Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-08-12
she said Instantly in a mocKery Of his

she said instantly in a mockery Of his
own tone:
"Mr. Armitagew She laughed. 81
am almost caught in the dark. The
Establishments of spring have beguiled
me-"
He looked at her with quick scru-
tiny. 1t did not seem possible that this
could be the girl who had called to
him in warning scarce five minutes be-
fore, but he knew it had been she.
He would have known her voice any
where in the world. They rode silent
beside the creek, which was like a
laughing companion seeking to mock
them into cheerier mood At an
opening through the hills they saw the
western horizon aglow in tints Of lem
on deeping into gold and purple. Save
for the riot of the brook the world was
at peace. She met his eyes for an in
slant, and their gravity and the firm
lines in which his lips were set showed
that the shock of his encounter had not
yet passed
"You must tknk me strange per-
son, Miss Claiborne. 1t seems mex
plicable that a mans life should be so
menaced in 4 place like this. If you
had not called to me-
please don't speak of that! 1t was
so terrible!"
"But l must speak of 1t. Once be-
fore the same attempt was made-that
| night OH the King Edward"
Yes; have not forgotten"
"And today l have reason to believe
that the same man watched his chance,
for have ridden here every day since
came, and he must have kept track
of me-"
But this is America, Mr.. Armltagew
"That does not help me with you.
You have every reason to resent my
bringing YOU into such dangers. 1t is
objectionable. indefensible!
She saw that he was greatly trou.
bled.
But you couldn't help my being in
the park today. have often stopped
just there before. It's n favorite place
for meditations. If you know the
man.
~ know the man."
"Then the law will certainly protect
you, as you know very we'll. He was
dreadful looking person. The police
can undoubtedly find and lock him
up"
She was seeking to minimize the
matter, to pass it off as common.
place affair Of every day. They wer.
walking their horses. The groom fol.
lowed stolidly behind
Armitage was silent, look of great
perplexity on his face. When he spoke
he was quite calm.
Miss Claiborne, must tell you that
this is an affair in which can't ask
help in the usual channels. You will
pardon me If seem to make Il mys-
| terry of what should be ordinarily q
bit Of business between myself and
the police. But to give publicity to
these attempts to injure me just now
would be a mistake. could have
caught that man there in the wood.
But let him go 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
voice was stehdy and deep with the
case and assurance that she liked in
him. She had marked today in his
earnestness, more than ut any other
time, Il slight, an almost indistinguish-
able trace of another tongue in his
| English.
How am I to know whether it
would be presuming?" she asked.
But l was going to say
when rudely interruptedw She was
trying to make it easy for him to say
whatever he wished.
THAT these troubles of mine are
really personal. have committed nc
crime and am not fleeing from jus.
tice."
She laughed and urged her horse
into a gallop for last stretch of road
near the park limits.
How uninteresting! We expect q
Montana ranchman to have q specific
ular past"
"But not to carry it, hope, to Wash
ington. On the range might becom,
a lawless bandit in the interest of pic
turesqueness, but here
Here in the world of frock coatet
statesmen nothing really interesting /.
to be expected"
She walked her horse again. 1t oc
CURED to her that he might wish ~
assurance of silence from her. VIVA
she had seen would make a capital bi
of gossip, to say nothing of being ma
terial for the newspapers, and her con
science as she reflected grew uneasy n
the thought Of shielding him. Sh,
knew that her father and mother and
even more strictly, her brother would
close their doors on a man whose enc
mics followed him over seas and lay il
wait for him in peaceful park, bu
here she tested him. A man of breed
ing would not ask protection of wo
man on whom he had no claim, and /
! was certainly not for her to ESTABLISH
an understanding with him in s.
strange and grave matter
ut must be fun having ranch witt
cattle on u thousand hills. l Away
wished my father would go in for
western place, but lie can't travel S.
far from home. Our ranch is in Wiz
ginia."
you have Virginia farm? That i
very interesting"
Eyes; at Storm Springs. It's reall.
beautiful down there" she said simply
1t was on his tongue to tell her tina
he, too, owned Il bit of Virginia soil
but he had just established himself a
Montana ranchman, and il SCENE,
best not to multiply his places of resi-
dence. He had, moreover, forgotten
the name of the county in which hi
preserve lay. He said, with truth:
II know nothing of Virginia or TIL
co,fb Int r l,o y-f y,;awaJ tho lnrIcno n