Show flame of the border i by VINGIE E ROE copyright do doubleday bleday doren A co tea lao service SYNOPSIS socking seeking death by throwing herself from lone lon mesa bless to escape dishonor at the hands of a drunken desperado sonya allows herself to be rescued by her suddenly repentant attacker the girl Is a self appointed physician to the navajo indians living on an arizona sheep ranch with her brother serge scree his wife llla lite and their small mall daughter dabs babs she Is engaged to rodney blake wealthy new yorker but her heart Is with the friendless navajos cavajos and she evades a wedding sonya sony pulls pull little moon bloon wife wl of 0 two fingers a navajo through the crisis of an illness two fingers Is deeply grateful blake returns return to now new york declaring he be will give sonya six more months month and then demand she keep her promise to marry him sonya again meets the man whose advances advance she ehe had bad repulsed oo on lone mesa blesa he tells tier her he bitterly regrets his action sonya bonya Is affected but unforgiving she hears rumors of a border bandit el capuan diablo and vaguely connects him with her attacker on lone mesa blesa she he again comes upon the strange young man but she no longer fears ears him CHAPTER IV continued 6 id lose my right hand if it would help he said doggedly looking down and fiddling with his latzgo the golden horse turned a loving bead and rubbed it gently along his bis arm writ hm said aid the girl through her nostrils a sharp and cynical sound 1 I would he repeated an all youve got to do Is set a mark to prove IL it Is there anything any single thing that a man can do to prove his word tell me and ill do it who to Is the bandit across the border who crucifies cruel ties his double cried sonya like a shot and gasped at the sound of her own words it seemed as it if another person spoke them so wholly unintentional had they been the mans eyes flashed up to hers and once again they were wild as any hawks hawk the black of the pupils spreading over the blue of the irises slowly the color drained from his face leaving it ash white beneath its bronze the lips pale as blue milk good G dl he said and was ellent allent the girl was silent too a and nd tor for the first arst time she felt a flash of fear as if she had set la in motion sinister forces of which she knew nothing they stared at each other tor for a moment aghast at this thing which had sprung between them stark and terrible and then sonya flicked her rein moved in her saddle recovering she knew she had touched disaster too deep tor for a womans comans hand and she drew back instinctively ONO no she said swiftly dont anwer answer I 1 have hare asked and its no proof anyway I 1 dont want proof past la Is past I 1 take your word the man wet his stiff lips you do I 1 do you believe what ive been trying to tell you ever since that day that I 1 could kill myself for what I 1 did didt do you believe me yes said sonya not that it matters matter but I 1 do he ha took out a white handkerchief and wiped his bis face which was sweat ing in the high cool wind no he be said unsteadily not that thai it matters to you but it does to me why I 1 dont know but it does more than anything has ever mattered it in my whole d d life I 1 beg your par don I 1 granted said the girl serge swears 11 serge I 1 my brother well it matters and ive spent hours alone up here and other places wondering about it and why it does ive known women all ali my life in several countries and never a one that stayed staged in my mind a week after I 1 left her im a bad lot as I 1 told you before and it dont mean a great deal what I 1 think one way or another only I 1 aint ever felt so sorry in all my days over anything I 1 was just wondering when you rode around tit th wall yonder sonya gonya re regarded gardeLl him steadily it does matter she said what anyone thinks and does no man lives to himself alone as the good BOOK says bays to every man his place and a certain amount of influence and to every man his responsibility too for that thai influence youve got influence somewhere where for something lie ile stirred uneasily moved on hla his booted feet felt in his bis pocket fur for a fresh cigarette and changing in you the girl went on theres been a change in you since since the first time I 1 saw you in your face in jour our speech youre using more gs on oil the end of your words for one thing and your eyes are alf if they when I 1 look at you id be lower than I 1 am and plenty low again said sonya calmly itria na watched wat ced the slow tide of red that clial ewelt UP ay over his pale cheeks checks but the very fact of change outwardly argues change inwardly id trust you now a c considerable ller tile way tie drew a long breath of fragrant smoke ard and turning away looked out over the spread of desert shimmering under the early afternoon sun when ht he turned hack back to her sonya was shocked at tha look on his handsome face a sunken look haggard as if 1 some cruel vise of the spirit had suddenly been set upon it ile he smiled for the first time in tier her experience of him and something leaped in heart like a captive bird struggling to be free miss ln he said the sweetest and the cruell cruelest st thing you ever said in your life its a dangerous us thing too for me yet vet im glad you said it be something to remember among worse memories and now ill be getting along please come here whenever you want to lone mesa ilesa Is yours from now oni on ile he swung into his saddle and the girl put out a quick hand and caught ill his adeee no she said swiftly why should you give it up theres something here for you something good I 1 know its in your eyes when you look out yon yonder der a pence peace and a healing and 1 I want you to have that you need it it its something of the of the soul if you see what I 1 mean gravely he looked at her shook his bis head bead wonderingly my gd G dl d I 1 he said softly what a woman you are I 1 I 1 know there was one like you outside of tit th story books I 1 are you by any chance a lady preacher no said sonya of course not im a physician but im a woman first and I 1 can see when a hearts sick as well as a body youre sick to in your soul your character or I 1 miss my guess g uess and I 1 usually dont do that no he said you now but it dont matter in this case its too late for or med medicine ielne even yours its not said sonya and was astonished toni shed at the passion of her tone I 1 va mata MV ta IL 1 I am hosteen nez he said pres pre antly and she la Is cactus flower its never too late not till ones last beart heartbeat beat only then what are you bryin to do he asked her gently smiling into her eyes again change th spots of th leopard be careful theres no more treacherous beast alive an im telling you true miss ln im a leopard at heart cruel and fierce and not fit for you to speak to like this a straight out man to man I 1 dont deserve it it if you knew what an who I 1 am turn your horse an ride tor for