OCR Text |
Show THE PIONEER 1 1 I t A Story of Bonanza ' Days in BY GERALDUTE BONNER. Nevada and San Francisco. (Copyright by Bobbs-Merrlll Co.) CHAPTER III. The Name of Allen. An hour . later, aa . the Colonel was leaving his room, the voices of Forsythe and a newcomer . sacendlng the stairs struck on his ear. He leaned over the baluster and looked down at the tops of their approaching heads. Forsythe's bald pale was followed by another, evidently a younger one, by the curly brown hair that covered It. A pair of shoulders In a dusty coat was beneath the head, and, as they mounted, the Colonel heard a voice of that cultured Intonation which the far West scornfully regards as an outgrowth of effete civilizations. In short, the owner of the voice spoke like an Easterner who has had a college education. edu-cation. The Colonel, if h was doubtful about tho top of the head, knew the voice direct di-rect 1. "Jerry. Barclay, by thundor!" he ex-! Claimed over the ralllnir "What the into the end of his instrument, yelled In strident tones: . "Swing your pardners! Ladles to the right. Shasaay all." iack Dan, satisfied by the first glance that bis daughter was provided with a' partner, retraced his steps and took a seat at the deserted end of the balcony, whence the red tip of his cigar came and went against a screen of darkness. The Colonel, much Interested, remained looking look-ing in. , ... It was. an Innocently spirited scene, every participant seeming bent on exacting ex-acting his full share of enjoyment from the fleeting hour. There were girls who had driven in fifteen and twenty miles from the camps and ranches scattered , through the district, and who, flushed and excited, were bounding through the measure with an energy which made the floor vibrate. Their partners, also drawn from a radius of twenty miles about Fo-leys, Fo-leys, were of many , varieties, from the few mining superintendents of the neighborhood neigh-borhood to some of the underground devil are you doing up here?" The newcomer started and lifted a handsome face, which. In clean-cut distinction dis-tinction of feature, seemed to mutch the voice. He clearfd the last steps at a bound and stretched out a sinewy brown , hand to the older man. There was something delightfully frank and boyish In his manher. "Well, old son," he said, "that comes well from you! About the last person In California I expected to see at Foleya. What's up?" In the light of the kerosene lamps which Illumined the hallway he was shown to be some thirty years of age. tall, slender, upright, with upon him and about .him that indescribable air of the man of clubs and cities. His loose sack-coat sack-coat and flannel shirt set upon his frame wtth a suggestion of conscious masquerade. mas-querade. He did not belong to the present pres-ent rough setting, albeit he was so easy of manner and movement that It could not be said of him he was awkwardly out of place anywhere. The genial frank-noes frank-noes of his address was the Western touch about him. which made him acceptable ac-ceptable In a society where his manner of speech mleht have been resented aa a personal reflection.' It even outweighed the impression produced by the seal ring he wore. That it -was not the outward and visible expression of a mellow friendliness friend-liness of nature did not matter. What did matter was that it made life much slmnler and more agreeable for Jerry Barclay. "What am I doing up here?'' he said In answer to the older man's question. "Looking after my Interests. What elee would bring a man Into these trails? There's an old claim of my father's out Thompson's Flat way, that they've been getting up a falrv tale about. Ever since the Buckeye Belle's panned out so well they keep Inventing yarns down below that sound like . fortv-nlne. But the Buckeye Belle has made a strike, Forsythe For-sythe tells me." "The Gracey boys are here tonight. Thav'tl tall all -Kin 1 DlnA1. T ... womerg on xne uucxeye tseue. Mltty. clad In maidenly white muslin confined by a blue cash, was evidently: much In demand. Her dancing, which . was marked by a romping vigor, had loosened her hair, and a half-looped , brown braid sent a scattering of hair-i pins along the floor. Her partner, the-proprietor the-proprietor of the local livery stable, was conducting her through the mazes of the dance with many fancy steps. An occasional occa-sional haughty glance, a loudly defiant quality In her laugh, and the pert air with which