Show the 0 da 14 0 by jackson gregory by charles scribner a sons service FROM THE BEGINNING in the california sierra mark klug prospector sees andy park e ef killed by swen brodle brodie park airs rs outlaw companion king Is on his way to the home of his friend ben gaynor king and gaynor sh share a re with brodle brodie knowledge of a va vast at store of hidden gold king meets mr mrs gaynor and Is tin pressed by her daughter glorias gloria a yontl ful beauty he ile dial ices kes a house visitor named gratton with gloria king rides to coloma in tending to sound hon L he finds brodle brodie with the ai old d pros and animosity flares their companionship for a day draws king closer to gloria gloria and her mother return to san fran cisco in a spirit of adventure gloria accompanies gratton on a business trip at coloma she finds her father badly hurt he gives her a message and a pack age for king urging her to get them to him at once gloria real izes how she has compromised her self by her lourney journey with gratton he proposes marriage and gloria apparently accepts him gratton arranges tor for the marriage by a country judge king comes to the house unseen by gloria in formed of the coming ceremony he watches it from a window ai at the last moment gloria refuses to utter the requisite yes in the resultant contusion confusion king enters the room and gloria appeals to him tor for protection CHAPTER V continued 10 walt for me outside I 1 muttered gratton I 1 I 1 haven t said you wont be needed have I 1 jim called king slip your arm in through S and lead him off with you feed him if you feel like it and let him stick around for a word with gratton if he wants and you steve jarrold ben gaynor here but just the same you can take it from me that neither you nor any other of swen brodle s hang dogs Is wanted in ben gaynor a house out you go jarrold s eyes slanted off to gratton then seeing himself ignored and tor for gotten he shrugged his shoulders pulled on his hat and went out behind him arm in arm one smiling widely and the other pulling back and sputtering went jim and the judge to all this gloria had given scant attention the spell no longer lay over her she was keenly awake to the demands of the present she was thinking thinking thin thinking kingl what temporary sense of security wag wan hers was as due to mark king to his presence but when he went there remained gratton and his venom all about her in which she would be floundering at this moment but tor for mark king her heart was beating again the pallor left her face which became delicately flushed her eyes rose to kings king a and met his long and search angly tet yet there was that in this ex pres slon that made him understand that she was not looking at him the physical man so much as through him for the first time in her pam life the day had come when she was face to face with vital issues when there was no mamma and no papa to turn to when there were no shoulders other than her own to feel the weight of events she must do her own thinking come to her own decisions it seemed that with in her coexistent and forever in conflict there were two glorias a girl who was very young spoiled vain and selfish a girl who was older who looked above and beyond the confines of her own self who was warm hearted and impulsive and could be generous no matter what she had felt toward gratton grafton before she detested him now no matter what he might have appeared in san francisco here in his unaccustomed garb he looked to her puny shallow and con temp tible he ile was as she had told him a beast he had betrayed her confidence he had taken advantage of her headlong youth he had dis played to her view the vileness leness vl within him he loved her did he so much the better it lay within her power then to repay him if only in part tor for what he had made her suffer 1 I repeat miss gloria gratton was saying a stubborn look in his eyes I 1 that you promised to marry me you have had a hard day I 1 realize there has been much to unnerve you I 1 erred in haste perhaps I 1 should have waited until you had a nights night s rest but you know why I 1 did not wait walt it was for your sake gloria heard him through with a hard little smile nothing tg to further from my anten tion mr gratton she told him icily I 1 than to marry you now or ever please let us consider the matter closed once and for all I 1 his fingers worked nervously at his sides gloria chose the moment to lift her eyes again fleetingly to lo king s she wanted gratton to see she wanted to hurt him all that she could she looked back to see him wince nor did his quick contraction of the brows result from her glance alone he had seen the loh lok l oh lying unhidden in king kings s eyes mark king had tonight for the first time swept barriers aside and looked straight into his own heart and known that all of the love that was in him to give had been given to gloria gaynor be he was certain