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Show THE mM 4JbM' l' ATale Of TheFlatwoods ''7V A David Andeiiyon- THE FAIRY SYNOPSIS. On the banka of the Wuhan h HUuid Texi Culm and Jack Warhope, young and very much in love. Texio is tlie only daughter of old i'ap Simon, rich man unci money-lender. Jack Is tho orphan hound hoy of Hap Simon, who had foreclosed a jnortKafte on the Warhupe estate. At first Texle and Jack talk sadly of Ken Colin, the girl's missing brotlier. Then Jack says that In ten daya his servitude will be over, that he will ride out Into the big world to seek his fortune. Hoth know what that will mean to them. Texie and Jack talk of the red lock of "Ked Colin," inherited in-herited by Ken. And Jack says he's coming back as soon as he 11 nds (fold In California. Then arrives the new preacher. Iiev.j Caleb Hopkins. Pap Simon introduces in-troduces the villagers to the new preacher, who was a college mate of Ken. At supper at the Colin home the preacher tells how the boy killed a gambler and disappeared. disap-peared. His father attributes Ken's fall from ijrace to his red lock of hair. Then Fap Simon has a sort of stroke, brought on by reading a letter from Ken, "somewhere in New York," who curses his father on his death bed. A postscript by another hand says he Is dead. At the village vil-lage store and post office Loge lielden, a newcomer, says he saw the now parson with his arm around Texle. Jack licks him, shoots a pistol from his hand and makes him say he was mistaken. The preacher and the villagers go Ashing-. Jack discovers the preacher carries a six-gun. A footpri nt on a concealed houseboat house-boat tits the preacher's boot. A drunken ruffian disturbs a village vil-lage festival and stabs Jack in the shoulder. The preacher makes him leave. CHAPTER VII Continued. 9 The morning was fnr gone when the woodsman finished his task at the feed-pens. Ajs he stood leaning against the fence, the events of the day before crossed his mind the heelprints on the dusty deck of the concealed houseboat; house-boat; the ivory-handled six-gun; the ftpark of flint that had transformed the peering eyes of the preacher when he faced the desperado's knife. From this, his mind reverted to the words of Belden about what he had seen in the little park. A face rose before him a face compelling com-pelling in Its easy suavity that, in spite of its studious severity, seemed to have a strange fascination for Texie. He knew she had let him walk home with her from the festival a privilege that meant more In the Flat-woods Flat-woods than anywhere else in the world. A deep breath came up out of his breast; his hand gripped the fence rail hard. Rut many an insistent task lay waiting. wait-ing. The thought roused him. As he raised his arm to put on his hat, the sweat got at the cut In his shoulder and stung him. lie had Intended to haul in some shock corn from the bottoms. He frowned toward the wagon ; plucked the blouse loose about his shoulder; Anally went up into the woods to inspect in-spect a string of rail fence that would have to be repaired before the stock cattle could be turned out of the lower lots into the upland pasture. He had spent some time readjusting fallen rails and straightening crooked panels when a tiny spot of color In a Mk W mm . id mmw h The Leaves Were Flattened and Still Warm, but the Man Was Gone. corner of the fence caught his eye. For some reason It arrested his instant in-stant attention. In a moment he was down on his knees parting the weeds and tangled brumbies where a yellow orchid had just an folder the mysteries of Its enchanted slipper to the sun. lie rose to his feet after a time, but tood gazing down at the flower a spot of gold In Its mean setting. Stopping a few minutes later to ease his shoulder a bit, he happened to llano over tba fence Into the woods. The act was purely Involuntary, but a sight met his eyes that Instantly drove every other consideration out of his mind from behind a log a man. was glowering at him. He ducked out of sight In a flash, and the woodsman stooped to his task carelessly ; without so much as the flick of an eye to betray that he had seen anything at all but he had caught a distinct view of a slouch hat, a rough flannel shirt, open nt the collar, col-lar, a glare of dark eyes that smoldered smol-dered in a face dark and scowling and covered with a stubble of black beard the desperado of the festival. Texie's startled whisper, as she had fastened the bandages about his shoulder shoul-der the evening before, flashed across his thought. The face behind the log and the face of his memory rose to his mind as distinct as a reflection in Whispering spring. Unbelievable though It was against all reason in the light of that terrible letter he saw the resemblance she had fancied vague, half intangible, but none the less a resemblance. With the tail of his eye on the log, the woodsman went on with his work, apparently absorbed in It, really with no other thought than to put as great a length of fence row as possible between be-tween himself and that scowling face, and in ns short a time as was prudent. The moment he thought himself out of sight, he took out a rail of the fence, crawled through the opening and, with every caution known to woodcraft, crept back through the underbrush to ward the log. The broken outline of it at last came Into view through a clump of hazel. He raised his head ever so little and lay listening. Not a false note disturbed the soft purr of nature; the pulse of the woods beat normal. He dropped his head ; crawled up to the log. The leaves were flattened and still warm, but the man was gone. He searched the moss and leaves until un-til he found the trail the scrape of a boot In a spot of moist ground at the foot of an oak. After that It was easy. There were two sets of tracks. To his surprise one set led back toward the cliffs above the homestead. He followed fol-lowed It. At a point along the bluffs that commanded the nearest view of the cabin under the crimson rambler the mussed leaves and broken weeds beneath a clump of bushes at the very brink of the rocks