Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-06-08
7 h e Spoilers
By REX E. BEACH.
By REX E. BEA c H.
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and he knew beforehand the look that
went with it.
'tThe girl l intend to marry" he
said slowly, looking her between the
eyes,
He knew he was cruel-be wanted
to belt satisfied the clamor and tur-
moil within him. while he also felt that
the sooner she knew and the colder
it left her the better He could not
note the effect of the remark on her.
however for. as he spoke, the door Of
the box opened and the head of the
Bronco Kid appeared, then retired in
stantly with apologies.
Wrong STALL" he said, in his slow
voice. Looking for another party
Nevertheless, his eyes had covered
every inch Of them-noted the drawn
curtains and the breathless poise Of
the woman-while his ears had caught
part Of Glenister's speech.
"You won't marry her" said Cherry,
quietly. 81 don't know who she is,
but won't let you marry her"
She rose and smoothed her skirts.
''It's time nice people were going
now" She said it with sheer at
herself. "Take me out through this
crowd. I'm living quietly and l don't
want these beasts to follow me-
AS they emerged from the theatre
the morning air was cool and quiet,
while the sun was just rising. The
Bronco Kid lighted cigar as they
passed nodding silently at their greet
ing His eyes followed them, while
his hands were so still that the match
burned through to his f1ngers-then
when they had gone his teeth met and
ground savagely through the tobacco
so that the cigar fell, while he NUT
tered:
80 that's the girl you intend to
marry? Well see. by God!"
CHAPTER VIII.
The water front had strong attrac-
ton for Helen Chester, and rarely did
a fair day pass without finding her in
some quiet spot from which she could
watch the shifting life along it's edge,
the ships at anchor, and the various
incidents Of the surf.
This morning she sat on dory
pulled high up on the beach, bathed
in the bright sunshine, and staring
at the rollers, while lines of concen-
tration wrinkled her brow The wind
had blown for some days till the ocean
beat heavily across the shallow bar,
and now as 1t became quieter, long.
shoremen were launching their craft,
preparing to resume their traffic.
I Not until the previous day had the
news of her friends misfortune come
! to her. and although she had heard
no hint OF fraud, she began to realize
THAT they were involved in serious
tangle. To the questions which she
anxiously put to her uncle he had re-
piled that their difficulty arose from
a technicality in the mining laws
which another man had been shrewd
enough to profit by. 1t was compli-
Gated question, he said, and one re-
curing time to thrash out to an equit-
able settlement. She had undertaken
to remind him Of the services these
men had done her, but, with smile.
he interrupted; he could not allow
such things to influence his judicial at
titude, and she must not endeavor to
prejudice him in the discharge of his
duty. Recognizing the justice Of this,
she had desisted.
For many days the girl had caught
scattered talk between the Judge and
Mcnamara, and between Struve and
his associates, but 1t all seemed for
eign and dry, and beyond the fact that
1t bore on the litigation over the An
vi, Creek mines, she understood moth
| ing and cared less, particularly as q
new interest had but recently come
into her life, an interest in the form of
a man-McNamara
He had begun with his quiet, half
concealed admiration Of her. which
lhad rapidly increased until his atten
lions had become of singularly posi-
tive and resistless character.
Judge Stillman was openly delight
ed, while the court Of one like Alec
Mcnamara could but fatter any girl
In his presence Helen felt herself
rebelling at his suit, yet as distance
separated them she thought ever more
kindly of it. This state of mind con
trasted oddly with her feeling toward
the other man she had met, for In
this country there was but two. When
Glenister was with her she saw his
love lying markedly in his eyes and
it exercised some spell which drew
her to him in spite of herself, but
when he had gone, back came the dis
| trust, the terror of the brute that she
felt was there behind 1t all. The one
appealed to her while present, the
other pied strongest while away. Now
she was attempting to analyze hel
feelings and face the future squarely
for she realized that her affairs near
ed crisis, and this, too, not a month
after meeting the men. She wonder
ed If she would come to love her un
cle's friend. She did not know. O
the other she was sure-she nevel
could.
Busted with her reflections, SHE
noticed the familiar figure of Dextr.
wandering aimlessly. He was not I'm
kept, and yet his air gave her the i'm
preston of prolonged sleeplessness
Spying her, he approached and seat
ed himself in tho sand against III:
. boat, while at her greeting he brok,
/ into talk as IL he was needful only o
her friendly presence to stir his cor
: iiiential chords into active vibration
r We're in turrible shape, MISS" h
, said. "Our claims jumped. Some