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Show A TAUt OF THE TlAtWOOJhS COPYRIGHT BV TKOBBS-MERRJUL odttKNY CHAPTER III. -A Man 'without a Nsms. Tho Pearlhuntcr sot on tho doorstep door-step of the cnbln, his face bowed In tils hands. It was Juno upon the slope under the trees; June In Wolf Run chuckling and chirking along on Its way from spring and waterfall to the river; Juno In tho heart of a cardinal car-dinal rocking upon the top twig of a tall hickory; December In the heart of the Pcarlhuntcr. , Half-way down tho slope, beyond the tangled underbrush and In the edge of the grass-covered open strip that bordered tho river shore, the green was broken by a mound of fresh earth, lie had rimmed It round with shells brought up from the river; upon the head had planted a cluster of orchids, the lady's-sllppcr of the Flatwoods. They were like her, the orchids a lonely flower; one to a wide stretch of solitude. Nobody but he conld have found so many, because nobody knew tho woods so well. As he looked back over the years, he found himself pondering the contradictions con-tradictions of his mother's life, In tho light of the story he had heard that memorable afternoon the refinement In the midst of mean surroundings, the stern pride that had held her to long In exile because of a word that had, mayhap, been long repented. The muck and grime of the river had never smudged her. Through It aU she had kept as pure, as white, as a flake of snow and as cold. "What air y'u calc'laUn' V do with them wild roses hero In th tumbler In tho winder keep 'cm 'r chuck 'era out? I cnyn't And but one more tumbler." The volco of tho old Doss half startled the man on the doorstep. The gruff old fellow had never left him. night or day. ' Tho Penrlhnntcr had forgotten him, tho rumpled house, tho dishes, everything. every-thing. Ho lifted 'his faco from his hands, rose, and entered tho cabin. Tho Doss was pointing to three wild roses a red, a pink, n white In a tumbler of water In the window. Tho vision the PcnrlhuntMr had seen on the rock at tho pool enmo ognln. A vision It had been just that, only that; an exquisite picture (lashed beforo be-foro his faco anil Instantly snatched , nway a picture ho would never see again. It scemod unrcat as ho looked back upon It In tho light of another day. Rut no, there wero the roses. Ho bent his face down and rnught the aroma of their breath. "Let them be," lie said. "They will last another day." The Ross made no reply. To him they were merely failed roses. He wns sitting on tho doorstep obout to light his pipe when tho younger man called him. With tho freshly filled plpo In ono hand, the untlghtcd mntch In the other, ho roso and stepped buck Into the cnbln. Tho Pcarlhuntcr was standing beforo n small hnlr-covered trunk, scarcely bigger than an ordinary ordi-nary suitcase of tlio present day. It stood open, with the lid thrown back, exactly as It had stood two nights beforo be-foro when ho came up from tho river nnd found his mother dying. Its con tents seemed to IndlrnlP Hint they liau been rummaged through by some one whose linstn had been grent doubtless doubt-less by his mother. It hurt him to recall re-call tho cause of Hint hnste. The bloodstained glove she hsul held In her band lay uppermost, probably tossed there by one of the river men. "It's time to know what's In Hits trunk." A certnln tenseness In his voice ex-wiped ex-wiped the Roki. "Pnn't y'u?" "I've never seen Inside of It before." The Ross was In the net of scraping his match. Ho stopped; looked nround out of the tnll of Ills eye, but whatever his thoughts, lie mnde no comment. "First of nil, here's this glove," the young man went on. lifting the glove from tho trunk. "You know where we saw It first." Tlio Ross threw nway the stub of his match nnd felt tho tlmostnlned nnd mildewed nrtlcle. "West Point," ho muttered. "Hit's Hi' kind them sprigs wears olllcer's, I'd say, offhand." The other stood considering It; laid It aside; nnd lifted tho next nrtlcle from the trunk. It proved to be n woman's dress of rich -brocade. Little as tho two men know of such matters. It Impressed even them ns being of tho very finest mnterlnl nnd of Mulshed Mu-lshed workmanship. Under It lay other articles of woman's wear, till equally rich, though now yellow with tho stain of time. Down benentb everything else Iny n small box which the Ross, from nn experience which befell him as a soldier In the far South, knew to bo sntlnwood. Tlu voting man stood with It In hla hand, afraid to raise the lld-nfrnld to put It to the (oil. po fur, the .trunk had given uu nolhlns. Ho- wn l nameless. What If this, too, should prove a blank? At Inst tho Pcarlhuntcr raised the lid some bnby ctothes, clean and neatly folded; a plain gold ring wrapped In a handkerchief of the finest cambric; and, under all, a picturewhat pic-turewhat tho Iron-Oray-Woman must have been In her girlhood. He matched It up. carried It to the light of the door nnd looked long upon It. After a ttmo he came bock to the trunk. Tho satlnwood box was the lost artlclo In It, and It had told him nothing, no laid the picture In It replaced re-placed tho baby clothes and ring. closed tho box and put It back. He even took a sort of melancholy satisfaction satis-faction In replacing, with studied neatness, tho glove, the dress and other articles, after which he closed the lid, locked It, pocketed the key, and turning to the window, stood staring star-ing out over the river. He was still a man without a name. The Ross stepped back from the door. "The niuc Moon." he said. "Hit orta bo putt away safe." As If the statement recalled thoughts that had strayed far, the young man reached In his pocket and drew forth the pearl, still rolled In the bit of cloth. The two days of ripening and the chafe of the cloth had greatly enhanced en-hanced Its