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Show w H ) l - 1 I I Judith of the 1 I rlairiS MARJe" MANNING, H Copyright. 193, by .rp.r Brothers H i gtl . tf 1 Ax yet tho iIiiiicIiik was lint Intermit- B tent mill wiih cnpiKcil In clilelly by the B mothers Willi law progeny, wlm felt M tb.it nfler the nrrlvnl of n water num. H Iht of kuciIm nml iiiiintiK tlirm 1 1 mi- H married jtlrU ttii'lr opportunities! ni!lit m nut In jiM iilcnllfnl lit nt prevent. One H or two (my piiiirlicr In mi Hircm or H civility nt the pri'Mfiii-f of tin- fair B Inul IiimImIciI on kIIiik Ui t ln-li hIx m Kliootcrx, niiiiiilitliii; niiiiicIIiIiik ii limit H "there Iielnjj I. nllcs prfHcut .'Wil mini M lielut; Iniii.v Hi tlimn." In llil "bunk M room," wliicli ilhl duty ux ii gi'iitli- M imiiu'h clonk room, tlilniti wen really M wiirmliiK U. Tlieie will Hindi ilrllik- M I lilt: of licillllis, iik the lirullieri ISciilou m . Inul llioiljtlil fully provlilfil the where- M ' wlllml itnil Hint In excellent iiuillly. B Co t Ik'" M win llieie mnl Texim Tyler. B who liml rlililen sixty iiilltw to "mm lug H ' ' :i IH'ltli'iiill." or If thei-e were not Hl cimliirll to gu roilliil to iliinee Willi a M I IniiiilkiTi hlef HimI to sunn' fellow's B sleeM'. lt "swIiikIiii; II peltli'ont" It HBb un perfectly uniler.stooil iiiiiiuik nil Ills pBv I frlenils Hint he lilcmil il ell;lliee to M ' ilanee with .linlllh Itoilney. Teiis Inul B ' lieeli itioleil to .litillth since she hill M I left the convent, mnl soniellnies, per- M jj Imps twice ii jour, she tnlil til in Hint H ,' xlie viilneil Ills frlenilshlp. On nil other H occhmIoiih she rejected his suit, ns ( M i his coiitlnniil presslnK of II were koiiic- , 'I tulni; In the iiiiliue of mi iitTrotit. Vet H Texas perM'Veinl. M ' , "Well, here's lukln' .it .Mill, since lu H 1 1 the w:ij of ii friend there's iiolhlni; U I, lietter lo look nl!" Anil Costlfli ilrnln- M ed n tin cup nt Texas Tyler. H i; "Vonr er. kodiI health," siihl Texas, B I who wns somewhat emliaivisictl by H i whilt wns reifiii'ilisl ns ('ostlifim's "tluw- H "IteKornt, Is that lllmlerson or the H ' Khost nr the li'yV" CostU'im's rovliiK H rye wns nrresteil liv lli, fot'-niun of, H ; the XXX. who stoixl urliikliiK with H two or three in. 'ii of his oiitlll. He wm (Jiale ami III looking, lie ilr.mk several times In succession, m If he neeilisl the H stlmnlaiil, mnl without the formality H f of ilrllikitiK to any one, The two or H , three XXX men who were with him H ' Meemeil In he eiptiilly In neeit of res lor- i1 rttlves. They tnlktsl of the cuttle stampi le lu kkh j , which several of the ontllls hn.it been H' , heavy losers. Some !Hl lic.nl of cattle H ' , hail been iecovere.1, mnl members of H the illiYcrent ontllls were still seonrlim 1 the Itiil ilcscit for strays H nmethliiK In the nature of u sens.i- H Hon was create!' by the arrival of the H Wetmore party. The women were H frankly Interested In the clothes, bear- H Iiik mill general deportment of the H New Yorkers, ltllinors or Miss Cole- H brook c's beauty were rife, anil there H was ii general liicllmillon to coinpare H her with local belles. Sllcll exotic l,pes H . ( they hail seen these city beittltles be H v fore were as ii rule too colorless for H their appreciation. They liked facei H that hil "more o In tbein" was the H verdict passed upon one famous bean- H ty who huil visited tlm Wet mores Hie H year before. In arraiiKeineiit of the H hair, perhaps In matters of dress, the H Judges were wllllnir to nineede tile H Unrels to city damsel-, but there con- H i-esslon stopjnsl Hut evidently Kitty, H to Jlidjfe from the ulnliorntlou of her H ' toilet, did not Intend to he iIIsiiiIsmiI H ,, thus eursorlly. She herself was dell- H i cutely, palely pre(l, as .always, lint H ' ' t - ,"'1' ,lll,r "u" tortured to h fashionable H '' '.A, tlnlllniMs, mid Hie simplicity of hei H Kreeii muslin .'own wns only In the H j name. II was muslin disguised, el.ib H orated, herlbbouisl, lace trlmimsl till H 1, Its Identity was all but