The Jennings daily record. [volume] (Jennings, La.) 1900-1903, 1902-02-07

Valentine leaned back in his chair,
showed his hands into his trousers
pockets and contemplated with sud
denly awakened savageness, the unfin-
ished letter before him.
Again and again he read the care
fully written lines, the frown on his
face deepening with each perusll. One
sentence particularly displeased him.
Looking back with a judgment So
bered by the intervening three years.
this sentence ran, Il realize that my
impetuosity misconstrued your display
of just indignation at my un1ouhoeu
charge of duplicity, and that my tenn
per, always too hasty, forced my 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. lheh ne
drew the point Of his stubby pencil
through the words and jumped 10 MS
feet. For many moments he paceo the
floor of his cabin, his eyes cast down.
his lips compressed, his hands In mis-
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 hesitateu'
| looking out the door at the gathering
dusk and thinking. thinking. thinking.
Suddenly his hand closed angrlly
upon the paper, crumpl1ng, crushlhs
it between his fingers. Silently ne
scowled at the wall, the letter clutcheo
in his tightly closed fist, steely gil1-
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 10
the table. Then he struck a match
and searched upon the floor until ne
found the letter he had written. PICK
ing it up by a corner, he touched the
burning match to it and held IL pc
tween his fingers until the flame al
most licked his hand; then he dropped
it and watched it burn-watched 1t
until it was all consumed.
"Never!" he cried aloud, agar
pacing the cabin floor. NO, 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 a gulch.
What if it is lonely here in this
id country; what if do go loco
who in HI cares? She? Ha! ha
Why, she-shed laugh if she knew
was as crazy as a thirst-maddene'
bronco-she'd laugh and sAake he
yellow curls and go dancing away wit
some Of those Rock Lick fellows.
81 loved her-God knows l loved hel
Who wouldn't love her? Who doesn
love the sunshine and the blue SIX
', and the wild birds? Everybody love
=. those things, and she is all of the1
; together. Nina is-all of them; tn
sunshine and the blue sky and tn
;, wild birds. But she's a firt, and
. and-d-n her!
Write to her? write to her? Ha
ha! No! No, I say. III go out thel
>, on the prairie and let the id co!
- otes gnaw at my worthless old carca:
. before I'll write to her. I told ht
when l left that 1 would never let h'
know where I was, and l won't-s
" help me God, l won't. III stay rigl
- here in this God-forsaken country ar
=. turn into a dog-eating Indian befoI
I'll write to her. l hate her-GO
how hate her!-and l never want
see her again-never!"
:, He gritted his teeth and clinched h
fists in his rage and his slow pacir
increased to a savage stride, and SUI
denly he took his hat from peg ar
dashed out into the night.
.
?, When the two red-eyed engines can
:, together on the curve, awful was II
: crash. For miles around the impa
l. shook the earth like the rumbling
{, a. volcano, and the cattlemen. awal
e ened, dashed out of their cabins in
/ the night, their nerves tingling vii
I a nameless fear.
e Coyotes. dashing from their hidfr
l. places, paused a moment in wonde
o and with paws uplifted, gazed at Il
l. awful scene, then turned and ran, a
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