Evening star., 1898-05-21

alius clingin' and kargin' onter some mere
sc1ap o the law they're pretendn' TO de-
spise. 1t makes me sick! Why. when Jake
husband, and laid in wait for Jake after
ward in tho Butttrnut hollow did tie
MIN to his hoss and fetch him down to
ycur Aunt Viney's cabin for an example
before | plugged him? No! Gn deep dis
gusO No! Why, I just meandered through
tne woods, careless like, till he comes out,
and Just rode up to him. and l SAID
But Saiomy Jane had heard her fathers
story before. Even ones dearest relatives
are apt to become tiresome in narration
l know, dad" she interrupted, but this
yer man-this hoss thief-did he get clean
away without gettin' hurt at alp
He did; and unless he's fool enough to
sell the hoss he kin keep away, too. So
ye see, ye can't ladle out that purp stufr
swaller it, "'
"All the same, dad," returned the girl
chcerfully, Il reckon to say it-and saw
more Ill tell him that eff he manages to
get away. too, I'll marry him-there! But
ye oon ketch Rube takin' any such risks
arterI' "N'
Madison Clay smiled grimly pushed
PACK his chair. rose, dropped a perfunctory
KISS on his daughters hair. and, taking his
shotgun from the corner departed on a
peaceful Samaritan mission to a cow who
nad dropped calf in the far pasture. In
cnned as he was to Reuben's wooing from
ms ellsibiiity as to property, he was con-
scious that he was sadly deficient in certain
qualities inherent in the Clay family. It
certainly would be a kind of mesaIIiance
Lett 10 nerself, Salomy Jane stared a long
while at the coffee pot, and then called the
two squaws who assisted her in her house
hold duties to clear aWay the things whila
sne went up to her own room to make her
bed. Here she was confronted with a nos
slnle prospect of that proverbial bed she
might be making in her wiIlfulness and on
WHICH Sho must lie. in he nj
somewhat serious young man of refined
1eatures-Reuben Waters-stuck in her
WINDOW frame. Salomy Jane smiled over
ner last witticism regarding him. and en-
)oyed 1t, like your true humorist and then
catchlng sight Of her own handsome face
IN the little mirror, smiled again Rut
wasn't 1t funny about that horse thief get
tlng on after all? Good Lordy! Fancy Rem
pen nearing he was alive and going around
with that kiss of hers set on his lips! She
iaughed again. little more abstractedjv
And ne had returned 1t like a man. holding
her tight and almost breathless. and he
going to be hanged the next minutei Co
iomy Jane mad been kissed at other times,
py force, chance or stratagem. In a GER
En Iaan INGENIOUS ,9 forfeit game of the locality.
for sweet kiss from Salomy Jane.
which she had yielded in sense of honor
and fair play. She had never been kissed
nke tnis before-she would never again
and yet the man was alive! And. behold
blushing. o was
She should hardly know him again
young n an with very bright eyes, a flushed
ana sunburnt cheek. a kind of fixed look
IN the face. and no beard-no, none that
she could feel. Yet he was not at all like
Reuben-not bit. She took Renhen,s
picture from the window. and laid it on
her workbox. And to think she did NOT
even know this young mans name! That
was queer. To be kissed by a man whom
she might never know! OF course he
knew hers. She wondered If he remember-
ed 1t and her But of course he was so
glad to get off with his life that he never
thought of anything else Yet she did not
give more than four or five minutes to
these speculations, and, like a sensible
girl, thought of something else Onca
again. however, in opening the closet she
FOUND the brown holland gown she had
worn on the day before, thought it very
unbecoming, and regretted that she had
not worn her best gown on her visit to
Red Pete's cottage. On such an occa sion NJ
she really might have been more fmpres
sive.
When her father came home that night
she asked him the news. No. thew had
not captured the second horse thief. who
was still at large Judge Boompointer
talked OF invoking the aid of the despised
law. 1t remained then to see whether the
horse thief was fool enough to try to eet
rid OF the animal. Red Pete's body had
been delivered to his widow Perhans n
would only be neighborly for SaIomy lane
to ride over to the funeral But SaIomv
Jane did not take to the suggestion kind
ly, nor yet did she explain to her father
Inat, as the other man was still living, she
Old not care to undergo a second disciplin
Ing at the Widows hands. Nevertheless
she contrasted her situation with that ~
tho WIDOW with Q new and angular safta.