but In the mill H i , tltude of pretty complications. H "Old you know that old Ma'am Yel H lett had n si boolmarni up lo her H place V" asked one of .the men apropos H of eastern preltlness, H "Well, well." ('iisti.in reminisced. H "'tis some itv thllii Ylllltt lambs thot's M six fut In their Nlocklnys, If (H be rl- M mlmberliii; rlitht. Sure, Hie t'nclier H oiik'bt to be somethlui; nv a put:lllst, H Ol'ni ililnkliiV" H "I seen her the other day, mid n ue.it- H er little heifer ueer turned out to pas- H Hire. Lord, I'd like to be Kiuiwllik' the H corners of the primer Held now If she H was there to wli He the ruler" H "Arrah," buycil CosHk.iu. "but the H women itiestlou Is k'lttln' complicated H onlolrcly, wld Miss Itoduey-an' her- H self lilkhi' lolke a saint III a clllircli H window il'nlln' the iiiiiIIh mi' Hie othei H wan t'aelilli' lu the lUoiiutHlus. Sine. H tills place Is Kt till' lo lie but n sorry fhpot for bachelors lolke mesllf." H "I ain't iiientlonln' no nmues. but H there's ii iimii heie hIu'I Ireatln' n H j mlslity tine woman sipiare mid accord- H ?' Ill' to the way she niiclit to be tieated " H K The Information i nn throuith the clr- H- cle like .in electric shock. Meu slopped H 111 Hie net of liledk'bik' each otlier's H i i lie.iltb to listen, leiinik'ers siralitlit- PH etiisl up; every topic xvas dropped. The HH 2 man who had made the statement was H a the loose lipped bllsvb. xxlio had H siik'k'ested to his host that he ulve tip BB Ills six shooter since theie were "ladies Hj "What are you walilm; for'" queried H Texas Tyler saviitfely. "You've crack- H ed joiir whip, made your bow an. I i;ot HB our utteiitloii. Why don't you i;o on';" Hfll The iiiuii looked iibmit nervously, lie H vas rather iilarmisl at the Interest lie H( mid c.xclied. The next iiioiiienl I'oter Hi llainlllou hud w.ilked Into the room. H 'there was scmielhliu. mirl.il Injils en- bKbbbbbbM BBBBJ iBBBBBBBBm It999ttttlftttif lance nl (his p.irlletTar I'tne. "i i t t.illl.isl suspicion. The Kosslp tool: inl-vuultiKe inl-vuultiKe of the k'rii'lliis In lliimlllon lo lini'.e his e-icupe. Texas Tyler left the litttik riMitii Immislliiiely and looked fnr him In the room with the iluiieer. The llildles In the bands of u couple of Mexicans bail net the whole rooni wlilrllnic !is If li iiria'c. Am the danced they sail'.', Juliilm; with the "culler out." who held b's oclfefiuts post between he minis till the imoiii was full of sbmliiK. itmicliix men mid women, who khiiii mid p'.rouelled us lr they had ut a cure In 'he weld. Mir TexiiK Tyler wiih nut of these, ns he looked Hiroiisli the dancer fo" his mun. Theie w H a red U,ili lu the pit pits of his e.ves, and he told lllllMelf Hint he wns k'olntf to do tlilnv's the w,i. lliey did them In Texas, for of course he knew Hint the loose lipped Idlul hail meant .ludllli Itoilney mid I'elur limn ll t (in. Never before bud such mi Idea ocrttrrisl to him, mid now that It bail been presented ti Ills mind's eye he J wondered whv he had been such n blind fool, i lie rushed from the room und down I to the stable. At Kluht of lilm some one leaped on ii horxe mid ni'le out Into tic iliitklics-i, "Who wns IhntV" usktsl Texas of u maii loutiitlui; by the corral. I "Thut wns"- Ami he jjuvi" the iiniin ' of the loose lipped mini. Texas cursed loiii; mid picturesquely Then he went back to the bunk room inul trleij lo pick it qtiarrel with lVler' Hamilton, who t;ooil natiireilly us- slimed that his old friend had been i drlnkliik' mid refused to take olTeuse. I'eter went In lo ask Kilty to ilanee' with him. All that eveului; he hud ' been wnltlni; anxiously for Judith., Meanwhile he had Used nil his Inllll-euce Inllll-euce us it newly appointed member if the Welmore oiitllt to .soothe the rilf-j tied feelliik's of the cattlemen. Of the triiKisly hi the ulley he hud heard no' rumor. Kitty had conic to the point where she wns Inclined to penult I'eter to re-j Millie his suit. His iiciUlcscence lu her. refitsul she had nt llrst reci riled ns the' turning