Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-03-21

Ing lips were slightly parted. disclos-
ing white teeth, firm-set and regular.
The glass did It's work we'll. The
girl might have been standing close by
so close that If one reached out q hand
one might touch the brown curve of
the cheek, or part the silky masses of
her hair. The man caught his breath
sharply till 1t Kissed between his teeth.
The pain In his limbs was forgotten.
The girls face held him like a spell.
Suddenly the appraised hand fell to
her side. Escolante's daughter turned,
with a swift grace, and entered the
rude cabin. The suns red rim slipped
below the horizon. Soon a light shone
out in the cabin. The man on the bluff
lay watching 1t till far into the night.
But his head was sunk on his arms
and his gun was unheeded at his side.
When a black figure for an instant
darkened the doorway his heart leaped
up. Then the old CLEAN Of hate sprang
anew In his eyes. 1t was the half
breed.
The man In the chaparral softly
raised himself. "I'll settle you yet"
he exulted. And In the dark he shook
his clenched fist at the cattle thief.
Then he stealthily withdrew.
A month had passed and again 1t
was the dark of the moon.
The time had dragged heavily for old
Escolante, for with the accursed grin
COS so closely watching, even a prac-
ticed hand must move warily, and it
was hard to go empty with fat cattle
feeding at ones very door.
To Dick Matson time had flown on
golden wings. Love and hate wax well
together in a strong mans heart; and
the red lips Of Dolores were sweet.
To the girl the month had passed as
day. 1t is good to live when the
blood is warm; and young love is dar-
ing and does not wait for the dark
of the moon.
On this night Escolante ate his last
meal of frfjOleS and tortiLlGs without
the customary sullen scorn. He even
Tentured few coarse jests with Do
lores, who was dear to him as the ap-
pie of his eye. A man may well jest
whose knife is whetted for the killing,
and who knows that on the morrow he
will feed fat, voiding his hate and fill
ing his stomach at one and the same
time. Dolores met his badinage with
easy response and well-slmulated affec
tlon. 1t is easy to scatter careless af-
lection from the lips when the heart
is brimming over with love.
Without. men gathered quietly in a
certain lonely glade. The night was
heavy about them. In the silence each
man could hear his own heartbeat and
his straining breath. The little voices
of the night shrilled loudly, and the
sound of the cattle cropping the rich
grass was like a thousand crunching
engines in their ears.
The waiting had heightened to hours
before a fat steer coughed and fell
under the knife. Then something whir-
red IN the gloom and then a lantern
fiared out. Escolante was caught red
handed. His ludicrous dismay when
the deity -1ung rIata frightened round
him drew a burst Of rough mirth from
the sheriff as he slipped on the half
breeds wrists the symbol of the law
and It's bondage. But when Dick Mat
son stepped from the darkness and re-
claimed his Rata the cattle-thief broke
into fierce vituperations, for this was
the most hated, and therefore the most
preyed-upon of all the gringOS.
Save your wind, old man." laughed
Dick Matson. You'll need 1t for the
blessing. for tomorrow 1 marry your
daughter"
Escolante grew livid and his Jaw
dropped. Then he opened a fresh vol
ley Of imprecatIons, hurting the lie in
the 0ringo's teeth.
Dick laughed a careless laugh.
Come here, Dolores" he said.
Like a shadow the girl slipped out
of the blackness and stood beside him.
Dick slid an arm about her and bend
ing kissed her full on the mouth.
Then the half-breed went mad with
rage. and spat and screamed out curses
on the pair until 1t was horrid to hear