Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1902-02-01
OUT OF THE WRECK
By EDGAR wELToN COOLEY
Copyright 1902. by Daily Story Pub COD
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Valentine leaned back in his chair.
showed his hands into his trousers
pockets and contemplated. with sud
denly awakened savageness. the unfn-
ished letter before him.
Again and again he read the care
fully written lines, the frown on his
face deepening with each perusaL- One
sentence particularly dispIeased him.
Looking back with judgment So
bered by the intervening three years,
this sentence ran, Il realize that my
impetuosity misconstrued your display
of Just indignation at my unfounded
charge of duplicity, and that my tenn
per, always too hasty, forced rcy lying
lips to utter those foolish and heart
less words of farewell-words l would
give my soul. almost. to recall
For the twentieth time Valentine
read that sentence over linen ne
drew the point of his stubby pencil
through the words and jumped TO MS
feet For many moments he paced the
floor of his cabin. his eyes cast down,
his lips compressed, his hands in his
pockets.
And finally he paused at the table
and again read the letter slowly, care
fully. Then he laid his broad, brown
hand upon the sheet, and hesitated.
looking out the door at the gathering
dusk and thinking, thinking, thinking
Suddenly his hand closed angrlly
upon the paper. crumpling, crushing
it between his fingers. Silently he
scowled at the wall the letter clutched
in his tightly closed fist, steeiy gllt-
ter in his cold, gray eyes. Then the
paper dropped to the floor, and walk
ing to the door. the man gazed medl-
tatively across the plain
And after awhile he CROPPED his way
back into his cabin until he came to
the table Then he struck a match
and searched upon the floor until he
found the letter he had written. PICK
ing it up by corner, he touched the
burning match to it and held 1t be-
tween his fingers until the flame al
most licked his hand; then he dropped
it and watched it burn-Tatched it,
until it was all consumed.
Never" he cried aloud, again
pacing the cabin floor. mo, by hi.
I'll never write her. I'll die right here
before I'll let her hear from me again.
I'll die and rot-rot like dead coy
ote- in gulch.
What if it is lonely here in this
id country; what if do go loco
who in hi cares? She? Ha. he!
Why, she-she'd laugh if she knew |
was as crazy as a thirst-maddened
bronco-she'd laugh and lake her
yellow curls and go dancing away with
some of those Rock Lick fellows.
Il loved her-God knows loved her.
Who wouldn't love her? Who doesn't
love the sunshine and the blue sky
and the wild birds?. Everybod.- loves
those things, and she is all of them
together Nina is-all of them; the
sunshine and the blue sky and the
wild birds. But she's dirt, and
and-d-n her!
Write to her? 1 write to herr Ha,
ha, No. No, l say. I'll go out there
on the prairie and let the id coy
otes gnaw at my worthless old carcass
before I'll write to her. l told her
when l left that l would never let her
know where 1 was, and l won't-so
help me God, l won't. I'll stay right
here in this God-forsaken country and
turn into a dog-eating Indian before
I'll write to her. i hate her-God,
how l hate her,-and | never want to
see her again-never."
He gritted his teeth and clinched his
fists in his rage and his slow pacing
increased to savage stride, and sud
denly he took his hat from a peg and
dashed out into the night.
When the two red-eyed engines came
together on the curve. awful was the
crash. For miles around the impact
shook the earth like the rumbling OF
volcano, and the cattlemen. awak-
ened. dashed out of their cabins into