The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-10-27

She had already settled his heroic
quality
We amt harkenin' to me, Salomy.'
Safomy Jane started
Here I'm askin' We if we've see that
hound Phil Larrabee sneaking by yer
today?"
Salomy Zane had not. But she be-
came interested and self-reproachful,
for she knew, that Phil Larrabee was
one of her fathers enemies. He
wouldn't dare to go by here unless he
knew you were out" she said quickly.
That's what gets me-" he said,
scratching his grizzled head. I've
been kind o. thinkin' o. him all day,
and one of them Cinnamon said he
saw him at Sawyer's Crossing. He
was a kind of friend O. Pete's wife.
That's why l thought yer might find
out eff he'd been there" Salomy Jane
grew more self-reproachful at her
fathers self-interest in her 'neighbor-
Illness" Thar was tracks over the
far pasture that wern't mine. / fol-
lowed them, and they went round and
round the house two or three times. eZ
eff they mout hev bin prowlin', and
then I lost 'em in the woods again.
It's lust like that sneakin' hound Lar
rabee to hev bin lynn in wait for me
square in the OPEN
You just lie low, dad, for day OF
two more. and let me do little prowl-
in" said the girl, with sympathetic
indignation in her dark yes. Eff its
that skunk. I'll spot him soon enough
and let you know whar he's hiding"
you'll just stay where We are. Sa-
lomy," said her father decisively
This amt no woman's work-though
I amt sayin' you haven't got more
head for it than some men l know"
Nevertheless, that night, after heI
father had gone to bed, Salomy Jane
sat by the open window of the sitting
room in an apparent attitude of Ian
guild contemplation, but alert and in
tent of eye and ear. 1t was a fine
moonlit night. Two pines near the
door, solitary pickets of the serried
ranks of distant forest, cast long
shadows like paths to the cottage and
sighed their spiced breath in the win
dowS. For there was no frivolity OF
vine or flower round Salomy James
bower. The clearing was too recent
the life too practical for vanities like
these. But the moon added d vague
elusiveness to everything, softened the
rigid outlines of the sheds, gave shad-
ows to the lidless windows, and
touched with merciful indirectness the
hideous debris Of refuse gravel and the
gaunt scars of burnt vegetation before
the door. Even SalOmy Jane was af-
fected by it. and exhaled something be
| tween a sigh and a yawn with the
breath of the pines. Then she sudden
ly sat upright.
Her quick ear had caught faint
'click, click" in the direction of the
wood; her quicker instinct and rustic
training enabled her to determine thai
it was the ring of a horses shoe or
fiinty ground her knowledge of the
|. loeality ted her it car frQIp, the. spct
wffeFg the tf'sgfi pstssed ly7er III 66fefIo5T
of flint scarcely a quarter of a mile
from where she sat, and within the
clearing. 1t was no Grant stock,
for the foot was shod with iron; it was
| a mounted trespasser by night, anC
BODIED no good to a man like Clay.
She rose, threw her shawl over hel
head more for disguise than shelter
and passed out of the door. A suddeI
| impulse made her seize her father:
| shotgun from the corner where i
stood-nOt that she feared any danger
to herself, but that it was an excuse
She made directly for the wood, keep
ing in the shadow of the pines as Ions
as she could. At the fringe she halted
whoever was there must pass her be
fore reaching the house.
Then there seemed to be a suspense
of all nature. Everything was deadly
| still-even the mOonbeams appeared
no longer themulOus; soon there was
rustic as of some stealthy ANNA
among the ferns, and then a dismount
ed man stepped into the moonlight
1t was the -thief-the man sht
had kissedl
For a wild moment a strange fame!
seized her temperate blood. The new!
they had told her was not true; he haC
| been hung and this was his ghost
He looked as white and spirit-like il
the moonlight, dressed in the SAM
clothes, as when she saw him last. H
| had evidently seen her approaching
and moved quickly to meet her. Blu
| in his haste he stumbled slightly; sh
reflected suddenly that ghosts did no
stumble, and a feeling of relief cam
| over her. And it was no assassin o
her father that had been prowlin;
around-only this unhappy fugitive. !
/ momentary color came into her cheek
her GOODNESS and hardihood returned
it was with a tinge of sauciness in he
voice that she said:
81 reckoned you were a ghost"
Il mout have been" he said, looking
L at neF H&eulN, Dul L EGCkOu L nay
come back here all the same"
It's a little riskier comm bacl
alive" she said, with a levity that die,
on her lips, for a singular nervousness
| half fear and half expectation, was be
ginning to take the place of her re
| lief of q moment ago. "Then it wa
you who was prowlin' round and max
in tracks in the far pasture?"
Yes; I came straight here when
got away"
She felt his eyes were burning hel
| but did not dare to raise her owr
why" she began, hesitated, and end
ed vaguely. How did you get here?
You helped mel"
'I?''
Yes. That kiss you gave me pu
life into me-gave me strength to &c
! away l swore to myself I'd com
back and thank you. alive or dead"
Every word he said she could hav
anticipated, 50 plain the situatio
seemed 10 her now. And every wor
| he said she knew was the truth. Ye
her good common sense struggle
against it.
you're comm back here to lie ketche
! again?" she said peTtly.
He drew little nearer to her. bu
seemed to her the more awkward a
she resumed her self-possession. Hi
| voice too, was broken, rs if by e.:
haustion. as he said. catching hi
breath at intervals:
I'll tell you. You did more for m