Show THE BRANDING BR B R JL IRON ta r CHAPTER XIV Continued 12 she me only drew gradually into herself shrinking from her lier pain and from him ns the cause of it eho only lost her glow of love happiness tier her face seemed dwindled seemed to contrite contract I 1 and that secret look of a wild ati animal linal returned to id tier her gray gray eyes sho she qui nut etly gave up the old regulations of their life she did not remind him of the study kours hours the music hours the hours of wild outdoor ll 11 piny lay slie she rend read under the lh firs alone sho she studied faithfully alona she eho climbed and swam alone or with ills absent minded fitful company she worked in her garden alone at night when lie he was asleep it p she lay jay with tier her hand pressed against her heart staring blaring nt at tile tho darkness listening to the night waiting wat ting she never expressed tier her trouble even to herself slie site did not glee give it any words slie she took tier pain without wl wincing qIng without complaint besides although she was was instinctively waiting she did not foresee the end I 1 it was in late october when somewhere in the pile of prospers mall mail the relay ft a small gray envelope joan drew hla his attention to it editing calling it a 41 queer little letter and lid he took it up vp slowly ns his deft and nervous fingers had gone numb before he be opened it lie looked at joan and in one sense it last time lie ever alj took look nt abber her for at that moment ills stark spirit looked straight into hers hera acknowledging ledgin g its ita guilt and bade her a muto mute and remorseful well lie ile read and jonn joan watched ills face grey grev pale and bright as though some electric current had been turned into his veins his eyes looking up from the writing but not returning to her had tile the look glyen by some drug which Is meant to stupefy but which taken in nn an overdose intoxicates intoxicated ile he turned and made for the door holding the little gray folded paper in ills hand on the threshold he halt half faced her without lifting his eyes 11 1 I have had bad extraordinary news yonn joan I 1 shall have bave to go off alone and think things out I 1 dont know when I 1 shall get back lie ile went out and shut the door gently joan stood listening she heard beard him go along the passage and through the second door she heard beard ills his feet on tho the mountain trail at afterward she went out and stood between the two sentinel firs that had find marked the entrance to that snow anon tunnel long since disappeared now it was a late october day bright as a bared sword the flowers of the indian paintbrush paint brush turned like red candle flames everywhere under the firs the fireweed fire weed mazed blazed the aspen leaves were laid like little golden tiles against the metallic te blue ol of the sky the high peak pointed up dizzily and down doyn down dizzily into the cleor emptiness of the lake this great peak stood there in the glittering stillness of the day A grouse boomed but joan was not startled by the sudden rush of its wings she felt the sharp weight of that silent mountain in tier her heart site she might have been burled buried under it so she ehe ff felt it it nil day while she wo worked aked a dp sperate lt erate bright day clay hideous in her memory and at night sho she lay wilting welting longer than any her hours the door of her bedroom opened and an oblong of moonlight its as white as paper fell across the matted floor prosper stepped in noiselessly and walked over to her bed ile he stood a moment and she heard him swallow youre awake joan her eyes were staring up at him but she lay still listen joan ile iio spoke in short sentences waiting between each for some comment of hers herg which did not come 1 I shall have to go away tomorrow morrow I 1 shall have 0 to o go away for some come time I 1 dont want you to be unhappy I 1 want you to stay liere here for a abille aille if you will for so long as you want to td stay I 1 am leaving you plenty of money I 1 will write and explain it all very clearly to you I 1 know that you yon will understand listen here ho he knelt and took her hands bands which he be found lying cold anti and stiff under the cover pressed against her heart 1 I have made you happy here in till this 15 little house I 1 joani joan she would not answer even this except by the merest flicker of her eyelids you yott have trusted me now trust me a little longer my life Is very complicated this beautiful year with you the year you have given to me to li just a temporary respite from from fram all sorts of things ive taug taught lit you a great deal joan ivo ive healed the wound that brute made on your shoulder and in your heart ive taught you to be beautiful ive filled your mind with beauty beaudy you are a wonderful Wonder fitl woman lle hie to be grateful to roe me some day tell me so her quiet curved lips moved are YOU ou tellin aine me goodby good by prosper