of nothing just now beyond the tremendous all ex eluding fact that wise or fool he loved her he wanted her with a want that Is greater than hunger or thirst or love of roan man for man or of man for life itself much of lot this lay shining in his eyes for gratton to read or for gloria I 1 am no boy to be thrown aside like an old glove cried gratton beside himself with jealous fury ton you have promised you have loved me in your heart you love me now I 1 tell you you shall all marry me glorias la s laughter cool and insolent maddened him think before you laugh I 1 what it if instead of doing the gentlemanly thing I 1 refused to marry you alone with me all this time all last night a clerk to swear I 1 bought clothing tor for you a register to show where we en a room as man and wife the san francisco papers already bandying your name about already nosing after scandal youve you ve got to marry me there is nothing else for you to dol gloria flushed hotly but only in anger this time king mystified look ing from one to the other turned at last to gloria and muttered for god s sake let me throw him out of the door I 1 I 1 think it might be best first she answered quietly it if mr gratton remained long enough to understand that this Is the last time I 1 shall ever speak to him or listen to a word from him he has tried to get me into a nasty situation he will do all that he can to promote scandal but I 1 want him to know that he will in the end of it all have my father to reckon with and my friends I 1 again she looked swiftly at king and again gratton writhed at the look papa will not be here tonight he Is hurt and in coloma and give you his message soon but you saw your father fattier I 1 in Tn coloma Colomal 1 it wag was a gasp of astonishment from gratton you said nothing you brought a message to king here and you escorted me and never guessed gues gloria taunted him his prominent eyes bulged written large with consternation for a mo ment he stood the picture of dainty plucking at his lip gloria he said shortly despite all you have said I 1 shall see 96 you again tomorrow when we have both rested come to you now if you will pardon me 1711 1 have a word with king look you loony honeycutt Is dead at last his secret Is no longer his secret swen brodle brodie knows something a whole lot it strikes me frowned king that you know more of this than I 1 gave you credit for where do you come in I 1 know nearly all that it Is feces sary to know I 1 his eyes flashed tri tirl antly think I 1 in the man to let the crowd of you lift a fortune right under my nose here Is my tion and you YOUR II 11 thank your stars that I 1 make it you and I 1 enter into a pact right now purely business you under stand whatever we find we divide fifty fifty kings sudden laughter no pleasant sound in Gr gratton attona s ears checked the rush of words to accept gratton as a partner on a fifty fifty split of the spoils I 1 was the man crazy I 1 have been working with brodle brodie shouted gratton if I 1 chip in with him against you what will the in evitable evi end be I 1 ask you look at the odds the inevitable end I 1 said king sternly 4 will be that they 11 pick your bones and kick you out I 1 demand to know what word gaynor sent will you have him go mark said gloria he slie sickens me king unleashed by her words took a quick step forward gratton he said you d bet ter go gratton rising to fresh fury shouted at him and leave you and her here alone all night king bore down upon him and struck him across the mouth hurling him back eo so that gratton tripped and tell fell gloria rose and stood watching ter rifled and yet fascinated she saw gratton crawl to 0 o hia his feet king s hand shot out swiftly gripping his wrist you 11 go nowa now yes III go but on your way then I 1 but shut up I 1 A tremor not to be repressed shook kings voice and go before I 1 just go I 1 gratton caught up his hat stood for a moment plucking at his up lip and staring at gloria and then turned and went out strangely only now that he had gone did gloria shiver and look after him fearfully the man here bad had seemed so futile and yet she had seen that last look so filled with malevolence that in his wake the room seemed steeped in menace king must have bad had somewhat the same sort of an impression he went to the door and called out loudly jim I 1 oh jim I 1 comin Coi inin mark gratton s outside I 1 ve told him to clear out give him about two min utes and if he a still here throw a gun on him and run him off the place I 1 oh I 1 im in going fast enough from somewhere off in the dark it was grat tons ton s voice calling back hatefully and don dont t you forget it mark king I 1 am going where an offer like mine to you will be accepted well be there before you yet a dozen men that won t lay down before you f and you can tell that girl in there with my comell ments shell she 11 be on her knees to me before she ashes s a day older he lifted hia his