The Meeker herald., 1904-07-16

! He WIS 70 coward. trt IL src.s lis
weak point youas e, L. was. AMI was
.liir,s.-ially sensitive a1oEI il. We sub
lnl.iel 10 having oar eyes bana!as-'l.
and stood inere together on the stump.
every nsrr. alcrt. remember l had
she impression Jiat ,pme1lint- like 1
t-..rdhnrs5 would descend upon Us.
nothing Was fnrineT from oar minds
than animals Of any sor; when from
= distance We lea-i the boys give Il
Iona. atia yerIne ltalloo. once. twice and
( a.,siu- ard then there WAS Il great r.is-
Ting and tw,s cracking throughout the
woods. /; grew louder and lou',er. with
! what sounded like sIIort gusty pufs
Of wind. and presently came q steady
rumble. Ike irailpin- soldiers The
few moments of silence seemed Ike
hours. Till WE heard short below.
and. tearing our haDdkerciiefs from
our eyes we fouri ourselves sur
roun,.e,i by Il herd of excited cattle.
,.randi.hing iIseir horns anu fawin-
the ground and each other in their el-
fo-ts 20 reach 'iie stump
~rlisn ii dawrsd upon rs that we
an Al1s- rsate AA-F i-aA'h~ t-4iss
the ciIile by iozens. ~ we sIw them.
and !,y hundreds a. they would soon
gather would be ;raInplin. rs down III
their efforts to sc. the salt always
found on the stump when that lialioo
was given suddenly Il silo; uear by
brought down "a great horned bruie.
and The others halted ard CLOSED in
| about it. snortins and paving the
ground at sigh; of the blood hoy had
| tainted and falleI. off the stump. when
strange. brown. red-tooiel woman
| made her way to us. and. taking him
! in her arms. ordered me to follow
lit was weeks before Royal WAS him
self a.ain. As he grew stronger phys
icalIy he seemed partially 10 outgrow
his Inherited terror. Once. years afte-.
when he mentioned the matter to ne.
he said bitterly: Its worse than any
physical infirmity. or even insanity.
for it's ho.h-and yet the world will
| never call it anything. but "owar'lice.
Somehow il ali came back 10 iac that
morning Oh the unountainsidc. with Il
sort of paralyzing horror. After n mo-
ire1t. however. l got my grip again.
ard put the thing from me as would
IL nightmare. 1t was certainly out of
place at such time-they were - ra-
| dainty happy. those two: could hear
them laughing like children and see
| Sweetheart's scarlet cap. not dozen
yards away. through the bare. frosty
| branches There was a charcoal clear
ing little further mp. where the thick.
| stuntei underground about its edges
wns dense with the piles of Topped
branches. and Sweetheart started n
game OF hide and seek.
No one remembered very clearly
afterward just how il happened:
didn't get upon the scene until just in
time for the appalling climax, but at
the edge OF the clearing man rushed
past Royal. calling:
.CIimb-the lions loose"
His daft terror was infectious. Hoy's
old fear swept everything before it.
and he rushed blindly across the open
ing. plunsing madly over distractions
and past trees that would have proved
safe enough refuge. forgetting. in the
insanity of the moment. Sweetheart
everything. until on the far edge of the
clearing he came face to face with the
girl. paralyzed before the lion, crouch
ing, lashing its tail to spring Ii was
then that l. all unconscious of the SEN
satiOD. and unconcernedly rafting the
nuts in my pocket, sauntered up-in
time to see Roy's face blanch and a
violent tremor shake his whole frame.
Then he coolly stepped between the
girl and the furious beast. and stood
there. his eyes on the balls of green
Gre that flashed from the great. tawny
head. 1t seemed ages-it could scarce
~ have been seconds-nO one of the
four OF us moved a musc!e-till the
lion. with cry that was like Il howl
and a sob. turned and SUNK off into
the thick underbrusli higher up the
mountain.
Then we both rushed TO Royal. who
still! had not stirred. Sweetheart put
her little arms about his neck and said
all the things 4 woman would say at
time like that. Still he did not move
and there was something in his eyes
that chilled my marrow. Sweetheart
was frightened. too. when he would
not speak to her. After a moment he
turned and went with us down the
mountain. We two talked at Intervals
and Sweetheart spoke to him. but still
no word passed his white lips. The
girl insisted we should go to her cot
tage. and there her mother at last per
suaded Royal to go to bed. physician
was called. and after days OF anxiety
and consultation. the poor boy rayinc
in delirium. it was pronounced brain
fever. His life and ultimate sanity in
any case were despaired OF. The Cali
fornia trip. of course. was given up,
and Sweetheart's. mother nursed the
boy as If he had been her OWN. l told
her of his terrible heritage and the
gypsy incident. and she understood, as
Il woman might. what vital crisis in
his life his love for her daughter had