The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1907-02-07

alarmed at his boldness, Tearing h
would now be afraid Of him, went
forward with the deep purpose of
showing her a light, careless mood.
to convince her that he had meant
nothing much.
The little bent man at the house
would look at them with a sort Of
helplessness when they came in. some
times even forgetting the smile he
was wont to hide his hurts. He was
impressed anew each time he saw
them with the Furnishing power Of
such vengeance as was left to the
Lord. He could see more than either
Of the pair before him. The little
white-haired boy who had fought him
with tooth and nail so long ago, to
be not taken from Prudence, had now
come back with the might Of a man,
even the might of a lover, to take her
from him when she had become all
of his life. He could think Of no
sharper revenge upon himself or his
people. For this cowboy was the
spirit incarnate of the oncoming east,
thorned On by the Lord to avenge
his church's crime.
Then in the night would come the
terrors Of the dark, the curses and
groans of that always-dying thing be-
hind him. And always now he would
e the hand with the silver bracelet
at the wrist, Haunting in his face
the shivering strands of gold with.
the crimson patch at the end. Yet
even this, because he could see it,
was less fearful than the thing he
could not see, the thing that crawled
or lurched relentlessly behind him,
with the snoring sound in its throat,
the smell of warm blood and the
horrible dripping Of it, whose breath
he could feel on his neck and whose
%nerveless hands sometimes fumbled
weakly at his shoulder, as it strove
to come in front of him.
He sat sleepless in his chair with
candles burning for three nights when
Follett, late in August, went off to
meet a messenger from one of his
fathers wagon trains which, he said.
vas on its way north. Fearful he was
the meaning of his presence, he was
in~expressibly glad when the GentilS
returned to a him from the terrors
Of the night.
And there was now a new goad of
remorse. The evening before Fol
let's return he had found Prudence
in tears after a visit to the village.
With a sudden great onrush of pity
he had taken her in his arms to
comfort her, feeling the selfishness
strangely washed from his love, as the
sobs convulsed her.
Come, come, child-tell your ia
Their what it u.s." he had urged. her,
and when she became a little quie-
she had told him.
Sch, Daddy, dear-I've just heard
such an awful thing, what they talk
of me in AMAZON, and of you and my
mother--shameful!"
He knew then what was coming.
he had wondered, indeed, that this
talk should be so long in reaching
llSI, UuI Liz WdlLSu- SllOllLly, SOOLIllllS
her.
They say, whoever my mother was
you couldn't have married her-that
Christina is your first wife, and the
temple records show it. And, oh,
Daddy, they say it means that l am
a child of sin-and shame-and it
made me want to kill myself"
-
Another passion of tears and sobs
had overwhelmed her, and all but
broken down the little little man.
Yet he controlled himself and soothed
her again to quietness.
1T is all wrong, child, all wrong.
You are not a child of sin, but a
child of love, as rightly born as any
in AMAZON. Believe me, and pay no
heed to that talk"
"They have been saying it FOR years,
and I never knew"
"They say what is not true"
"You we're married to my mother,
them" :
He waited too long. She OWNED,
clear though his answer was, that he
had evaded, or was %quibbling in some
way.
"You are the daughter Of a truly
married husband and wife, as truly
married as were any pair"
And though she knew he had turned
her question, she saw that he must
have done it for some great reason
of his own, and, wen in her grief,
she would not pain him by asking
another. She could feel that he suf.
fered as she did, and he seemed,
moreover, to be pitifully and strange
ly frightened.
When Follett came riding back that
evening he saw tht Prudence had been
troubled. The c%andle-light showed
sadness in her dark eyes ard in the
weighted ne of her mouth. He
was moved to take her in his arms
and soothe her as he had seen moth.
ers do with some sorry little chill.
dren. But instead of this he ques-
toned her father sharply when their
corn-husk mattresses had been put
before either side of the freplace for