voice so that gloria shivering in n the silent house must hear every wo word rd you can tell her too that it if I 1 dl dian didn d t telephone to her mother from bakli oakland 1 n d I 1 did call up two of the san fran fra cisco newspaper offices I 1 tell her to watch for the papers and when they get wind of the nice little situa tion tonight gloria here all night king had held the door open only to see if gratton was going to his horse now however he slammed it suddenly and went back to gloria after all jim could be depended on to see to gratton there was still the message to be had from ben gaynor who it seemed lay hurt somewhere in coloma but he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw gloria and for the mo ment all thoughts of gaynor or a mes sage fled from his mind again she was as pale as death she lifted to king eyes sick with terror I 1 haven t got the straight of things very well king said to her speaking very gently only one thing seems clear you are tired half to death and worried the other half I 1 wouldn t let myself think of that snake gratton or his poison drippings things will work out all right they always do you know do they she asked listlessly and she forced a smile so wan and bleak that it came close to putting a dash of tears into king kings s eyes for one thing he said brusquely III bet you haven t had a bite to eat since you got here have you youl I 1 she shook her head the she hadn haan t thought of such a thing as eating you 11 sit right down commanded king or lie ile down Is better in two shakes III have something ready for you yon you are so good to me that came straight from gloria s heart her eyes shone with a gratitude which struck hl him m as far beyond proportion to the small deed of the moment I 1 go upstairs 8 a moment papas papa s message it can wait ten minutes let me we get it now I 1 I 1 will lie ile down in my room until you call me if Y you on want me to that s good he watched her go slowly upstairs and then hastened to the kitchen he got a wood fire going in the range scouted for coffee found a glass jar of bacon a tin of milk all kinds of canned goods and mean time though occupied with much speculation concerning all that had hap bened tonight and must have happened before and might happen in the tu fu ture he never for an instant entirely forgot gloria and how pitifully borne down ehe the looked just a little kid of a girl I 1 and he had looked to her tor for the sanity of mature age A mere girl sheltered al ways by father and mother spoiled to the nth degree given no opportunity to develop her own character to grow up to lifes responsibilities he remembered days with her in the moun bains and sought to forget the frag ment ot of one evening in the city here she was her real self there she had bad been what her mother had made her over gloria lay on her bed her hands pressed tight upon her closed eyes her will set against heeding the he throb ing in her temples as she strove to think clearly Grat gratton tons s words rang in her ear earn they plunged her into panic for scores of friends and hundreds of acquaintances ehe she would furnish a topic of talk but gloria clung passionately to i the one straw offered her mark king had come he had saved her if only for the moment if there were further salvation it lay in mark king and so she came presently to a thought that made her eit sit bolt up right that set her heart racing that brought a new look into her eyes just now it had seemed so clear that only one thing could save her marriage with gratton but gratton was gone and mark king was here hero I 1 if she married kingi the judge was till still here what if she went to king maying to him straightforwardly thua thus and such Is my predicament for my sake for the sake of papa papas s daughter and hence for papas papa a sake no less will you go through the form of mar crying me I 1 shall be no burden it will make no difference in your life for tomorrow I 1 will go back to san francisco and you need never see me again you can let me have a divorce you will have lost nothing I 1 shall have been saved everything will you marry me mark king a 0 gloria I 1 king was calling will you come down now everything a ready coming answered gloria she glanced in her glass as she went out the color which had played hide and seek all day was again tinting her cheeks a delicate rose what were fatigue and hunger when hope at tended them but it happened that glorias gloria s im pulse which was at least honest and frank was for a little held in abeyance and thus it came about that she lost the opportunity to appear before mark king at a critical moment as being straight dealing direct and out spoken she thanked him with her eyes for the lunch he had set forth for her she gave him a quick little smile as he waited on her there wae was in his eyes a look which he had no suspicion dicion was there the look of a man mane x adoration TO BE CONTINUED |