Show nan of music nic 0 Moun tann 0 io by FRANK H SPEARMAN by charles scribners sons sona rm M I 1 L CHANCE AND BAD LUCK FOR DUKE MORGAN GIVES DE SPAIN AN opportunity HE HAD LONG SOUGHT AND HE MAKES THE MOST OF IT WITH THE GIRL HE LOVES henry de spain general manager of the stage coach line running from thief river to sleepy cat railroad division town in the rocky mountains la Is fighting a band of cattle thieves and gunmen who live in morgan gap clap a fertile valley 20 miles from sleep cat and near calabasas Cala basas where the coach horses are changed de spain has killed two of the gang and has been seriously wounded pretty nan morgan niece of the gang leader has saved his life and he is trying to make love to her but receives no encouragement CHAPTER XV continued 10 but long ions before bull rage page reached calabasas Cala basas that day de spain had acted when he left bull at the bridge he started tor for calabasas Cala basas took supper there ordered a saddle horse for one in the morning went to his room slept soundly and shortly after he be was called started for music mountain lie ile walked his horse into the gap and rode straight for duke morgans fortress leaving the horse under a heavy mountain pine close to the road de spain walked carefully but directly around the house to the east side the sky was cloudy and the darkness almost complete ile he made his way as dose close as he could to nans window and raised the soft crooning note of the desert owl after a while he was able to distinguish the outline of her casement and with much patience and some little skill remaining from the boyhood days he kept up the faint call down at the big tarn barn the chained watchdog tore himself with a xury fury of barking at the intruder but mountain lions were common in the gap and the noisy sentinel gained ne no credit for his alarm indeed when the dog slackened his fierceness de spain threw a stone over his way to encourage a fresh outburst but neither the guardian nor the intruder was able to arouse anyone within the house undeterred by his failure de spain held his ground as long as he dared when daybreak threatened he withdrew the following night he was in the gnp gap earlier and with renewed determination ile he tossed a pebble into nans open window and renewed his soft call soon a light flickered for an instant within the room and died out in the darkness following this de spain thought he discerned a figure outlined at the casement some minutes later a door opened and closed he repeated the cry of the owl and could hear a footstep the next moment he whispered her name as she stood before mm what Is it you want she risked asked so calmly that it upset him why do you yon come here where he stood he was afraid of the sound of her voice and afraid of his own to see you he said collecting himself come over to the plue pine tree free under its heavy branches where the darkness was most intense he told her why he had come because he be could not see her anywhere outside there is nothing to see me about she responded still calm cairn 1 I helped you because you were wounded I 1 was glad to see you ket get away without fighting I 1 hate bate bloodshed but put yourself in my place a little wont you after what you did for me it natural I 1 should want to be sure you are well and not in any trouble on my account it may be natural but it necessary I 1 am in no trouble no one as here knows I 1 even know you excuse me for coming then I 1 rest nan without knowing something I 1 was here last night 1 I know you were he started you made mad e no sign why should 17 I 1 1 I suspected it was you when yua came again tonight I 1 knew I 1 should lave have to speak to you at least to ask you not to come again but you yon will tie te in and out of town sometimes wont you nan if I 1 am tt it will not be to talk with you the words deliberately te spain was silent tor for a moment not even to speak to me he asked you must know the position I 1 am in she answered and band what a po you place me in if I 1 am seen to aptak to you this is ia my home youw you fire are the enemy of my people I 1 not because I 1 want to be and you cant expect them not to resent any acquaintance on my part with you he paused before continuing do you fou count gale morgan as one of your leople 7 he asked evenly 1 I suppose I 1 must dont you think you ought to count all 11 ll of your friends your well wishers those who would defend you with their lives among your people she made no AO answer arent they the kind of people he persisted you need when you yon are in trouble you remind mo me I 1 should be grateful to you I nan I 1 he exclaimed tor for I 1 am aho continued unmoved sut its ft a shame to accuse me in that yon r thinking when yon yoli sanke of what happened with gale on music mountain 1 I wish to god you and I 1 were on music mountain again 1 I 1 never lived or did anything worth living for till you camo came to me that day on music mountain its true I 1 was thinking of what happened when I 1 spoke but not to remind you you owed anything to me you yon dont get that out of your head 1 I do though 1 I spoke in the way I 1 did because I 1 wanted to remind you of what might happen some time when im not near 1 I shant be caught off my guard again I 1 know how to defend myself from a