of the win in. After the wolf' hiliil, however, her meditations were ' more dlsturblui:. She had never told I'eter of Hint str.inue woodbind men. 1 1 iK with Judith, yet Judith's beauty, her probable hold over lVler, the de I KTiv of his infection for her were ran-Mlnir ran-Mlnir titleslloiis lu Kilty's conscious-! liess. Ill the stiess of thee consider ullolis Kitty lost her head completely for so old a eampilKiier. she drew Hie npron sirliiu tlulil- .ittempled force Instead of struteiiy. Kllty mid I'eter lltiMieil their xvnll.. one of the few round dunces of the , eveiiliiK "How perfectly you dunce Klllyl It's a limit lime since we've had a waltr. tniretlier." The cow punchers lookeil nt Kitty ns If she were not ipille Hesli mid li'i)l. Such flaxen daintiness, femininity feminin-ity etliere.i' .ed to micelle pciffctlou, was new to them, but their admiration wits like tint Rlvell to n delicate exotic' wiih Ii, wonderful in It N, one Is well pletsi-d to view through the class of the florist 'h window, I'eter was deferentially attentive mnl Zealous lo liiuke the Wetinore party hae il tlioroUKhly Kod (line, jet he t'ld till these tiling's, iis It were, with Ills eve i.ti the door. He n not ole Moiisly illsira't. He was the man of the world, talking, iiriklut; himself .'itrce.ilile, "dolui; his dlltj." while his Milicoiii.cloilsiies was blijj with otler l-.ntteis. It was rather thr ui:h tclepn-I tclepn-I by than iIumul-Ii any luck of attention paid to her Hint Kitty re.ill.ed the slule of ililnv-. and In proporilou to her re-illlitlloll re-illlitlloll euilie a feelllii; of helplessness; helpless-ness; it Win so new, so unexpected, so (I'llel. He seemed drlftltll. IIWil.1 from her on some tide of affairs of the very c'sieiice of which she had been unconscious, un-conscious, rurther mnf further he hud drifted till Intelligible speech no lonper seciueil possible between them. They Mild the t'oolMi, empty thliiRs that people peo-ple call out us the bout elides nwuy from the shore, the tilings that nil the world limy hear, und In his eyes there was only that siullliii; kindness. How had It co m" e about after all these ears? What wns it that liml llrst our the fable that sent him iliil'tliik'V The dancers seemed bitten to the quick with the tarantula of mi ersttule bllaiitv. Their bodies sw.ijed lu perfect per-fect hurmoti to the nwiui; of the lid-dies lid-dies und the HWell of the choru-. The most uncouth of them came under the spell of that mud limbic. Their movements, move-ments, thut In the hfhiuulutr of the dance hud been shy mul awkward. Ih-emiie Ih-emiie almost beautiful. Tu?y forpot itrtus, liHinls. ft-et. Tbi'lr K.llcs had become like the strlliifs of mine skillfull skill-full played Instrument obfillemly responsive re-sponsive to rhythm, hiiiI In that com-poslte com-poslte lileuilliii; of races each In his damiiiR brought somp of the poetry of blx own fur land. The scene wns nuiazliik' In Its beauty nml simplicity, like the strong, Inspirational power and rugged rbytlnii of some old border minstrel. One by one the dancers glow ed with lietter uuderstiindliig. 1 Us. cnrdHiit elements, alien nut Ions, wine ftlstsl to harmony lu this lvld plctuie. w Teler turnisl to Kitty, expisilug to ee her face uglow with the warmth of It. Mho stood beside lilm, the one tin- I rcHiionslve mull lu tlm rooiii, ou her (is u pule, Uileniul Minlle, "Aren't fliey splendid, ICIUy. tins-women? tins-women? More than Imlf of them work like bcavcrn all day, und the have young children mid ibr.eiis of worries. Hut would you Muspeut II? They're Just Hie women for this country." Now, In the present stale of alTnlrs alniosl any other subji-cl would have beeu hetlericuleulatisl to iiromiih'gt'jil fisilng than the one ou which' I' 'ter hud alighted. Kitty's thoughts had perversely llngcrisl , about one 'vho, though not one with those women, tin' yet their sturdy Helf reliance, their ae quiescence lu grim conditions, their pleasure In simple tilings. Kilty's up-prehension, up-prehension, slow