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Show M ADDEaPdM ; \ ' , ; , : SADDI.E SADDIE ADDEaPd . [ .dRIDE dRIDE . .cl l\ l \ l , ' . t , @ By 'By ' y ERNEST HAYCOX HAYCOV W1tese wrtuW1tese W1teseb : wrtu .c c : . ' b + a . ciiArTEn CHAPTER xix XIXClay Clay had nothing nethlne to say Bay aay Reachit Reachitfor Reaching Reachinglor Reachinfor lor for his hat hal he left the room cross crosslog cros crosing crossing log ing the darkened store and letting lettinghimself lettit lettithimself lettinhimself himself out to the porch Habmade lIa Hal Halmade it itmade made him blm reach into his pocket pockets * tohi for forhis f fhis his * cigarette paper he rolled up upsmoke a asmoke smoke without giving it any thought thougt thoughtHe thougtHe ' He waa was wa * like this sorry and cor con confused co cofused corfused fused and still tirred stirred by Ann II a kiss kisswhen ki kiwhen * when he heard Jesse Ruscy Rusey call of out outsharply o osharply sharply sharplyHeads Heads up-heads up heads up - - heads up ! ' " That tone lone from tram the silent nusey nuseywas Ruse , ] was a warning warmng that made him dre drehis droll drollhis his smoke and Jerk around He sawfirst saw sawfirst sat satfirst first the two Ryder brother brothers * backeagainst backed backedagainst backs backsagainst d against the saloon wall as al thous thouspushed though thoughpushed thougpushed h pushed against it and then his hisglance h hglance glance racing on he found Ruseythe Rusey i In Inthe n : the thick shadow shadows * by the hotel holel RLsey Ru Rusey R Rsey ' sey had Iytd i > ad drawn his gun on the Ry Ryders R ; f ders der * he was holding them there thereMorgan then thenMorgan ' Morgan knew at once how it was wasand waand wa ' ' and backed against the store wall wall8harply wal walsharply sharply 8harply scanning all the roundabout roundabot roundaboutshadows roundabotshadows 11 shadows his nerves quickening amhis and andhis ar arhis " his pulse striking strlkmg hard in his neckSwlngmg neck need needSwinging Swinging Swlngmg his head throueh through a full fullIalt fu fuIlalf ii Ialt Ilalf } lalt ) circle he looked into the gray graydeserted gredeserted gra gre ; y deserted shadows of Old Town am an and andsaw ansaw ; j saw Herendeen slowly drop back backaround bee beearound around the corner of the blacksmitChop blacksmiti blacksmith blacksmit blacksmith'Shop ' thop 'Shop Shop Chop into darknessHe darknessHe darkness darknessHe He remained remamed in his tracks knovIng know knov knowIng knowIng , Ing what lay before him yet puzzled puz puzzled pu ; zled that Herendeen should slid'away slidaway slide slideaway slid slidaway ' away as though avoiding him He Heknew H Hknew Hknew e knew Herendeen thoroughly - the theraw th thraw thiraw raw physical courage the sullen will willthat wi withat wilthat that drove him forward torward the contempt con cot contempt cottempt tempt he had for weakness thihatred the thehatred th thhatred hatred which tor for these ten years had hadgoverned hagoverned ha < governed his life lite and his actlona actioni actlonaThus actioniThus actionsThus i Thus this backward step into dark dart darkness dartness darkness ness seemed out of character Thinkmg Thinking Thmk Think 109 mg about It Morgan looked alonithe alo(1g alo1g alo(1gthe slop slopthe ( the itreet street again and now noticed the theshape thshape th thshape < shape of ot somebody outlined indark in a adark idark > dark second story window of ot the he hetel ho- ho hotel hotel - tel He didn 41dn ejidn t I know who It was buhe but buthe bu buhe he realized reallZt'd reallZtd ' Herendeen had notlce noticed notice notlcethe noticedthe noticethe < the man and was protectingwhimseLin protecUngblmselfIn protectinghimselin protecUngblmself protectinghimsel , . , In the fight tIght to comeMorgan comeMorgan come comeMorgan Morgan hanging to his tracks tracksdrew tracksdrew trackdrew * drew and fired He saw Herendeen Herendeengun igun s sgun gun kick klck : up from its first