Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-12-02
The Old SILVER TRAIL.
BY MARY E. sTlCKNTY.
ICopyright 1896. by J. B. Lippincott Col
CHAPTER VI.-CoNrINUED.

CHAPTER VI.-CONTINUED.
1t had been three days since her ad-
venture in the storm, and, indisposed
TO ride by reason of the lingering lame
ness of her wrist, she had kept rather
closely to her room, until now seeing
nothing of Harvey Neil. She caught
her breath sharply. the hot flush deep
CHING upon her cheeks as she saw him
sweeping the hotel with a keen glance,
guessing that his thought might be of
her, and deyoutly thankful for the
screen of lace which afforded her safe
covert to watch him, undetected. He
had exchanged his miners clothes for
:. well-ftting suit of gray with russet
1eggings to his knees, wearing a soft
gray hat by no means so disreputable
in appearance as the one that had
framed his head the other day. He
had. been good-looking then. but he
was handsome now as he stood talking
with the doctor, his attitude instinct
with the unconscious grace of splendid
ly developed strength, as he slightly
leaned against his horse. with one hand
caressing its neck. Something was evil
sdently amiss with one of the animals
hind legs, at which the doctor was look
ing. the two men standing for several
moments in earnest discussion of the
trouble, after@ which they disappeared
within the shop together.
Dorothy could hardly have told the
meaning of her sigh as after a little
she saw him come out and ride away,
back over the road he had come. She
had so far recovered from her rancor
that he no longer appeared to her the
~. Irid 1csf1
indignation had first assumed that her
fathers enemy necessarily must be.
Her father had said that the young
man might well be honestly mistaken,
even averring that in Neil's place his
attitude might have been the same.
She was glad to accept this justification
for him. It reinstated her worlds fair
hero in her respect, although she could
not feel that it narrowed the gulf which
circumstances had brought between
them. To assume that he was the vic
tim of error was to say that he held
honestly to the belief that her father
was no better than a common thief.
To call it misunderstanding could not
alter the fact of his actual attitude;
and so long as this was so, Dorothy
felt that any friendship between them
must be out of the question. For her
fathers daughter, from. his standpoint
Of belief, he could hardly have even
common respect to give; while, as her
fathers daughter, it seemed clear to
her that she could show no favor to
this Harvey Neil without in way being
a traitor to her fathers cause. But,
while this conclusion appeared TO her
simply inevitable, she knew in her
heart that she was sorry for it, knew
that in spite of herself she must &C
knowledge a sort of willful liking for
him which cold reason had not power
to argue down.
She was reused from her revery by
a scraping of chairs on the wooden side
walk outside the window, and, remind
ed of the walk she had been going to
take, was starting upstairs to fetch her
hat, when she was diverted from the
purpose again by the remark of an I'M
seen speaker. who had just established
himself there in the shade.
Pears like that horse of Neil's is
kinder goin' back on him." he drawl-
ingly observed, punctuating the re-
mark by q sibilant expectoration of
tobacco juice far out into the street.
He does have such luck, that teller.
Seems like everything is jest natchelly
foreordained to go back on him the min
ute he gifts aholt of it.
Sandy, though, never loses his grip"
another voice lazily supplemented, &C
cepting the first statement as beyond
argument. Speaking of that, bows
that case of his with the colonel comm
out, d'you Think"
.sWell, I amt bettin' on that at this
stage of the game" was the response,
in tone expressive of the speakers
confidence that he was cannily up to
snuff; ''but if I was, my money would
go down on the colonel, sure. He's \
bird. thatsold duffer. If you have any
dealin's with him you want TO git up
pretty early in the mornin' n hang on
to theend of the rope that's got the knot
in it, or it will be slippin' through your
fingers with now-you-see-it-'n'-n now
you-don'ti' Why, they talk about Jay
Gould comm out here to Colorader IN
iumpin' a hull railroad. I tell you Jay
want in it side of Col. Randolph Mere
dith when die gifts his jumpin' pants on.
He'd Jump church if he took notion:
.n' then he'd go to law n beat the
preacher N the hull congregation.