to kindle, had taken tire like a forest, ami by Its hltue li saw things In a distorted light. Her present vision magnlllisj the relations of I'eter ami Judith tu a degree that a month ago she would have regarded us liiixisslble. "He Is her lover!" was the .iceilsntlon thut suddenly tl.wli'il through her iiiliul, und with the thought mi overwhelming desire to say siimel'ilng unkind, somethlug that should hurt him, supplanted all Judgment Judg-ment mid reason. i "Oh, It's a dirldedly rem.irUable Mcene, ph'torlully, I agree with you. And mi mils!, of eourse-biil Isn't It a j trllle quixotic, I'eter, to Idealize th-jii ! becnfse lliey are having a good lime? There's no virtue lu It. It Is conceivable conceiva-ble that they might have to work Just ns hard and have Just as many little children to look after and yel not lrive these dunces you praise them for coining coin-ing lo" "I'm afraid you liml u und our : amusements u little ertide. Kvldently I the spirit of our dunce docs not appeal ap-peal to you, Hut I did mil suppose It necessary to remind you Hint they should not be Judged by the standard of conventional evening jisrlles," said Teler, hurt and angry In his turn. "I's, our amusements, our dances? So you are quite Ideiilltled with these people, my dear I'eter. and I hud thought you an ornament of cotillons and country elubs. I can only Infer that It Is somebody lu particular who litis brought ttlmut your clcuige of heart." I'eter Hushed a little, und Kitty kepi on: "Some of the native belles are quite wonderful, 1 belle e. Nannie Welmore tells itt a hnlf breed who Is very handsome." hand-some." I'eter set his lips, "At the expense of spoiling Nannie's jirelly romance 1 must tell you that the lady she refers to Is not only the most beautiful of women, but she would he ut ense hi any drawing room," I'eter spoke without with-out calculating the conviction that his words carried. He was angry, mid his manner, voice, Intonation, showed II. Kllty, now that her most uuworth.v suspicions had been i-onrlimed by le-ter's le-ter's ardent championing of Judith, lint her discretion lit the pnug Hull gnawed her little soul: "I beg your pardon. I'eter. I'e-ter. When I sjxike I did not, of course, know thut tills young woman was any- ' thing In ,vou." ! "Any tiling to me? My dear Kitty. I've ncierhuil a better friend than Judith Ju-dith Itixlney." Tli dance was at Its ilcxsl tide, ihe exhilaration hud grown with each sweeji of the llddle bow. with the sorcery sor-cery of sinuous, swaying bodies, with the song of the dHIieers as they Jollied III the calling out of the figures, with the ihythiule shuttle of feel, with the hum of ihe pulses, Willi Ihe leaping of blood to cheek and heart till Hie d .Ulcers .Ul-cers whli led is leaves circling toward the eddies of n whirlpool. The dane- lug .Mrs, Iix split her favors Into lu-tliiliestlm.il lu-tliiliestlm.il fragments, for each measure meas-ure of which her long list of waiting gallants stood ready lo pick a quarrel If neisl be Her dancing, lu the splendor splen-dor of lis ioiitriuelty, had something of the surge of I lie west wind sweeping sweep-ing oter a Held .of grain. Sometime sin- waved back her p.nrtuer and alone ' danced a figure, putting to the music her own Interpretation barbaric, passionate, pas-sionate, rude, but magnificently vivid. Add the dancers would stop and crowd about her, clapping hands and stamp-In:; stamp-In:; feet to the rhyming movement of 1 her body, 'while against the wall her hostile ilsler-lll-law, Mrs, l.eauder, j stood nml glared lu a fury of disapproval, disap-proval, I.cntiilcr himself smiling broadly broad-ly meanwhile and exercising the ut-mo-t restraint to keep from Joining Mrs. Johnnie's train, i The XXX men, who hud remained I aloof from the dmicers ami the merriment, merri-ment, keeping a iiilthful vigil in the bunk room, where the hospltalile bottles bot-tles were to be found, sccim:! to 1 awaken from the spll that hud bound them all day. Hcmlcr-on, the for.-lilMli, for.