Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-10-27
aiken their lodgings.

Often he too,i them driving and they
paid many visits to various mines in
the surrounding country. And where
ever they went there was but one
question in the girls anxious eyes.
Beth the girl and her aunt we're
most patient The dragging. unfruitA
full days must have told heavily upon
them but they proved their trust in
Darrell by refraining to question him
in any manner.
Fatalism took insidioUs root in OAR
rels brain during those four weeks.
Hitherto he had been sufficient unto
himself; now he. was coming to believe
that Fate knew thoroughly the end of
the game and simply daliied with him.
There was cause for this revulsion
Of principles. That cause lay with
Elise Avery herself.
Al first there was a wholesome, up
lifting delight for Darrell in simply be-
ing near the girl. He would watch her
covertly and, If detected, would shift
his gaze guiltily, feeling like a thief.
He knew every graceful curve of her
face, every fold of her soft, luminous
hair, every movement of form or trick
of manner. Her eyes opened mystic
rious voids, wide as Heaven and deep
as space, set with vague delights that
passed his understanding.
He did not arouse in her the same
interest that she aroused in him. Not
once, despite his efforts, had she been
beguiled out of the deep shadow OF
inf. hn fo1y If
his actions or pay the slightest heed
to them.
She was grateful to him and showed
it in every way. But gratitude was
not all that he had hoped to inspire
Let it stand to barrels credit that
the nature of the girls mission to that
part of the west was a sufficient bar
rier between them. The circumstances
surrounding that mission laid icy
hands upon them and pressed them
apart.
Yet, had these circumstances been
different, the matter could not have
been otherwise. Through barrels
brain, in those days, beat fiercely the
words of the Mexicana: you may be
honest but you cannot be honorable"
Even while he cried out against the
harshness of the judgment he recog-
nized his own unworthiness
Although his changing manner
toward Elise escaped her, it was not
so with her aunt Mrs. Gorton was
troubled
At the end of the four weeks Mrs.
Gorton contrived an interview with
Darrell that did its part towards bring
ing the vacillation to an end. This is
what Mrs Gorton conveyed to him:
The fate of Elises father was not
alone responsible for her sadness and
melancholy There had been an I'M
fortunate affair of the heart, a mis-
understanding, and a lover as we'll as
a father had gone out of the girls life.
Nevertheless, that shattered dream
had become part of Elise's existence.
The longing that somehow and in
some way the paths of herself and her
lover might cross buoyed her up and
gave her strength to face the future.
This information was more than
enough for Darrell. When he left Mrs.
Gorton, after that interview, he was
fatalist and courted the arrows of
outrageous fortune. The end of the
game could not come too quickly.
His resolve to return to Sandy Bar
Was further strengthened by letter
from Ormsby. Ormsby complained of
receiving no word from McCloud and
stated that, as business matters called
him west, he had planned to halt for
time at Anaconda and would greet
his friend in person within the next
ten days.
So Darrell once more rode out of An
aconda along Blackfoot trail But this
time Mrs. Gorton and Miss Avery went
with him. They insisted and he could
not refuse.
A numbering old stage coach made
the outward trip on alternate days. In
this the little party engaged passage
and whipped out of Anaconda in a
driving storm.
The storm may have been an evil
omen. barrels mind was now prone
to indulge in such speculations and he
afterward so regarded it.
CHAPTER XIII.
Darrell TALKS WITH AN OLD AC-
QUAINTANCE,