Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1905-03-31
CHAPTER XII.

CHAPTER XII.
BARRELS MONTH OF INAcTIoN.
-Four weeks followed, weeks of vac
illation during which Darrell fenced
| with necessity in the effort to gain
| time. He sew 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-
Jul 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
rers 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
rious yoids, wide as Heaven and deep
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 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. I"
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 Elise's father was not
alone responsible for her sadness and
melancholy. There had been an un-
fortunate affair of the heart, a mis-
understanding, and lover as well al
a father had gone out of the girls life.
Nevertheless, that shattered dream
had become a part of Elises existence
The longing that somehow and in
some way the paths of herself and hel
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 Bal
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 fol
a 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 q
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.
QUAINIANCE.
The principal hotel in Sandy Bal
was fulsomely known as the "Granc
2 Central" 1t was not pretentious ant
was lacking in many comforts which
i Mrc Gn1ton md ,x.c,,.lx