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Show "Where was that? SERIAL what ws call the boras range. . Near tha ranch bouse? Within half a mile." Did you look for him yourself?" STORY "la Kemah couMy? "It aura is. I did. He was not on this home erasing ground? He was not Did you look elsewhera for him? Ws did." Where?" We Hide the free ranges for several days wherever any of my cattls held out." How many daya did you say you rode?" Why, ws continued to look sharp until my boy, Munson, found him the day before the preliminary at the Vel-iestock yards, on the point of being shipped to Sioux City. You went to Velpen to Identify this LANGFORD of the THREE BARS$ n steer?" I did." KATE AND VIRGIL D. BOYLES "It was your steer?" Yes. (Uiivngiit ta a. u aocmni SYNOPSIS. a poor raoohman, Ottrn WHIIstoa. and cultured, searches for caul missing from hla ranch the "Laajr On a wooded epot In the river' tied niah-mlndo- d That would have hern an Island had the Missouri hern at hlirh water, he discovers a band of horse thieves sofsced In working over brands on cattle, lie creeps near enough to note the chmng-of the Three Kara'' brand on on steer to the J. K. brand, l'aul Ing-ford- , the rich owner of the Three of liars, Is Informed of the iha gang of cattls thievesoperations a biuid of outlaws headed by Jrane Week, who long have defied the law and authorl ties of Kauiah county, South Dakota, .angford Is struck with the beauty of Mary, commonly known as Wllllstnn'a little girl' Ixiulse Dale, an expert court stenographer, who had followed her uncle. Judge Hammond Dale, from the east to the Dakotahs," and who Is living with him at Wind City, la requested by tha county attorney, Kichard Gordon, to come to Kemah and taka testimony In the preliminary of Rlaok. Jesse Jim Munson, In hearing waiting at the train for Ixiulse, looks of a herd of cattle being shipped by Bill Brown, and there detects old Mag, a well known onery steer beto Ids longing employer of tha 'Three Bars ranch. Munson and Louise start for Kemah. Crowds assemble in Justice James K. McAllister's court for the preliminary hearing. Jesse Black springs the first of many great surprises, walvlrg examination. Through Jake Mandrraon. a member of the outlaw ha had learned that the steer Maggang, had been recovered, and thus saw the uselessness of lighting against being bound over. County Attorney Gordon accnniimnles Ixmlse US1.?. on her "turn to Wind City. Wliilu Will aton stands In the light In hla door at night a shot la fired at him. The luiuee attacked and a battle ensure between j!,, Wllllaton and hla on one aide, and the outlaws on daughter, the other. The house Is set on Are. As tha outlaw raises Ills rllle to shoot Wllllston s shot from an source pierces his arm and the Si!??.. ? ? ground. Aid has come to wJllUton, but ha and hla daughter ara captured and borne sway by the outlaws. Jim Munson lats at night heard the phots, discovered tha attark on Wllllslon'a house, hurried to the Three Bars ranch and summoned Langford and tils brave men to the rescue. It was Txtngford who llred the aluit which saved Wlllletnn's life. Iongfnril reacuee Mary from her captor. Langford takes Mary to the home of Mrs. White. Her arm has been broken by a shot. Blie doHrious and receives medical Tha party search In vain for cornea to nurse Wllllston Is given up for dead. Mary. But meager evidence la obtainable against Jess Black, and It Is concluded that tha case aisst be fought out on tha sole JuditS arrivese. to sit gl the December aflislnnDale. or tha The same for which you bad been searching so long?" The very same. It was wearing your brand It was not "What brand was it wearing J RH "Where was it?" On tha right hip. Where do you usually put your brand, Mr. Langford?" On the right hip. Always?" "Always. Do you know any J. R outfit?" I do not Gordon nodded to 8mall. Hla examination had been straightforward and to the polnL He had drawn alart and confident answers from hla witness. Involuntarily, he glanced at Ixiulse, who had not aeemed to be working at all during this clean-cu- t dialogue. She flashed a fleeting smile at him. He knew he waa out of sympathy with the great majority of the people down there in front. He did not seem to care so much now. A great medicine la a womanly and an understanding amlle. It flushed hla face a bit, too. Langford waa most unsatisfactory under He never contradicted Himself, and waa a trifle contemptuous of any effort to tangle r r pws What Is your business, son? Jim's short e. Dirk. Well, I work for the boaa, Mr. Paul Langford. "In what capacity?" If you mean what do I do, why,. I ride the range, 