The Greeley tribune., 1906-01-04
Judith ef the
Plains
By MARIE MANNING.
Author Of Lord Aiiinshan. Bankrupt
Copylsax, 1908. BY Hapes & Bro<hrn
[coNrIyUED.1
Copynsh. 1908. BY Hapes q Broehrn

two ahead rode long without speaking.
Then Peter broke the silence impa-
tiently:
"You did not really mean that. did
you:" He was boyishly hurt at her
fippant summing up of his beloved
blue country, and Kitty. tired with the
long. hard ride. and missing that some
thing in Peter that had always been
hers. turned on him pair of blue
eyes in which the tears were brim-
ming suspiciously. They were vel.
out OF sight of the others and had
come to the heavy fr.uges of pine
wood. Was it the psychological mo
ment at last: Then suddenly their
horses. that had been shifting the air
suspiclously, stopped. kitty's horse,
which WAS in advance of Peters,
rushed toward the thicker growth of
pines as If all bedlam We're in pur-
suit. Peters horse, swervinS from
the cause of alarm. bolted back across
the trail over which they had just made
their way. A large brown bear. feed
ing with her cub and hidden by the
iCCS III tlCs NCiC tiitNtIS LII AVN
of her had caused the alarm.
And presently the hush Of the shad-
owy green world in which Judith lay
was broken by light. sobbing sound.
1t had been so still that, lying on her
bed of pine needles, she had likened
it to great waves of silence. rolling up
from the valley. breaking over her and
sweeping back again, noiselesS, green
from the billowing ocean of pine
branches, and sunlit Judith bent over
the rocky ledge and saw girl max
Ing her way down the game trail di-
sheveled and fearful. Her hat was gone;
her pale yellow hair, that in shadow
had the greening tinge of corn silk,
blew about her shoulders; her trim
skirt was torn and dusty, and she
looked about, bewildered, hardly real
king that through the unexpected
course Of things she had been stranded
in this great world Of sunlit splendor
and loneliness. She closed her eyes.
The awful vastness and solitude op-
pressed her with deepening sense OF
calamity. Suppose they never found
her? How could she find her way in
this endless wilderness afoot: She sank
to the turf and began to cry hysteric-
ally.
Judith knew in a flash of instant
cognition that this was Miss Cole
dulled her powers Of action-amaze-
ment that she. who had stolen to this
place and crouched close to earth that
she might see the triumph of this pre-
ferred woman and, having seen and
paid her grievous dole, steal away and
take up the thread OF endless little
things that spun for her the web of
Life, was forced instead to be an un-
willing witness Of the others distress.
Judith had risen with her first i'm
pulse, which had been to go to Kitty,
but halfway through the thicket she
hesitated and reconsidered. Undoubt-
edly Peter would soon come, and Pc
ter's consolation would be more potent
than any she could offer. She shrank
in shuddering self consciousness at the
thought Of her presence at their meet
ing, the uninvited guest, the outgrown
friend and confidante, blundering in at
such time, pitifully full Of good in
tentions. She recoiled from the picture
~ from a precipice that all unwittingly
induced her to come on this expedi-
tion2 A sudden panic at the possibil-
ity Of her discovery possessed her. Sup
pose Peter should find her skulking like
4 beggar, waiting for broken meats!
She looked at the image of herself
that she carried in her heart. 1t was
that of proud woman, who made no
moan at the scourge of the inevitable.
Many burdens had she carried in her
proud, lonely heart, but Of them her
lips gave no sign.
In her contemplative stoicism she felt
with pride that she was no unworthy
daughter Of her mothers people, and,
catching q glimpse through the trees
Of the abjectly waiting woman who.
though safe and sound. could but wait,
wretched and dispirited, for some one
to come and adjust her to the situa-
ton, Judith felt for her wondering
pity at her helplessness. She waited,
expectant, for the sound Of Peters
horse. Surely he must come at any
moment, overcome with apologies and
she-Judith hid her face in her hands
at the thought-she would steal away
through the thicket at the first sound
OF hoOfs. But as the minutes slipped
by and still no sign of Peter sicken-
ing anxiety began to gnaw at her
heart. Had something happened to
him?
She did not wait to ask herself the
question twice. She crawled the length
of the thicket with incredible rapidity
gained the pine forest and made her
way beneath the low hanging boughs
Without stopping to protect herself
from them she gained the open space
and ran quickly to Kitty.
Are you hurt? What has hap