shot hot hsaw h hsaw he hesaw < ' saw the barrel barre1 steady again Th Throar The Theroar Throar < ' roar of the shots cracked along the thestreet t ti tstreet thtstreet i street and somewhere men ran the thewal lh lhwalks thewalks wal walks s recklessly These were sensations sen aen sensatlons aensations satlons sations that reached him ail aU at oncethese once oncethese oncethese these and the crash of at a bullet intcthe Into Intothe inti intithe . the wall behind him and the smelof smel smell smellof : of powder He had fired twice still stillwatching stil stilwatching tillwatching I watching Herendeen s gun settle to toa U Ua tca > a level pointing But he fired ncmore no nomore ni nimore > more for he heard his shot strikehome stnke strikt stnkehome strikthome home releasing a quick small cough cougi coughfrolI cougiiron coughfrom frolI\ frolI frolIHerendeen iron \ } , Herendeen The big mangun man s sgun igun gun dropped he fired as it went wentdown wen wendown wentdown down the slug breaking up dustfrom dust dustfrom dus dusfrom from the street His shoulders fellback fell fellback fen fenback back against the wall of the black blacksmith blacksmith blacksmith smith shop and scrubbed along the theboards theboards theboards ' boards Morgan s bullet had knocked knockec knockedhIm knockechim knockedhim ' hIm back and when he fell it wasth was war wasth warth ' th sway s way sl si wly to a sitting Slttlllg positionand position positior positionand positiorand ' and then sidewisc sidewise as though wearilygoing wearily wearilygoing wearilygoing going to slel slelp sleep P The shadows at the thebase thebase thebate ' base of the bu Id ld nfi ng rig sm the thcred thered red him himall himall himall all Morgan saw was the vague ttainof stain stair stainof stairof of his face faceThe faceThe faceThe The echoes of the firing had no not notyet notyet ' yet died when men ran into mto thestreet the thestreet thestreet ' street toward Morgan < ; Some ome nccalled ne nc necalled necalled called Clay Clay-th'lt Clay th'lt thlt Clay-thit thit - thit ' you7 you ? He didn dldn tanswer t tanswer I Ianswer answer for he was paying paymg h s respects re respects respects spects to Ben Herendeen a man mar manwho marwho manwho who had never known whit wh'lt whlt ' fear fearwas fearwas fearwas was a man who had wailed waited tor for him himwithout himwithout himwithout without trickery to con v e a up andend and andend andend end this quarrel That Morgan belicved be beheved beieved heved ieved had been the s ngle great greatforce greatorce greatforce force orce in Ben Herei Herer Heret deen s 1 I fe ( e hIs hIswIll hiswill hiswill wIll to pu push h as de to destroy df'stroy dfstroy ' theme the theom theon om me < - . person plrson wh hid h'ld hld ' ever taken fromtin fromrun from fromhm hm tin anylhir anylhn anythu g he had wanted Hetun He Hetun Heun tun un cd ed from the gathering gathenng crowdwalking crowd crowdwalkIng crowdvalkmg walkIng valkmg back to the main maIO str street streetatigue streetfatigue .et et < . .etfa fa atigue Ugue beginning to sprcjd spredd spread through throught1lm throughum throughhim t1lm um It was deep in m his bone bones * Iran t tran tan ran an shallowly beneath his skin skm ParrGentry Parr ParrGentry Parrentry Gentry ; entry walked from the shadows ofthe of ofthe ofhe the he hotel and contr conrr confr nted him Parr Parra Parrsa \ sa a d in a mooth smooth fatherly vOiceWell voiceWell voice voiceWell Well Clay I 1 m sure glad it wasn tou t tyou tyouI 1 1you , you ou youI I 1 arr said Morgan VanccKctchell Vance VanceKetcheU Vanceetchel KetcheU etchel : watched you go into the'olhc the thePoth thePothc Poth 'olhc olhc ' ( les lea yesterd yesterdly yesterd'lY ' ly and he watched watchedyou watchedou watchedyou you ou come out . You met Hillhouse Hillhouseand Hillhousend Hillhouseand and nd spoke to him After that Hillhouse HIll HIllhouse Hillouse house ouse went into the Potholes andfound and andfound andourid found ourid Hack He