El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-05-19


incredulously touching his sleeve with
her finger tips ''Then it was not true!
You are not
Decidedly not, he laughed, taking
the bag from her nerveless hands with
an air of proprietorship. ''Will you take
my arm? 1t is scarce more than a dozen
steps to the hotel, but I am obliged to
take it rather slowly on account of my
ankle, which is not yet altogether re-
covered from it's wrench the other day.
hope you don't mind?''
''But 1 don't understand, 4" she fall
tered bewilderedly. 81 thought
"You thought that you might per-
haps find me hanging from lamp
post He laughed in boyish delight
81 am sorry that you had such fright,
but you must not expect me to be alto
gether sorry, since it has brought you
here -
''Then it was not true what the pa
per said?"
cit was, and it wasn't. Artalissa
did give me away to the best of her
ability. She evidently did see me from
the window that night, and she embroid-
cred the tale with envy, hatred, malice
and all uncharitableness. She was load
ed down with circumstantial evidence.
She had heard the jingling of my spurs
as I passed the house, the subdued
trampling of horses and the opening of
the corral gate a moment later. I was
even twisting my quirt in my hands
when 1 returned, fully three hours later
time enough, you will see, to have
run the stock off to a confederate, as
she cleverly suggested. There was al
most nothing to do but to arrest me aft
er that, though to Tregent it was all a
joke, while your brother understood it
perfectly. I encouraged the fun, partly
to see how far the girl would go with
her scheme of vengeance, partly be-
cause I was going back to town and
planned to ride down with Tregent
anyway, and somewhat with the idea
that were anybody on the place in COM
munication with the thief-one never
knows what systems of underground
telegraphy they have, these fellows
it might put him somewhat off his
guard. 1t was all a great bluff SO far
as we We're concerned, nothing more.
But the fellow who drove Us in from
the ranch improved the opportunity by
getting himself boiling drunk that
night, when he went telling the story
around the saloons, with all sorts of
booty embellishments, while that little
carbon crow of a reporter got hold of
him, and-well, the joke had rather
lost its point when the papers came in
from Denver this afternoon. But have
seen the reporter since, laughing grim
ly, ';and he will have the fullest posi-
BILE retraction in tomorrow s paper. But
you-were you very much frightened?'
daringly pressing the small hand more
closely to his side.
1T was unspeakably HORRIBLE" she
said, with shudder. ITO think that
you would not prove your innocence by
telling that was with you that night"
LAS if I could possibly have done
such a thing! 1 would have died first, -
he protested warmly.
81 knew you would, signing weari-
ly, land so came"
"And you would have stood up and
given such testimony for me; have own
ed before judge and jury, reporters and
the whole gossiping world that you had
met your brothers hired man alone at
dead of night; that You remained with
him of your own accord for half an
hour or more? Indeed Artalissa swore
the time was fully three hours, but that
was one OF her amiable exaggerations,
am sure. 1t could not have been SO
long"
whatever might have been the time,
I should have sworn that I was with
you every minute, " she returned sim
ply. 'What else could have done?''
'Oh, you heroinep' he exclaimed,
such passionate tenderness in his voice
that the girl half withdrew her hand,
with shy apprehension. ''And
to think what such an admission might
have cost you'll
They had reached the hotel, and he
led the way up stairs to the dimly
lighted parlor, while the sleepy porter
followed obsequiously. The lady will
go to her room presently. We will ring
when we want you," he. said to the fell
low, standing in the door until the in
truder was safely committed to the
stairs. 81 ought to have let you go at
once" he added then, turning to look
at the girls pale face with compuno-
tious tenderness, "but I wanted to
thank you, and for that other time-for
that ride to Cameron 's-brave little
You must let me speak of that.
It meant so much to me-"
"Ah, it was so little to do You had
saved my life
"And if I had, though that is putting
it rather strongly perhaps, you took a
thousand times as much pains to save
mine. And now again.
again am confronted with record
IF wasted effort. You did not need me
now any more than yon did the doctor
whom I brought you that other time
she declared, with certain bitterness.
''The question now is, At what time
does the next train leave for Denver?''
You do not mean the very next
train @, he faltered annealinolv