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Show Love's Border By JEAN DICKERSON (Copyriebt, igia, by Associated Literary Preu.) Converse was out with a scouting party when he came upon the little patched hut half hidden in the chap-irral- In the light of a full moon sift-lug sift-lug down through the foliage he was inclined to believe that the hut was , creation of his fancy and the white gowned form that vanished at his approach ap-proach was of the same illusive rnate-r:l- What's that?" muttered Murphy nt 5;s side. "Thought I saw- a hut or j5 It thiB confounded moonlight that's , ifcelvingme?" He peered toward the kut with his near-sighted eyes. What was It that prompted Con-rerse Con-rerse to deny the presence of the hut? Heretofore he had been most zealous usd untiring In his search for Mexl-an Mexl-an sharpshooters on the border, something held his tongue from ad-sltting ad-sltting that he, too. had seen the hut, more. "You're seeing double tonight, Mur-iy," Mur-iy," be laughed. "Move along to the ,3st and let us thrash out that ilcket." "Then you better duck If you see M shootin'!" retorted the Irishman rrimly. '"With these deceivln' eyes of c:ne I'll be takin' myself for one of iem little woolly burros and commit i;iclde!" "I'll take the risk," assured Con-terse Con-terse leading the way In the opposite Section. Together they moved noiselessly trough the mesqulte growth, pushing i-'.te the shrubs with hands wary of long thorns that scraped skin and Nothing and retarded their progress it every step. When the two men returned to the American camp the moon was still :-5ht. Between them they escorted a -:oner, a surly, half-breed Mexican t:o had leaped at them from behind i tree only to fall a victim to their uperior numbers and swiftly moving rra. After this bloodless skirmish i;:r thorough search of the hill was i:!ed and so they returned to camp. Instead of seeking the rest his itary body demanded, Blake Converse nliei until the confusion Incident :cn their arrival had dleJ away and t':en the sentry's steps had dimln- i ed to a distant shuffle the young , s::-ut quietly rolled under a loose flap i canvas beside his bed and disap- 'Hand Closed on the Warm Roundness Round-ness of Her Arm. "'"-i In the dense shadow cast by jacent hill. ' he was impatient of the detain-: detain-: Sogers put forth by the mesqulte 2"t- More than once he heard rlPping of flannel as he pulled his - free. ;t last he stood forth In a little 1 space that seemed familiar. ES contrasts of moonlight and . shadows produced grotesque '3. What he had supposed to be "Mysterious but for which he was 4ing proved to be a huge rock ;-- with moonlight and when he Jied to touch the white surface ;'"fed and shrank away from him. g rubbed his eyes and looked The rock was there immov- !." Against Its surface and blend- 'lth the moonlight cowered the of a woman dressed in white, j lie spoke ber face turned to-hlm to-hlm and the light fell full upon filing her to be young and beau-" beau-" In that swift glance he saw er hair was black as the deep est shadows and that her eyes were dusky pools Bet in the marble paleness pale-ness of her face. "Who Is there?" he asked sharply. A quick drawn breath and a frightened fright-ened sob Instantly suppressed, answered an-swered him. Then the white gown moved away from the rock as If to escaie him. Converse followed swiftly swift-ly and overtook her at the door of the hut. Ills hand closed on the warm roundness of her arm. "1 am sorry, but you must tell me who you are and what you are doing here," he said in a firm tone. She surprised him by replylug In his own language. "I have a right here!" she breathed In his ear. "A better right than youi have!" "I hope so," he said fervently; "but you know the American troops are camped below here on the plain?" "Ah!" she cried bitterly, "do I not know? Have I not been avoiding their prowling bands for three days." "You are Mexican?" asked Converse. Con-verse. "And If I am," "If you are Mexican you are In a dangerous situation here on the borders bor-ders where there is continual fighting. fight-ing. You are not alone?" He spoke in a brisk, matter-of-fact way. with an undertone of kindness. "No, I am not alone." she answered calmly. "My grandfather is within he is sick, perhaps dying. When they shelled the city our home was destroyed de-stroyed and we fed. We hoped to cross the river Into the states We have relatives In El Paso, but wetiave had to avoid the rebels as well as the American troops. We lost our way and have hidden in this ruined hut since yesterday morning. My grandfather grand-father has had little to eat I came out now to seek something. There, that is all!" She threw out her hand with a defiant gesture. "Do what you will!" "The first thing to do is to get something some-thing to eat," said Converse decisively. decisive-ly. "After that, If you will trust to my guidance I will escort you Into the American camp and see that you reach El Paso at once " "You are very kind, sir." said the girl brokenly. "I am afraid 1 am severe rude but we have been alarmed and harassed and earlier this evening our retreat was almost discovered." "I was the one who startled you then that is why I came back again," said Converse in awkward explanation. "How did you know how did you guess that we were not sharpshooters?" sharpshoot-ers?" she asked, surprised. "Why did you not investigate?" "I don't know!" he replied slowly. "It is well for us that you waited until you were alone," she said In low thrilling tones that stirred him strangely. "Another might not have been so kind as you have shown yourself your-self to be." "It Is nothing," declared Converse bruskly. "May I see your grandfather?" grandfa-ther?" "Certainly he is within, very sick " She led the way to the tiny hut whose roof was half torn away. Through this great aperture the moonlight flowed brightly, lighting up a grass bed on the ground whereon an old man lay covered carefully with several sev-eral blankets. Converse bent over the old man and addressed him in halting Spanish. To his surprise the refugee answered him in fluent English and In a few words substantiated the words of his granddaughter and added a brief explanation. His name was Juan Barros, a retired re-tired merchant of Juarez. He was a widower with this one granddaughter who had been educated In the United States. They had lived happily together to-gether until ' the revolution had brought, hostilities to their doors. The loss of their home followed and now he was on his way to El Paso where he had a brother; once there he would make a home for himself and Almeda. If the kindly Americano would help them the old man's voice had failed here. Blake Converse did help them across the border and delivered them Into the hands of an escort which would see that they reached El Paso. It was not surprising that the young soldier should obtain leave of 'absence and hurry to El Paso to make a ceremonious Inquiry concerning the health of Almeda's grandfather, and such was Blake's solicitude for the old Mexican and so warm were the greetings that he received from both the refugees that he was encouraged to repeat these calls until old Juan Barros smiled into bis beard and was ready with his blessing upon them long before Blake found courage t( ask It |