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Show DESSERT vy f?ji5 wow. MmvK CLEAVER. h5i'f STRAHAN iv,? i 1V:jS Dan. Don't fancy for one Instant that I ! failure is going to keep me here. Did j you think, with a weapon like that in I my hands, that I'd stand for anything i less than a fifty-fifty proposition? Our original plan would have been better easier, simpler. Hut I'll have my share out of this, anyway. So. if you do know " "Gaby. I don't know. I'll swear that I don't. How could I? Cut surely you wouldn't wouldn't attempt" "That is for you to say, darling." Darling, as she said it then, was as wicked n word as I had ever lis tened to. "For me to say?" "Give John in me. I've changed my mind. If you'll do that. I'll stay right here, and settle down, and do nn Imitation Imi-tation of a moral, model wife that would satisfy even yon." "Gaby, you speak as if John were a child's toy, to be passed about. I couldn't give him to you. if I were willing to.-' "You could, and you know it. You won't. So. that's that. P.ut keep your righteous fingers out of my life; stop your d n preaching, and meddling. I I lira going to the cabin now. You I would better come with me." I "We've searched. that cabin a thousand thou-sand times." "All the same, it is the one logical place; far removed, and under cover." The cabin is the one Sam built to-live to-live in when he first came to the valley. val-ley. It is up Boulder creek, about half a mile from the ranchhouse. Sam has kept it in repair, inside and out; owing, I think, to sentimental memories, though he declares it Is because be-cause he dislikes wreckage on the place. When John and Martha were little things, Sam used to hide their Christmas presents up there, under the shelf in the kitchen. The shelf, about three feet wide, Is built across one end of the kitchen. It served Sam for a table,' pantry, and sink. Being a man, he built it right handily, like a chest, so that the entire en-tire top of it had to be "raised to get to the storage place underneath. There was no secret about it. All anyone any-one had to do, was to move everything off the top of it, and lift the lid. But I had read how the hardest problems for detectives always turned out to be something that had been too simple to notice; s my plan was to go up there and raise the lid On my way, I met the girls coming home. I Imagined that they looked at me with suspicion. I passed a remark about the sweet-smelling clover hay, and hurried right along. Half an hour later, when 1 was expecting ex-pecting instant death at any minute, I thought about that sweet clover smell, and how unappreclative I have been of it and of the blue sky and fresh air, and of the green things, lighted yellow with sunshine, and I took a vow that, If 1 ever did get a chance to enjoy them again, I would spend the remainder of my life in so doing, and in being grateful to the Creator of them. ' In the cabin, 1 went at once to the kitchen ; and, removing fish-baskets, fly-books, and reels from the shelf, lifted it back. I am sure that 1 had expected to find It. empty. What I had not expected ex-pected to find, and what I certainly had never hoped to find, was what was there : any number of neatly wrapped packages, addressed to Mr. Sam Stanley, sent by express, and labeled, variously, "Danger." "Explosives." "Explo-sives." "Handle with Care." It did not take any common sense to know, straight off, that, sent to him or not, Sam was not mixed up in any business that had to do with explosives,-bombs, and Bolshevism. It was easy enough to remember, then, that Sam had not been to Rattail for the past ten days; that Hubert Hand had been making the trips down for the mail, expressage, and supplies. Just as he came Into my mind, 1 heard his voice. It was a startling coincidence; but I need a better excuse ex-cuse than that, for surely no mortal ever did a more foolish thing than I did then. I climbed into that chest, along with those packages, and lowered low-ered the lid down over me. If I had any idea, I suppose It must have been a desire not to let him know that I had discovered bis secret his and Gaby's together, undoubtedly but I can't remember having any thought at all until, just as the' lid .loscd, 1 remembered the sad poem about the bride and the mistletoe chest. Then t beard, through the thin boards, nttbert Hand, talking to some one, come into the kitchen. I chose death by suffocation or combustion. "My dear woman," were the first words I heard from him. "you may set your mind at rest. I am not going to marry the girl. I am not a marrying man, as you know; and. if I were, she wouldn't have me." "You leave her alone, then. Understand Under-stand mo. Leave her alone." j If I believed my ears, that was Mrs. Kicker's voice ; that was Mrs. Richer, not only talking, but talking like that to Hubert Hand. "You flatter mo." he said. "Jealous, "Jeal-ous, sliil. after all these years? 