drunken man ile he could not restrain all the bitterness he felt that man he said deliberately libera tely Is more dangerous sober than drunk when I 1 cant defend myself my uncle will defend me ask him to let me help he need any help and he would never ask you if he did I 1 cant live at home and know you that Is why I 1 ask you not to come again he was silent dont you think all things considered she hesitated as it if not knowing how easiest to put it you ought to be willing to shake hands and say goodby good by why if you wish it he answered taken aback and he added more quietly yes if you say ro BO 1 I mean for good 1 I 1 71 he returned pausing dont you are not willing to be fair 1 I want to be fair I 1 dont want to promise more than human nature will stand for and then break my word 1 I am not asking a whole lot not a whole lot to you I 1 know but do you really mean that you dont want me ever to speak to you again if you must put it that way yes wella well he took a long breath there la Is one way to make sure of that ill tell you honestly I 1 dont want to stand in the way of such a wish if its really yours As you have said it fair perhaps forme to go against it got your pistol with you nan no that Is the way you yon take care of yourself Is it rm irm not afraid of you you ought to be ashamed of yourself not to be and you dont even know whom meet before you can lock the front door again you promised me never to go out without it promise me that once more will you she did as he asked her now give me your hand band please he went on take hold of this what Is it the butt of my revolver dont be afraid she heard the slight click of the hammer bammer with a thrill of strange apprehension what are you doing she demanded hurriedly put your finger on tho the trigger so lt it Is cocked now pull 11 she caught her breath what do you mean ile he was holding the gun la in his two hands his fingers overlapping hers the muzzle at the breast of his jacket pull he repeated nil you have to do rm im steadying it she snatched back her hand what mat do you mean she cried for me to kill you shame I 1 you ton are too excited all I 1 naked you was to take the trouble to crook your firger finger and ill never speak to you again have your wish forever shame I 1 why shamel shame he retorted 1 I mean what I 1 say it if you meant what yon said why dont you put it out ot of my power ever to speak to you do you want me to pull the trigger 1 I told you once im riot not an assassin how dare you ask me to do such a thing she cried furiously call yur uncle he suggested coolly you may hold this meantime so know hes in no danger take my gun and call your uncle shame on you youl I 1 call gale call any man in the gap jump at the cliance chance you are a cold blooded brutal wretch rin im sorry I 1 ever helped you rm fm sorry I 1 ever let you help me rm im sorry I 1 ever saw you I 1 she sprang away before he could interpose a word lie he stood stunned by the suddenness ot of her outburst trying to listen and to breathe at the same time lie he heard the front door close and stood waiting but no further sound from the house bouse greeted his ears arid and I 1 thought he muttered to himself that might calm her down a little via rm certainly la in wrong wrone now CHAPTER XVI her bad penny nan reached her room in a fever of excitement angry at de spain bitterly angry at gale angry with the mountains the world and resentfully fighting the pillow on which she cried herself to sleep in the morning every nerve was on edge when her uncle duke with his chopping utterance said something short to her at their very early breakfast he was surprised by an answer equally short her uncle retorted sharply A second curt answer greeted his rebuff and while he stared at her nan left the table and the room duke taking two of the men started thai that morning for sleepy cat with a bunch of cattle he rode a fractious horse infuriated as his horses frequently were by his bis brutal treatment bolted in a moment unguarded by his master and flung duke on his back in a strip of lava rocks the old man in the mountains a man Is called old after he passes forty was heavy and the fall a serious one ile he picked himself up while the men were recovering his horse knocked the horse over the head with a piece of jagged rock when the frightened beast was brought back climbed into the saddle again and rode all the way into town gut but when his business was done duke too was done he could neither sit a horse nor sit in a wagon sleepy cat was stirred at the news and that the man who had defied everybody in the mountains for twenty years should have been laid low and sent to the hospital by a mere broncho was the topic of many comments de spain who was at calabasas Cala basas knew nan nall would not be alarmed should her uncle not return that night but early in the morning a messenger from mcalpin rode to her with a note telling her of the accident whatever his vices duke had been a good protector to his dead brothers child lie ile had bad sent her to good schools and tried to revive in her despite her untoward surroundings the better traditions of the family as it had once flourished in kentucky nan took the saddle for sleepy cat in haste and alarm when she reached her uncles bedside she understood how seriously