she flounced through the figures, Indicated to the watcher that she was acutely conscious of Barney Sullivan, Sulli-van, leaning against the wall opposite and eying her with Jealous, hang-dog adoration. , In this assemblage , of rustic beauty, red, over-heated, and somewhat blowsy, Mercedes Gracey looked smaller, finer and more delicately finished than she had in the afternoon slow, with nature for a background. That she should be participating with obvious pleasure In such an humble entertainment did not surprise the Colonel, used to the democratic demo-cratic leveling of ranks that obtained In foothill California. . It did not strike him as any more rem.kable than that she should be enjoying the society of Joe Mosely, 'who kept the Sunset saloon at Thompson's Flat, and twenty years before. be-fore. In the days of his own and the State's' uncontrolled youth, had "killed his man" and narrowly escaped lynching lynch-ing In Hangtown. The watcher's eye left her with reluctance, reluc-tance, for a man at any age, even with a heart cold to the appeal of woman, will linger on the spectacle of youthful beauty. Then his glance swept' the wall behind her, where the opened windows were filled with men's heads, and along the upper end of which a bench ran. On this bench eat a young woman, alone, her had. In profile toward him, thrown out like a painting against the wooden background. (Continued tomorrow.) won't have anything else to "do." The younger man pursed hie lips for a whistle of surprise. "That's luck." he said. "What's Black Dan Gracey doing In a center of civilization civiliza-tion like this?" "Bringing his daughter In for a dance. We've got a party on; here tonight. Go Into your room and primp up the best you know how. Dancing men are short." The young man laughed, a deep. Jolly laugh. "Timed it lust right, didn't I? Do you suppose the belles of Foleys will take me this way, travel-stained and weary? I'd like to see Black Dan's daughter. They eay she promises to be a beauty." "Promises!" echoed the Colonel; "she kept that promise some time ago. She's 16 years old, my boy, and she can take ' your pelt and nail It to the barn door whenever she's a mind to." The other turned away to the open door of the room Forsythe had lit up for h'm. "Sixteen!" he said. "Oh. that's too young! No. Colonel. I've not got- to the age when sixteen attracts. But you ought to be Just about there. So long! You'll ee me later looking on at your gambols with the sixteen-year-older." His bojieh laugh Issued from the room, and as the Colonel went down stairs he could henr It above the swishing of water wa-ter and the sound of smitten crockery. From below the first tentative whin-lngs whin-lngs of the violins rose, ard as he reached the lower hall he heard the rattling rat-tling of vehicles and the sound of voices as the earlier guests began to arrive. To the right of the hull he discovered Black uan, eeciuaea in a smaii room reserveu j by Forsythe for honored patrons, smoking smok-ing tranquilly as he tilted back In a wooden armchair. The Colonel Joined him, and for an hour the smoke of their cigars mingled amicably -as thoy talked over the mining prospects of the district, and the Colonel's scheme for the development devel-opment of his mineral spring. It was near 9. and the dnnce had parsed Its Initial stage of bashful gaiety, when they strolled down the balcony to where the windows of the dining-room cast elongated squares of light Into the dark-nese. dark-nese. This room, built on the angle of the house, had a door in the front, flanked by two windows, and down the long side a line of four more windows. Beforo ench aperture there was a gathering gath-ering of shadowy shapes, the light gilding gild-ing staring faces. At the first window the I wo men stopped and looked In. The dinlncr-room. with Its wooden walls, low calling and board floor, framed like an echoing shell the simple revel. Its bareness had bren decorated with long strands of colored paper.' depending from points In the celling cell-ing and caught up In the corners. At Intervals In-tervals along the walls kerosene lamns. backed bv large tin reflectors, diffused a raw. bright light, each concave tin throwing a shndow like a stream of Ink down the boards below It. In a corner the three musician with furious energy, one blowing a cornet and two soraning violins. A square dance was In progress, and at Intervals the man who played the nrg-r violin Mt ehln mt Tp-tltTpOMcv |