1 told you that I wouldn't marry Iter, and that she wouldn't have me. if I were willing to." "Wouldn't she, though? Wouldn't she? She is imul about you. She can't look at uii without love :n her eyes, nor seen!; to von vi;hout love in l;e; voice.' She trios to hide it; bv.t she can't bide it from me. I know. Soo loves you." I am not sure whether 1 read It, or whether I tigured it out for mysel! ; but 1 do know it is a fact that 1-woman 1-woman ever n,-euses another wn of beinsjn Jove with n jnnn uM- THE STORY pTER' iSam Stanley, wealthy the Desert .Moon ranch, in-, in-, housekeeper, Mary Magin. ':",ei tUe story, that his former ; win daughters, Danielle and :" iih are coming to the ranch to ' '.h'ir mother being dead and their '' Daniel Canneaiano, who had .he cause of Sum's divorcing his n the penitentiary. Sam has boy, John, now grown to and a girl. Martha, twenty-- twenty-- rhvsically healthy but weak-mind-i ' '.; Ollie Kicker, Martha's nurse. '.; ffitb Ihem. opTER U Hubert Hand, a wan-r wan-r and Chad wick Caulield, John's :,,; buddv. who is an expert ven-; ven-; ' "nst are' the other members of : jVse'bold. The girls arrive. -niPTER III Mrs. Magln has an -v feeling 'hat there is a sinister in the twins' presence at the ' and her suspicions are streng-th-i iiv the girls' mysterious prowling -rd the ilace. John becomes en--d to Danielle. Caufleld shows a "jounced liking for Gabrielle. CHAPTER IV The Cabin He girls had been on the Desert Vf;;n a little better than sis weeks -;;s, one evening, Sam came out into ;; kitchen where I was setting bread. v;ry," he began, real solemn for j, "the ancients used to have cities they called cities of refuge. No ;igs what a fellow had done, if he ij get inside Into one of those ,j;3, he was safe. Your kitchen al-.ji al-.ji tinda seems like that to me a ; of refuge." tods, Sam," 1 said, "what bave been up to that you are heading safety first movement?" 1 haven't been up to anything,'' j answered, "and I. don't aim to be. -, ilnry, some time ago you came :e witl) some suspicions. I laughed 3 oS. I am not laughing now. : worried. Queer things are going around here. What I want to t, ncv is what do you know?" Sotting. What do you know?" Stithlng." Itot do you suspect, then, Sam?" Sthitig. What d you ?' i'Miing." 'tat, I see now, wouldn't have been Mil place for us both to Invtgh a of us. did. -live you any idea," Sam ques-A. ques-A. "why the girls go prowling all ' I he place, afoot and horseback, 'us, tiiid nighttimes, too, when should he in their beds?" "ell, all I know is just what I've '0 all along. They are bunting ' something. ' are they are hunting for some- Hut what?" 'fait know. But whatever it is. : are going to use it to get revenge, '.rare maliciously somebody." , :;M('"gc, h-l!" Sain said. il;lve it your own way. Only I :-il one ni'lit to hear (luliy stiy 'MY that they had come to this J (or the purpose of revenge." ;"enge, h H" Sam repeated him "Unless they are sore at me :i,'iitiiH'ziano. What else did they "lien you happened to overhear revenge remark?" was ready, at last, to listen, 5 mure than ready to tell what I knew. 1 told; even to confess-lt"lt confess-lt"lt hiding in the clothes closet. A well." he drawled, when 1 wished my story, "we are proh-i proh-i ntakiny n mountain out of a wouldn't go pussy-footing ; 11 after them, any more, If I ; Nn, Mary. There's a screw ; -somewhere, that's sure; but it ; '"the Desert Moon's machinery. nothing on our consciences. Jl nood to worry." ; "wd to worry 1 Sam and I, i lnthat peaceful kitchen, falk-' falk-' smart and frivolous, and de-JM de-JM we did not need to worry E'Tiinrj 1 C0l,fl weM be ghed f)f. '.' need to worry a bit more '; 1 used arsenic in my covered ' "l; not a bit more than If ;;i(l been a den of rattlesnakes : cPboard under the sink, or 'lns,fad of water In the tank ; 'rk of the stove. That is how '..! '"'aceful we really were, at '"'p. if we had had sense ; lci know it. When I realize .,'r ,Vl,el;s front that very eve-People eve-People ..'"'ss it would be better to "'st:'iiight along, as they hap ulti!J!I ' t! S!'w,ls t0 me n krod book il "e1 -! ,lurrif'd, any more than a fjvof, ; n. "Mix- nnd sift the dry j i ;-' 's the way all recipes for 1 '--'"i. ' il, ' 'if 1 'il5s' befinninS with the ' til ;:rn y' ,hel'e was to be a big l3,!..r S,C"ti mco at Telko. 