Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-07-12

He had completely forgotten In his
panic that he had anything to fear
from me. His gun dropped loosely
across his saddle, his leg rubbed mine.
I saw this, and | changed my plan of
action. AS u horses reached the
stones I stopped, az if to encourage
mine, and by a sudden clutch snatched
the gun bodily from his hana, at the
same time l backed my horse with all
my strength. 1t was done in a mo-
mentl A second and l had him at the
end of the gun, and my finger was on
the trigger. Never was victory
easily gained.
He looked at me between rage and
terror, h,5 jaw fallen. Are you mad?"
he cried, his teeth chattering as he
spoke. Even in this strait his eyes
left me and wandered round in alarm
mo, sane!" I retorted fercelY.
But I do not like this place ony
better than you dol" Which was trus
enough, if not quite true. $50, by your
right, quick march," l continued i'm
peratively. 'Turn your horse, my
friend, or take the consequences"
He turned like a lamb and headed
down the valley again, without CIV
ing a thought TO his pistols. I kept
close to him and in less than a minute
we had left the DEVILS Chapel we'll
behind us and were moving down again
as We had come up. Only now l held
the gun.
When we had gone half a mile OF
so-until then I did not feel comfort
able myself and though l thanked
heaven the place existed, thanked heav.
en- also that I was out of it, bade
him halt. "Take off your belt!" I said
CURLY, "and throw it down. But
mark me, if you turn, ] fret"
The spirit was quite gone out of him
He obeyed mechanically. l jumped
down, still covering him with the CUR
and picked up the belt, pistols ant
all. Then | remounted and we went on
By-and-bye he asked me sullenly VIII Il
I was going to do.
GO back" I said, "and take tn,
road to Auch when l come to it."
at will be dark in an hour" he an
swered sulkily.
81 know that I retorted. 1--WE mus
camp and do the best we can"
And as | said, we did. The daylight
held until we gained the skirts CT tn
pine-wood at the head Of the pass
Here l chose a corner a little off th
track and well-sheltered from the win
and babe him light a fire. I tethere,
the horses nea this and within sight
1t remained only to sup. l had
piece of bread; he had. another an
an onion. We ate in silence, sittin
on opposite sides of the fire.
But after supper I found myself i
q dilemma; I did not see how I was t
sleep. The ruddy light which gleame
on the knave's swart face and sinew
hands showed also his eyes, blacl
sulien and watchful. l knew that tn
man was plotting revenge; that h
would not hesitate to plant his knit
between my ribs should | give hil
a chance. I could find only one a
tentative to remaining awake. Ha
I been bloody-minded, l should hay
chosen 1t and solved the question {
l. once and in my favor by shooting hill
q as he sat.
Z But l have never been a cruel ma
and I could not find it in my hea'
u to do this. The silence of the mou1
tain and the sky-which seemed
thing apart from the roar of the to
rent and not to be broken by it-awt
me. The vastness of the solitude
which we sat, the dark void abo'
through which the stars kept shootin
. the black gulf below in which the u,
y seen waters boiled and surged, Il
9 absence of other human company
Il other signs of human existence p1
" such a face upon the deed that | ga
y up the thought OF it with a shudder al
y resigned myself, instead, to watt
y, through the night-the long, col
- Pyrenean, night. Presently he curl,
- himself up like a dog and slept
. the blaze and then for a couple
- hours | sat opposite him, thinking.
seemed years since I had seen Eaton
IL or thrown the dice. The old life, tt
% old employments-should | ever
y back to them ?-seemed dim and di
d tant. Would Cocheforet, the fore
u and the mountain, the gray chate'
a and its mistress seem one day as dir
v And if one bit of life could fade
u quickly at the unrolling of anotht
III and seem in a moment pale and colo
ie less, would all life some day and som
u where and all the things WEB
'p faugh! I was growing foolish.
sprang up and kicked the wood toget
p er and taking up the gun began TIC pa
IS to and fro under the cliff. Stran
oo that a little moonlight, a few stars,
is breath of solitude should carry a M
v back to childhood and childish thing
a.