lie had no feeling feelln feelin . , 10 in 10his inis inhis his is \ voice olce The words were slow and andflat andat andflat flat at It H If you arc are still in this coupry COUll coup COUlltry country try ry tomorrow n n\ n gt gi nt \ t you 11 it be dead deadAnn deadAnn deadAnn Ann McGarrah wa wa\ wa war waat < ' \ at the thl doorlay doorway door doorway way lay of her st re watching Morgan MorganH Morganle MorganHe H le pau paused ed in the dust most of the theenergy thenergy theenergy energy nergy and urpose iurpose i out of him hun it'as it itwas itwas was 'as as ' the fa nt push of an old habitwhich habit habitwhIch habit'hich whIch 'hich hich ' swung him ar or und and carriedhim carril'd carrild carried carril'dhim carriedtin ' him tin Ihr thr ugh the tile Old Town to the thecemetery theemetery thecemetery cemetery emetery and took him hun to the tile footf foot footof footof of f I [ lla Iia lie s a gri'lveIn graveIn grave gri'lve grilve graveIn ' In tl ti tlls is dark silence lll'ncf lllncf ' ' she w W.lS WlS was . is closto clos clot closto clotr to r him she was very real Somethings Some Somethings Somedogs things dogs faded fadl'd fadld ' and some did not hernage her herImage herimage Image nage wai was quite clear-that clear that clear - that dark darkdran darkran darkdran dran ran atlc atic face with the light of oflaughter ofughter oflaughter laughter ughter veering s swiftly swiltly to darkI theherivy the thehedvy theenvy I hedvy envy shadows of despair and anger an anger aner ger er and tears Childlike and wornsnlike womalike worn wom snlike nllkc alike by turns hating hatmg her herself elt wornI and andhat.mg andsting andhating I hat.mg hatmg sting . him tor for the mistake of a runway run runaway runaway away way q lyarrlage Q"lsrrlage Qlsrrlage " arriage and bearing it tragically t.rag trag t.ragIcally tragally . Ically ally while the short . year went . onand on onand onid and id dying with no love for him no nosoft notft nosoft soft tft wordBut wordBut word wordBut But he remembered now a athought aought thought ought which had occurred to himearlier him himearl1er himtriter earl1er triter in the night A man couldnot could couldnot couldit not it live Jive forever in the past pallt . . Oneby One Oneby Oner by r one the IInka Unks link * connecting him to itlye It . itgave Itave lye way Hillhouse and Breathitt Breathittwho . , . wbo ho had ridden beside him throughthese through throughthese throughese these ese earlier earUer years were dead Theand Th The < ound und and at 01 of their voice voices * was wall gone eone their common memories were brokenNow broken brokenNow brokenNow Now Ben Herendeen wa was * dead In Inthe h hthe the dual duat dust and at last as a * he paused pausedhere pausec pausechere here in the th wholly sUver silver ( liver shot fog he hefelt bt btfelt felt adrift and IInd tree free There 11\ 11 \ 11as ass wa as * noth nothing nothlag Ing lag left of the old quarrel , , the old ok oldOne oktine | fine One tine time times * the old adventure adventurt's adventurts adventures ' * theold the theold old congs songs The last 1'nk 1nk link ' of ot the put past puthad pasthad * had broken and ha he realized that he hewas he hewas was wa * at twenty nine a man lookingahead looking lookingahead ahead because there was no ather other otherway 1 1way way to look lookIt lookIt 1 1It It affected him powerfully . , It i1 i1spilled 1 1pilled ' pilled ap1lled spilled something into his blood like Uke Ukea I Ia a chemical absorbing absorbine the virus of ofan of ofan an old fever Looking down at Llla Lila II IIheadboard i iheadboard headboard he cald said to her and tohimself t to tobimself < himself bimself in a gentle voico voice , I guess guell ! that s a all What s a goni gone goneIs goneis Is I * gone ' . He had been gone from the ranct ranch ranchnearly ranchnearly nearly two Iwo hour hours * When he cam came cameIno cameinto < Into In\o In o \ the living room he found Padden Padden Pad den ready riady to leave