1 punch cowa, 1 always Im a fair bronco-breake- r go on the round-up- . and 1 make up bunks and clean lamp chimbllea between times," he recited, glibly, bound to be terse yet explicit, by advice of the boaa. There was a gale of laughter In the bar. Even the court smiled. Oh, Jim! Jim! You have perjured yourself already!" murmured the hoes. Clean lamp chimneys ye gods!" Well, grin away! exploded Jim, hla quick ire rising. He had forgotten that Judge Dale's court was not like Justice McAllister's. His fingers fairly Itched to draw a pistol and maka the scoffers laugh and dance to a little music of hla own. But something In Gordons steady though seemingly careless gaxe brought him hack to tha seriousness of the scne they were playing without guns. The examination proceeded. The air was getting stifling. Windows I were Damp-lookin-g thrown open, clouds had arisen from nowhere seemingly and spread over the little prairie town, over the river and the hills. It was very warm, W would Inhabitants have predicted storm bad they nut been otherwise en- gaged. There was no breath of air Mrs. Higgins bod aald It stirring. was a sorry day for the cattle when the river was running In December. Others had aald so and so believed, but people were not thinking of the d cattle now. One steer held the stage alone. The state proceeded to Munaons Identification of the ateer In question. After many and searching questions, Gordon naked the wltneaa: Jim,, would you be willing to awear that the ateer you had held over at the stock yards waa the very same steer that was the mascot of the . Three Bars' ranch ?" This was Jlm'a big opportunity. Know Mag? Swear to Mag? Dick, 1 would know Mag et J met him on the golden streets of the eternal city, or ef my eyes was full o' soundin' cataracts! Yep." 1 am not asking such an Impossible feat, Mr. Munson," cut in Gordon, nettled by the digressions of one of Ha moat Important witness. Answer briefly, please. Would you be willing to awear? Jim waa Jerked back to the beaten track by the sharp incision of Gordon's rebuke. No, this was indeed not Jimmie Mac's court Yep," he anawered, shortly. Billy Brown waa called. After the preliminary questions, Gordon said to him: . 'Now, Ur. Brown, please tell the JiOW you came Into possession of j j eather-BCasone- e 1 i . b Sauiais . . tter narsnness. Os ISM.) SYNOPSIS. be I Id' aloUd wllh Suppose he did. A brave aped- men, he. If he had the shameful ego- Ism to aak a girl girl like Louise n gentle, highbred, protected, cherish- ed girl like thatto shme this new, bleak, rough life with him. But the very eweetness of the thought of her doing It mode him gasp there In the darkness. How stifling the nlr was! He lifted hie hat. It waa hard to breathe. It waa like the still oppressiveness preceding an electrical storm. Hla mare, unguided, had naturally d chosen the trail and kept it. She followed the mood of her master and walked leisurely along while the man wrestled with himself. If he really possessed the hardihood to aak Louise to do this for him she would laugh at him. Stay! That was He a black lie. She. would not laugh not Louise. She was not of that t sort. Rather would she grieve over the Inevitable sadness of It. If Bhe laughed, he could bear It better he had good, stubborn, blood in bim-- but eh. would not laugh. And all the rest of hie long life must I be spent In wishing wishing If It could have been! But he would never aak her to do It Not even If the Impossible came to pass. It waa a hard country on women, a hard, treeless, unkindly country. Men could stand It fight for lta future; but not women like Louise. It made men as well as unmade them. And after all it did not prove to he the undoing of men so much as it devel- oped In them the perhaps hitherto hid-- , den fact that they were already want- These Ing. latent, constitutional weaknesses thus laid bare, the bad must for a while prevail bad la so much nolser than good. Rut thla big, new country with lta Infinite posslblll- ties give It time It would form men out of raw material and make over men mistakenly made when that was main-travele- Georg Wllllston, a po ranchman, and cultured, searches for sttle missing from hla ranch-t- hr B On a wooded spot in the riversLaiy bed Dial would have been an island had (lie Missouri been at high water, he discover hand of horse thieves engaged In (irltln bi;ndq on cattle. He riw-near 0vvf enough to note the chang- mg Ilf lilt-- 'Tlirt-- e Bars" brand on ono leer In the "J. R." brand. Paul Langford. the rich owner of the "Three Bars, is informed of tha operations of Die gang of eattle thieves a band of ouDaws headed