Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-30

slipped upon and meskalkilated has told
the truth-every time. Ye ken tie to
him whenever and wherever We want to
Ye amt expected to feel ez l feel, in
course, but the man ez goes back on
him-quo Ills with me. That's all-and
thanks for inquiring friends. Ye IL
git, now boys, aud leave him mint
with me. -
The men filed slowly out, a few linger-
| ing long enough to shake the master $
hand with grave earnestness, or half
smiling, half abashed embarrassment.
| The master received the proffered recon-
Citation of these men, who but a few
hours before would have lynched him
with equal sincerity, with cold bewilder-
ment. As the door closed on the last of
the party he turn ed to McKinstry. The
wounded man had sunk down again, but
was regarding with drowsy satisfaction n
| leaden bullet he was holding between his
| finger and thumb.
"This yer shot, Mr.. Ford, - he said in
slow voice, whose weakness was only
| indicated by its extreme deliberation
'never KEN from the gun gave ye-
and was never fired by you He paused
and then added with his old duh abstrac-
ton, 'It's a long time since I've run
agin anythin that makes me feel more
kan. -
In Mr.. McKinstry weak condition the
master did not dare to make Johnny 5
revelation known to him, and contented
himself by simply pressing his hand, but
the next moment the wounded man re-
sumed:
''That ball jest fits Seth's navy re-
volver-and the hound hes made tracks
outer the country. -
But what motive could he have in
attacking you at such Il time?' asked
the master.
"He reckoned that either | ID kill you
and so he d got shut of us both in that
way, without it being noticed; or if
| missed you, the others would hang you-
eZ they kalkilated to-fOr killing me.
The idea KEN to him when he overheard
you hintin' you wouldn't return my
fire. -
A shuddering conviction that McKin-
stry had OWNED the real truth passed
over the master In the impulse of the
moment he again would have cOrrobo-
rated it by revealing Johnny 5 story, but
a glance at the growing feverishness of
the wounded man checked his utteraGce.
''Don't talk of it now,'' he said hur
riedly. Enough for me to know that
you acquit me. l am here now only to
beg you to compose yourself until the
doctor comes back-as you seemed to be
alone, and Mrs. McKinstry -' he
stopped in awk ward embarrassment.
a singular confusion oyerspread the in
valid s face. ''She he'd stepped ont
afore this happened, OWN to contrary
opinions betwiXt me and her. We mout
have noticed, Mr.. Ford, that ginrally she
didn't pear to cotton to We! Thar aim
a woman g0in ez is the ekal of Blain
Rawin s darter i'll nusSin' man and
keeping him i'll fightin order, but in
matters that consarns herself and Cress,
l begin to think, Mr.. Ford, that
somehow she amt eXakly-kam,
"Bein' kan yourself, vel put any I'M
pleasantness, down to that. WoteYer
you hear from her, and for the matter o
that, from her own darter. tOO-fOr IN
takin' back the fOOlishuess | said to We
over yOn about your runnin' off with
Cress-you II remember, Mr.. Ford, it
warn t from no i'll feeling to you, in her
or Cress-but on y a want of kan! [
mOut hev had my idees about CresS, you
mout hev had yours, and that fool Dab
ney mout hev had his; but it warn t the
old woman 's-nor Greasy Sit warn t
Blain Rawlin' s darter IS idea-nor yet her
darter's. And why? For want o. kaml
Times l reckon it was left out o. woman 8
mater. And bein' kan yourself, ydu un-
derstand it, and take it all in. -
The old look of drowsy pain had settled'
so strongly in his red eyes again that the
master was fain to put his hand gantly
over them, and with a. faint smile beg
him to compose himself to sleep. This
he finally did after whispered. stgges7
ton that he hintso4f was feelings mor4
kan. ," The ptast@f sat, fbr >-sotpfe mo-
ments with his hands'upon the sleeping
man S eyes, and vague and undefinable
sense of loneliness seemed to fall upon
him from the empty rafters of the silent
and deserted house. The rising wind
moaned fitfully around its bleak shell
with the despairing sound of far and
forever d. receding voices. So strong
was the Impression that when the doe
tor and McKinstry's attending brother
reentered the room, the master still
fingered beside the bed with dazed
sensation of abandonment that the doc 4
tors practical reassuring smile coulds
hardly d&pel.
"He's doing sple9didly now" he
said listening to the sleeper S more regu-
lar respiration. "and ID advise you to
90 now, Mr.. Ford, before he wakes, lest
he might be tempted to excite himself by
talking to you again. He's really quite
OIL @. danger now. Good night III
drop in on you at the hotel when 1 re-
turn.
The master, albeit still confused and
bewildered, felt his way to the door and
out into the open night. The wind was
still despairingly wrestling with the tree
tops, but the far receding voices seemed
to be craving fainter in the distance,
until, as he passed on, they too seemed
to pass away for ever.
Monday morning had come again, and
the master was at his desk in the school |
house early, with still damp and inky
copy of the Star fresh from the press be- |
fore him. The free breath of the pines |
was blowing in the windows, and bring-3
ing to his ears the distant voices of his |
slowly gathering flock, as he read as |
follows
"'The perpetrator of the dastardly out |
rage at Indian Spring Academy on Thurs
day last-which, through an unfortunate |
misrepresentation of the facts, led to |
premature calling out of several of our |
most philosophical citizens, and culmi-
mated il a most regrettable encounter be- |
M.E anI tho aonn,,