The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-05
THE ADVERTISERS DAILY SHORT STORY

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 pend In the road and swept along the banks of, Phantom Lake, caught a glimpse of a white cross shining brightly Tn the rays of the setting sun some instance back from the road.
 Ana as was gazing at the lonely grave wondering if 1t had a tragedy, I saw man arise from the mesquite bushes beside It and drag himself away into me dusk-7a man so shrunken, so de- dered. s-
 Poor devil" said the grizzied driver at my side. cracking his whip over the heads of his leaders. poor devil there ne goes, wounded in flesh, wounded in life" 1 '"' "s"' 'hu"ea out or ms
 He paused a moment gaxed silently over the valley. Then he turned to me sharply.
 Tt beats the very old devil" he said
 what man will do for the love of a woman Now. there's Melqiades Lopez that him you saw dragging his miser- able body. like a wounded coyote, over the sand and cactus--there's Melaaiades, enduriE the bangs and the tortures of hell, and all on account of the beautiful face of a woman.
 And yet, Gawd. can't say that T blame him. If you ever saw Pliney-" NAo AoPoSA liltO ShcnCe. f1I6 TOuKn, DrOWn face grew saddened aud he sighed. Then he resumed:
 "DeIphina. that was her name-DeI- phfna Sanchez. She was a dream of a girl-a dream that seemed to throb in each drop of your blood pulsing warm in your veins.
 "rll never forget the first time gazed into her eyes and saw the bright glitter that leaped from their ebony depths. It gave me feeling of loneliness, like I An he fHla tnH oyt up at the stars through the heart of the midnight. And her hair-Gawd, her hair! It fell over the snow of her shoulders as misty. as thick and as soft as the vapors that kiss the white brow of the mountains over there at St. Martins.
 Her face-when God made that face He united the sweetness of June and its roses with the mellower gleam of Co., tober. It was a face that seemed plead- ing, seemed begging for love, and made man willing to part with his soul just to feel the soft touch of her arms around his neck and the dew of her breath on his forehead"
 He frowned, and suddenly flinging his whip lash, hit the bud from a cactus.
 But the trail that led to her heart was staked with bullets that missed in their wrath and the gleam of her eyes was never more deadly or bright than the flash of the bowies clasped tight in the hands driven mad by magic.
 "The trouble began as dance given down on the Pecos when Piney was only i6 No flower that God ever dropped down into this desolate valley was fairer than she was that night as she sat where the mellow light fell on her proud little head and her volupt ious arms and her gently pulsating bosom.
 "In the wonderful silk of her hair there was fastened a cluster of roses as red as her lips, and her graceful young form was enveloped in immaculate white that deepened the jet of her eyes.
 That was the fairy that laughed and chatted and tossed her curls and danced madly over the hearts of the boys to the strains of the screeching old fiddle that Uncle Bill Claveness played as he sat on Q barrel in a corner. The comoina- ton was ripe for raising the devil and he'll was to pay before the ball was half over.
 Just how the row started has never been settled. but. all of a sudden. hush seemed to settle, the face of the girls turned pale. and the boys placed their turned upon Meiquiades. Piney, and a greaser from down on the Rio.
 With his arm around the waist Of the girl and a scowl on his face as dark as the gloss of her curls, Lopez stood who crouched like a tiger just ready to spring A moment of silence so deep you could cut 1t. and then with snarl the ereaser ieaped straight for the tnTOaL or HIS TlNHi. tHC hIlLC HI hic HohN -gleaming bright in the light~of the lamps.
 The. point of his weapon plowed it's way through the side of Lopez but bullet full into his face shattered the nerve of the greaser. and he sank on his knees. his blood staining red the white dress of the one he had loved and had died for. his fast chilling lips touching softly the hem of her garment.
 With his smoking revolver stu ciasped in his hand. Melquiades jerked the blood dripping knife from his quivering flesh and flung 1t, with sheer of contempt, at the motlonless form of the greaser. Then turning his glittering eyes on the boys in the room, he swore he would shoot out the heart of any galoot who dared to make love to the fairy.
 At his words dozen revolvers were flashed and he backed Into a corner with a gleam in his eyes that proclaimed he would make his bluff good But Piney: a dash of red on her cheeks as bright as the red on her dress. demanded he put up his weapon.
 For a moment he gazed In her eyes,
 Thursdays story. LITTLE FOXES" by