showed where the renegade had concealed himself. Three half-burned matches, with which he had probably lighted his pipe, indicated indicat-ed that he had remained some time. Jack glanced down at the tiny cabm, the barn-lot, turned and followed the trail back under the trees. Past the log it led, away to the north, down the face of the wooded bluff and into the narrow road that threaded Eagle hollow. He followed it within sight of the rude hovel at the head of the hollow into which Loge Belden and his sister had lately moved ; stopped ; studied the place critically for a moment; finally turned, climbed the bluff and, with an uncomfortable un-comfortable feeling of hidden eyes upon him, returned to his task at the fence. xne lorenoon was gone oy uie time he finished it. As. he trudged back, the corner where he had found the yellow orchid drew his eye Irresistibly. Raking away the dead leaves he dug It up, being careful to leave enough soil about the roots to pretent their withering, and carried' It in his hands out through the trees and up among the tumbled ramparts of Black rock. In the tiny flower bed at the foot of the sandstone pinnacle where the three names were carved, he hollowed out a place in the rich leaf-mold and set the orchid with the others all of them doubtless having come there at different times In the same way ; rose to his feet and stood deeply pondering, ponder-ing, as his gaze rested on the three names carved in the rock. That baffling baf-fling resemblance, In spite of him, would creep back Into his thought. ' The bold frankness of the man's face settled to a deeper thoughtful-ness; thoughtful-ness; he looked down at the new orchid or-chid among the old, fresh and piquant as when he dug it or.t of the fence corner; glanced towai-d the red-roofed cottage, and set his feet to the rough path that led down to the fallow yard. CHAPTER VIII The Fairy'si Secret. The furnishings ot the cabin under the crimson rambler would have been a revelation to a stranger entering the door for the first time. A soft-toned rug from the Orient covered three-fourths three-fourths of the rough floor, stopping just short of the cook stove, which, with Its array of utensils, occupied the other fourth. The bed was high posted post-ed and canopied, dressed in the finest Hnen and hung with faded tapestry. Toe chairs were handsomely upholstered, uphol-stered, while a center table of hand-carved hand-carved rosewood stood In the mld-sec-tion of the floor. Along the south wall an American flag of silk hung draped, and under 1U lopped-up center tw pictured tha beautiful face of a woman; and In the companion frame, the fine, upstanding up-standing figure of a soldier In the uniform uni-form of a colonel of Mounted Rangers Rang-ers the man and the woman who had dreamed the dream that never came true. The woodsman had finished his task at the barn and feedpens that evening and returned to the cabin, where, deeply thoughtful he was half mechanically me-chanically building a fire in the cook stove when his quick ear caught the sound of a light step coming along the path from the orchard. He laid down the kindling and turned toward the door. The light step had stopped, and Texle stood outlined In the doorway, her eyes dancing alive over the thought of having taken the alert woodsman by surprise, the round wonder won-der of her throat and cheeks touched to a softer blush by the waning sunlight sun-light that slipped In under the crimson crim-son rambler. The man dragged off his hat. The girl glanced over the cabin; lifted her eyes. "Jack, you're the best housekeeper In the Flatwoods." The floor creaked with the weight of him as he came to the door. He had to stoop to pass under the lintel, and his massive shoulders spread almost al-most from jamb to jamb. "It ain't me," he said In his slow way. "There's a wonderful fairy about these hills som'er's that slips in when I'm off In the fields, and no mattef "Why Don't Y'u Try Some Day t' . Trap Your Fairy?" how upside down I'veleft things, she jist touches 'em with them small hands fairies has got, 'r mebbe says 'r sings some wonderful charm to 'em, and when I come back, there they are, all spick and span. Some folks says ther' ain't no fairies, but I know ther' Is one. anyhow." The girl's expressive face was alive and eager. "Why don't y'u try some day t' trap your fairy?" The heart of the big woodsman rosa to his eyes. For a transcendent moment mo-ment the man in him, sprung from generations of soldiers and gentlemen, supremely dominated the bound boy. He drank in the wonder of her hair, the plump soft mystery of her throat and bosom, and his hands instinctively instinctive-ly reached toward her. "I'd give the world !" He stopped ; the transcendent moment mo-ment passed. He dropped his eyes and crushed his hat rim in his powerful fingers. The girl bent her head and a deep thoughtfulness filmed the brown of her eyes. "Jack !" He felt the slight tremor In her voice and half guessed what was coming. com-ing. "That face las' night it ha'nts me." Involuntarily he glanced up at the high brink of the cliff, where, under a clump of bushes, lay some mussed leaves and a pinch of pipe ashes. "Don't let it," was his slow answer. "There's the pilot of the Obenchain, now, looks a pow'rful sight like Lark Sharp, and they ain't a mite of kin in the world." She pondered the answer and seemed much impressed, even relieved, as he fancied. "How's Pap Simon t'day?" 'Tor father! He ain't hardly left the house sence that night. He's wrote and wrote, and looked at papers in 'is safe I didn't know 'e had, and this afternoon he had Zeke Polick up with his notary public seal." A shadow flitted across her face. She laced her smooth fingers; gripped them. "That terrible letter! He's read it and read It. Pore Ken !" The man reached his arm up over the door; absently felt a spray of rose vine, its buds swollen big with the mystery that was soon to be revealed. The girl glanced at the hand among the rosebuds and slowly turned to the frank and thoughtful face. I tI "And make my father's and mother's dream come trua." ' . I (TO BE CONTINUED.) |