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During June Jean Isbel did not ride far away from Grass Valley
Another attempt had been made upon Gaston Isbel's life Another cowardly shot had been fired fro the trail that led to Blaisdell's ranch Blaisdell heard this shot, so near his home was it fired No trace of the hidden foe could be found The 'ground all around that vicinity bore a carpet of pine needles which showed no trace of footprints The supposition was that this cowardly atteated, by the Jorths But there was no proof And Gaston Isbel had other enemies in the Tonto Basin besides the sheep clan The oldattack on hi of their kin and friends "Let's quit ranchin' till this trouble's settled," he declared "Let's arm an' ride the trails an' meet these men half-way It won't help our side any to wait till you're shot in the back" More than one of Isbel's supporters offered the same advice
"No; we'll wait till we know for shore," was the stubborn cattles
"Know! Wal, hell! Didn't Jean find the black hoss up at Jorth's ranch?" demanded Blaisdell "What more do ant?"
"Jean couldn't swear Jorth stole the black"
"Wal, by thunder, I can swear to it!" growled Blaisdell "An' we're losin' cattle all the time Who's stealin' 'em?"
"We've always lost cattle ever since we started ranchin' heah"
"Gas, I reckon yu want Jorth to start this fight in the open"
"It'll start soon enough," was Isbel's gloo of lost or stolen cattle Circu baffling about this rustling The summer storms set in early, and it had been his luck to have heavy rains wash out fresh tracks that he e and cattle were everywhere Sometimes a loss was not discovered for weeks Gaston Isbel's sons were now the only e Two of his riders had quit because of the threatened war, and Isbel had let another go So that Jean did not often learn that cattle had been stolen until their tracks were old Added to that was the fact that this Grass Valley country was covered with horse tracks and cattle tracks The rustlers, whoever they were, had long been at the game, and now that there was reason for the they did it