brllllnncc. Quietly rolling the pearl up In the cloth again, he left the cabin nnd, followed by the Boss, strodo down the slope through the trees to the boat, and together they rowed nway toward the village. Tho fame of the Pcarlhunter had preceded htm. As ho enmo up from tho whnrf Into tho town, the Mud Hen, the one saloon ot tho place, disgorged dis-gorged n swaggering, swearing population popu-lation Hint gnthcrcd round htm. The Boss' crew, camped half a mile below Fallen Rock, and the crew of Ball Masterson, camped three miles above, were both there. Besides these, the Obenchnln, a small steamer plying between be-tween tho ports of the Wabash, had come In that morning, bringing other river men. Caught In tho swirl of Hie crowd, tho Pearlhuntcr and his companion were swept Into the Mud nen. A hundred hun-dred voices clamored to have the pearl Intel upon the bar whero all could file by nnd seo It. There fell n few minutes min-utes of comparative quiet while the hungry eyes of the river men were devouring de-vouring It. Then followed drinks all round nt the expense of the finder; and what followed Is not n pleasant task to describe. Tho Pcnrlliuntcr, remembering that mound of fresh, earth nt Fallen Rock, kept his head nnd drank but little. The Ross, on the other hand, "cut th' dog loose," as the river men sny. Ry noon he was singing snatches of half-forgotten half-forgotten songs nnd fighting the Indian In-dian wnrs nil over again. Coming up to where his young friend leaned against the bar, In ensy reach of the pearl, still lying upon Its hit of cloth, lie threw nn nrm nbout his neck nnd lennt hnrd upon him, something he couldn't have been hired to do when sober. "Come 'ore, you fellers. Thls'n'son me, an' It's to th' Pcnrlliuntcr, th' whitest man along th Wabash an' be d d t' th' man what says 'e ain't I" The rabble swarmed nbout the bar all that were able. Rottle necks gurgled; glnsscs clinked; red whisky sizzled down hot thronts; a few shouted; somo swore; others merely laughed foolishly. That Inst drink was the Ross finish. fin-ish. Ho wilted down Into tho nearest chnlr; lurched heavily over upon a table ta-ble and lny there mumbling, or laughing laugh-ing In high, shrill key; occasionally shouting nut a note or two of a boating boat-ing song that had been old on the river riv-er for n quarter of a century. It was early afternoon before the Pearlhuntcr dnred to think seriously of depositing the pearl before river etiquette permitted him to remove It from tlio bar. Ho tried to rally the Ross. AH lie cot was n further Installment In-stallment of the Indian wnrs. Half disgusted with It nil, he turned back-to the bar nnd stood lennlng his chin upon his hnnd. A door opened from nnother part of the building the SI ud Hen being nn Inn, the only one In the plnre. A man entered. Crossing Hie floor with ns little attention atten-tion to tlio crowd ns If the place had been deserted, be swaggered up to the bar. Perhaps he secretly wished that somebody would get In his wny. ne had Just Hint air nbout him. The Pcarlhunter heard the . door open; felt tho hush Hint fell the bush that always falls upoL the rabble rab-ble nt the coming of n masterful presence. pres-ence. He turned his eyes slowly toward to-ward the newcomer, nis nerves were as steady ns tho woods make them, but they wero not quite proof against what ho saw. It was tho Mnn-ln-the-Fancy-Vest. A look Unshed between them. The-: The-: Penrlliunter fancied the other stlf- fenco, nnd no was quite consiions ot a tightness creeping Into his own spine. Tho Blue Moon was still lying on Its bit of cloth upon tho bar, where, among tho river men, It was ns safe as anything of vnlue ever gets to be In this avaricious world. lie deliberately deliber-ately picked U up and thrust It Into his pocket. It wns n distinct nitron t. Tilood timl run In the nutwoods for less. The limn facing him started: Unshed; his rluht hand dipped lownnl his hip. The Penrlhuntcr's body became like Iron electrified ; Ills' eyes like flecks of steel In the flreglow. His hand had closed upon the pistol butt while the other's hnnd wns still on Its way. "Drawl" ho hissed. "Drawl I'd give tho Blue Moon If you would I There's n twenty-year-old score to settle set-tle between your blood nnd mine I" A dead hush fell. The more sober men of the crowd Jammed doors nnd windows, others huddled against tho walls; some hnd dived under the tables. ta-bles. It was a moment of keen tension. ten-sion. Not n man breathed. The line between life anddenth Is a hair lino when two gunmen stand face to face. Tho chnnces arc split almighty fine. The Man-ln-the-Fnncy-Vcst cvl- He Swaotrd Up to the Bar. dently decided they were spilt n little too fine. He slowly relaxed the poso to which tho dangerous Instnnt had Htrting him; lifted tils hand; folded 'his arms; turner, i iciint ugninst tho bar; and stood coolly looking the other over. The Pcnrlhuntcr had been half crouched, lie straightened and took his baud away from his hip, "When I get ready to Icavo Plat-woods Plat-woods I'm cxpectln' to ask you somo questions and I'm cxpectln' to bo answered." an-swered." Ills volco crisp ns the snap ot sleet against window glass, ho stuffed tho pearl deeper into his pocket, In a manner man-ner that somehow had tho effect of emphasizing the affront. Tho other Rhruggcd his shoulders, barely perceptibly; his lip curled in a hard smile that carried all tho forco of a sneer, but he mado no answer. With tho air of a man bored unspeak-nbly unspeak-nbly he sauntered across tho room to tho door by which he. had entered; paused an Instant; glanced back over his shoulder; tossed up his chin contemptuously; con-temptuously; passed out, and closed the door. Itut, fur nil his easy acting, It did not cscnpc the Pcnrlliuntcr that tho ! blue In his eyes was black. (Continued Next Week.) |