'iiifSttl? at Qoon on tne sec' 39 ' " ft'hile we were at dinner, jjjisf 'e all of s would ln.e t0 g0; j3 s- S.ccDt Martha and him- ior' i Self. Celebrations were never good for Martha. I spoke riht up and said to count me out I know the deserts in July. Hut the hoys were enthusiastic about It. and Danny was Interested. Gaby, coming in late, greeted the idea with the same enthusiasm with which a wi:!i!::n greets mot lis in the riot lies closet. "Whence the crave for a Fourth of July celebration?" she asked. "We have never seen a rodeo," Danny Dan-ny answered. "Go, by all means," Gaby said. "Buy pink lemonade. March in the parade. Ride in the Liberty car. Mrs Magin would he stunning as the goddess god-dess of Liberty, with " "Don't let my stunningness stop anything," l said. "I am not going." "We'll think It over," Danny said "It would be a long, hot ride. Proh ably we should all have a plensanter tinie, right here at. home." But there was something in the way 6he bad said it, too quickly In answer an-swer to' a look from Gaby, that made me think there was more to her backing back-ing out of the plan than had appeared on the surface. Gaby had just begun her dinner. The rest of pus had finished ; so, according ac-cording to our custom, we excused ourselves and went our ways. Chad tried to stay with Gaby, but Martha fussed and insisted that he come with her. I had a sure feeling that Danny would return, and that she and Gaby would have something to say to each other. I went into the kitchen, stepped back into the pass-pantry, and opened the pass-window a crack. . Just as I opened the window I heard John say, "I thought Danny was In here." "No," Gaby said. "But won't you come in and talk to me?" "What aboutl" -"About this." 1 dared not peek, so 1 did not know what she meant until she said, "Why won't you kiss me?" "Shall I say, I don't want to pick flowers in Hubert Hand's yard?" "I hate yon 1" "Don't be sore at me, Gaby," John said. "But I'm telling you, that's a lot nearer the truth than than what you usually say." - John was one of the poorest talk ers ever heard. One of those strong, silent men supposed to abound in the West, and who are likewise supposed to make every vprd that they say count. If John's did, they counted backwards. "Sly dear, haven't I proven over nnd over again that I love you? In every way. 1 have made myself ridiculous, here, because 1 haven't been able to conceal my feelings for you." "I think,' John said, "that most of that stuff you- pull is just to spite Danny. It doesn't spite her, though. She knows she's the only girl in the world for me. I wish you'd cut It out all of that, Gabby. Won't you. and just be good friends?" "You'd not want me for an enemy, would you?" "Getting at anything, going nny place, Gaby?" "Perhaps. If Danny should hear that you have made love to mo " "I have never made love to you. It would be your word against mine. I think Danny would take mine, if it came to a showdown. Listen here, child ; don't you try to make trouble between Danny nnd me." "Meaning?" "Nothing. "Except that it wouldn't be healthy for anyone who tried it." "ISoo-oo ! Dangerous Dan McGrew stuff? Out whore men are men? Killer loose 'tonight all that, eh. Johnnie?" A door opened. "John," came in Danny's voice, "uncle is looking everywhere every-where for you." "What," Danny questioned, when the door had closed behind John, "made you both look so angry, just now?" "Never mind. Are you going to that fools' celebration, with only a day or two left, now?" "I suppose not, if you don't want me to. I'd love going. I know there is no use in staying here." "In other words, you would sacrifice my future for a rodeo? I more than half believe that you know" "What possible object could I have?" "Many, my dear. Very many. Though I think that getting rid of me would outweigh the others. Listen to me, Danielle Caumv.iano, if I thought that you wore keeping this from mo. in order to bury me alive in this Godforsaken God-forsaken hole, and force me to watch you nnd John" "Gaby 1" "I've been a fool I Why can't 1 learn to take Into consideration your rtn moralities? Understand this. I I Am Sure That I Had Expected to Find It Empty. she could imagine being in love with him herself. "As to that," Hubert Hand said, "what possible difference would It make to you, Ollie?" "Only that I would kill her, and you. too, before I would let her bave you." "Easy on, there, my girl. Tour tasi attempt at murder at least 1 hope that w.as your hist attempt, .v.ns t.ot. you may recall, very successful." "I would be successful another time." I kept quiet; very quiet. Surrounded, Surround-ed, in there by explosives, and out there by people who tallied of murder as calmly and us comfortably as if they were discussing moss-ross, very quiet did not seem half quiet enough. They went into the other room of the cabin and stayed there for a few ig.in.i'.;-:-?. I could not bear what (bey wore ssyir.g. but I did not budge, nn -i:a-li. After 1 i.esr-l thorn p;:s-;;.g the j window, ars'l uas sure t'.r.t tbey bad j left the cabin. I remained, very quiet, in the c:..t for -ab'-i.t Ce minutes j loo-er before ciimbit.g out of il. I was progrc -i:- t--vr.:J Luae. sbiveriog in e'"-ry I.. a-1, iiag.lng. slime ! both r..y ogs, l ad gone to fie- ;,, wl.cn , Sam. ri-Ln,- his bad-:, m; ere 1 bronco . camel Wishbone, c:.:..6 up t-obind me and dismounted. 'Ci-rr.s bad, Mary?" be questioned. "War.t to clia.b up on Wi-i.b---r.e and have ate b-ad (To Be Continued) |