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Show 1 vtt O i 9 B & & $ f o I Judith of the f I PiairlS MARIE MANNING, V Copyrtlhi, 1903, bf Ha.rptr Bfolk.r. -:? i 6 & JTrii'ii" loiter parents were, In truth, Kliul to part with hltii. From hi enrll-est enrll-est Imliyliood bo had been known as a "limb of Satan." lie wan an Inhmnol by every Instinct of his being. And Mrs. Wnrren Itodney, ncc Tumlln, felt that In denllng with linn In her cupne-Ity cupne-Ity of atepmotber Hlie dnlly expiated nny offense Unit flio mlslit hnvo dono to bl mother. Bally fcrcw Nlatternly wlUi lnereaslnt,' inatenilty. Hlie npent her time In n rnckhiK ehalr, dlpituK HnulT n eoiiHoln-tlon eoiiHoln-tlon I in ported from her former home nnd lamentliiK Iho lmd marrluKo sbo hnd muile. Itodney iiHcrlbed bis III fortune for-tune to unjust neighborly criticism. Ho fnruu-d n little, be rnlsed n little Htock, und bo drnnk n ureit deal of whisky. Bnlly hnted the Urinck Hlllii eoitntry. 8be felt that It knew too much nbout ber. The neighborly Inquisition lmd fallen like n bllKbt on the family fortunes. A inguo mlfrriitory Impulse was on her. She wiuted to ko Bomcwbere and be-Kin be-Kin ull over attain. Hy dint of persistent persist-ent miKRlntr Hbe pcraunded her bus-band bus-band to move to Wyoming, then In the Koldcn age of he cattle IndiiHtry. Judith wn ten yearH old when ber fnther, his wife nnd their children mored from Dakota they were not bo particular about North and South Da-kotn Da-kotn In those dnys-lo take up n claim on Hweetwiiter, Wyoming. Judith jure scant promise of the beauty that In later life became at.onco her dower and ber misfortune, that wblcb was as likely to bring wretchedness s happiness. In Wyoming she was des-tlned des-tlned to find nn old friend, Mrs. Atkins, who, as the brldo of the young lieu-tenant, lieu-tenant, had been piescnt at tbu marriage mar-riage of Sally Tumlln and Warren Itodney and who had always felt n wholly unreasonable sense of guilt at witnessing the ceremony nnd contributing contrib-uting n lace handkerchief to the bride. Her husband, now Major Atkins, was stationed at Fort Washakie, Wyoming. Mrs. Atkins bapienlng ngaln on tho Itodney family and her husband having hav-ing Increased nnd multiplied bis army pay many times over by a successful venture In cnttlo, (life m'hemo of Judith's Ju-dith's com cut education was put through by the iiiujnr's wife, who bad kept her New Huglaud conscience, the discomforts of frontier posts notwithstanding. notwith-standing. So Judith went to the nuns to school nnd stajed with them till she was eighteen. Mrs. Atkins would have adopted her then, but Judith by tills time knew ber family history lu all Its sordid ramifications and felt that duty called ber to ber brother, whb had not Improved his unfortunate start In life, though his stepmother' did not spoil him for the staying of iho rod CIIAI'TRIl VII. CllUdti, comforted with liquids nnd stayed with n head plaster, plas-ter, presented himself ut the Dax ranch Just twenty-four hours after be wns due. Ills mlcu combined com-bined vngucness with hostility, nnd ho harnessed up the stage that Teter Hamilton bad driven over the day before, be-fore, when his prospective passengers were looking, with n graphic pantomimic panto-mimic representation of "take It or leao It." ruder the circumstances Miss CurinUhael and the fat lady consented con-sented to be passengers with much the. same feeling of duality that one might hmo on embarking for the plsnet M.ir lu un ali'hblp. "Here's some bread and meat mid u bottle of cold coffee, If you Ihn to need It," was Mrs. Dux's grim piognostlca-tlon piognostlca-tlon of accident. I.cimdcr, being of an emotional natuie, could scarce restrain bis tears the nihent of the travelers bad created a welcome variation u the monotony of bis dutiful routine he felt nil the agitation of parting with lifelong friends. Mary Cnriulchael and Judith piomlsed to w'rlto tliey bud found n great deal to Fay to each other the preceding evening. Cbugg cracked his whip ominously, and the travelers got Inside, not daring to trust tliemsehes to tho box. The Journey with Chugg was but n repetition of that