by Jesae Black, who long have defied tha law and authorities of Kemah county. South Dakota. Langford In atruck with tha beauty of Maty, commonly known as Wllliston's liltle girl. Louisa Dale, an expert court stenographer, who bad followed her uncle. Judge Hammond Dale, from the east to the "Dakotahs," and who I living with him at Wind City, la requested by the county attorney, lllcliard Gordon, to some to Kemah and take testimony In the preliminary hearing of Jesse Black. Jim Munson, In walling at the train for Louise, looks a herd of cattls being shipped by st, Bill Brown and there detects old Mag," a well known "onery" stei r beto his employer of the "Three longing Bars ' ranch. Munson and Louise start for Kemah. Crowds assemble in Justice James R. McAllister's court for tho preliminary hearing. Jesae Block springs the tlrst of many great surprises, waiving examination. Through Jake Banderson, a member of the outlaw gang, he had learned that the steer "Mag" had been recovered and thus saw the uselessness of fighting against being bound over. County Ixiulse Attorney Gordon accompanies Dale on her return to Wind City. While Wllllston stands In the light In his door at night a shot is fired at him. Tha house Is attacked and a battle ensues between Wllllston and hla os one side, and the outlaws ondaughter, the other. The house Is set on Are. As an outlaw raises his rifle to shoot ATilllstnn a shot from an unknown source pierces his arms and the rifle falls to the ground. Aid has come to Wllllston, but he and his daughter are raptured and borne away by the outlaws. Jim Munson lute at night heard the shots, discovered the attack on Wllliston's house, hurried to the Three Bars ranch and sum- -, mimed Ixuigford and his brave men to the rescue. .It was lutngfnrd who fired the shot which suved Wllliston's life. Ixingford rescues Mary from her raptor. The party search in vain for Wllllaton. Ixiulse comes to nurse Mary. Wllllston Is given up for dead. But meager evidence Is obtainable against Jew Black, and It Is concluded that tha case must be fought out on the sole question of Mag. Judge Dale arrives to sit at the December session of ths circuit ronrt at which the cattle theft ruse Injo JugrtedOordon hqs hard work Is SHtblin Jarir. Red Banderson take a wut In tiie lintel dinliiKli-uilnil- d Well, I was shippin a couple o car loads to Sioux City, and I waa drivln' the bunch myself with a couple o hands when I meets up with Jesse Black here. He was herdin' a likely little bunch o a half doxen or so CHAPTER XV Continued. among 'em this spotted feller. He said There were others who did not he waant ehlppla' any this fall, but know the little. man. He hailed from these were for sale part of a lot he the southern part of the state. But had bought from Yellow Wolf. 8o the The Game Wae On. Gordon knew him. He knew he was upshot of the matter was I took 'em pitted against one of the sharpest, him up In threads of hla own off hla hands. I waa Just lackin' bout weaving. shrewdest men of hla day. The little man touched Small on the that many to make a good, clean, two cars full. Gentlemen, I think we are ready arm and whispered to him, said tha Judge, and the game was on You took a for them, of Mr. Langford, said Small, In a Mr. Brown?" again. course, travel a voice, weighty you great The state called Paul Langford, Its I sure did. I'm too old a hand to deal, I believe. principal' witness In default of Wllbuy without a I do." llston. The document was produced, mark"For maybe? with a mysTour name, place of residence and terious pleasure, ed as an exhibit, and offered In eviInflection. business? asked the counsel for the dence. "Partly." state. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Buslneaa as well?" Tsui Langford. I reside In Kemah Business as well. TOOK HIS OWN FROM ROBBER. county and I own and operate a cattle "Just prior to the arrest of the deranch. Insinuatingly, "you were How a Pilgrim Got Back His Stolon After Langford had clearly de- fendant, away." Puroa In Church. scribed and identified the animal In How long prior do you mean? question, Gordon continued: Say a week. From Cienstochowa. the Meeca of Mr. Langferd, when did you first "No." Polish pilgrims, cornea an amaxing miss this steer? Two weeka? story of coincidences. A pilgrim want On the 15th day of July last. Yea." to one of the prieeta and complalnad How did you happen to miss this You had been away some timer that some thief had stolen hie paras steer?" The better part of a year, while he was In church, and asked for was attention My called to the fact that an animal answering this de- dor. Langford, with