the knock-knead, and the sway-backed shall be served at the family board. The next morning she and the two Mexicans returned to discover if pos- sible why Number Six had died. Don Francisco and Alfredo held a long consultation together but could come to no definite conclusionâ€"some sick- ness such as comes to the strongest of things. As the three companions rode on, the black buzzards sh)wa circld into the gully. Suddenly Alfredo pointed southâ€" ward. A group of buzzards were wheeling low above an oak tree which rose from the entrance of a gully in the opposite bank of the ravine. By noon, five more dead animals had been found within a radius of a ..As she approached, half a dozen great buzzards flapped into the air on reluctant wings. Don’t delay any longer. If you an troubled with headaches, blurred imâ€" ages, nervousness consult at once. mile. Ruth, half sick with anxiety, rode back to the ranch house for Snavely who had remained at the corâ€" rals shoeing horses. The old cattleman listened to what she had to say, then shrugged. “You’re liable to find a,‘ dead cow or twoxmost any timeâ€"too bad about the bull, but they’ll (lie just the same as anything else.” “But we’ve found six altogetherâ€"all recently dead!” Snavely grew more attentive. “Six 4five besides the bull?” ‘(Yes-37 “Well, now, that don’t look so good. Here, I’ll just saddle up an’ have a look.” He shook his head after he had studied the Carcass of Number Six. The buzzards» had eaten very little, but they did not go far away. “I don’t know just what to make of itâ€"may- be if \Ive could find a fresher one. Still it ain‘t black leg, anybody could tell that. Don’t look like he’d been hurt in no fight, neither.” 163-167 Yonge Street Toronto Upstairs Opposite Simpsons “Mr. Snavely,” said Ruth as th'ey rode toward the oak tree where sev- eral buzzard's stood or walked about, “you will have to be going into town for supplies soon anywayrwhy not go to-morrow and send out; a. doctorâ€" a veterinary 'Z " Good Eyesight F. E. LUKE & SON Continued Next Week OPTOMETRISTS At an auction sale of livestock at sugar content approximates 17 pe: Bancroft, twelve cows were disposed cent this> year compared with 14.7 pg. of at an average price of $12.00 per cent last year and as a. result thy head. yield of sugar will be greater than. i. 1932, although the total tonnage 0‘ â€"One farmer in Elgin Countyflbeets ,s 1855_ The Alliston Herald says there is an acute shortage of feed for live- stock in the country round about there. Unfinished cattle and brood SOWS are being included in the live- stock shipments because of the lack of feed which is practically universal in the whole district. Though last summer’s hay crop was above the average farmers were forced by the almost unprecedented dry spell in July, August and early September, to us eup much 0 ftheir hay that had been harvested earlier in the season for feed to sustain the cattle that were unable to get sufficient susten- ance from the pastures. Farm after farm Where usually two, four or six steers are fed for beef the following June, have empty'stalls this winter because of lack of feed, and many farmers have found it necessary to â€"One farmer in Elgin County,l where there is a storage of water, re-, ports that raiders came at night and! stole the water from his well. All he, has left is a. hole in the ground and‘ that is not of much use to a thirstyi cow. | For the third year in succession Simcoe County has captured the po- tato champiOnship of Canada with Dooleys. James Harvey Giffen, Elm- vale, who was successful last year, again was first in the competition at the Royal Winter Fair, Toronto, but as he had taken the award previous- ly, he was not eligible to accept the prize of a solid gold watch. The watch, however, went to Simcoe County, as the second place went to J. T. Cassin of Alliston, well known potata grower and expert, who rel calves the award. The award is for the best half-bushel of potatoes at the Fair. The honor was first brought to Simcoe County by Ed- mond Maurice, Lafontaine, in 1931, in 1932 by Mr. Giffen, and] in 1933 by Mr. Giffin and Mr. Cassr'm. reduce the number of hogs they usually have in preparation for the market. Official Crop Report The dry bean acreage this year is placed at 52,300 acres, with an average of 14.9 bushels per acre, giv- ing :in estimated total production of NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE BUSY FARMER 779,300 bushels against a fiveâ€"yearl average production of 1,027,000 bush- els. The bean crop was ver;r spotty and the yield extremely variable. The price being received by growers is considerably more than last year and in spite of a much smaller crop, financial returns will be larger than last year. Sugar beets are yielding better than weather conditions early in the season indicated. The acreage shows some reduction from last year being 33,300 in 1932 and 31,900 this year. Production in 1932 was. estimated at 333,000 tons and in 1933 at 319,000 tons, with an acreage yield of 10 tons per acre both years. The average ALL KINDS OF FEEDS Purity Flour for all your baking I. D. Ramer 85 Son Blue Coal Welsh Cobbles Vinton Smokeless Lump Soft Coal Semit Solvay Coke Richmond Hill! Blue Coal Programme Friday evening 8 to 8:30 p C.F.R.B. v All Canadian The best coke‘made. All sizes of Anthracite coal. Fuel, Feeds, Building Supplies Telephone 10 LISTEN IN ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14th, 1933 Pocahontas Nut Welsh Blower If you are looking for‘ quality. and workmanship at a reason- able price, call and see our stock of hand made harness and col- lars. Collar fitting all repair- ing a specialty. SIG SHOW CARDS PRICE TICKETS â€" BANNERS G. MORLEY BEYNON Phone 150 â€" 76 Yonge St. Maple, Ont‘ Your investment and Il- surance problems will I.- ceive our very best attu- tipn. J. ROY HERRINGTON The Goodwill of our Clients Real Estate & Insuraneo Telephone 87 93 Yonge St. Richmond Hill, Ont. Paperhanger and Decorator. INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR WORK DONE. Workmanship Guaranteed. Estimates Free. YONGE STREET RICHMOND HILL is one of our most valued assets. The retention d this goodwill by honest deal- ing, fair treatment and 3... service has permitted III to steadily expand our bulb. from year to year. We handle quality fuels R. R. No. l â€" Richmond Hill HARNESS Chimneys Built and Repaired Telephone Maple 1063 (11/4 miles North of Concord) ISAAC BAKER PLA STERIN G W. J. REID Prompt Service Phone 46 ,r-l4 General Repair: PHONE 4 P. FARR, R. R. No. 2