The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-20
Our Daily $bcrf Story

| from the first and warned him. | Dear b1y.' said. in love prudence IS the better part of vaior. and I advise you to fly. Dolores is divine. but she Is hardly up 70 the Boston ideal But he stayed-the witchery of her beauty was | upon him.
 At first don't think he was altogeth- CT happy in It. I suppose 1t Is inevitable that we cannot escape from the standard l of comparison to which we are reared. You see. if one has always thought of life as mill pond. where one may pad; de about at will. it must be startling to suddenly find oneself launched on boundless sea with the wind filling every stitch of canvas and the bow pointing to undiscovered countries. It was like that with Philip Dolores enthralled every sense with her beauty and fierce love, but he could not reconcile her with his traditions Es ''God knows how two young and foolish creatures would have tangled the threads Of life and love, but that fate came in and ended the matter in a way that would have been melodramatic enough anywhere else but on the Rio Grande. One day. It was perfect day, remember, and the prairies were like an azure carpet of biuebens-we, Dolores and her father. and 1 Philip and I, had been riding far, going l to q distant part of the range to pick out ! some cattle for shipping. Towards evcn- | ing the weather, which had been so fine. ! grew suddenly hot and oppressive. The | white heat quivered and there semed Q | suppressed excitement in the very air. We had come rather unexpectedly upon4 the bunch of cattle that we were seeking, and the cowboys looked grave, for the | sultry weather presaged the storm, and they were trying to round up the cattle ! for fear of @ stampede. Sometimes, you | know, cattle become hysterical at the \ coming of a storm and break away, flying | anywhere away from their causeless and 1 senseless terror, trampling down every- thing In their path.
 ''It was only too obvious that we hed I exposed ourselves to this danger. There was nowhere to go, and the only chance was in keeping the herd quiet, as can often be dons ,By the knowledge of hu- man presence. We exchanged our horses \ for fresh Scnes, and began riding round and round, the men shouting. cursing, shooting off their pistols, anything. in or- der to make their presence known to the black and covering herd. Presently there was a deep and ominous roar. tn tremo- ling herd lifted their heads and listened, a bull believed wild and fierce. we felt rather than raw the tremor that ran | through the cattle. a blinding flash ot1 | lightning tore the heavens in two. the thunder peaied ana craShed, ana the Stam- pede had begun.
 "Fly. fly for your lives.' was the hoarse cry. ard had only time to see that the herd had broken in the direc | tion of Hartness and Dolores. Together, side by side, they rode be | fore the maddened cattle, Dolores with her face as pale as death. By and by Philips horse stumbled, the first sign | of failing strength in a mustang; an- other stumble, and Dolores drew from her breast a little revolver her father had given her; another stumble--the herd was gaining on them-and she fired; the horse and rider came down together. She l flung herself off her own horse and pulled Philip, dazed and stunned, behin the an. l imal, and crouched over him while tho herd swept by. We found them thus. Dolores was unhurt, but Hartness's head had been struck by a hoof as the cattle 1 went over them, and when we carried him back to the hacienda 1t looked as if he had come to the end of the chapter and that his love story was to be briai after all.
 "Dolores's grief and despair were mad. dening. I remember thinking it would be almost worth dying to be so mourned. We could not drive her away from his bedside. and so it chanced that she saved his life after all, perhaps. We could not ! NOuSc IEOfh otupOE IIidb 5CCHcu SSL~ ting down into the insensibility of death. and at last, in utter despair, turned to Dolores and bade her sing. Poor child, she was too wild with grief to know what she did. and almost lnvoluntarily she be- gan the bugle cal for taps'-you know it.
 "'Ah love. good night. must you go.
 When day and night need you SOP
 'He seemed going very fast towards that land where there is mo lights out,' but her passionate entreaty recalled him, and he opened conscious eyes upon the world again.
 'Dolores.' I heard him say, feebly. and she took his hand in hers and began covering them with kisses. and then slipped out of the room. What followed | was not for you or me to know, only, as you say, Mrs. Gray. stayed on for the wedding"
 The deep eyes had looked to for sym pathy were humid with unshed tears and even Mrs. Gray's fat hand was not quite steady as she passed her cup back for more tea.
 "You make a romance of it." she said. "but does the Mexican aloe bear trans planting? Will your Dolores be happy amongst us?''
 "Quien sabe," I answered with a shrug, "the mystery of love is past finding out"