Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-12-03

head What was Lis present ven tuy.:" Ilel. eye had l,.s, c!t,tI.-1,. i} "N rrr,s!aIl. nora to..,-est ''t'' 1oz''. lt.'t - her heart Va, ste&rr.a@ 'ii~ttu.t -f all things. Her mind waS busy Witb II multitude ef schemes Fool tA4Ieh s4a= had been. she would not be tae il'iru ment of her brothers nndoihG
 i've come too far she cried in sud- den dismay "I should have stopped at the foot of the divide Eve never been over the trail before.'
 "You foolish child, Why should you stop i'll tine middle of the wilderness:'
 She wheeled the mare about and faced him. d figure of graven resolu tion.
 II promised to meet Tom Iorimer there Now you know.
 With which she cracked Dolly sharp ly with her heel and began to retrace her way over the trail Peter turned his horse and followed, with the feel ing of utter helplesSness that d man has when confronted with the granite obstinacy of women. Judith had meanwhile expected that the announce ment of her mythical appointment with Tom Lormer would be received diff ferently Tom Lorimers reputation was of the worst An eastern man for merly. an absconder from justice, ru- nor was busy with tales of unGodiy merrymaking that went on at his ranch, where no woman went except painted wisps from the dance halls.
 
 spite his Shortcomings as lover, to see in Judth'S statement anything more than sisterly devotion so deeply unseitish that it failed to take into account the danger to which she sub jected herself.
 However. it was plainly his duty to prevent an unprotected rendezvous with Lorimer. to reason. to plead, and, if he should fail to bring her to reasonable frame of mind, to go with her, come what would of the result There were reasons innumerable why be. cattleman, should avoid the ap pearance of dealing with the sheep fac ton. he reflected grimly. Lorimer owned sheep, many thousand head. His herds had been allowed to graze un- molested. while smaller owners. like Jim Rodney, had been crowded out be- cause his influence politically, was a thing to be reckoned with, so Peter followed Judith, pleading Judith's cause. She did not understand, he told her, what she was doing, and, while perhaps there WAS not another man in the country who would not honor her unselfshness in coming to him, Lorimer's chivalry was not a thing to be reckoned with drunken beast that he was, and Judith. worn with the struggle, tried beyond measure, made reckless. by the daily infusion of ill fortune, pulled up the mare and ! laughed ulpieasantly.
 You think lm going to see Lorimer about Jim: I'm going with him to merrymaking We're old pals, Lorimer and L.
 Judith, dear. has it come to this that you not only distrust an old friend, but that you try to degrade yourself to hide from him the fact that you are going to Nour brothers? You've never spoken to Lorimer heard him say. not q week ago. that he had never sue ceeded in making you recognize him. You deceived me at first when you spoke of meeting him-I thought you had d message from Jin-but this talk of morrymaking is beneath you He shrugged his shoulders in disgust He felt he torrent of grief that rent her. No sob escaped her lips. There was no convulSive movement of shoulder. She rode beside him, still as the desert be- fore tue sand storm breaks. her soul scared With white lot iron that knows no saving grace of sob or tear.
 Peter drew out his watch tits a quarter to II. We'll have a hard bit of riding to reach Blind creek before midnight"
 Then he knew as well as she, per- haps better, the route to Jim's hiding place. She had never been there as yet And, if Peter knew, doubtless ev- cry cattleman in the country knew. What a fool she had been with her ta K of meeting Tom Lorimer! A sense of utter defeat seemed to paralyZe her energies. Physical weariness was tell ing on her. She had been in the sad de since q little past noon. and il w.. : now not far from midnight. And stil. there was the unansTe.ed question Of Peters errand. It was long since ei- ther had broken the silence. X delicious coolness had crept into the air with the approach of midnight. Judith, breath ing deep drafts of it, reminded herself of the stoicism that was hers by birth right.
 "Peter'-her voice lost some of it's old ring. but it had a deeper note Peter, we make strange comrades. you and l, ill a stranger world. We meet on Horse Thief trail and tllar,