Show x fc s d a the love of a main of the plains by ANNA SHANNON MONROE 1902 by dally story company 1 4 4 my foolish boy 0 course I 1 love you I 1 love everything here those distant bleak barren hills the great wide valley the sage brush the cactus the toads the range cattle the ponies and everything that goes to make up this boundless western country and above and beyond all else I 1 love you you are a wonderful picture in on darful frame I 1 could not separate you from the country nor the country from you would I 1 love it with you out of it I 1 cannot say I 1 can j imag ine you out of it she patted her donys neck as she talked would you love me anywhere ele I 1 wonder in your tar away eastern home for example among your more cultured friends 7 she answered him by a peal ot sll very laughter watch rang down the canyon and startled the lizards bask ing in the sunshine he looked up quickly pardon me dear but I 1 was lust imagining you among my friends back east it seems so funny he colored under the heavy tan coat ing his handsome face and pulled his sombrero down more closely over ils eyes am I 1 then so different such a wild man of borneo that you would hesitate to introduce me to your friends 9 yes I 1 would hesitate tor it would set all the girls flocking to the west in search of other wild men of borneo and there are no others none halt so dear as my wild man caretti there vixon careful careful oh see guth rie a rattle snake the pony had shied to one side and trembled from fahad to toot quick as a flash guthorle blalock drew his revolver from bis belt and the serpent dead then hastily dismounting he knelt among the stones and cactus detached the string of rattles ten in number and handed them to the girl she received them calmly and fastened them in her belt A few months ago she would have shuddered and screamed but she had learned much during her short stay at her brothers cattle ranch under blalock s tutorage she had developed into a true daughter of the plains with marvelous rapidity the day she stepped off he train after a ong journey from the east and flew into her brother s arms every cattle man and rancher standing around the station began nourishing a secret hope in his own breast such a light wil lowy figure such a bright witching face such merry blue eyes and such a belvery contagious laugh all bound up in one young woman could not fall to produce a sensation especially where women were as fare as a cloud in the perpetual blue of the sky over head every man in the country suddenly developed a desire to do business with bob lyman they all had bunches of cattle to dispose of but strange to eay they could never come to terms each visit called tor another it s tunny genie bob said to his sister with a twinkle in his eye what a capitalist these men take me tor perhaps they think you brought gold west with you for investment can t imagine what else heads all the ponies for my ranch genie laughed and was pleased but not until guthrie blalock came on real business with no intention of meeting the lily of the valley as the men called her was she impressed bob she whispered as he came into the room tor a paper introduce to that handsome man he s not like the others genie he doean doesn t care a rap about women would probably be rude to you I 1 dont care introduce me she commanded and he obeyed guthorle had been merely polite td avoided her had shown for her no ad mi ration straightway he became th only man in the whole country for whose attention she cared a fig and the inevitable happening she had at last won hilmore hi completely than she realized they were constantly to gether on long rides over the hills and the plains and bob was highly pleased at the prospect of keeping his sister in the west they were orphans and she had remained in the east with a young er brother who had needed her care until the past year when bla school days being about over she felt free to visit bob whom she had not seen since she was a little child guthrie blalock had been an enigma would you love anywhere anya here elsea to the men with whom he transacted business tor he met them on no other tooting since he first came to the country ten years ago and engaged himself as cowboy to one of the cattle kings silent morose gloomy he had ridden the plains and lassoed steers till now he was one of the agest cattle adners in that region but yet he held afoot understood and loved by no one many mistrusted him and whispered of black deeds committed in some more clime could they have lift ad the mask they would have found 1 a sore quivering heair that shrinking from contact with the world af men sought solace in nature from ills earliest memory he had craved love ind had gone lov elpis through the i ui jr vy years his mother had died during his infancy As he grew into young man hood the first girl who caught his at received from him a wealth of silent all absorbing devotion which she was not capable of understanding A few years of wedded bliss and she wrecked his life by running away with an artist nho could sing sentimental songs and make pretty speeches guth ne heard of her death but it could not add one throb to the already bleeding heart that would not break As the years passed over him ha am perceptibly grew into the calm induced by the wide western plains and not till geme lyman crossed his path did he arouse himself to any interest beyond his ponies gradually she awakened all his old love of loving she came to be a necessary part of his existence he knew that his whole life now depend ed on her should she got out of it she should not go out of it with clenched teeth he swore it and had genie seen the look on his face she would have trembled but he had won her even as she had won him to her it was heaven to be by his side to him it was hell in the fear something would take her from him when they reached home that even 13 this the one you lovea ing as he lifted her from the pony he held her closely almost fiercely to him tell me genie he whispered Is there any one in the east tor whom you once cared who might ever come between us be honest little girl yes guehne there was some one I 1 thought I 1 loved with my whole heart I 1 dian didn t think any one could ever be dearer to me or mike lose sight ol 01 my duty to him but you have guth rie you have almost made me forget him he turned as white as the pale moon light that enveloped them that al most cut him to the quick and if she had forgotten one man lor him wouldn t she forget him tor another at that moment bob opened the door hello he called come in guth rie A lot of mail letters from home came down tor you genie at the magic word mall she hur lied inside leaving the two men talk ing together soon bob went on to the stables and guthorle entered the house she did not see him enter nor feel his presence as he crossed over and stood behind her she sat gazing at the photograph of a handsome boyish young face the tears were streaming down her cheeks and from time to time she bent for ward and kissed the picture mer ton ane murmured merton I 1 had almost forgotten you dear guthrie bent over her Is this the ane you loved before you met mea he whispered hoarsely yes guthrie I 1 bad forgotten how much he was to me I 1 have been self ish his dear face seems to reproach me it is my A quick backward movement a sharp click and guthrie blalock sank limply into a chair letting abts pistol fall to the floor he bad for gotten that the last charge had been spent on the rattlesnake that only saved him from self murder guthrie guthrie cried genie springing to his side oh tell me what is the trouble at that moment bob entered guthrie rose to leave and terrible to see sit down man commanded bob seeing that something had gone wrong and unwilling tor him tp leave in such a state he thought genie had refused him to divert attention he picked up the photograph lying on the ah a new picture of the kid we can t call him little brother any long er can we genea slowly a light began to dawn in guthrie s set s inken eyes Is he ia ir brother 7 he demanded yes dear the only man who could share my love with you genie genie he cried drawing her into bis arms regardless of bob a presence oh genie the truth flooded her senses she at last realized the magnitude of the love of a man ot tha plains when genie lyman became mrs guthrce blalock she lost her fad for collecting snake rattles but she has one string ot ten with which nothing could induce her to part she alone know s the secret of how they saved her husband s life |