The Red Cloud chief., 1905-02-24

ccpt your part of it. You shouldn't have
zone it. This evening was not arranged
In hCaor of visiting ladies' But you
mustn't think me Il comedian. Truly, I
didn't plan ii. My friend from Six
CROSSROADS must be given the credit of
dovising the scene. though you OWNED
IT,"
ut was II little too picturesque, !
think. | know about Six Crossroads.
Please tell me what you mean to do"
Nothing. What should II"
"You mean that you will keep on let
ting them shoot ut you until thcy-until
you She struck the bench angrily
with her hand.
"Thcro'S no summer thcatcr in Six
Crossroads. There's not even IL church.
Why shouldn't tlicy?" he asked grave
ly. During the long and tedious wen
ings ii cheers the poor C~rossroadcr's
soul to drop over here and take "A shot
ut me-. 1t whites away dull care for
him, and he has the additional exercise
Of running all the way home"
"Ah!' she cried Indignantly. "Thcy
told me you always answered like this"
"Well. you see. the Crossroads efforts
have proved so thoroughly hygienic for
me. As II patriot | have sometimes felt
extreme modification that such bad
craftsmanship should exist In the
ty, but | console myself with the
thought that their best shots are, IN
happily, in the penitentiary."
'"Thcre are many left. Can't you un-
derstand that they will organize again
and come In a body, as they did before
you broke them up? And then. il they
come on a night when they know you
are wandering out Of town.
"You have not had the advantage of
an intimate study of the most exclusive
people of the Crossroads. Miss Sher-
wood. There are about thirty gentle
men who remain i'm that neighborhOOd
while their relatives sOjOurn under dis
cipline. If you had the entree over
there, you would understand that these
thirty could not gather themselves into
a company and march the seven miles
without physical debate In the ranks.
They are not precisely amiable people,
even among themselves. They would
quarrel and shoot one another to pieces
long before they got here
"But they worked in n company
once"
.'Neyer for seven miles. Four miles
was their radius. Five would see them
all dead"
Cl,, .,,,,,ly tI,n l,on.l auain ooh Won
laugh Mt me. You make n joke of your
own life and death and laugh ut every
thing. Have five years Of Plattville
taught you to do that!'
IL laugh only at taking the poor
CrOssroaders too seriously. l don't laugh
ut your running into fire to help n fell
low mortal
II knew there wasn't any risk. l
knew he had to stop to load before lie
shot again"
"He did shoot again. If l had known
you before tonight, T. His tone
changed, and he spoke gravely. Il am
at your feet in worship Of your divine
philanthropy. It's so much finer to risk
your life for a stranger than for a
friend"
THAT is a mans point of view, isn't
it,
"You risked yours for a man you had
never seen before
.'Ob. no. / saw you at the lecture. i
heard you Introduce the Hon. Mr., Hal
loway."
''Then | don't understand your wish
ing to save me-"
She smiled unwillingly and turned her
gray eyes upon him with oubled sun
niness, and under the sweetness or her
regard he set a watch upon his lips
though he knew it would not avail him
long. He haG driveled along respect
ably SO far, he thought, but he had the
sentimental lOngings Of years, starved
of expression, eliminating In his heart
She continued to look at him wistfully,
searchingly. gently. Then her eyes tray
eled over his big frame. from his
shoes Ia patch Of moonlight Tell OF
them; they were dusty; he drew them
under the bench with a shudder) to his
broad shoulders (he shook the stOop out
Of them,. She stretched her small white
hands toward him and looked ut them
IN contrast and broke into the most de
licious low laughter in the world. Al
this he knew the watch on his lips was
worthless. 1t was a question or min
utes till he should present himself tt
her eyes as Il sentimental and suscep
tible imbeclle. He knew it. He was In
wild spirits.
"Co,s4 you realize that n Of your
AopoIsj might be q ShakingT' she