Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1904-06-04
CHAPTER XII.
BARRELS MONTH OF 1NAor1ols

CHAPTER XII.
BARRELS MONTH OF INAGTIolG
Four weeks followed, weeks OF vac
illation during which Darrell fenced
with necessity in the effort to gain
time. He saw Mrs. Gorton and Miss
Avery almost daily, calling at the pri-
vate boarding place where they had
taken their lodgings.
| Often he took 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.
Both the girl and her aunt were
most patient. The dragging, unfruit-
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
rel's 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 dallied with him.
There was a cause for this revulsion
of principles. That cause lay with
Elise Avery herself.
| At 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 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
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
grief; not once did she take note of
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 it's 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 lover as well as
a father had gone out of the girls life.
Nevertheless, that shattered dream
had become a 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
a 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 sMcCloud and
stated that, as business matters called
him west, he had planned to halt for
La 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.
The principal hotel in Sandy Bar