engaging can- money. The prieat replied that be had no money and that the beet thing scription and bearing my brand had "Yea. Now, Mr. Langford, 1 should for the pilgrim to do wae to to seen been under auspicious detention." like to tell me about how many find the thief. "I shall go Intotry the Prior to Information thus received, cattleyou you range in round numbers? church and steal money from, someyou were not aware this creature had About 5,000 head. body else, said the pilgrim, for I either strayed away or been stolen? Yea. Now, Mr. Langford, you who have nothing to go home with." He 1 was not? Who gave you this information, eount your cattle by the thousands, went into the church and seeing a on your own sworn word you have man In the crowd with a wallet on hie Mr. Langford? been out of the country a year. Don't beck slipped hla hand Into it and Wllllston of tha George Laiy 8." Now you may tell the Jury In what you think you are asking this Jury to pulled out hie own stolen purse, with big mouthful when the exact sum he had left In It He words Wllllston told you about the swallow a pretty you ask them to believe that you eould wte so glad to find hla money that he steer he saw." so unmistakably distinguish this one hurried off to tell the priest and the This, of course, was objected to and who has so little to thief got away. the objection was sustained by the poor ornery steer, distinguish him from thousands of court, as Gordon knew It would be. others? What's Geography Good Far? He only wanted the jury to remeqfcer I have owned that spotted steer for Thla la from the philosophy of Mrs that Wllllston could have told a damaald Langford, composedly. I Louisa Schmitt, who berated a teacher aging story had he been here, and also years, to remember how mysteriously this have never sold him because he waa for not promoting her daughter besame Wllllston had disappeared. He rather an odd creature and bo can- cause the latter wae deficient In geogcould not have Wllllston or Wllliston's tankerous that we dubbed him the raphy. "Teacher, you don't know it all, 1 guess, said' the Irate Mrs. story, but he might keep an Impres- Three Bara' mascot." j Schmitt I wish it that my daughter Gordon called Jim Munson. sion ever before these It men that ' What Is your name?" gets through school so she gets a man. there wae a story he knew It and Never mind about the geography; Goah!" they kntq It a story of which some The question waa unexpected. Waa Juat promote her without It Why, crotchet of the law forbade the telling. What did you do after your atten- there any one In the county who did my other daughter, she didn't know tion had been called to the suspicious not know Jim Munson? And Dick Got geography and she got a man. And geography and circumstances of the steer's deten- don of all people! Then he remem- you know all about bered that the boss had been asked you ain't got any man at all. What la tion I Informed my boys of what I had the same question, so It must be all this geography good for? See that my hoard and sent them out to look for right. But the ways of the court daughter gets through school. were surely mysterious and ofttimes the ateer. Dramatic Emotions. foolish. That same day? The most effective momenta In Jim Munson. Jim Munson's my yea. the theater are those that appeal to name yep. Were they successful? commonplace emotions love of womNo. Gordon smiled. an, love of home, love of country, love Did this steer have g particular You needn't Insist on It, Mr. Mun- of right, anger, Jealousy, revenge, amWe know It now. bition, lust, and stamping ground?1 son," ha advised. treachery. Clay He did." Where do you live?" llten la the Forum. r (Caivrwsi d .,Vml 2 KATE AND VIRGIL D. when there had been so many? It would be nothing new. Was be not pursuing merely the old beaten trail? Why should the thought weigh so heavily now? Can a man never attain to that higher or lower, which la It? j altitude of atrlfelesa, unregretful hardness? Or was It, he asked himself In savage contempt of his weakness, that, despite all hla generous and Iron-claresolutions, he had secretly, unconsciously perhaps, cherished sweet, shy, little reservation in hla Inmost heart that maybe If he won out THREE BARSj) i to bs tried. Oemnn has hard work in an unprejudluad Jury. securing Red Banderson takes a seat In the hotel hall beside Louise and addresses idMng Is unceremoniously shoved aside Sanderson draws his gun. eon-tease- d of the long-horne- cattle theft cam rt LANGFORD i lbs clr-th- . I live at the Three H?lllty damn! JHs always ranged with a bunch on Bara ranch. sun-seare- I n V8 ns Are you In any danger of pursuit?"' asked Gordon, suddenly bethinking himself. 