Show the I 1 lie Everlasting Whisper by jackson gregory copyright by charlee charles scribner a sona sono service FROM THE BEGINNING mark king prospector Is on his way to the home of ben gaynor king and gaynor share with a desperado swen brodle knowl edge of a vast store of hidden bold gold king meets mrs gaynor and Is impressed by her daughter gloria he dislikes a house visitor named gratton with gloria king rides to coloma intending to sound s honeycutt he finds brodie d le there and animosity flares king Is drawn closer to gloria she and her mother return to san francisco 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 for king arg ing her to get it to him at once gloria realizes she has comoro mined herself by her journey with gratton he proposes marriage and gloria apparently accepts him gratton arranges tor for the marriage king unseen by gloria watches the ceremony from a win dow at the last moment the girl refuses to utter the requisite yes king enters and gloria appeals to him tor for protection protect i 0 grat G r at ton dismissed reveals knowledge O 0 w le dge of the bidden gold and makes threats king heartened by glor la s appeal to him urges her to marry him really in love with him and seeing a way out of her dilemma the girl consents gay nors message reveals the location of north the 9 treasure and urges king to go at once and secure it aft er the wedding ceremony gloria asserting the necessity lor tor rest after her trying experience king leaves her and prepares tor for his trip next morning gloria insists on going with him on the jour ney her overwrought nerves give way in hysteria she admits to king that she married him only to save her name from gossip king humiliated renounces her CHAPTER VI continued 14 king went swiftly about his eions he ile did not even see her he studiously kept his eyes aloof with in his soul he swore that he would never look at her again he took up his rifle you are not going to leave me here alone are you gloria demanded coldly 1 I I am going on I 1 was hia his curt rejoinder and I 1 she persisted what you please terror sprang up into the girl girls a heart 1 I would never find my way out she cried jumping to her feet and corn com ing toward him 1 I am not used to the mountains I 1 don dont t know which way I 1 would die you have made me waste time as it Is and I 1 promised ben that I 1 d be in gus ingles ingle s caves eaves with no time lost so I 1 am going on 1 I 1 but and all of her surging terror trembled in her rushing words 1 I would die I 1 tell you a and I 1 tell you ke lie snapped back at her that I 1 don t care a d n if you do must I 1 tell you twice that I 1 am through with you he ile set his foot to the stirrup gloria pride lost in loania ran to him and grasped his arm crying to him I 1 if you won wont t take me back then let me go with you worthless and selfish and coward toward lyl ay I 1 useless and vain and brainless I 1 good G d I 1 am I 1 a man full grown to loiter on the trail with the like of yon you let go P he shook her hand off roughly and swung up into the saddle gloria screamed after him calling out marki mark I 1 mark I 1 for gods god S sake don dont t leave me I 1 am afraid I 1 will die of tear fear take tale me with you he did not look back at her but he did pause after all she was the daughter of his old friend the woods are free and open he said slowly to even such as you for the third time and for the last I 1 tell you this I 1 am done with you but if you like you may follow behind me I 1 will wait for you ten minutes not here but on the ridge up there and if you have not come I 1 will go on at the end of that time that Is my solemn word gloria gaynor he ile rode from her straight and mas alve in the saddle she stood like one n a sudden trance then with wI thanin an in articulate moan she ran into the grove and grasped Bl ackles rope in halt half of the allotted time she came riding up the ridge now king glanced toward her briefly but less at her than at her pack you had better go back for the rest of the grub he said to her and tor for your blanket roll that would be my advice to the devil himself you can do it in the five minutes left to you you hideous brute 1 she flung at it him but none the less she hastened back for the outfit five minutes later they rode on into the ever deepening wilderness she just keeping his form in sight he never turning nor speaking I 1 CHAPTER VII for his brutal treatment of her gloria fully meant that in the ripeness of time he should pay to the uttermost after that first panic she felt toward king only such anger as she had never experienced before never having cause for it coolly and collectedly she turned her thoughts upon the In suffer able insult the decision was cold and stub stubborn lorn he would pay and in full king led the way unfalteringly it was evident that the man thought only of hia his journeys our end and was hasten ing I 1 aice ence he took all the short cuts which he knew in one of these path less ess places she lost all sight of him her horse came to a dead halt she sh listened and could not hear the hoofs of his horse panic mastered her and she cried out wildly then she struck her horse frantically with her bare hands and pounded him with her heels longing for the sight of king as one athirst in he the bad lands longs tor for water the horse snorted and in three minutes brought her into the open and into full sight of king when her fear died as it did swiftly after the way of fear it left not the old hot anger but a new elemental emotion cold hatred thus upon their s second morning the honeymoon entered upon its second phase every moment brought some new discomfort to her the saddle hurt her her clothes were torn her tender skin bruised and scratched pains came with early fatigue As for king being a man of high honor he convicted her out of hand as one with out honor despising her he des despised pled himself for having linked his life in ever so little with hers at ten 0 clock the air was sun warmed and sweet in an upland meadow through whose narrow boun darles a thin cold stream trickled they mooned king slipped bucks bridle and let the animal forage along the fringes of the brook to gloria he said better let your horse eat weve got to go pretty steady to get any where today gloria got down stiffly from her sad die in ia all the days of her life she had never been so unutterably weary further she was taint faint from hunger and her throat pained her she went to the creek and threw herself down and put her face into the cool water from which she rose with a long sigh king made coffee and fried bacon while he pottered with his fire he looked more than once at the sky in the southwest with all of his heart he wished that he had turned back 11 ial better have a cup it helps but gloria did not reply with gloria this morning by now he could have set her feet in a trail which even a fool could travel back to the log house and he could be again hastening upon his errand when his coffee was ready he called to her saying savin indifferently better have a cup it helps but gloria did not reply king when he had drunk his own coffee