first day's staging the sagebrush was scarcer, the mountains moun-tains xocmed us far off as over, nnd tbo outlook was, If possible, more desolate. deso-late. The entry In Miss Carrolcbael's diary, Inscribed lu malformed characters char-acters as the stage Jolted over ruts and gullies, reads; "I do not mind telling tell-ing you, In strictest contldence, 'Here Diary' as the little boy called you that when I m lightly severed my connection con-nection with civilization I bad no Idea to what nn extent I was going In for the pnilrlo primeval. How on earth does u woman who can write u-letlcr like Mrs. Vellctt stand It? Ami where on tho map of Noth America Is Lost Trail" The fnt lady bad never I elans! ber gaze from Chugg's back sluco tbo stage bad started. She peered nt that broad expanse o( flannel shirt through the tiny round window, like a careful sailing sail-ing master sweeping tho horizon for possible storm clouds. At every portion por-tion of tbo rop.d presenting a stceji decline de-cline she would prod Cbugg In tbo back with tho handle of ber ample umbrella and demand that bo let her out, as she preferred walking. "Do you think, you aro a-pleulcklng, ''"$ yon cra o Tooiiilnr.tljt royi!MJ'Ci yero'solltoodes?" And he crnckedTIi whip and adjured bis team with cabn-Untie cabn-Untie Imprecations. "Did you notice If Mrs. Dlx giv' hlni any cold coffee, same nn sbo did ust" anxiously Inquired the fnt lady from ber lookout. Mary hadn't noticed. "He's drinking something out of a brown bottle seems to relish it n heap more'n he would rold coffee," reported the watch. "HI, there! HI. Mr. Chuggl" "Uiu-in-mt" he grunted snvogely, applying ap-plying n watery eye to the round window. win-dow. "Nothing," answered the fat lady, quite satisfied at hnvlng her worst fears confirmed. Cbugg returned fo his driving as one not above the wenkness of seeing nnd hearing things. " 'Tnln't coffee." "Could you smell It?" questioned Mary Ma-ry anxiously. ' "You never can tell that way when they aro plumb pickled In It, like him." "Then how did you know It wasn't coffee?" "Ills eyes had fresh wntered." Mary collapsed under this expert testimony. tes-timony. "What are wc going to do nbout It?" "Appeal to him as n gentleman," said the fat lidy, not without dramatic Intonation. In-tonation. ' "You appeal," counseled Mary. "I saw hlm'iloolc nt you admiringly When you were' walking down that steep grade." "I that so'?? unhl the fat lady, with' a conspicuous lack.of Incredulity. Aud she put ber han'di.lhvoluntarlly to ber friezes. V ' This time she did not trust to the umbrella um-brella handle as a medium oX.commn-' nlcatlon between tbe stage drler"nnd herself. Putting her hand through the porthole, she. grasped Cbbgg's arm ihc bottle arm with no-uncertain grip. "Why. Mr. Chugg, this yere place U getting to bo n regular summer resort, Tlilnk o'( two ladies titistjug themselves them-selves to your protection and tt.ivellng out over this great. lonesome desert." ' Chugg's mind, still submerged lu local lo-cal lethe waters, giuppled In sllenci wjth the problem "of,the fomlulno Invasion, Inva-sion, and then lie mattered to himself rather than to the fat lady; "Nowhere's safcfrom 'em. Wnnieujijud lioiu-u Wen Is universally 'prevailing." r ' ,f The fnt lady dropped his arm as If II bad been n biniid. "He's no gentleman." gentle-man." All tbnt day they tolled over sand and sagebrush. Tbo suu bung Ilka n molten disk, paling tbe blue of the sky. tho grasshoppers kept up their shrllt chirping, nnd the loneliness of that sun scorched waste became a tanglbln thing. At sundown they came to the road ranch of Jobnule Dax, bearing Lean-der's Lean-der's compliments as n secret dispatch. This Mr. Dax was almost an exact replica of tbo oilier, even to the apolo- "Shc't cluuclri' ii tiholo lot over Ui i'rvui." getlc crook In tho knees and a certain furtive way of glancing over the shoulder shoul-der as If antlefpatlng missiles. "l'sbaw now, ladleal Why didn't you let me kuow that you was coming, und, I'd lime tidied up the place und organized n few dried apple pies," "Whcro'a your wife?" steinly demanded de-manded tbe fat lady, "Oh, I presume she's dancln' u whole