The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-02-28
Tue Spoilers.
By REX E. BEACH.
eopyrisAt 1905. By BsseA.
By REX E. BEACH.


4 the morning air WIS cool and quiet
/ while the sun was Just rising. IhC
Bronco Kid lighted a cigar a. thvl
passed, nodding silently at their greet
ing. His eyes followed them, while
bis hands were so still that the mattel
burned through to his fingers; thei
when they had gone his teeth met and
ground savagely through the tobacco
90 that the cigar fell. while he NUT
tered:
80 that's the girl you intend to mar.
Ui Wen see. BY God!'
CHAPTER VIII.
THE water front had strong at
traction for Helen Chester and
rarely did fair day pass with
4 out finding her in some quiet
spot from which she could watch the
shifting life along it's edge, the ships
at anchor and the varied incidents OF
the surf
This morning she sat in a dory pulled
high up on the beach, bathed In tn
bright sunshine and staring at the
rollers, while lines Of concentrate
wrinkled her brow The wind had
blown for some days till the ocean beat
heavily across the shallow bar, and
now, as it became quieter longshOre-
men were launching their craft pre-
pairing to resume their traffic.
Not until the previous day had the
- ertn a. fEfn
to her, and although she had heard IL
hint of fraud, ehe began to realize that
they were Involved in a serious tapgl@
To the questions which she anxiously
put to her uncle he had replied that
their difficulty arose from technic;
fly In the mining laws which another
man had been shrewd enough to profit
by. 1t was a complicated question, he
said, and one requiring time to thrash
out to an equitable settlement She
had undertaken to remind him of the
service these men had done her, bus,
with smile, he interrupted. He coula
not allow such things to influence his
judicial attitude, and she must not en-
deavor to prejudice him In the dis
charge of his duty Recognizing the
justice of this, she had desisted.
For many days the girl had caught
scattered talk between the judge ans
Mcnamara and between Strive ana
his associates, but 1t all seemed foreiga
and dry, and beyond the fact that it
bore on the litigation over the Anvil
creek mines, she understood nothing
and cared less, particularly as a new
interest had but recently come into heT
life, an. interest in the form Of man
---MGNamara.
He had begun with quiet, half con
cealed admiration Of her, which had
rapidly increased until his attention
had become Of singularly positive
and resistless character.
Judge Stillman was openly delight
cd, while the court Of one like Alec
Mcnamara could but datter any girl.
In his presence Helen felt herself re
oslling ct his suit, yet as distance sep
arated them she thought ever more
kindly OF It. This state Of mind con-
trasted oddly with her feelings toward
the other man she had met, for In this
country there were but two. When
Glenster was with her she saw his
love lying markedly in his eyes, and it
exercised some spell which drew her
b him in spite OF herself, but When
10 had gone back came the distrust
tie terror Of the brute she felt wa
there behind 1t all. The one appealc'
to her while present; the other pleaded
strongest while away. Now she was
attempting to analyze her feelings and
face the future squarely, for she real
lied that her affairs neared crisis
and this, too, not a month after meet
ing the men. She wondered If she
would come to love her uncle's friend /
She did not know. or the other she !
was sure-she never could.
Busted with these reflections, she no I
ticed the familiar figure of Dextry wan
dering aimlessly. He was not IN
kempt, and yet his air gave her the i'm :
preston of prolonged sleeplessnesS. ,
Spying her he approached and seated .