it wai impossible to lie to tier her ile he beat his head yes yea joan then rhen tell it quick and go out and leave me here it was impossible to touch her she might inight have been wrap white tire ile he found that though she had not stirred a finger his hand band shrunk away from hers here lie ile got to tofila his feet all the cleverness which till nil day ay long he had been weaving wearing like a milk net to cat catch cb to bewilder to draw aint away her brain from tile the angul anguish sli of full comprehend flon was wag shriveled lie ile stood and helplessly at her dumb its as a youth and obedient he went out nod and acute door taking the white patch lot 0 M moonlight with him hial so zoan having waited behind an locked door for his do e by katharine NewlIn burt Durt copyright liht by katharine N burt part nrc lire came out nt at noon loon and found herself in fit the small email gay house h 0 use alone site she sat in one of the lacquered chairs and saw fitter after a long while that the chinaman was looking at liar wen up it t had find boon been given instructions lie iio was wal S to stay and take care of the house houe and the lady for as long ns she wanted jt it or litin after aaril lie he was to lock up the house and go lie ile handed tier her a large envelope which joan took and let ue ile in tier her lap you can go tomorrow wen ile iio she said you no wait for mr gael to come back lie ile say bay he become come linck back no I 1 am not going t to waif wait 1 I guess here fiere joan twisted her mouth into a amne lo 10 in im not ofie one of thil the waging fat aln kind d im a abing back to roy my own ranch no now it wont seem see so awful lonesome perhaps as I 1 was thinking last spring that mai it would she touched the envelope without looking at it Is tills this money wen ile 1 I tink so lady she held it unopened out to him atra 1 I will glye it to you then I 1 haw bave no need of it she stood up 1 I urn am going out now to climb up this me mountain buntain back of the house sos BOS I 1 can see just where I 1 am ill come joan shrank back into the shadows of the pines down tonight tor for dinner and tomorrow after breakfast ill be going away you understand lady you mean give me all tills this money babbled the chinaman yes said eald joan grave gravely ly 1 I have no need of it she alio went past him with tier her swinging ingster step she was coming down doan the mountainside ld that eve evening nang very tired the alie curious peaceful stillness of heart that comes with an entire acceptance of fate when tile she heard the pound of horses hoofs in the hollow of the canyon ifer her heart began to beat to suffocation she ran to where standing bingnear near a big fir tree iree she could look straight down on the trail lending leading up to prospers cabin presently the horseman came in eight the one that rode first was tall fall and broad and fair ahe could see eee under his hat brim brio ills his straight nose and firmly modeled chin the aln butterf basterl said gald joan then looking at the other who rode behind him she caught at the tree with crooked hands and began to sink slowly to her knees lie he was tall and slight he fie rode with inimitable grace As she stared he took off his sombrero rested hn hand on the saddle horn and looked baggar haggardly ity eagerly up the trail toward the house ills face was wittier whiter thinner worn wom by pro mental pain but it was the beautiful living face of pierre joan shrank back into the th shadows rf ct the pines crouched for a few min utes like a mort mortally dllY wounded beast then ran up the mountainside mountain side as though the fire that had once touched her shoulder ha denten had eaten its way at last into her ber heart book two the CHAPTER I 1 A wildcat the lazy Y ranch house bouse a ono one storied building of logs was built about three sides of a paved pared court in the middle of this court stood a well with a high rustic top and about this well on a certain brilliant july night it tall man was strolling with his bl hands behind his back it was a night of full fall moon mean sailing high which poured whiteness into the court making its cobbles embedded in the earth look like milky bubbles and drawing clear cut shadows of tho the well top rind and the gables and chimneys of the ahe house hause the man slowly circled the court beginning close to the wills and narrowing ti till lille he made n wp loop about the well and then I 1 jei reversing ersing wonted in widening orbits es as far as tire the walls again ills wife looking out ont at him through ono one of the windows window thought that in the moonlight followed by his bis i 0 wn own equate shadow lie 19 looted like a hugq hug spider weaving denying a web tills this effect ilag heightened by the tl tact fact that lie never looked up ue ile was ircy in some plan to which it was impossible for tier lier not to believe curious pattern bt bf its ils walli boro bore some bows sows relation 1 from mhd