The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-06-16

forney.' said I; Gaping the venture
by telling him Wnat little he knew Of
Tarleton's disposition, and also of the
lndian-arming plot l had overheard.
Well dodge the redcoats, never o
fear; were at our best in that" he re-
Joined. rather carelessly. And as to
the Cherokee upstirring. that's an old
story. The kings men nave tried it
twice and they have not yet caught
Jack Sewer or Jimmie Robertson
a-napping. Ease your mind on that
score. Captain I~reton, and come along
with us, If you have nothing better to
90. | can promise you a hard living,
and hard fighting enough to keep it in
cOuntenance."
AT this | was brought down to some
consideration of the present and it's de-
mands AS fortunes wheel had
tWirled; I had my life to be sure; but
by the having of 1t was made the
pasest traitor to my friend-to Jennifer,
and no whit less to Margery.
Twas out OF any thought that I
should take the field against the com
mon enemy, leaving this tangled web
OF mystery and misery behind. In
sheerest decenc> I owed it first to Jen-
infer to make a swift and frank confess
sion of the ~iil-concluded ale of happen
lngs. That done. l owed it equally to
him and Margery to find some way to
set aside the midnight marriage.
So | fell back upon my wound for an
excuse. telling the captain hat | was
not yet fit to take the held-which was
true enough. Wnereupon he and his
men set me we'll beyond the danger Of
immediate pursuit and we parted COM
pany.
When l was left alone l had no plan
that reached beyond the days end
Since to go to Jennifer house by day
light would be to run my neck afresh
INTO the moose, l saw nothing for it
but to lie in hiding until nightfall. The
hiding place that promised best was
the old hunting lodge In the forest, and
th~itherward l turned my face.
1t was a wise man who said that he
who goes with heavy heart drags heavy
feet as we'll: but while l live I shall re-
member how that saying clogged the
path for ME that morning, making the
shrub-sweet summer air grow thick
and lifeless as l toiled along. For sober
second thought. and the u%nnerving re-
some sharp peril overpast, left me
aghast at the coil in which a tricky fate
had enta gled me.
The second thought made plain the
dlSpiteous hardness of it all, showing
me how l had reasoned like a how in
planning for retrieval- Would Jennifer
believe my tale, though I should swear
4 out WIN III "olu Oil tIe f1OlY EVAN
gelists? | doubted it; and striving to
see 1t through his eyes, was made to
doubt it more. For death should have
been my justitier. and death had played
me false.
AS for setting the midnight marriage
aside. l made sure the lawyer tribe
could lind a way. If that were all. But
here there was a loyal daughter of the
church to reckon with. Loathing her
bonds. as any tr~ue-hearted maiden
must. would Margery consent to have
them broken by the law? knew we'll
she would not. Though our poor knot
ting Of the tie had been little better
thar a tragic farce. it lacked nothing
of force to bind the tender conscience
OF a woman bred to look upon the
churchly rite as final
SO, twist and turn as I might, the coil
was desperate: and as l strobe on
gloomily, measuring this the first
stage In a pilgrimage l had never
thought to make. a fire OF sullen anger
began to smoke and moIde within me,
and 1 could find it In my heart to curse
the cruel of my ~rescuers; to
sorrow in my inrnost soul that they a
come between to max a living recreant
of one who would fam have died an
hOneSt man.