lot over to Ervay. bbe packed ber ball gown lu n gripsack anil lit out of here two days ago, p'lntlng Uint way. A locomotive lo-comotive couldn't stop her none If she got a chance to go cyclonlng round a dance." After supper wheu tbe fot lady was so busy talking "goo-goo" lnnguago to the baby as to be oblivious of everything every-thing else Mary Carmtchael took tho opportunity to ask Johnnie If beskncw anything about Lost Trail, Tbo name of her destination bad come to sound unpleasantly ominous lu tbe ears of the tired young traveler,, aud she fenr-ed fenr-ed that her Inquiry did not sound us casual as she tried to havo It, Nor was Johnnle'j jinilhlreply reassuring. ' T'lt's n pUeii mean country, frjili m I ever beard tell The cltlrens tbarof consists mainly of cojotes nnd nioun tain lions, with, n few rattlers thrown In Just to mrtko things neighborly This yere place" waving bis hand toward to-ward the arid wastes which night win making more desolate "ls a summer resort, with modem Improvements, compared o It." Mary screwed her coil rage to a still more desperate point nnd Inquired If Mr, Dax knew n family named Yelelt IIvIjh? In .Lost Trail. "Never heard of uo family living there excepting Uie bluff nt fntrilly life maintained by the wild beasts before referred to. Sec hero, miss, I nlu't makln' no play to Inquire Into your nf fnlrs, but you ain't tblnkln' o' vlsltln' Lost Trail, be your' "Perhaps," said Mary faintly, an I then she, too, talked "goo-goo" to the baby. All that long and never to be forgotten forgot-ten night the stage lurched through the darkness with Slary Carmlchacl the solltnry passenger. The fat Jady had warned Johnnie Dax that be was on uo occount to replenish Chugg's itnek If be had tbe wherewithal for replenishment on the premises. Johnnie, hurt to the quick by the unjust suspicion that be could fall so signally in bis duty to a lady, not only, refused to replenish the flask, but threatened Chugg with n conditional con-ditional vengeance In the event of accident ac-cident beCalllng the stnge. It wn with n partially sobered and much threatened threat-ened stage driver, therefore, that Mary continued her Journey after the supper nt Johnnie Dai's, but the knowledge of It brought scant reassurance, and It la doubtful If the lied stage ever harbored any one more wakeful than tho pale, tired girl who watched' nllthe'ehaiiges from dark to down nt the, stnge window. win-dow. ' K ' Tie hoofs of) the horses bent the night awuy a regularly 'as tbe picking of n lockirgrew darker tbe night wore oo'aad seBieIJBes a coyote would yelp-frem Ike t rlace 'otwlHows that borderwiyH.qreekr la it 'ivaythnt made Mary recall Stales of baiabees. Aud once, when 'ike first- pale streak of dawn trembled ln the' east aud the raountnlhVjCleeked like Jagged rocks, heaved .'agalmrt tfte sky nnd In danger of topplng,"thV whole dread scene brought before' her one of Veddcr's plcrureSjthrft hung In the shabby old llbrnfy"at home. They breakfasted somewhere nnd Chugg put fresh horses to the stage. Sua, knew this from their difference of color; the horses that they had left the second Dax ranch with had been white, nnd these) tliat now tolled over the and an'ddes6latIon were apparently brown. She could not be Certain 'that they vvcro brown, or that the wer6 tolling over the sand and desolation, or tliat her nanip was Mdry Carinlchael, or Indeed pt nny thing. , lour days In the trnln ,,nd what seemed like four centuries In the stage eliminated, any certainty as' to anythhig. Shcjcould only sit huddled In n heap and" wait for things to become adjusted by time. Chugg was behaving In n most exemplary ex-emplary maimer. He drovo rigidly as an automaton, nnd apparently ho looked no longer on the "lightning" wl.m It was bottled. Once, or twice he had applied his eye to the pane that separated him from his passenger and asked questions relative to her comfort, com-fort, but Mary was too utterly dejected deject-ed to reply In more than monosyllables. As they crept along, tbe sun dried timbers tim-bers of the stage creaked nnd groaned In seeming protest at wearing Its life away In endless Jourueylngs over this desert waste, then