Passaic City record., 1893-01-14

the threshold.
al KEN Ter warn ye," she said, in Lit
tie oasps. aye hev got ter look out.
Liiah m Ike m Budd Wayne air all
drunk an hev determinated ter ken
we're m do some hurt to somebody?
hearn 'em talkin'."
Rufe took his gun down from the
wall.
saint they satisfied with the verdict
glen agin mea" he demanded grimly.
ssLet 'em come, theEv"
But now there was another sound be-
fore which the girls face grew paler
still. Yet what would her brothers and
Budd Wayne be doing on horseback
And these were the sounds of horses
hoofs. They were near the door now.
They stopped. Rufe went forward.
Some one called out of the warm, trans
parent darkness. Idella, all her senses
quickcned, recognized the voice. Oh,
merciful intercession of Providence
This was no other than Rick Martin, the
constable of the district, out with o
posse of one on some official errand
| (probably connected with horse thief,
drawing rein at the Persons door to ask
some information about the road. To
f1y to his horses side and pour out Q
statement of the intention of Budo
Wayne and her brothers was with Idelia
the work of moment.
ssAn' bein' ez they air dancin' drunk
they amt ter be holdan properuly
'sponsible, " urged her unsteady tones in
extenuation.
The constable had made up his mind
that he was on the wrong track tonight
as to the pursuit of the horse thief. But
here was az occasion where there might
be trouble, and, if SO, it was his duty to
prevent it. He accordingly dismounted
and, with his companion, entered the
house.
But Rufe Pierson, while all this
colloquy was going on in the windy
darkness, had stood by in silence. The
girls trembling eagerness, her sweet,
distraught eyes, had begun to mean
something more to him than the mere
Christian charity, trying to keep fellow
creature from harm which he, IN his
lovers psrversity, had construed her
seeking him out to warn him in the first
moments.
.sDod.rot the luck. I've been ez
blind ez a buzzard from the first"
thought the mountaineer, with a blaze
of blissful light bursting upon him.
And he forgot to follow the constable
into the house.
sIdeely," he said, barring her way
and speaking close to the little shawl
she had pinned about her head, sI was
'lowin' ter-morrer ter go away from
hyar an nuver KEN back. An ef ye
cayn't tole me ther word thet ye air
minded ter love me I'll do it Yit!"
Whatever the girls reply at this juno
ture would have been may not be told,
for she and Rufe became simultaneously
conscious of the approach of her brothers
and of Budd Wayne.
When that ill-conditioned party en-
tered the house the first thing of which
it was conscious was the presence of the
constable.
"You uns better put up yer shootin'
irons," said that parsonage, easily.
Budd Wayne, less far gone in drink
than the Tennent brothers, had taken in
the situation, meantime, in his own way
and with his own interpretations. He
wheeled on Idelia with fury in his eye.
"Is war you uns es warned the corn
stable!n
"Come, now, shet upl" drawled the
fuuctionary. "We uns don't want no
fghin' an no quarrelin'
But the rival suitor was not to be ap.
peased.
"This yere air a goin' ter be onder-
stood ter wunstl" he shouted. "Ideely
he'd ez good ez promised ter marry me
an her brothers air willin'. An I want
ter know, the case bein' ez it air, ef she
air goin' ter plot and contrive agin
me an ter talk on, stidder me, within
er man thet hev done her wrong in ther
face of the whole mounting"
Surely, had not Rick Martin had firm
and powerful grip, that would havea beer
Budd Wayne's last world But quick as
was Rufe Prisons spring, the .sconsta-
ble's hand was as swift. And then, too
stranger to see-Idelia's tongue-tied,
maiden modesty, her lovely shyness, had
suddenly dropped off of her and given
place to boldness as lovely, all alight
with emotions hitherto suppressed.
s'Rufe Pierson amt ner done me no
hurt" she said, looking with blazing
brown eyes from one of the men to the
other. ssAn'-an' loves him! An if II
air talkin' of marryin', ye air, dosen't
low to marry nobody but-hima"
"Waal, ye better gin yer cornsarnt,
Lii AN Ike," said the constable good
humoredly to the brothers whom, all.
these developments found in dazed
condition. "When gal hev sot her
mind faint no sortern n use ter 60 agln
her,"
Then to the rejected and scowling
Budd Wayne he volunteered jocose re-
minder of the fact that:
''Thar war other gals down ter ther
cove an up ter the mounting"
Budd Wayne was already striding
away in the .eeth of the strong, rough,
warm west wind, clearing the field for