Padden said'That said ' "That That 'That " ' ' wasn t as a * bad as it looked lookedLige ' Lige Llge I Is * all aU right rlghL . Mr Mrs * LIge Jus Just Justcame justcame came cameWhere Where s a * Catherine ? Started home about fifteen min mm mmutes minutes utes agoJump agoJump ago Jump came In I got the boyi boys boysrldmg boysriding riding rldmg circle on the place Fox Will- Will Willing WillIng - - . ing log s a out on the flats flat * behind tht the therocks therocks thtrock rock rocks * rocksYou You can pull them in It s a allover allover all over overWhat WhaP What ' I met Ben In town sa said Id Mor Morgan Morgan gan and left the room at once once.Jump onceJump . Jump .Jump followed him to the porch porchcalling porchcalling calling For God s a sake Morgan Morgantell Morgantell tell a 8 roan man Morgan curved curvedaround curvedaround around the yard and was lost in the thefoe thefog th togLige fogLtge tog foe fog Lige Ltge White V'lhlte Vlhlte ' a wife stood * tood beside thebed the thebed bed looking down at her husband husbandPadden husbandPadden Padden : closed tlosed nosed the door definitely The 'be be 'behind ' behind hind him bim as u he left lett the room Nowshe Nowshe Now she he said You were on the way wayto wayto to town weren t you LIgeT Llge Lige ? And Andthen Andthen then you changed your mind and andstarted andstarted started into a fight fightWell fightWe fightWell We Well II . ' , , * ' he laid said it 1t was wa * a way of ofI ofpassillg ofpassing olpassing I passillg passing the timeI time I know Imow Time a been heavy on onI onyour onyour I your hand hands * the these e laet larot last years And Andyour I Iyour your house has ha * been empty hasn hun hash tI tIt tit t I 1 1He It it7 " , it7He He could smile mile smne weak as he be wasHe was wasI wasHe wa * I He still had bad hi his * old flash of gallantry Mal gal gallantry I Ilantry lantry No hou house e i Is * empty with withyou i iyou you in it GraceYou GraceYou Grace You re lying Lige Llge I 1 know whyyou whyyou why you were going to War Pass Pas * I veknown yeknown ve ye known tor for a long time timeHe timeHe He laid a hand over hi his * eye eyes * I 1 1am Iam am not proud of that Grace God Godknows Godknows knows I hate dirt But there are arethmgs arethings things thmgs He didn dldn t go on with withIt withit it be he bad had no way of explaining and andso andso so lay still stillShe stIllShe stillShe She said This is the first flrst time Iever I 1 1ever ever taw saw you weak the first timeyou time hme hmeyou you have been bet'n betn ' helpless Most always atways al at ways you have been so well 80 so o full fulland fulland -and and - and I ve ye kept away from you youSometimes youSometimes youSometimes Sometimes you have frightened meLlge meLige me Lige Llge Sometimes you have mademe mademe made mademe me feel ( eel ashamed I have been bet'n betn ' astrsl astrai a astrai strai strsl ge wife wifeHe wifeHe wifelie He lie said I saw a vase one time timein timein in a museum It was a beautifulth beautiful th thrg r g The S si serf ( rt of a thing that thatgIves thatgives thatgives gIves a man mun a wallop to look at-to at to attomake attomake at - tomake make him feel maybe there s a a sideof side sideof sideof of 1 fe he can c an t I reach I didn dldn do-In do In - t touchit touch touchIt touchit It Was afraid I 1 d break it it if I f Idid fdid Idid did That s you Grace I m not notcomplaining notcomplaining notcomplaining complaining I m ghd gPid gPidi ( lid i 1 ve ye got as asmuch asmuch asmuch much of you as I d have Then hesaid he hesolId hesaid solId said slowly If I stray off the pathIt path pathIt pathit It s because a man like me belongs belongson on the street n t t ini in 111 - i "I -i " museum museumLooking museumLooking museumLooking Looking at bea bed hea it t f il 11 it things thmgs ain aln amn tenough t tenough tenough enough I ve ye g t to have somethingto someth1l1gto someth1l1g something to touch and use useShe useShe useShe She showed 11 U |