Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-11-04
At Lone Elm R Rarlch
tcopyrignt, 1908. by Daily story Pub. col
By Thomas p. D1onssort


 tCopyright. tsoS. by Daily Story Pub. co.)
 YOHN COWARD, owner of Lone Elm ED ranch, was young, healthy, wealthy and prosperous. To all oatward ap- pearances he should have been one of the happiest of men. He was, how ever, anything but that.
 Back at his home in the east he had met Mary Morgan and fallen in love with her, and, though not word had passed between them on the subject, he was confident that she understood his feelings and reciprocated them- Under ordinary circumstances there should have been nothing distressing in this; but, unfortunately. the cir cumstances were not ordinary.
 Mary was the wife of another man.
 One day. five years after Conard came west, he rode slowly across the broad brown plain. He was thinking, with his head bent, and his thoughts were of Mary. He thought of her beauty, her loveliness of character and her sweet disposition; and of her hard. grinding life with cruel, drunken husband. With all his heart he wished that he might have the right to pro- tect and shield her, and devote his life to making her happy.
 But 1t can never be-" he told him- self Never now"
 Before Conard there was an apan-: doned claim with little cabin on it. The cabin had long been vacant. but now, when he raised his head, he saw that it was occupied. He fell at once to wondering what kind of peo- pie the newcomers were, and think ing how pleasant 1t would be to have them for neighbors if they were nice.
 Presently a woman came out into the yard and, placing one hand on the fence, stood looking pensively away to the east, her face in full view. Gonard pulled his horse up short and stared in doubt and anazement. For mo- ment an electric shock numbed him.. then the blood rushed unanimously and great wave of joy swept over him.
 My God!" he cried, tits Mary!''i
 He started forward and just then she turned and saw him. Invol- untarily she stretched her hands out toward him and gave little. glad cry which he did not hear. If he had ever had doubt of her love for him he had it no longer.
 But suddenly there came a shock that sent his blood cold. A man in the cabin had heard her cry and had come out to her and pat his arm about her protectingly. Conard saw and stopped short, For little while his face was dark with anger, then it grew white with pain.
 .sHer husband!" he murmured. T had forgotten.'s
 He whirled his horse about and rode hastily away. The man called after him and Mary fainted. but, all unmindful of these things, he went on. never stopping and never looking back. S,a
 Ac the ranch he dismounted and went in. There was no one there ex- cept the cook, a dissipated wretch whom Conard had taken in and pulled through a spell of fever. Who this cook was, and where he hailed from, no one knew. He had come to the ranch unlabeled, and the cowboys had stamped the word "Chucky" on him for a name and let 1t go at that.
 Conard hastily gathered few things in travelling bag and then wrote a note of instructions to his foreman. He had taken up the bag and turned toward the door when the cook came in from the kitchen and asked for a moment of his time. Conard whirled about and said shortly:
 Well. what is it?"
 ''I see you are going away" the cook replied. Do you expect to be away long?"
 ssYes. Perhaps forever. Why?"
 Nothing. only wanted to thank you for all your kindness to me. I--"
 Conard turned away impatiently.
 You must not bother to speak of that he said. "It was nothing, and 1t is all right. I am in hufry now, for I must reach the station in time for the train. Good-by."
 He hurried out, threw himself into the saddle and dashed away toward the little station which lay ten miles distant.
 There was more-very much more the cook would have said, and it would have been of great importance to Conard. It was something he had been for a long time intending to say, but he had delayed because he had found 1t cruelty hard to speak.
 Conard was scarcely a mile away when man came breathlessly to the ranch from the opposite direction. It was the man Conard had seen with his arm about Mary. As he came around a corner of the building he stood face to face with the cook. Both men started, then stared blankly at each other.
 "You!" the cook finally gasped. "You here?"
 And the other merely repeated: #
 "You here?" ".
 There was 8 long pause and the coolx's head drooped until his gaze