settled down Into one of those maddeningly monotonous reiterations to which certain Inanimate things aro given In seasons of nervous tension. This time It was, "All the world's n stage creak screech all the world's u stage creak 'screech!" over and over till Mary found herself fast succumbing to tbo hypnotic effect of tho constant lepctltlon. At sunset the Interminable monotony of the wilderness was broken by n bouse ofj curious architecture, tho like of which the tired young traveler bad never seen before, nnd whose, singular candor of design mado her doubt tho evidence of her own thoroughly exhausted ex-hausted faculties. Tho house seemed to consist of n series of rooms thrown or rather blown together by some force of nature rather than by formal design of builder or carpenter. The, original log cabin of this composite dwelling looked better built, more finished, fin-ished, neater of nspect than those they had previously stopped nt lu crossing the desert. Springing from the main building, like claws from a crustacean, was n series of rooms minus either side walls or flooring. Irideod, they .might easily have missed for norcbes of more than usually commodious size had It not been for the beds, bureaus, chairs, stave with attendant pots, kettles, ket-tles, anil supper lu course of preparation. prepara-tion. Seen from any vantage point lu the surrounding country, the effect was that or nn Interior on the stage tho background of some homely drama where pioneer life was being realistically realistic-ally depleted. The dramatis persona who occupied tho center of the stage when Mary Carralchael drovo up was an elderly woman In a rocking chair. Sbo was dressed In a faded puik calico cali-co gown, limp and bedraggled, whose color brought out tho parchment-like hno nnd texture of her skin In merciless mer-ciless contrast. Terhaps because she still harbored Illusions about tbe per-Ishnble per-Ishnble quality of her complexion, which gave ovcry evidence of having borne the bruut of merciless desert suns, snows, blizzards and tho ubiquitous ubiqui-tous alkali dust of all seasons, she wore a pink sunbonncr, though tho hour was one past sundown, and though she sat beneath her own roof tree, even If lacking tho protection of four walls. From tho corner of her mouth protruded n snuff brush, so co ns tan tvJ n this accustomed, place V f that It hail coiiif to bi regunleiT by members of her family us part uuil purei'l of her uttlre the tlrst tUlnj; nssumeU in the tnornltn,'. tlic last tlilnj: laid nslilf m tilglit. Mary Cuiuileliael liaimttlo dltllpiilty In recognizing Ju-dim Ju-dim Itodney'i) titepiiioihcr, nee Tuuilln, she who had been the lierolue of th ronianei- lately rrcontiil. Mfi. Uodtivy'M IntPtvit In Che girl iii!liUni: from the staftu wn evinced lu the puMleil motion of the eliulr as It quivered slightly buck and forth hi plnre of tit nwliiglng sei-nw with which Mie wan wont lo wear.tlie hours away. The unuft brush wan hrousht into more llereely active it)uiinlNlon. hut she Hald nothing till Mary Oirml-chael Oirml-chael wiih within n fow Inches of her; then, Hlilftliig the HnufT lirtish to ti post tlou nioie rauirahln to enunciation, sho mild: "HowdyV Ye he Mix Vellett's go'meiit, nln't ye?" There was i,ome-thhiK i,ome-thhiK thivatenlug tit her aspect, nsi If Iho olllee of goveruess to the Yclletta earned some challenging quality. "(loverninent?" reHatHl Mary vaguely, vague-ly, her head still rumbling with thu noise ami motion of the stage. "I'm afraid I hardly understand." "Ain't j on mm goln to teach 'the Yeh lett outllt ther spellln', wrllln' and about lieoige Washington, nil' how the Yankees kem along arter ho wim hi his grave an' lit us and broke up tho kcu-try kcu-try so we hud ter leave our home lu TeuueKSee 'm' keui to thlx yere ontda-elous ontda-elous plaee. where nobody knows the dlrfunee between nig broad an' corn dwlger? I war n Miss Tuiullti, from Tennessee." The rocking ehalr now began to recover re-cover Its accustomed momentum. This much heralded educational expert was far from terrifying. Indeed, to Mrs. Hodney's hawklike gate, that devoured every visible Hem or Mnry'H extremely modest traveling