Evening journal., 1903-09-03


urged Dan, good -humorcdly, while he
held out a hand to receive the missive.
Takes you longer to deliver it than Il
did to come from Denver to Buckskin.'
"Ohl you Know where She is, all
right"
Didn't l tell you when / saw her at
P'cblo that she was going to Denverg"
'''Nes, 1 s'posc you did, but 1 haven't
been keepin' cases on her. Here it is,
now" and Sep passed the dainty billet 20
his partner. Cant be much in it, it's so
particular little" he ventured.
"Ill bet a million that you'd give all
your interest in the Maverick and a big
slice out on Con. Virginia if you could
have one like it. from such woman"
Don't 90 risllin' your wealth like that,
/ youngster. You'll need it if you cut the
! crittcr out"
Dan had already torn the letter open
and was eagerly reading it, and Sep's
comments were lost somewhere in the
dim back end of the dugout Meanwhile,
however, he was complimenting Dams
cooking in the most sincere way possible,
by deyouring it in large quantities.
A dugout in the mountains, adjacent
to a prospect hole, is not a place where
n persons are passing particular about the
little conyentionalities of swell society,
therefore Sep did not hesitate to cool his
coffee in the small tin dish near him and
drink it from that, nor did he hesitate to
pick shreds of mountain sheep from his
teeth with a fork, when he had finished
his hearty meal Indeed, it is doubtful if
Sep would have made any very great de-
lay in doing any of these things, in the
most refined districts of the settlements
until after he had been somewhat re-
civilized.
''Well, you goin' to keep it all to your
selfl" he asked at last.
Il don't mind reading some of it tc
YOU" Dan replied. ITS mighty good
reading to me-"
'Da' say" Sep calculated.
, Listen to this"
, I'm all ears, as Balaam said when hi:
, nag spoke
"That's a delicate compliment"
! so intended" Sep laughed.
! "Well, listen"
! CAS- l said before"
2 'Um-er, um, er-um-'"
That's very good. Go on"
p Captain Berry has several times re
quested me to say to you that he is anx
r ious to have you visit him-therefore u
n --as soon as you cam" Dan was read
ing from Helen's letter, particularly
n for the reason that his troop may be or
dered away from Denver shortly, and h
4. wishes to have you as our guest for sucl
e a length of time as you can make il con
o venient.
Y He has been telling me a great dea
: of your foster brother, with whom h
20 served in the civil war, and he is alway
v eloquent concerning the generosity, brav
cry and fidelity of this Captain Pete
q Nansant.
s OF course, when he talks of your fos
I ter brother | am continually reverting
}, in thought, to you. For you are my here
o Dan Taber, and candidly, | very muc
n wish that you would accept the captain
n earnest invitation.
1T plcases me that you and he hav
d become such good friends, for his wifi
. and | are like sisters, the most devoted
h SO you see, he is, in way, my brothe
S by marriage.
." I am sure it is nearly time for yo
il TO leave the mountains for the season
pl and we shall expect you shortly.
i. 'Um-cr-um-an so on. and s
N forth, and yours faithfully, Helen
Except the last three words of the las
paragraph, Hclcn's letter did not read ea
actly that way, but that was Dams mar
ner of reading it aloud
N 81 didn't exactly ketch the closing ser
timcnts," Sep declared, "but / guess yo
,n did, and understand 'em a heap sigh
b. better than | do"
"You are eminently correct, my al
he cicnt pard,R Dan admitted. "She's a
right"
'Ycs Heard you say Well, what al
you going TO do about it2"
I'm going TO Denver
IN That's sensible. But how about Il
Mavericks"
%. 1T won't run away"
m "Well / should say not The Nave
ick's too solid a thing to go slSippir
s. around. I'll 90 with you Wen realii
sr on Con. Nirginny, and exploit the Nave
ick some"
"Would you like to sell il, Sept"
''Just as you say, Dan. But with Co
Virginny, we can afford, ! guess TO woi
it to a finish.'
''Why notl"
10 Chats what I say"
S. With the discussion of plans for Il
Is winter, which was now close at hand, G
n pecially in the mountains. where Il
s. SHOWS would soon begin to fall and su
~ pend the work of the prospectors unit
rs late the next spring, the partners co
sumed the hours until bedtime Thu
in came earlier than usual for Sep W.
d tired from his long pull from Bucllsll
in and Dan from his sheep an
Of even their great wave of prosperity cou
not beat back the coming calm of slice
what do you call the color of
n Heleng'
On Dan Taber held up glowing mass
lg his beautiful young wife's hair that 81
n was bathing in the Colorado sunlig
that streamed through the bay windc
n where she sat
Hk "Ohl most people call it red, Of cour'
ut But my poor papa said it was broni
and I like to think it is that, for
an dear sake. Besides, that sounds bett
than red, or even auburn"
ce Il like that, too, but I don't think
ever heard of bronze hair but from o
person. Peter Vansant once wrote ]
er that he had lost a ronze-haired girl, a,
ed he asked me TO look out for her in n
It. wanderings."
of 'You seem to have obeyed his injur
m tion and found her"