The new era. (Walden, Colo.) 1906-19??, 1908-03-26

land far from any direct trail. true
1t lay between Kemah. the county
seat, and the Three Bars ranch, but
it was a good half mile from the
straight routs. Even SO, 1t was late
hour for any one to be passing by. 1t
was not a travelled trail except for the
boys of the Three Bars, and they
were known to be great home-stayers
and little given to spreeing. AS for
the rustlers, If rustlers they were,
they had no fear of interruption by
the officers of the law. who held their
places by virtue of the insolent and
arbitrary will of Jesse Black and his
brotherhood, and were now carousing
in Kemah by virtue Of the hush-money
put up by this same secret tribunal.
Watch, child, watch!" he said
again, without in the least shifting his
tense position.
Surely responded Mary, quite
steadily.
Now was her time come. Dark,
sinister figures fitted from tree to
tree. At first she could not be sure 1t
was SO heartlessly dark, but there was
movement-it was different from THAT
terrible blank quiet which she had
hitherto been gazing upon till her eyes
burned and pricked as with needle
points, and visionary things swan be,
fore them. She winked rapidly to
dispel the unreal and floating things,
opened wide her long-lashed lids, fixed
them, and-fired Then Williston
knew that his little girl" his one eve
lamb, all that was left to him of a full
and gracious past, must go through
what he had gone through, all that
nameless horror and eXpectant dread.
and his heart cried out at the unholy
her, dared not desert his post for an
instant If one got within the shadow
of the walls all was lost.
Mary's challenge was met with
rather hot return fire. 1t was probably
given to inspire the besieged with
due respect for the attackers num-
bsrs. Bullets battered around the out
side walls like hailstones. one even
whizzed through the window perilous-
" near the girls intent young face.
Silence came back to the night
There was no more movement. Yet
down there at the spring something,
maybe one of those dark. gaunt cot
tonwoods. held death-death for her
and death for her father. A stream OF
icy GOODNESS struck across her heart.
She found herself calculating in d.lib-
Grafton which tree it was that ,old
this thing-death. The biggest one,
Il h., ho1 IN
the pool sweet and cool where Paul
Langford had galloped his horse that
day when-ah. If Paul Langford
would only come now.
A wild, girlish hope flashed up in
her heart. Langford would come
had he not sworn 1t to her father?
Had he not given his hand - q
pledge? 1t means something to shake
hands in the cattle country. He was
big and brave and true. When he
came these awful, creeping terrors
would disperse-grim shadows that
must steal away when morning comes.
When he came she could put her
rifle in his big, confident hands. lie
down on the floor and-cry. She
wanted to cry-oh, how she did want
to cry. Cold reason came back to her
aid and dissipated the weak and
womanish longing to give way to
tears. There was a pathetic droop to
her mouth, long. quivering, Sob
bling sigh, and she buried her wom-
ans weakness right deeply and
stamped upon it. How utterly wild
and foolish her brief hope had been!
Langford and all his men were sound
in sleep long ago. How could he
know? were the ruffians out there
men to tell? All, no! There was no
one to know. 1t would all happen in
the dark-in awful loneliness. and
there would be no one to know until
it was all over-to-morrow. maybe, or
next week, who could tell? They
were Off the main trail. few people
ever sought them out. There would
be no one to know.
CrO BE CONTINUEDD