The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1897-01-08

sake of one woman | shall always re-
main champion of the sex because
1she belongs to it. To me she is a
! representative woman, Il lady of the
first degree. You and the rest of the
fellows wondered what changed me
so suddenly from Il wild boy to ser
juus man.
| "A craven whose name is familiar
to you but which | would not stain
| NY lips to speak insulted me basely
and then added injury. | was hot
! headed in those days and careless of
results. We stood near the entrance
! of a hotel when he addressed me.
The insOlent words had hardly left
ms lips when ! grasped my revolver
aud turned on him. The coward ran
out of the door. y girl was passing
by. She was very young-not 1G,
| think. He grasped her arm, crouched
down behind her and swung her
around 80 that the barrel of my revol-
yer pointed in her face. Did she
/ SUI itN anu otIt lin ItN al w. MCCIb6
she lifted her grand, sweet eyes to my
face and, laying her hand on my arm,
| she said simply: Don't stain your
hands with a towards blood" John
my revolver slipped from my hand. |
barred my head before her. She
smiled and passed on. | have never
| spau bei. sipoo ,,ouar I,,rJ ,,.I,o slo
was, but the memory OF her has made
lie better man. | am trying to live
50 that when meet her | shall look
into her pure eyes with hands, heart,
honor and soul unstained"
Neal stopped, lost in a reverie.
John, with exquisite tact, left him
alone with his thoughts.
After that night these two friends
were inseparable. Having no near
relatives they chung to each other.
When, after a few years, Johns
health failed, Cherteriield Neal went
with him as a brother might to seek
a drier climate than the coast offered
The outdoor life and pure air OF the
plains were great benefit to both of
them. Johns weight increased, his
color deepened and he began to look
the picture of robust manhood.
They were riding over the prairie
one morning when john horse cast
shoe and he was thrown over her
head. His leg was broken and he sus-
tained severe conclusion Of the brain
They were then twenty miles from
their destination, Il little town across
the river, and nothing in sight but the
rolling prairie. For a moment Neal
WAS III "a quandary. 1t was evident
that John must have help at once
The horse was so badly famed as to be
of little use. There seemed but one
thing to do, and that was to leave him
there and 20 for assistance. So, pro
tecting him as best he could from the
sun and any chance, Straying animal,
he gaiIoped away with a sickening
heart. He could not have been gone
more than an hour, but when he re
turned 10 trace of his friend could be
found. He had thought that he had
marked the place, but the unbroken
plain delied his conjectures and efforts
Like It man beside himself he search
ed, but to no avail. y party of ranch
men and cowboys assisted him, hut
: .,,i,, ,.fTgr+- mana F-,i+1,..
\ month passed and the last Neal
WIS obliged to go home alone. Bril-
liant John McCree. His disappear
ance would be talked of for a little
while and then forgotten. TO Neal,
the unsolved mystery was Il constant
pain ami worry.
YEARLY he thought of all the things
he had loved. Nothing now remained.
Some of them lind remained with him
just long enough to show him how
empty his life was and then had left
him alone.
He was not Il cynical man. He
firmly believed that things worked to-
Stlllti iOl litS greatest SOOu W Ille
greatest number. Sometimes he
would think OF lis careless hoyhood,
of the wasted time and opportunity;
however, it had been without its good
de. 1t had taught him lenience,
charity and sympathy for others. As
Il lawyer, he was unusually successful
and it was due to his keen knowledge
Of human nature and his desire to be
fair and just and upright. When the
result of an election placed him on the
bench he was much gratified, as he
would come in closer contact with the
neGdful and the erring.
One evening he entered his private
apartment and sat down before the
table. Over it hung a woman's pic
ture which he had done in his leisure
moments. 1t was an ideal face,
charming in its youthful simplicity.
The brow was low and broad, over
which the hair waved loosely. The
eyes were large and sweetly grave and
the mouth seemed ready to break into
smiles. This face, stamped indelibly
on Chestertield's memory, was his
tailsman and guide.
y year erept by and no light was
thrown on Johns fate. He was think
ing of him one evening as he sat alone,
his head buried III his arms. 1t had
been long, irksome, unsatisfactory
day and he was tired and weary.
Suddenly a hand was laid on his
shoulder; started up he beheld-John,
as debonaire and smiling as gracefully
as ever.
''McCree ~ he exclaimed, starting
up; lit is you in the flesh: You prodi-
gal; where have you been -
Neal and John grasped his friends
hand until it ached. How good it is
to see you again. Where have | been?
To heaven, | think, Neal.
"The Indians found me after you
went for assistance and took me to
their camp. They were civilized and
treated me 'white'n