that down trail like all possessed and be right mabbe mas be I 1 do know a little sonya flashed dashed but im not afraid im never afraid of anything no youre like a white angel in armor he said gravely you any need to fear even I 1 could not hurt you when I 1 wanted to youre sate safe anywhere any time th devil himself hurt you will you remember what I 1 say that its never too late to change ill remember he said politely an thanks now goodby good by and good luck always miss ln 11 goodby good by said sonya and the same to you ile he carried his hat bat in his hand as he whirled the horse away around the corner of the ancient stone house and did not look back and sonya listened to the shod hoofs hoof a striking into the defile that led down the face ace of the sheer cliff she sat stiffly quiet in her saddle and was conscious of a strange tumult within her spirit what had she done talking here in this high solitude with this mysterious rider whose inner self gelt was black with mith unnamed sins whose hose very presence in the land was a menace and a portent or of disaster lor for she knew past all doubting that this was the blue eyed one of whom the servant spoke in his vague par ables that henchman of beelzebub who went before trouble and she who owed him hatred who had vowed to take her pound of flesh from him because of what he had tried to do t that hat day at the mesas rim I 1 she had talked with him earnestly and without scerni scorn I 1 the soft blue veils of twilight w were ere beginning to trail along the deports de acs sorts face belore becore she roused herself and went down the steep LIty dr home the next day she went to see little moon and refused the bundle of sheep pelts which two fingers offered her along with the gorgeous finished bladt ket act which the woman laid across her knees sonya stroked the latter with appreciative fingers but shook her head smiling what I 1 did for you the she told them in navajo was a giving a service to my people you sou are my people I 1 have chosen the cavajos navajos before the great spirit let be it is well after a long silence two fingers said it Is well and we and all the navajos cavajos around here are your little people under your feet A soft blanket to keep your heels from the stones it Is very well the girl said gravely and knew lie he spoke the truth there was to come a day when she would have ample ond and tragic proof of that but it was wag just as well she could not ace oe ahead from chee wash she rode down along the levels of the sage saga to where here the debouching debou ching canyon had given up its pitiful small caravan that day she had seen mr air satter from the school taking away the children on an impulse she turned and rode into this rugged cut that bisected the file rising land she rounded a farin far in ln turn and came upon a habitation there was no sign of life about it though it bore evidence of occupation within the hour a hatate damp from the recent mixing of meal a tiny lire fire on the san sand for a time she sat her horse and contemplated lt it a good hogan set against the canyons wall there was little sign of prosperity no rug bloomed on its hand made loom the hogan was bare of comforts the beds on its floor being thin and scant evidently these indians were very tory poor she did not call or move a bout about but sat still in her saddle waiting and presently her patience was rewarded for a soft step sounded behind her and she turned to see the wild buck the squaw and the littlest child of that pitiful drama in ID which she had participated she smiled at them and when sonya smiled a window of her soul opened and disclosed a light the family tame came carefully up to her 1 I come to see it if all is well with you and yours she told the man in navajo it Is well with this one he replied touching the child but not with this one touching the mother her heart runs away in water and she does not eat and looking closer sonya saw in astonished toni toul shed sorrow that it was wag so indeed the woman who had been plump and hale bale some weeks back was now a scarecrow her old velvet jacket hanging loose on her form her tragic eyes sunk in hollows her brown lips looked dry and hard for a moment the girl felt such a revulsion against the whole whiteface white terace race as to give her an actual nausea her hands ached to get hold of S cattera Sat a tera fat neck for one good minute so she said 1 I see have you told her that the little ones will be coming home soon did the agent tell you when to go after them no said the man and I 1 do not know where to go oh said sonya under her breath the dirty beast aloud she said slowly well you yon tell her to look up to the east and before many days she will see her children coming what Is your name hosteen no steen the man hesitated since the naming of ones own name Is not good but this was a desperate matter 1 I am hosteen nez he said presently and she Is cactus flower and I 1 am sonya doctor sonya from down on the desert beyond lone lena mesa and I 1 will see the man who took the children maybe tour four sleeps maybe five you tell her eat and get strong 1 I will tell her said hosteen nez and his eyes looked so deep into that the girls heart hurt with their probing 1 I will come again she said and turning darkness went back down the great cut of blue sand canyon as she had come that night talking with serge and ula in the twilit patio with dabs babs asleep on her lap she protested passionately siona slona tely against the treatment of the indians by the whites in authority serge smoked in silence his dark eyes gazing out along the gray sage stretches that were turning purple in the falling shadows K kid ld he said presently youre the best elitle little scout ever but im afraid that some day youre going to get yourself into a peck of trouble messing in where you dont belong messing in where I 1 dont be belong longill 1 cried the girl hotly do you call helping that mother get her young ones back for the summer vacation messing in when ashes actually grieving herself to death in her ignorance and tear fear suppose it were llla lila and babs for instance serge moved uneasily knocked out the dottle of big hl pipe well of course yes of 0 coursel course I 1 it that always it from the white mans view point well old dear you can just hold yourself in readiness to ball me out of jall jail tor for I 1 may need it im going over to that school and get thase youngsters and take them back to that hogan it if its the last thing I 1 do school Is already out for or the season and that fat at satter taken the trouble to return them or to even tell the father here to come for them carl can you heat beat that for sheer downright meanness it if you von dont need the car ill take it and go over to the S school chool tills this week waybe maybe da day Y atter after ar 0 K serge 0 K honey ill begin looking round for ball in the in case you ind fand something you can use as na an acuto 3 to 10 hop the school authorities TO BE BB CONTINUED |