Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-03-14
shook his clenched fist at the cattle,
thief. Then he stealthily withdrew,

shook his clenched fist at the cattle,
thief. Then he stealthily withdrew,
A month had passed and again II
was the dark of the moon.
The time had dragged heavily for
old Escolante, for with the accursed
gringos so closely watching, even a
practiced hand must move warlly.
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 a day. 1t is good to live when the
blood is warm; and young love Is
daring and does not walt for the dark
of the moon.
On this night Escolante ate his last
meal of friioles and tortillas without
the customary sullen scorn. He even
ventured few coarse jests with Do
lores, who was dear to him as the
apple of his eye. A man may we'll
jest whose knife is whetted for the
killing. and who knows that on the
morrow he will feed fat, volding his
hate and filing his stomach at one
and the same time. Dolores met his
badlnage with easy response and we'll
simulated affection. It Is easy to
scatter careless affection from the
lips when the heart is trimming over
with love.
Without, men gathered quietly In
certain lonely glade. The night
was heavy about them. In the ST.
lence each man could hear his OWE
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 q
thousand crunching engines in theiI
ears.
The waiting had heightened tc
hours before fat steer coughed and
fell under the knife. Then some.
thing whirred in the gloom; and then
lantern flared out. Escolante was
caught red7handed. His ludicrous
diamay when the deft-hung RATA
frightened round him drew burst
of rough mirth from the sheriff as
he slipped ON the half-breeds wrists
the symbol Of the law and it's bond
age. But when Dick Matson stepped
from the darkness and reclaimed his
riatA 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
it for the blessing, for tomorrow /
marry your daughter"
Escolante grew livid and his jaw
dropped. Then he opened fresh
volley of tmprecations, hurting the
lie in the gringo'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 bending 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 him. The sheriff and his mer
had trouble to hold him.
Dolores trembled and shrank
against her lover. But Dick Mat
son only laughed his easy laugh and
frightened his arm around her. Then
he turned and drew her with him
into the forest.
No more cattle are stolen or killed
within the range of the Cross Bar Y
The cattlemen sleep well of nights
and Dick Matson grows rich off his
profits. Several plump brown chill.
dren play about his door; and of
those he is Unfortunately fond, as is
also Dolores, who sees in them ador-
able replicas of the man she wor-
ships. The two are very Happy, for
Dolores is still slim and beautiful;
and Matson wants no better life
than that of the range and his own
firesIde. There are moments, how
ever. when the hair stiffens on the
back of his neck, and chill runs
along his spine.
These are the moments when he
reflects on the fact that the utmost
that the courts could award to Esco-
lante was a life sentence; and that
there is always the chance that a
prisoner may escape, or that a too
lenient governor may exercise the
right of pardon.-San Francisco
Argonaut