he had been lurt hurt and the tha doctors warnings were not needed to convince her he must have hake care duke refused to let her leave him in any case and nan relieved the nurse and what was of equal moment made herself custodian of the cash in hand band before dukes town companions could get hold of it occasional trips to the gap were necessary as the weeks passed and her uncle could not be moved these nan had feared as threatening an encounter either by accident or on his part designed with do de spain but the impending encounter never took place de spain attending closely to his own business managed to keep accurate track of her whereabouts without getting in her way she had come to sleepy cat dreading to meet him and fearl tearing n g hl his s influence over her but this apprehension with the passing of a curiously brief period dissolved into a confidence in her ability to withstand further interference on part with her feelings gale morgan rode into town fr frequently e quent ly and nan at first painfully ully apprehended ended hearing sometime of a deadly duel between her truculent gap admirer and her persistent town court courtier ler who was more considerate and better mannered but no less dogged and in fact a good deal more difficult to handle As to the boisterous mountain man his resolute little cousin made no secret of her detestation ot of him sho she denied and defied him as openly as a girl could and heard his bis threats with continued indifference she was quite alone too in her fear of any fatal meeting between the two men who seemed determined to pursue her the truth was that after calabasas Cala basas de spain from thief river to sleepy cat was a marked man none sought to cross his path or his purposes and neither the town haunts of calabasas Cala basas men nor those of their morgan gap cap sympathizers had any champion disposed to follow too closely the alert medicine bend railroader in and about the hospital and in tho the town itself nan found the chief obstacle to her peace of mind in the talk libe alia could not always avoid hearing about de spain convalescents in th the Is corridors practically all of them men never gathered in sunny corners or at the tables in the dining room without de name coming in some way into the talk to be followed with varying circumstantial accounts of what hat really had hipp happened ened that day at cala basas and with all the known escapades in which he had figured exhausted as topics by longwinded long winded commentators more or less leazy lazy stories of his earlier experiences at medicine bend in the company of whispering smith were dragged into the talk one convalescent stage guard at the hospital told a story one night at supper about mm that chilled nan again with strange fears for she knew it to be true he had had it from mcalpin himself so the he guard said that de salins father had long ago been shot down from ambush by a cattleman and that henry de spain had sworn to find that man and L kill 1111 him and it was hinted pretty strongly that de spain had bad information when he consented to come to sleepy cat that the assassin still lived and lived somewhere around the head of the sinks on that very evening it chanced the doctor came came late when he walked in he asked her it if she knew it was frontier day and reminded her that just a year ago she had shot against henry do de spain and beaten the most dangerous man lind and the deadliest shot on the mountain divide in ia her rifle mateu match how he be had grown in the imagination of sleepy cat and music mountain she said to herself while the doctor talked to her uncle since that day a year ago I 1 then he was no more than an unknown and discomfited marksman from medicine bend beaten by a mountain girl now the most talked ot of man in the high country and the suspicion would sometimes obtrude itself with pride into her mind that she who never mentioned his name when it was discussed before her really knew and understood him better to than any of those that talked so much that she had at least one great secret with him alone when leaving the doctor wished to send over from his bis office medicine for her uncle nan offered to go with him but the doctor said it was pretty late and main street pretty noisy he preferred to find a messenger when there came a rap on the half open door she went forward to take the medicine from the messenger and saw standing before her in the hall de spain she shrank back as if struck she tried to speak her tongue refused its office DO de spain held a package out in hla his hand doctor asked me to give you this doctor what Is it 1 I really dont know I 1 suppose it Is medicine she heard her uncle turn in his bed at the sound of voices thinking only that he must not lit at any cost see de spain nan stepped quick bulck M 4 X t ill bet you dont know what day this Is ly into the hall and faced the messenger 1 I was over at the doctors office just now continued her visitor evenly he asked me to bring this down tor for your uncle she took the package with an incoherent acknowledgment edg ment without letting her eyes meet his she was conscious of how bow fresh and clean and strong he looked dressed in a livelier manner than usual a partly cowboy effect with a broader hat and a gayer tie than he be |