Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-07-09

For the last year he had given less
thought to her-that proud, stately girl
who hid ruined his life; that creature
with the Madonna face and the deep,
| serioual eyes that gazed steadily into his
and prbtcsted passionate Aevotion while
their c!vner's lips lied straightforwardly
| and solemnly declared her lsve for him.
That ,tas before his fathers failure and
the losb Of most Of his fortune. Then
Bah! D--n her!" said her self ex-
lied within as he dug spur into poor
Dick Ind turned the unwilling little
beast tif the home trail and on TO the
one thiIt led 70 the little mining camp,
three hiles away well forget her,
Dick. he added gently, feeling pang
of remtrse for hurting his pet
He ehtered the camp saloon quietly,
merelH nodding TO two or three miners
and a Iouple Of his own cowboys who
spoke H. him. Fred Bendixon was not n
"socia1le" chap, according 10 the south
western acceptance Of the term, until he
had hab a few drinks and forgot what
had briught him wherQ he was.
One " the Three Line outfits men
was taking 70 the bartender. and Boston
listened to him, carelessly at first. but
presently with interest.
"Scoh that tendahfoot heifer Tits
stayin ivah { Wheatley's tday, Dan
an say' boy, she's sho' rampageous
beaut. he is was ridin through Wind
canyon an les comm ont intuh III val
ley, W IN all of suddint l meets up
with 'et. an her afoot. She says, Good
mornini sir = by cad, an smiled 4 sweet
Is ef Was th Dock o. Bilgewater, an
was thu j ratified most f'rgot | had m
hat on hn cd ha'dly say Mornin! an,
say. ml heart beat fast f'r hour.
"whb is she, Peter" asked the bar
boy, wiki languid interest.
"Cm| |sin r somethin o. Mis- Wheat
ley. Cl me out yere f'r & git a devorce
fr'm I ole man. Wheatlcy tole Pei
Hynes. III Pei tole ME. Guess Mis-
wheatljy d ruin Whcat's face ef she
knowcd| he piped it,.
SO tiis fresh faced girl, hardly more
than POI had had her sorrows too! From
that INC dment Fred Bendixon felt drawn
10 her. She was braver than he, he re-
flected. for she concealed her griefs un'
der the Iloak If we'll assumed cheerful
ness, while newell. every one knew
that. rs one citizen phrased il, Boston
had 81 o. nough kick comm, ef e nevah
does lc ko Of ii-hkely some heifer done
kicked i'm"
Bend xon called upon his new NC.
quain,aLce the next day, and they had
long ride together on the Silver City
trail. Blston showing her the points I'll
interest. that is, where this or that per
son had been murdered by Indians or
MexicaIis. or where Jones or Smith hsd
been he up once upon time. There
was little else, beyond an occasional
view ut u distance Of some spot made
historic.ll by the Jesuits, with whom the
history bf the country began. IL was
late whin they returned to the ranch.
"Let lme thank you for very, very
pleasant day" said Mrs. Harlan softly,
as Bendxon, declining her invitation
10 Join Ihe group in the gallery. bade
her "go II night" at the gate. 1T is SO
pleasantlto meet some one-that is
THE obligation is ON my side, Mrs.
Harlan, answered Bendixon, with the
glamourlof the southern moon, If he had
only kn, Ewn it, lowering about his I'M
covered head. "Do you know what three
years without the pale Of civilization
mean 81 one who-good night, Mrs.
Harlan. 7
GOOD night. And she stood watch
ing his retreating figure, noting how
superbly he sat his horse, but forgetful
Of the alIruptness Of his departure.
"Divitely handsome, she thought
complao |ntly, and delightful company,
Since hl has so little to do, | don't
think il will be such a dull time, after
all :"
"Harltn tn must be brute" thought
the one tlme unsusceptible Bendixon as
Dick sal llopcd up the trail. "or else he's
a fool. Probably he's both, for an intel
ligent brtte couldn't fail to come under
the infiu lnce Of woman like that. "
She hid asked him 10 call the next
day, and he had promised TO do So
gladly u, the time. As he rode home,
however he asked himself why: To
what end!" But his hungry soul an
sw.red, lFor the sake Of intelligent
compani, ,Inship while You may have it. "
And Of Eourse he went, not only that
day. but PIE next, and thereafter there
were few days during the next two
months that they did not see each other
/
The Rims had been very light tha,
season, abd hardly cattleman, or, for
that matter, any one else, but was well
nigh in tlespair. Cattle by scores lay
dead on ,he plains and in the valleys
dead for want Of food and water. Not
so many bf Bendixon's. His were unu
sually wlll provided for, but hardly al
outfit in lhe county but counted its loss
by hundrfds, and even thousands.
It'll d ome heavily, though, when 1t
does COME" said Boston 20 Mrs. Har
Ian, as tckether they rode one hot after
noon Through Wind canyon on their way
10 call uIfun sick man mt the Two Bar
X ranch. lyon never saw storm IN
this coun Try. did you? Well, it is some
thing wofth seeing and keeping out OF
the way lf. 1t comes mp suddenly-very
and thd rain falls in chunks for lit
tie while then it suddenly ceases, and
one THINKS that S the end Of it, but 1t
isn't Presently the canyons and ravines
become Hooded with water, and each
one becoraes the bed Of q torrent. And
the wateiways on the lower levels-1
have seem rocks weighing tons carried
down Through them by the wall Of wa
ter. As i matter Of fact-by JoveV he
interrupted himself suddenly, that
storm wJ noticed over in the Burro
mountaint awhile ago is coming this
way"
He was right. Inside of five minutes
the storm had broken over them, ana
they had 10 seek what shelter was afford.
ed by the lee of rock that partially
overhungthe trail The storm was over
presentlyd the clouds, apparently with
out any ihpelling breeze, passing over
quickly aAd leaving the clarified atmos
phere and dim rainbow as reminders
of their visitation.
"Comel' said Bendixon, 1--WE must
hurry and get back to where we can
strike thelhills. Hurry"