1 think not I killed my Jailer, the half-breeNlghtblrd. You did well. So did Mary." What do you mean? Didn't you know that Mary shot and killed one of the desperadoes that night? At least, we have every reason to think It waa Mary. By the way, you have not asked after her.'1- The man's head dropped. He dl not answer for a long time. When he raised his head, hla face, though show Ing Indistinctly, was hard and drawn He ajKike with little emotion as a man who had sounded the gamut of den pair and was now far spent. What waa the use? I saw her fall Gordon. She stood with me to ths end. She was a brave little girl. Shr never once faltered. Dick, he aald hla voice changing suddenly, and lay ing hot, feverish hands on the young man's shoulders, we'll hang them you and I we'll hang them every on the devils who look like men, but who strike at women. We'll hang them, I say you and I. I've got th evidence. Is It possible they didnt tell you? cried Gordon aghast at the cruelty of it. (To Be Continued.) Why, Lena, Old Girl, We've Taking Our Time. Been possible, or else show the dividing line so clearly that the goats might not herd with the sheep. Some day, It would be fit for women like Ixiulse. Not now. Much labor and sorrow must be lived through; there must be much sacrifice and much refining, and UBt a,l an lose In the racel COFFIN WAS A BACK NUMBER b de,"lny be ed out and It be fit for women like Louise, So Pennsylvania Man Sold It and Wil" Down In the southern part of the Purchase Another. state, and belonging to It, a certain building sheltered msny Iwmc Coffman of Hatton, Pa., has women, when the sun of the treeless B coffin he made many years ago and the lone-1 Into the gaxing prairies BOl not 'ecauBe he felt he would some distances surrounding their Te ,no UBe for ll- - but because his homesteads seeped Into their brains 8 nB,Bted that it waa out of date and stayed there so that they knew r- - Coffman la nearing hla eightieth not what they did. There were trees there and fountains and restful blue-- birthday. He explained to a friend grass in season, and flowers, flowers, that he constructed the coffin SO years flowers but these came too late for ago. It was built of chestnut because, as he put It, Many's the time I have most of the women. If it had been Langford, now, who sat beside a cheery blase of chestnut waa guilty of so ridiculous a senti- loge and heard them crackle and burn merrily. It makes such a homelike mentalism the bold. impetuous, blase that I picked it In prefernce to young ranchman he smiled at himself whimsically. Then he pulled him other woods. It was my desire to PBB,b,e self together. He did not think the nd 1 re ecfed &f05? JrivlltlB which so Jury could believe the stohy Jesse Black would trump up, no matter how I pe:t'80nB Bffect In the matter of ,In rder to have t bandy I plausible It was made to sound. He tb8 arr5t But my wlfe felt more like h!maelf- -in better con- e.that Bty,eB hav changed, and dition to meet those few but stanch , hai!8 cumulated a little friends of his from whom he had so n 8 w not Perm,t me to unrun away stronger to , , nBent an meet Louise. Man like, now that he 1?,. . ,to To avo,d trouble I agreed to was himself again, he must know the sell the old one. But at the name time. He struck a match time I think that the coffin which was "Why, Lena, old girl, we've been good enough for me in my poorer our taking time, haven't we? They day should satisfy me now, and I are likely through supper, but maybe shall always feel out of place in tho I can wheedle a doughnut out of the affair." cook." The match burned out. Not until Tennyson and the Socialist he had tossed it away did It come to Tennyson figuring as a champion of him that they were no longer on the the Imperiled rights of property is main trial. thue quoted In William Alllngham's .. .. ,. f d vg r he I ,atcly Published "Diary." "I was once ",y s.nWT' , 0U nn' ,n a coffe bop In the Westminster reasonable . ell, we started with road at four o'clock In the morning, our noses westward, so you must A man was has have wandered Into the old Laiy S a hundred raging. Why I have not n pounds and branch trail. Though, to be sure, it shilling?' I said to him, 'If your father has been such a deuce of a while since had left you a hundred pounds you we traveled It that I wonder at you, would not give It away to somebody What a the matter now, silly else.' He had not a word to answer. Hla mare had shied. He turned her I knew he hadn't "ny I big-barre-d 1 I new-fangle- d CHAPTER XVI. Gordon Rides Into tho