Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-12-27


lack of sound were balm to her
spirit.
Nightly she strayed up the coulee,
eastward, south or toward the river,
until early in May, second incident
occurred and interrupted her ram
bles. She had walked as far as the
swale that was part way to the Mis-
souri,. There she was startled into
a sudden halt. From a point ahead
of her and to the left sounded a gun
| shot.
! She sank down cautiously and
stayed close to the ground, her fin
gers steadying her, her breath sus-
pended. There was no moon and the
stars were obscured by clouds The
cottonwoods were a black shapeless
mass. She watched them.
No answering shot rang out; but,
after long wait, reply came from
the grove. 1t was 'augh, loud and
! tauEtiug.
She stayed crouching and presently
saw a small black object leave the
big blackness of the trees and advance.
Frightened, she arose and retraced
her steps, glancing behind her as she
went. At the shack, having found the
latchstring, she backed into the room
Her father and sister were asleep.
Next morning, on a plea of not wishing
! to alarm them, she refrained from tell
} ing of the shot 1t may have been a
| hunter, she reasoned, or a drunken
trooper or one Of the Shanty Town
gang. But the laugh-it rang in her
ears.
Several twilights passed.; then she
ventured out again. A lip of moon was
dropping down an unclouded sky; the
stars hung low and white. And when
she neared the swale she saw, good
distance before her, that small black
object separate itself from the grove
again and move forward.
She stopped. She was not frightened
now. She knew who it was. And when
| she saw his arms come up and caught
the CLINT of metal she called out to
him: Don't! Don't! It's me-"
There was muttered' exclamation.
and the arms fell. Miss Dallasr' he
cried and sprang forward.
Il was sure 1t was you," she ad-
mitted TREMENDOUSLY. And you've been
guarding here all the timer
Lounsbury was painting. Suppose
I'd f1red?' he said. II had a mind to.
Criminiw
You'd "a missed likely"
Maybe not. You see, thought, well
that Matthews or that precious
brother of his, they might get to both
ering you folks. Anyway, amt it dam
gerous for you to be out here late like
this? 2"
ut is for you. You get shot at
keeping guard on u.s."
He thumped the swale impatiently
with the butt of his gun.
"Oh, it was you," she persisted,
gravely enough. That is why came
tonight"
"Ah! You mean that can help you,
Miss Dallas. Tell me-tell me, what
can do?"
Don't let Matthews kill you"
Lounsbury laid down his gun. When
he Strengthened he stepped to her side.
"MeY he said. well, I'm a match for
him. You amt But what else"
She moved aside, averting her face.
There Is something, Miss DallasY'
"Y-e-e-s."
He saw she was disconnected and
strove to put her at ease. do you
know" he said, you're so tall in that
coat you almost look like a heap big
chief"
She did not hear him. She was not
listening. The wished for opportuni-
ty was come. She was trying desper-
ately to rally speech. "You-you
amt been round of late" she began
at last. II hope. But she could not
finish
NO" he said slowly. He rammed
his hands into his trousers pockets. II
haven't been around lately, but didn't
think you'd notice it." He darted a
glance at her.
'Was it dad?" she asked. did you
think
Eyes, 1t was your father. l thought
he went out of his way to be-wel,
KINDA Short you know. | was only
trying t be decent"
Dads funny" she said refectiyely. |
Whenever we get to a chuck hole, |
where all of us ought to pull t'gether,
he goes slack on the tugs. He's like /
Ben that way. So l have t. go up t.
him, stroke his name, fix his curb and
let some cool air under his collar. /
After while he gives a haw-hee- haw /
and goes on"
Lounsbury did not laugh. HE balk-
ed when 1t came to me-" he said So
berly, land it hurt. Afterward l kinda |
got it into my head that none Of you
wanted me-"
She looked straight at him But
one did-one did," she whispered, chok-
ing.
He pulled his hands free of his pock-