and she still lay quiet on the grass sweetened a cup for her put some milk in it and set it at her elbow I 1 better drink it 0 he said coldly and gloria gathered her strength and sat up and drank there after she ate some bread and potted ham king his back to a tree sat and smoked until the hour had passed precisely at one 0 clock they were on their way gloria caught her own horse colled coiled the rope and mounted As king rode across the meadow and to the wooded slope beyond she tol fol bowed lowed by four 0 clock when it seemed to gloria that she had reached and was passing the limits of her en durance came two momentous occur bences for the first time king had briefly mistaken the trail they were on the steep flank of the mountain he turned and rode back the trail trails s down here he an bounced shortly he did not lift his eyes to her face his look was all for her horse and a new and unreason able spurt of anger was in his heart through her unbounded ignorance she had needlessly fatigued her mount gloria understood dully that sh she e was too far up and must ride down to his level with a sudden jerk upon the reins she brought blackie about king cursed under his breath that s too steep I 1 he called to her I 1 want to kill your horse I 1 blackie tried to swerve and sidle down gloria lifted her whip and struck him blackie snorted and obeyed her command some loose dirt gave way underfoot the tired beast stumbled a dead limb caught at his legs tripping him and blackie lurched downward and fell through the grace of fortune gloria rolled clear and un hurt blackie got up tottering with one quivering fore leg lifted kings king s face went black with rage he ile dismounted and made his way up to the lamed horse gloria without stirring and without experiencing any poignant emotion watched him list lessly then shut her eyes her most clear sensation was one of relief they would no doubt make camp here A cold drop of rain splashed on her cheek she opened her eyes king was removing blackie a s saddle gloria closed her eyes again and sighed come on called a voice as though from some great distance I 1 we ve got W 0 o hurry as fast as god will let us blackie was standing where king had led him gloria a s canvas rolled pack and the rifle were across kings king a back lie he was going on on foot ex pecking her to take his horse I 1 cant she said miserably you can do what you please he retorted curtly I 1 am going on she rose and went stumbling down the slope she swayed as she tried to mount but he did not offer his hand when she was in the saddle he strode on ahead blackie looked after them wistfully the legs not broken king told her gruffly just a bad sprain hell he 11 take care of himself god knows hea les got as good a chance as we have what do you mean she asked quickly he merely swung up his arm toward the sky sly by way of answer and went on the second big raindrop rain drop hit gloria s cheek it was chill t its chill ness seemed to drive straight to her heart the storm caught them as it has caught so many a wayfarer before and since for twenty minutes they crouched in what scant shelter was at af forded them by a squat wide limbed cedar then through the still air fell scattering flakes of snow big and un broken and feathery again glorias tired dred body was assured of rest again king said espres slon lessly lessY come on I 1 this time he helped her into the saddle being in la haste baste and of no mind to wait for trifles presently the flakes grew fewer and then ceased utterly and with their departure the last light of the day was gone now king led the horse and gloria rode through a gathering dark ness now and then she half dozed at last it was pitch dark and the rain was beginning again king had stopped and was helping her down she was numb now in body her brain was numb she waited until king prepared some kind of a shelter and then went wordlessly to it she ehe felt fir boughs under her aching body and was in pure animal fashion conscious of blanket and canvas over her and of a grateful warmth through a tangle of bushes she saw the flicker of a small fire she smelled coffee she drank halt half of the hot cup which he brought to her then she passed like a child into a heavy sleep by his fire of little cheer mark king sat with his canvas drawn over his slumping shoulders his head down his heart as black as the night his ills soul possessed by ravaging blue demons at the end of a fool s day came a fool s night he should have turned back with gloria the first thing this morning mornin he should have done any thing in the world save exactly what he had done after the cold wet night came a sodden morning idling stood up and looked about him curiously and a glint of satisfaction came into his eyes if in truth there existed heaps of raw red gold somewhere in a cave in these mountains and there had been any exactness in the description in gus ingles ingle s bible then the spot was not more than three or four miles away that was one consideration it wa was still snowing here was a second consideration king turned moody eyes to gloria s canvas and fir shelter in the lee of a little bit of cliff there lay the third when he went to wake gloria he first stood over her looking queerly down upon her sleep her lashes against her cheek stirred and flew apart under his steady gaze he looked into her eyes sweet and soft heavy with sleep time to be up I 1 he said he ile turned on his heel and went back in haste to his fire gloria awake was ravenously hun gry she came sooner than he bad had expected are we going bacev back she asked colorlessly no he returned as indifferently it its s about four miles fo to the caves we well 11 be there in a couple of hours loam then we well 11 see what we see oh very well she said coldly that was the whole of their conver bation save for one curt remark and an impudent laugh in answer at the end of the scanty meal gloria tossed a piece of bacon into the fire king looked at her sternly and said young lady we may be up against the real thing right now nobody but a fool will do a trick like that thal the laugh was gloria s once on their way they climbed almost steadily king was keeping high on the ridges going about the head of the ravine which lower down cut like a knife across the timbered tract headed tor for what he took to be gus ingles ingle s cave A mile away she saw it a great ragged black hole in a high mass of rock close to the crest of the next ridge she watched king wonderingly as its he hastened on did the man have no sense of bodily discomfort certainly he gave no sign when at last he waited for her and told her to get down she had the suspicion that he had gone mad certainly here was no spot to tarry it was on her lips to demur but king holding buck s bridle looked about him and at the sky gloria said quickly we better turn writ back now ain in what he replied in that im ini personal way which maddened her have you so altered as to be worth a man s broken promise and then she knew that no thought of going back had had any part in his brief slon he was merely seeking the best place to unpack and a convenient spot to tether buck TO BB BE |