The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-18

down and standing at her fathers side.
Her head was high; her eyes darted
a royal color burned in
her cheeks. She looked AIicklejohn full
in the eye. His glance fell before hers.
Where are your wings?'' she asked,
with a little, sneering laugh. You
ought to be an angel; you are too good
for a mere man. Understand, though,
this is my turkey walk. 1 raised the
turkeys. Sonny's jest managin' things
to save me trouble. I'm probationer,
not a full member of your church; I
won't ever be anything mere. Take my
name off your books-at oncei Do you
hear?"
NIichlejohn bowed silently. His breath
came a little short Lassaphine waved
him toward the gate. As he turned
his horses head, she laughed defantly.
and patted Sonny's arm. ''Oh. 1 wish 1
was a man, and he not a preacher"
she said. Then, raising her voice a lit
tie, Come on, everybody, After this,
I'll hold pegs; and Sonny may have
fun with the rest of YOU"
The walking went on with rush.
Though there were but seventeen tur-
keys, Lassaphine somehow found her
seld, at the end, possessed of $25. 1t
was almost dark, but she went into the
store, jingling the coins, laughing and
making jokes with all her court. Teeny
darted out of sight-he would never,
never undertake to wait on her in the
face of all those others. Jack Childers
at once flung over the counter into his
vacant place, and certainly scld LasSa-
phine some astonishing bargains from
the best in stock. She made no demur
since her encounter with Aficklejohn
she had a royal reckleSsness in every
thing. Therefore, she had flouted the
most trifling gifts. Now she took with
free hand whatever her wooers chose
to offer, thereby greatly scandalizing
the few other women making belated
Christmas purchases.
Let me take you heme!" Jack said,
looking up into her brilliant face. when
the buying was done. Jack was fair
and blue-eyed, and half a head the
lower. She smiled down at him, and
stepped toward the door. Outside there
was black darkness. She could not
make out even Ji1:ny's paleness against
the red of Brandy Sonny, whom Grant
and Haskell had managed to keep mir
aculously sober for ChristruaS eve, was
already in his seat, propped all about
with parcels. mo; I'll go as came-in
my own private carriage" she called
over her shoulder. Il don't want to
spoil sport. Be sure, you-all, to come
tell me how the turkey supper went
off"
Tell you what, she's got grit-that
girl has" Walker said, sticking mis-
hands in his pocket by way of empha-
sizing his first leisure since sunrise.
She amt afraid Of nothin' in this
world ner the next"
we found that out several hours
back" Jack said. And Walker could
not understand why the others laughed
so heartily.
Christmas dawned properly clear and
cold. with 2 powdering of fine, light
snow over everything. BY II o'clock
it had melted, except where it lay in
shadow. The road was moist, not wet,
from t; yet Lassaphine held her skirts
high above it. She sang in a gay, loud
voice as she walked, and now and then
made a dancing step. Until now she
had never in her life made a Christmas
gift, and she was going to 5estow upon
the Rouse tribe-fve strapping girls,
renters, and poor whites-all the gauds
and geegaws she had accepted from
her lovers. WheE they came, later in
the day, she would tell them of what
she had done. She smiled whimsically
in thinking of Doc Grants disrnay-
there was feud, tobacco-born, betwixt
him and the Rouse tribes progenitor.
Len would sigh thriftily over the waste
OF his money; Jack-Jack would laugh
with her and think it a fine Christmas
prank.
The Rouses should never know. She
had marked their name on the bundle
stealing in, she would knock. drop it
and. run away. Their house sat almost
flush with the road which a little later
plunged downhill into a dark and
threatening gorge. Either side the hills.
precipices, almost crowded in so close,
a. oh rfa =,
passage. Lassaphine hated the gorge.
She passed through it whenever she
went to her favorite church, Sharon
Brother MlcklejOhn preached there to-
day. The Rouse tribe were likely to go
and hear him. Lasaphine herself had
meant to be there-also to fetch the
minister home with her, to share her
Christmas dinner. Let the Rouses
have him-with the rest she thought.
touching the bundle of which her arm
was growing weary. She heard hoofs
upon the road behind and slipped with
in a roadside cedar ciump to rest. She
was hardly well hidden before three
riders halted just in front Of her. spoke
briefly together, then rode furiously
away down hill.
Brother Micklejohn had prayed with
fervor and preached with JUNCTION, yet
y
from Sharon. Against hope, against
reason. he had hoped to see Lassaphine.
He loved his Master and his Masters
work, yet he was barely 23, with veins
riotOusly full of young red blood. From
the first he felt Lassaphine's spell. A
brief while ne had fought against it
then he surrendered everything but
conscience to its subtle sweetness. 1t
was conscience which mad made him
anger her; he was jealousy afraid of
his own heart. Another man, in Son
ny's case, would have been privately
told OF his unseemly behavior. Love and
Lassaphine had constrained him to deal
harshly, upon pain of seeming to him
self a coward.
She must be furiously angry-still he
would not give her up-he would go to
her, and somehow make his peace He
rode with eyes downcaSt, reins nang
ing. His horse, all at once, SHE'D vio-
lently, then stood stock still. A glance
told him the reason-three other horse
men so aligned as to block the way
Jack ChildeTs was in the middle, Grant
and Haskell to right and left. All three
faces were set in a sort of steely white
ness. Instinctively Micklejohn under
stood, and, in understanding, compre-
hended how much he had mistaken his
vocation. The elemental savage. broke
in hin-love, religion, honor, ambition,
were as nothing by contrast with this
lust for q weapon, this mad desire to