The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1902-11-28
BY II. S. cANFIELD
CHAPTER xIII.--(Continued. J

Maude glowered at her, his sharp
teeth meeting upon his black nous
tache. Then he raised his right hand
half threateningly and said:
1T seems a singular thing to me,
Miss English, that the rascal could
have deceived you SO completely as to
his condition. You are said to have
some medical knowledge as well as
mere mechanical skill. 1t seems
strange that in the nighttime he could
have found his way 50 readily to the
gun-rOom in another part of the house
and distracted his own weapon in the
dark from the midst of ooZens OF
other weapons hanging there. His
pistol was not gone on the morning
before his flight. for / saw it myself.
Therefore he must have taken time to
secure it on the night OF MS sudden
departure-unless." more slowly still,
1T vas brought to him by some one.
He was a handsome fellow, and is no
doubt responsible for a dozen broken
hearts among the Mexican bellies along
the river"
Now, Maude had planned this at
tack while nursing his bruise, but he
had mistaken utterly the temper of the
woman with whom he had to deal.
With one side of her nany-faced char
acter he was unacQuainted and this
was her ense of humor. His clumsy
attempt to t~errorize struck her as dis
tinctly funny, and, because he loved
her and she knew that he loved her,
the game was in her hands. So she
looked at him with every appearance
OF earnestness and said:
II know nothing Of Mr.. Weston's
typographical knowledge, or OF the
manner in which he obtained possess
sion OF his weapon. but certainly he
was the most beautiful man l have
ver known, with a most beautiful
voice and beautiful Reck-
less he was. but I am sure he was not
dishonest and he had a splendid
strength and courage. l came within
m ace OF falling in love with him
myself and ! am not sure that II he
asked me I would not have shared his
aight to the nearest Mexican parson-
age and be now q smuggler's bride. /
regret his absence more than l can
cay"
Maude looked at her placid face,
then marked . lurking devil of laugh
tar in her reddish hazel eyes and mutt
tered q curse. He saw that he was
losing ground rapidly and changed
front:
"Of course. Miss English" he said
easily and genially. she made his es-
cape unaided. 1t was easy enough.
Indeed II. unfortunately Tor ne. / had
not been in his way, his progress to.
freedom and thievery would have been
u~ndeIayed."
"Yes.' she said. "News OF the fight
sent to Fort Clark mex day. Did
you hear what Captain Harding said?'
'sN0." Maude replied incautiously,
''what did he say?"
"He said: Good enough! Next time
I meet him ! hope he will be hurt
IN fair light"
The ex-cavalryman. without another
word. wheeled and left her. She looked
after him musingly, with . dash OF tri-
umph In her face. She knew that now
he was even, more willing to work her
harm. but she cared nothing. Her
heart was sore and, womanlike, she
enjoyed making some one pay for it.
Nhe week which had passed since the
Eight Of her lover had seemed q month
IN length to her. She found herself
thinking OF him every waking mo-
ment, picturing TO herself his face,
his voice, his pose, his gesture, und
now and then q wAve OF crimson stole
70 her cheeks az 4 memory Of his ca
ress came to her. Work in the school
room seemed intolerable in its irk-
eomeness: the prattle at meal times
the most inane drivel possible to en-
dure. Even Allyn was hateful in her
sight and she avoided him when Dos
able. Indeed. her lengthy passage at
arms with Maude was not OF her seek
Ing. He had met her as ste was re-
turning from q stroll. met her at some
distance from the house and ranged
alongside her IN his usual assured
manner. To show how very much in
love she was It II necessary to men,
tion only that she had visited Wes-
tons room on the morning after his
hight. hoping to find some token Of
him. It had been pretty narrowly
searched BY the excited males. but in
one corner. under q pile of old maya
zines she had lent to him, she found q
single spur. It was not an attractive
object. dulled from use and rusted
from the river, but It was now locked
On her escritoirs along with her most
precious and secret belongings. She
had held It in her hands often and
thought Of the Wild night rides upon
which It had been. and suuddered ct
The p1rils which had encompassed him.
md prayed teverishly for his return.
Indeed, It would have needed only his
bcnes and presence to persuade her to
30 with him. whether he had mended
~ somewhat errant ways or not 10
Uuch : pass had . strong. proud. re-
cold maiden come.
H. wankAA Ia hA alone and N MI