Putnam patriot., 1908-10-16
-nut you eoelaa,t help uy K.

-Dat yea eoelanst help my ss$.- the park today. l nave efsea steyssei iaSt there before. It's fayartse place for meait1tions IT yoa know Che man
 ~i know the man.
 linen tho iaw wHl certainly project yaa. as yea know very veil He uas dreaffGl iooAins persou. The paslcc Can undoubtedly Iind and lock hlm un.r
 She was seeking to minimise the matter. to pass is olg as a common place affair of every day They were walking their horses The groom fol lowed stelidly behind Arrnitage was silent. a lock Of great perplexity on hts face. When he spoke he was quite calm. Miss Claiborne. must tell you that this is an affair in which l can't ask help in the usual channels You wiii pardon me if l seem to make a mys- tery of what should be ordinarily a bit of business between myself and
 the police. But 10 give publicity 10 these attempts to injure me just now would be mistake l could have caught that man there in the wood But let him So for the reason-for the reason that want the men back of him to show themselves before l act But if it isn't presuming"- He was quite himself again. His
 voiee was steady and deep with the ease and assurance that she liked in him She had marked today In his earnestness. more than al any ether
 time. a slight an almost indistinguish- able trace of another tongue in his | English.
 How am I to know whether it
 would be presumingr she asked
 But was going 10 say When rudeiy interrupteds She was trying to make 1t easy for him 10 say whatever he wished. that these troubles of mine are | really personal. I have committed no
 crime and am not fleeing from jus tiee."
 She laughed and urged her horse into a gallop for d last stretch of road ! near the park limits. | II | Montana ranchman to have speetae- ular past"
 But not to carry it. hope. to Wash | ingtea. On the range l might become | lawless bandit ia the interest Of pie turesqueness. but here''- Here in tiie world of frock coated statesmen nothing really interesting Is | to be expected
 She walked her horse again. It oc- | cured to her that he might wish an 1 assurance of silence from her. What | she had seen would make a capital bit | of gossip, to say nothing of being ma | terial for the newspapers. and her con
 science as she reflected grew uneasy at the thought of shielding him. She | knew that her father and mother and, | even mora strictly, her brother would close their doors on man whose cue mics followed him over seas and lay in | wait for him In a peaceful park. but | here she tested him X man of breed. ing would not ask protection of . wo- l man on whom he had no claim. and 1t was certainly not for her 10 establish an understanding with kim In so strange and grave matter. | "It must be fun having ranch with | cattle on thousand hills. l always | wished my father would go in for a l western place. but he can't travel so l far from home. Our ranch is in vir- l ginia."
 "Yon have Virginia farm7 That Is very interesting"
 "Yes; at storm Springs. It's really beautiful down there.' she said simply | It was on his tongue to tell her that
 he, too, owned bit of Virginia soil. | but he had just established himself as . Montana rnnchman. and il seemed
 ba;t not to multiply his places of resi- ! denee. He had moreover. forgotten
 the name of the county In which his
 preserve lay. He said. with truth;
 "I know nothing of Virginia or the
 south, but have viewed the landscape | from Arlington. and some day 1 hope
 to go adyenturing in the Virginia l hills"
 "Then you should not overlook our
 valley. l am sure there must he ad-
 ventures waiting for somebody down
 there. You can tell our place by the
 spring lamb on the hillside There's Il
 huge inn that offers the long distance
 telephone and market reports and golf links and very good horses. and lots of
 people stop there as a matter of course fin their flight between Florida and | Newport They go up and down the coast like the mercury fin thermome-
 ter-up when It's warm down when it's cold. There's the secret of our
 mercurial temperament"
 A passing automobile frightened her horse, and he watched her perfect cool.
 ness in quieting the animal with rem
 and voice.
 Hes just np from the farm and
 doesn't like town very much. But he
 shall go home again soon." she said as
 they rode on.
 "Oh, you go down to shepherd those
 spring lambsr he exclaimed. with mis-
 giving in his heart He had followed
 her across the sea. and now she was
 about to take flight again.
 He dimly understood as hs left her In . gay mood at the Claiborne house get the lurking ngurs in the park thick
 ct and the dark desd thwarted shere-
 It was her way of coaseying ta him her dlsmissal Of the incident, dod it
 Implied . greater kindness than any
 pledge Of secrecy. He rods away with grave eyes. and . new hops nlied his
 heart