The Greeley tribune., 1905-11-16

Only the SiUur qrdtched.
rife speculation as to his destination
among the group that watched him
from the DaXes' front door Mrs.
DaX, who entertained so profound Il
respect for her own omniscience that
she disdained to arrive at a conclu-
sion by a logical process of deduction,
was 'Humb certain that he had gone
after rustlers" Leander, who had
held no opinions since his marriage
except that first and all comprehen-
sive tenet of his creed-that his wife
was n person to be loved, honored and
| obeyed acknowledgement with his lady
by a process of reflex action. The fat
| lady, who had commonplace for ev
were all coming to-" Miss Carmichael,
who was beginning to find her ca
pacity for amazement overstrained.
| alone accepted this last incident with
apathy. Mr. Hamilton might have
gone in swift pursuit of cattle thieves
or he might be riding the mare to
death for pure whimsy. Only Judith
was squirting across the wilderness at
breallneck speed to see q girl at Wet
more's. But her lack of comment
caused no ripple Of surprise in the flow
Of loose Tipped speculation that served
for the time being to inject u casual
interest into the talk of these folk.
, bored to the verge of demoralizaticr
hy lopr xvoitipO fo,. Cb,Ivv
Judith preferred to confirm her ap
prehensions regarding Hamilton's ride
alone. She knew-had not all her wo
mans intuitions risen in clamorous
warning?-yet she hoped, hoped de-
| spairingly, even though the dread alter
native to the girl at the Wetmore ranch
threatened lynch law for her brother.
Her very gait changed as she withdrew
from the group about the door, covertly
gaining her vantage ground inch by
inch. The heels Of her riding boots
made no sound as she stole across the
kitchen floor, toeing in like an Indian
tracking an enemy through the forest.
The small window at the back of the
kitchen commanded a view of the road
in all its sprawling circumlocution.
Seen from this prospect it had no more
design than the idle scrawlings of a
child on bit of paper. but the choice
of roads to good and evil was not
fraught with more momentous conse
quences than was each prong OF that
| fork toward which Hamilton was gal
loping.
The right arm swung toward the
Wetmore ranch, where at certain times
during the course Of the year a hun
dred COW punchers reported on the
stock that grazed in four states. At
certain seasons, likewise, despite the
fact that the ranch was well into the
foothill country, there might be found
a New York family playing at life
primeyal with the cooperation Of por
celain bathtubs, a French chef and
electric light.
The left fork of the road had mean.
er destiny. 1t dipped straight into des-
olation, penetrating a naked wilder
ness where bad men skulked till the evil
they had done was forgotten in deeds
that called afresh to heaven for venge-
ance.
|
rowing eyes. And now she was all
Indian, the white woman in her dead
Only the Sioux watched, and, in the
patient, Indian style, bided its time
"Cattle thieves" "the girl at Wet
mores"-the words sang themselves In
her head like an incantation. Cattle
thieves" meant her brother, their rec
ognized leader-her brother, who was
dearer to her than the heart in her
breast, the eye in her head, the right
hand that held together the shambling,
uncertain destiny of her people. Would
he turn to the left, Justice, on a pale
horse, hunting her brother gallows-
wardl Would he turn toward the
right, the impetuous lover squirting his
steed that he might come swiftly to
the woman. A pulse in her bosom
rose slowly until her breath was sus-
pended, then fell again. She was still
watching, without an outward culver,
long after he had turned to the right
and the woman.
CHAPTER VI.