The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1903-01-16


But today the terror was upon her.
She had waited, at first eagerly. impa-
tiently, then anxiously and at last in a
numb certainty of disaster. -Four
o'clock came, then 8. Q. Z. and Arch had
not returned.
In the coldness Of despair she put her
OWL saddle upon Buckshot and an old
one which Arch kept for emergencies
ON Creeping Moses. Leading the extra
horse, she rode out as Arch had ridden
at sunrise almost due east toward the
adjoining car'r. The great white moon
OF the high country shone In aw-
full beauty V,~i that waste Of desolate
emptiness.
1T might be an accident" Stella
whispered. Something might have
happened to Arch or to Bob" Bob was
the rider from the next camp who met
Arch. "Why am l SO sure it is the one
thing? o God. let 1t be anything
anything but that! Not that! Not now.
when we've lived In heaven together
all these months and he seemed saved
from it at last!'
So she rode across the blank. mysteri-
GUS night alone straight toward the
| splendid moon. She was stone cold,
cramped in the saddle and all her
senses stunned down to one aching ag-
ony of dread, when, after three hours
of fast riding she suddenly saw before
her silhouetted against the sky the fig
| ure of a man-Bob, she divined-stand-
| ing not far from saddled horse and
bending over another man, who lay
huddled and unslghtly on the ground.
And the pains of hell laid hold upon
her heart.
The ponies feet made almost no
sound on the springy turf. and she was
close at hand when the man turned,
showed back his big hat and ran to her,
crying:
81 knew you'd come, honey! My
Lord. how I hated to stay and give you
such scare! But Holbrook's dead
drunk and got broken leg, l guess,
and the team must have run clean
away with the blackboard. The wolves
would have eaten him up If I'd left
him to go to you or to Bob. It's the
boss himself, Stella, and he's been
mighty good to me. / Couldn't
But Stella was not listening to him.
Her wide eyes, so pitiful with pain and
fear, had filled with merciful tears, and
she only said: "Oh, Arch, forgive me,
forgive me! Oh, L thank Goblin so
thankful, so happyw And she rested
against her husbands heart.
Il knew you'd be afraid of that,
honey" returned Arch, with quick in
tuition. II knew you'd think about the
blackboard coming up from headquar-
ters-maybe bringing jug-and me
letting go again. 1t just took the heart
out of you, didn't it? And | couldn't
do thing but wait here knowing, too,
how you were suffering"
Stella sat where Arch tenderly placed
her and watched him, clear eyed, smil-
ing. capable, preparing Holbrook for
the trip back to camp on Creeping
Moses. When this was done, he put his
arms around her, smiling down in her
face. "Say, honey" he announced
quietly, '.the jobs done, and done to
stay. knew it before. But | never
knew it exactly, as / have these three
or four hours out here alone, working
over the poor old boss there. It's come
to me, just plain fact, that there's no
more drinking business for me. The
stuff's lost its hold on me. l don't-nor
you don't-need to be scared of it any
more. I'm going to boss the job myself
and live my own life-seeY' And he
laughed and kissed her. She laughed
back at him in pure joy and lightness
of heart. That grim "if' was forever
silenced.
Arch's fenced ranges run into three
counties now, and on the headquarters
ranch there is great home, the abode
of cheer and Texas hospitality.
''Keeley cure be bowed" he cried
the other day when we were talking of
young Roberts. "Send him to keep
sign camp out on the Staked plain
along with an angel like Stella. Maybe
his mother would do.
"Give him six months of health up
In that clean air and being alone with
the plain, the sun and wind and God.
Thatll cure him, If he's worth saving"