northern wing of the ranal house strongly lighted cagne a tumult of sound music thumping feet it a mans man I 1 a voice chanting couplets oh you walk right through binl and you turn around and owing the girl that fandi you i n J and na you como come right back by the baime arne old track and turn the girl behind you il someone ns directing a quadrille in native 6 fashion there was much laughter contusion confusion and applause none of alg this noise disturbed the man lie did not took look at the lighted windows lie ile might really have been a gigantic insect entirely unrelated to the human creatures so noisily near at hand A man come came round the corner ot the house crossed the square and lurching a little made for thedoor of the lighted wing shortly after his entrance the sound of music and dancing abruptly stopped this stillness gave the spider pause but lie he was about to renew his weaving when in alie silence a woman spoke i you mabl dont you go home she said she had not spoken loudly but tier her voice bent beat against the walls orthe or the court as though it could have filled the whole moonlight night with thin dun cerous beauty the listener outside lifted ills his head with a low startled exclamation suddenly the world was vila alive with adventure and alarm allaud your own business you wildcat answered a mans raucous voice ashes my wife which Is so methin that your sort knows about come on you mabel it if you think that outlaw can keep me from home my wife youre betting wrong another silence then alien the voice again a little louder as though the speaker had stepped out into the center of the room mabel Is not nr n geln R oln home with you it said sal dand and the listener outside threw brick back tile his head with the gesture of ii a man sensitive to music who listens to some ecstatic melody she happens to be stopple stopp stop pin ln here with us tonight you yon any that ashes your wife but that dont mean that she belongs to you body and soul mil bill greer not to you who dont possess your own body or soul why you cant cali keep your feet steady you yon cant pull your hand band away from mine you cant hold your tipsy eyes on mine do you call that ownly your own body A deep short alarming chorus of laughter interrupted the speech the speaker evidently had her audience so you dont own anything tonight went on the extraordinary deliberate voice surely you dont own mabel you cant get a claim on her not th ataway ashes tier her own she belongs to tier her own self when youre fit to take tier her why then come find and tell us about it and it if we judge youre a 8 teil ln us the truth debbe well lot let tier her go till then P a pause which was as filled with a rapid shuffling of feet the door flow flew open and in its lighted oblong the observer saw a huddled figure behind which rose rosa a comans vi womans black and shapely lead head till then repeated the deep toned ringing voice get out and the huddled ms mm n came on a staggering run which ended in a backward fall on the cobbles of the court the man who watched hatchl A trod lightly past him and came to the open door inside firelight beat on the golden log walls and salmon colored timber cell ing a lamp hanging from a bean beam threw down a strong conflicting are arc of white light A dozen brwn alwn faced booted young men stood about three musicians clans were ready to take up their interrupted music the little fat man who had called out tile the figures of the quadrille stood on a barrel tile lila arms folded across ills his paunch A fair hatred girl her faeo face marred by recent tears ears drooped near him two of the young men were murmuring reassurances to her others surrounded a stout red faced girl who was laughing and talking loudly the jews eyes wandered till they aliey came to the fireplace there another woman leaned against the wall the music struck up the dancing began again the two other girls quickly provided with partners began to waltz the superfluous men stood up together and went at it with gravity and grace NO one asked this woman w who ho stood al ease watching the dancers tier her hands resting on her hips her head tilted back against the logs log As he looked nt at her the intruder had a queer little thrill of 0 fright lie ile remembered something he be had once seen a tome tame panther which was to be used in some moving picture play its confident owner had led it on a chain and hold held it negligently in a corner of the roo room rn waiting for hla big cue tie he panther had bad there drowsily KJ its eyes shifting chit ting a ittle then watching people its ita inky head had bad begun to move cove from side go 0 o tide side re lie remembered the way th ill loose chain J jerked erkel the anlin animals alo eyes half closed it low wed its bond bead its lip began to t 0 draw anway from lid h teeth all nt at once it had haa dropped dropek on its belly fici oeone cried out our hold your boast beast I 1 TO BE BB CONTINUED CONTIN UnD |