The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1890-10-08
QUICKSANDS OF TORO
A DANGEROUS MAN.
"Hc Wants Me to Marry for
Money"
Ratso.A xE.o..ln

"Hs Wants Me to Marry 70
| Money"
Belford Magazine.
The story properly begins at mid
night. on the San Luis, 0bispo coast
California, twenty years ago, whel
the September moonlight shon
down upon Stoners's cattle ranch
near. the Pacific Ocean, IN the rugg
cd Santa Lucia mountains.
Stoner had been a Texan Ranger
and could hold his own extremel,
wellin that rough frontier com.
muuity. He had carried of a prst
| ty Spanish wife from the Chihua-
hua region, years before, had brought
her TO the rocky Callf0rnia coast
and had purchased settlers CLAIM
and an old adobe house built by /,
Spanish hidalgo half q century ago
Here he farmed, raised cattle on
the unused government lands, and
kept q sort of a rude hotel; for sew.
eral mountain trails Joined at that
point the broad highway which led
from the county seat, twenty miles
south, to the northern settlements
in the pineries. He had 6ye daughters
too, the youngest, Theresa, known
as Tessa, girl Of seventeen. That
added to the attraction, and almost
every night the dark-eyed, half
Spanish girls sang and danced, and
old Stvner managed to hear all the
news that was afioat, and somehow,
most of the loose coin of the region
ultimately found its way into his
pockets Ae was a deep one, that
same Ephraim Stoner, quiet, sly, and
patient, secret in his methods, and
deadly in his blow.
Stoner's wife and his four elder
dauy yhters were uneducated, and 10
complete subjection to his will. But
Tessa had more brains and energy
than all the others put together, and
quite as much beauty, so that TIE
old Texan Ranger took q certain
pride in her, and had even allowed
her TO attend distant school for
two years.
This midnight, when, as / have
said, the story begins, q person Of .
prying disposition might have dis
covered several interesting perfor.
mances in progress around the
Stoner adobe. On the north side Of
the house, quite in the shadow,
Tessa was leaning from her window,
conversing in low tones with a
blond, fair-haired, and sturdy young
man on horseback.
atom, you do not know my ia
ther. He isnot the careless, warm
hearted man you suppose. 1 must
admire his ability, but that is all. |
warn you, Tom, there never was a
more dangerous man. He may be
where he hears every word you say,
but il he is, he will not speak 10 you
| or 10 me about il. But If he knew
that you cared for me he would be
your enemy. he has other plans
for me. He wants me TO marry for
money"
Tom Warren had ohce been Che
| school-teacher in the mountain dis
trict. miles away, where Tessa had
been one Of his pupils. Thrown up
on his own resources from his child
hood. he had developed q strong,
earnest character, and was already
so popular in the county that he had
Just been elected sheriff, although
the youngest man on the ticKet.
While Tessa and her lover were
talking, o scene of q far different
nature was being enacted on the
south side Of the old adobe, which
overlooked a deep rayine, and .
camp Of FIVE or six men in q field
below. For several years these
men had spent their summers there,
ostentibly hunting, fishing, and ex.
ploring the country with their dogs
and guns. Everyone knew them,
and most persons liked them. Tessa
did not.
Stoner, though il was midnight,
sat in the moonlight on an old raw
hid chair, outside the door, smoking
his pipe and meditating-a tough,
sinewy, grizzlsd night-owl of q man.
"That Internal knuckle.head at
the camp ought 10 have reported
before now," he thought 10 himself,
a. he smoked.
A man came out ofthe brush and
spoke deferentiallY:
"Capt'n, good-evenin'."
"You're late"
"Dick was shot,"
"Well2'
aust as the driver throwed OF Che
boz. Shot by a passenger in Che
neck and shoulder.
HE mustn't stay here 10 yet us
into trouble. Take o boat and carry
him To the Point, and leave him IN
the cave there"
ayes, capt'n,"
allow much was aboarda"
"About two thousand dollars for
the Josephine miners"
"Send IL over the cliff before
morning, and I'll divide il up soon.
But you be extra careful; that new
sheriff is q smart one.
4 uAM 80 1T. - a