drms, there was nothing noth-ing ho very wonderful about "the gov' incut from the cast." Willi a deftness compatible only.wlth long practlee Mrs. Hodney now put a foot on the round of an adjoining chnlr nnd shoved It toward Mary Ciirmlehael In hospltahle pan tomhiie, never once relaxing her continual con-tinual rocking lu the meantime. Mary took the ehalr, mid Mrs. Itodney, after freshening up the snpff brush from u small tin hox hi her lap, put spurs to her rocking chnlr, so to speak, and started off at a brisk canter. "I Mow It's mighty queer you tins don't recognize the Job you uns keni out yere to take, when I call It hy name." From tho Mheltering flap of tho pink suubonuet she turned a pair of black eyes full of 111 concealed suspicion. sus-picion. "Mlz Yellott glvln' herself an many airs 'bout lilrln a gov'ment 's If she wiw. goln' to congress. Queer you don't know whether you be ouo or not!" She withdrew Into the sun-bonnet, sun-bonnet, muttering to herself. She could not be more than fifty. Mary thought, hut her hahlt of muttering and exhibiting her depopulated gums while the was In the act of revivifying tho snuff brush gave her a cronlsh aspect. as-pect. A babel of voices came from the open faced room on the opposite side of the house corresponding to the one hi which Mary and Mr. Hodney were sitting. Apparently supper was being prepured by boiuc half dozen young people, each ot whom thought he or she was' being imposed upon by the others.- "Hand me thnt knife," "(lit It yourself." "I'll tell inaw how you air wolfing down the potatoes as fast us I can fry 'em." "(lo on, tattle tale." This was the repartee, mingled with the hiss of frying meat, the grinding of coffee, the thumping sound made by bread being hastily mixed lu a wooden bowl standing on a wooden table, Tho babel grew In volume. Dogs added to it hy yelping emotionally wheh Hie smell of the newly fried' meat tempted them too near thu platter and some one with a disengaged foot at his disposal dis-posal would kick them out of doors. Personalities were exchanged more freely by members of tho family, and the meat hissed harder as It was newly turned. "I.nws-a massy;" muttered Mrs. Itodney, and then, shoving back the sunbounet, sho lifted her voice In a shrill, femlultia shriek: "Kudorj'i Ku-dory! You-do-ry!" ATieoc like cre.mire, TTiuuS iuiil pink cheeked, In ti blue checked apron besmeared be-smeared with grease and Ibur, camo sulkily into her mother's presence. Bee-lug Bee-lug Mary C'urmlchacl, she grasped th skirt of the greasy aprou wl:h the sleight of baud ot it prestidigitator and plaited It Into n single handrul. Her manner, too, was no slower of -transformation. The family sulks were Instantly replaced by a company bridle, aided and nbotted by a company com-pany simper. "I didn't know the stage was hi yet, ninw. 1 been talking to Iry." "This here be MU Yellett's gov'ment. Maybe sho'd like to penrtcn up some before she eats." She started the rocking rock-ing chnlr at a gallop, to signify to her daughter that she washed her hands of further responsibility. Keltic pro-tlclent pro-tlclent hi the sign language of Mrs. Hoduey's second self, us Indeed was every member of the family, tmdora led Mary to a bench placed hi one of the rooms enjoylug the distinction of n side wall, nnd Indicated a family toilet service, which displayed overy Indication of having lately seen active icrvlcc. A roll towel, more frankly significant of tho multitude of the Hod-ucys Hod-ucys than had been the babel of voices, a discouraged fragment of comb, a tin bnslu, a slippery atom of soap these Euilora proffered with nil miction worthy of better thlugs. "I declare Mist' Chugg have scarce left any soap, uu' I don't believe thar's 'uothcr bit In tho house." Kudorn's accent was hut faintly reminiscent of her mother's strong Smoky mountain dialect, as a crude feature Is sometimes softened hi tho second generation. It was not tin-pleasing tin-pleasing on her full, rosy mouth. The girl had the seductiveness ot her half sister, Judith, without n hint of Judith's Ju-dith's spiritual quality. Mar' told her not to mind ubout tho soap, uud went to fetch her hand