-lilMli, whose face had lint lo-t Its ml low paleness ile-pltc tile number of lib p.itatlons. put his head through the iluor to have a look ut the ilauiiiiu'. wa-caught wa-caught lu the outermost eddy of the whirling throng mid was soon darning us madly us the others. The rest of the I NXX party still hugged the bunk i room, where the bottles glcmncd hospitably. hos-pitably. They were still dusty from their long ride of the early morning, ami more than once their fenr-qtilck-1 cin-d Imaginations bud been haunted ' by the specter of Ihe dead cottonwoods. i : from which someihlng heavy and limp! ami vvatni had tut-ii swaying wheiij they left It. HoihIcimiii had sts-ured i , the dancing Mrs. li.ii for n partner i The "caller out " statlouist lei cell the! , two rooms, Miirinisl to his genial task. He Improvised, be put a wealth of I Imagination and personality Into his j 1 work, he shnwerrd compliments ou Hie j nlmblcncss of Mrs. tmx's feet, lie I Joked Henderson ou his pallor, he attempted at-tempted a timid venture at Kitty. I Judith hiihmI for a moment 111 the kindly enveloping ditrkiiess, mid her heart cried out lu protest at the thing Hhe iniiat do. It was the utmost cruelty of fate that forced lier here to dance ou the evening of the day that they hud Hilled him, Hut she must do It that his children might . evnle tliojdlgmu -of 'Valfle tiller," tJiat Uto slinilovr of the gallows tree, might not fait acnwM tlielr young liven, that the neighbor might glvn ercilcnce lo Hie tale of Jim's na-cape na-cape from his enemies, that Allda and .the might earn the pllliiuoo Hint would give the children the "clean start" that Jim had set his heart on so coulldent-ly coulldent-ly And she must dance and bo the merriest of them all that thev things might happen, but again and again she deferred the dread moment 'Ihe light, the music, the voices, the shuttle of the feet, came In her as she stisid forlorn In Ihe grateful darkness, Judith drew close lo the window, and Hie merriment struck chill at h-r heart like the tolling of a knell. She saw (he pile fan of Henderson gleam yellow-while among the dancers, and, watching lilm, Ihe blissl lust of the Indian In-dian woke In her heart 'Hie rest of the room was but a blur. The tlutieers fadisl Into swaying shadows. She saw nothing but lleniereui .is lie danced Hint he might forgei Ihe gny of tnorn tug. the bhek. tie Ml ttvoi mid the gro tcNqlie filing with head awry that iwayisl lu Ihe breeo like a pendulum. He dre.ideii he long, blsii; ride that would br'itg him to his camp, for he alone of Jlie lym her't remaltiisl. Something Some-thing wis drinlng his ga.e out Hit He, kIi'diI like n tlilll llinuif In -itoar. the blackness of Hie night. He struggle! strug-gle! against the temptation lo look toward to-ward the window. He whirled the Da.x woman till her twinkling feet cleurtsl the rtiMir. lie sang to the lie-compaiilineiit lie-compaiilineiit of Miguel's llddle. II-was II-was outwitting (he thing that danghsl In-fore his eyes, having the Incontrovertible Incontro-vertible list word with a vetigesuee. And as he danced mid swayed all unwittingly his glance fell ou the whitlow whi-tlow opposite, mid Jim Itodticy's face looked In at him. beautiful lu Its ecstasy ecsta-sy of bate Itodnev's face, refined, sharpened, Irlcd In some blttei crucible, cruci-ble, but Itodnev's face! Henderson could not withdraw his fascinated gaze. He stood lu Ihe llllilst of llle dain-cr like a man turned to stone. He put up his hands to his eyes as If to brush away a cloud of swarming gnat-. Hieu threw up his anus and rushed from the room. The dancers paused lu their mini whirl. Miguel's bow stopped with a walling shriek. Kvery ey turned toward the window for an explanation of Henderson's mid. den panic. Hut all was dark without ou the prairie. The magic bad gone, from the dance, the whirlwind of drapery dra-pery that hud swung like flags In a breexe dropped lu dead air. "What waa It?" the dancers asked one another anoth-er In whispers. To be continued |