Country. Gordon rode aimlessly out of the little town with Its twinkling lights. He did not care where he went or what direction he pursued1. He wanted to ride eff a qt range, enervating dejection that had laid hold of him the moment hla last testimony had gone In. It all seemed so pitifully Inadequate without Wllllston now that It was all In. Why had he undertaken It? It could only go for another defeat counted against him. Though what was one defeat more or less ,nd blood 1J'b1Ijr'I don t know, though. Seems to me you have been kind o running to skin and bones since I last saw you. Grips good, but bony. Youre thinner than ever, aren't yon?" AH this time he was shaking Willis-tohands heartily. He never thought of eeklng him where he had been. For weary months he had longed for this, man to come back. He had come back. That was enough for the present. He had always felt genuinely toward the unfortunate friendly . ,co , ar and daughter. ThatB natural, isn't It? Besides, they forKt F rations sometimes. Who, Wllllston ?" asked Gordon, the real significance of the man's return taking quick hold of him. I think you know, Gordon," aald the older man, quietly. It la a long story. I was coming to you. I will tell you everything. Shall I begin, now!" ing hall bealile Ixiulse and addree her. He I unreremonlouidy shoved aside by Gordon. Banderson draws his gun. T He trial begins. CHAPTER XV Continued. The hearing of testimony for the state went on all through that day. It was late when the state rested Its case so late that the defence would not be taken up until the following day. It waa all In for weal or for woe. ' In some way all of the state's witnesses with the possible exception of Munson, who would argue with the angel Gabriel at the last day and offer to give him lessons In trumpet-blowin- g had been imbued with the earnest, honest, straightforward policy of the state's counsel. Gordon's friends were hojieful. iAngford was jubilant, and he believed In the tolerable Integrity of Gordon's hard-wojury. Gordons presentation of the case thus far had made him friends; fickle friends, maybe, who would turn when but true the wind turned It was that when court adjourn'd late in the afternoon, many who had jeered at him aa a visionary or an unwelcome meddler acknowledged to themselves that they might have erred in their Judgment. , Aa on the previous night, Gordon waa tired. He 'walked aimlessly to a window within the bar and leaned against it. looking at the still, oppressive, cloudy dampness outside, with the early December darkness coming on apace. Lights were already twinkling In kitchens where house wives were busy with the evening meal. Well. Dick said Langford, coming up cheery and confident. Well, Paul, it'i all In. And well In, old man. I don't know, Paul. I hope so. That quiet little man from down country has not been much heard from, you know. 1 am afraid, a moral uplift Isn't my stunt. I'm tired! 1 feel like a rag. Langford was railed away for a moment When he returned, Gordon waa gone. He was not at supper. He went away on his horse, explained Louise, in answer to LangI saw him ford's unspoken question. ride Into the country. When the rty separated for the night Gordon had not yet returned. nos resolutely, domineeringly, back: toward the epot objected to. 1 cant see what you're scared at. but well Just Investigate and ehow ou how foolish a thing Is feminine squeamishness. A shadowy form arose out of the darkness. It approached. Ie that you, Dick? , Gordon was not n superstitious man. cold to the crown yet he felt suddenly of hie head. ' It was not so dark as it might have been. There would have been n moon had It not been cloudy. Dimly, he realised that the man had risen from the rulne of what must have been the old Wllllston home- stead. The outlines of the atone stoop were vaguely visible in the half-ligh- t. The solitary figure had been crouched there, brooding, "i'm flesh and blood, Dick, never the man In a mournful fetr I'm hungry enough to vouch voice. for that. Yon needn't be afraid. I'm anything but a spirit. Wllllston! The astonished word burst from Gordon's lips. "Wllllaton! Is it really you? None other, my dear Gordon! Sorry I startled you. 1 saw your light and heard your voice speaking to your horse, and as you were the very man I waa on the point of seeking, I Just naturally came forward, forgetting that my friends would very likely look upon me In the light of a ghost." 'Wllllaton! My dear fellow! repeated Gordon again. It la too good to be true, he cried, leaping from his mare and extending both hands cordially. Shake, old man! My, the feel " r ( 1 I |