bug, which, consistent with tho democratic spirit of Its surrounding, was resting against a clump of sagebrush, whither whith-er It had been lifted by Qhugg. Miss Carmlchnel's Individual toilet service, which was neither huudsoinc uor elaborate, elab-orate, impressed Eudoru far more potently po-tently In ranking Mary as a personage than did her dignity of otllee ns "gov'ment." "gov'-ment." "I reckon you una must have seen Slsf Judy up to Ml?: Dax's. I hope "'.TiJs here. UcMXi Yillctt' tiov'mtnl." she war lookln' right well.'' There was lu tho Inquiry an umnlstaknhle uoto of pride. The connection was plainly ouo to bo Haunted. Judith, with Iter gentle gen-tle bearing and her slmplo convent accomplishments, ac-complishments, was plainly the grande dame of the family. Kudnra had now divested herself of tho gieasy, Hour smeared apron, flinging It under the wash bench with a single all sunk-lent movement, while Mary's look was directed di-rected toward her dressing hag. In glancing up to make some remark about Judith, Mary was confronted by a radlnnt apparition whosu lilac calico skirts looked fresh from tho Iron. At the sldo of the house languished 1 a wretched, nbortlvo garden, running over with weeds and sagebrush, and hero n man pottered with the purposeless purpose-less energy of old age, working with uu ear cocked In tho dlrect'oti of tho h.i'f." us he turned a t-pndc of earth '.' :. m .iiid iigalu lu hopeless, puslllanl-m puslllanl-m -jj Industry. Kill when his strained attention waH presently rewarded by a shouted summons to supper, audi tie stood erect bijt for tho slouching droop of shoulders that was more n matter of temperament than of age, one saw a tail mini of massive build, wlfoso keen glaum and slightly grizzled hair helled his groping, Ineffectual labor. Tljo head and face wero lluely modeled. mod-eled. Unless nature had fashioned tjiem hi some vagrant, prankish jnood, such elegance of lino betokened prior generations lu which gentlemen and scholars had played some part tlie ragabond scion of a good family, perhaps. per-haps. A inultltudo of such h.'td grafted graft-ed on the pioneer stock of tho west, under names that curried no significance signifi-cance In tho places whence they enirto. Weakness. and self Indulgence there were, and (hose writ large and, deep, on the face of Warren Hodney, and, lu default of nn expression of deeper significance, sig-nificance, the 'wavering lines of Instability Insta-bility produced u curiously ambiguous effect of n Hue head modeled by a 'prentice hand; a lady's copy of tho Kelvederc, attempted in the ardors ot tho first lessons, plight approximate, It. A smoking kcroseue lamp revealed a supper table of almost Institutional proportions. There wero four sous uud two dniighfers of tho Tuuilln union, strapping lads uud lasses nil of them, with more than n common dower, bt lusty health and a beauty that Was something Deeper (half lliu perishable Iridescence of youth. There was Fremont, Fre-mont, named from tho explorer-soldier; there was Orlando, named from his mother's vague, Idle musings over paper pa-per hacked literature nt certain "im-chancy" "im-chancy" seasons; there was UlchanU, named from pure policy, for a local great man of whom Warren itodney hud anticipated a helping hand nt (ho time; (hero was Cudorn, whose nominal nom-inal origin wus uncertain, unless it bore limitation to that of Orlando; there was Hadle, thus termed to avoid the painful distinctions of "old Sally" and "young Sally,'' nnd, lastly, like n postscript, post-script, came Dan-wlth him, fancy, hi the matter of names, seemed to have fulled. Dan was now six, a plump little caricature of a man In blue overalls, over-alls, which, ns they had descended to him from Hlchards In the nature of nn heirloom, reached high under Ills tirni-pits tirni-pits and shortened the function of his suspenders to tho vanishing point. Kudora was now sixteen, and tho woman fnmlno In nil Iho hind iuiil gifted gift-ed her with n surprising precocity. Kudoru knew her value and meant to make the most of It. I'ullUo her mother moth-er In the old Klaek Hills days, shu expected ex-pected more than u "limuo of her own." Tonight four suitors sat at table with Kudora, and sho might have had forty hud she desired It. Any one of the four would have cheerfully murdered the remaining three had opportunity presented Itself. Slipper was a mockery mock-ery to them, n Knrmeclde feast. Kaeh watched his rivals and Kudora. Her mother, mumbling her suppor with toothless hupolency, renewed her youth vicariously, and, while sho quar-relisl quar-relisl with her daughter from tho rising ris-ing of tho sun to the setting of tho same, she added Iho last straw to the burden of the distracted suitors by nn-Honoring nn-Honoring what a comfort Kudorn was to her and how handy she was about the house.' Warren Itodney supported the air of nu exile at his own table. Keyoud u preliminary greeting to his daughter's guests he said nothing. His family, lu their dealings with him, seemed to accord ac-cord hlin the exemptions of extreme age. He ute with tho enthusiasm of a man to whom meals have become the main business of life. "How's your mine up to Kail Water In' along, Iry" Orlando Inquired, not from any hospitable Interest In Ira's claim, but hocaiiso ho had Hiuulry romnntlc Interests In that neighborhood neighbor-hood nnd hoped to make use ot thu young prospector's Interest lu his sis-ter sis-ter hy securing an Invitation to return with hint. Im regarded the Inquiry lu the light of ii special providence. Here was his (banco to Impress Kudora with the splendor of his prospects and til the same time smile the claims of his rivals, and, behold, n brother of his lady had led the way! Ira cleared his throat. "They tell inc she, air like to yield n million any day." At Ibis Kudora gave him the wealth of her eyes, and her mother-reached mother-reached across two of the glowering suitors and droppisl a hot flapjack on his plate. "Who He, thill she air likely to yield a million nny day" Inquired Ken Swfl, openly Moating such prophecy. "Yes; who se. It" Inquired H.iwks and Taylor, Joining forces for thu overthrow over-throw of the common enemy. "A sharp from the Suilthsoulau Institute In-stitute at Washington, he said It, nnd ho has taken back spechnents with hhu." - "Ye can't keep lacking from freight-In' freight-In' round spechnents -nuw, sir, yo can't, not fill the fool killer has finished fin-ished his Job." Ken Swift charged tint table with tjiu statement as the prosecution prose-cution subtly appeals to tho high grade of Intelligence on the part of Iho Jury. The point told. Kudora, wavering lu her donation of hot flapjacks, gave them to Ken Swift. Hawks now leaned across the table with il Minions, beguiling motion, and, extending his long neck toward the prospector with Hie air of a turkey gobbler about to peek, ho ciooued softly: soft-ly: "Ita, It's a heap risky puffin' ,our faith lu maverick sharps that trail around the country renaming little old locks Info precious stones, seeln' gold in',:,fs lu ever gopher hole they eninn lo Thov names our hack yard mil the rocks .ippertalulu' thereunto u he-iji fashionable, and like as not some suck er gives Jiliti good money to float the trash back east." Mrs Itodney, whose partisanship hi tut dlseiistilnn wn iiiwili gnus to tho position of it hen peiMlug on a fence Unable to decide on which sldo to flutter, flut-ter, was lslbly' Impressed by Hawks' proseM.ilhm of the case, Looking toward to-ward lur dailghter from under the envus of her sunbounet, shu " 'lowed fho had heat u -that Kail Water was hard on tho. skin an' Hint it waru't much ot n place artcr all. l'olks over thnr vvur mostly half livers." ' Ira, now losing nil sumblanco of pol ley ut being thus grievously put down by his possible iiiotluir-lu-law, "reckoned "reckon-ed that hcrdlu' sheep over to tho Kasin was n heap easier on thu skin than Ilvln In ii leomt'tilblo hniiso over to Kail Water" this as u (ling ut Hawks, who herded u small hunch of sheep "over In tho Knslu," "Al-yl," openly scotTed thu forniei Miss Tuuilln; "tnlk's cheap before" Sho would have cousldered It Indelicate Indeli-cate to supply the word "marriage," but by breaking off her sentence before sho camo to Mho, pith of It sho continued contin-ued lo maintain iho proprieties. To be continued |