The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-03-18
EsrOlanta's daughter

tered the rude cabin. The sun rec
rim slipped below the horizon. Soon
a light shore in the cabin. The man
on the bluff lay watching it till fal
into the night. But his head was
| sunk on his arms and his gun was
unheeded at his side. When a black
figure for an instant darkened the
! doorway his heart leape: up. Inen
the old CLEAN of hate spranS anew
in his eyes. 1t was the half-breed.
The man in the %chaparral softly
raised himself. I'll settle you yet,
he eXulted. And in the dark he
shook his clenched fist at the cattle
thief. Then he s%tealthily withdrew
A month had passed and again il
was the dark of the moon.
The time had dragged heavily fol
old Escolante, for with the accursed
grineos so closely watching, even a
! practiced hand must move Warily.
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
we'll 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 wait for the dark
Of the moon.
On this night Escolante ate his last
meal Of frijoles and tortillas without
the customary sullen scorn. He ever
yentured a few coarse jests with Do
lores. who was dear to him as the
apple of his eye. A man may well
Jest whose knife is whetted for the
killing, and who knows that on the
morrow he will feed fat. voiding his
hate and filling his stomach at one
and the same time. Dolores met his
badinage with easy response and we'll
simulated affection. 1t is easy to
| scatter careless affection from the
lips when the heart is trimming oVet
with love.
Without. men gathered quietly in
a certain lonely glade. The night
was heavy about them. In the 81
lence each man could hear his own
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 a
thousand crunching engines in their
ears.
The waiting had heightened to
hours before a fat steer coughed n
fell under the knife. Then some
thing whirred in the gloom; and then
a lantern fiared out. Escolante was
caught red-handed. His ludicrous
dismay when the deft-f1ung RATA
frightened round him drew a burst
| of rough mirth from the sheriff as
he slipped on the half-breed's wrists
the symbol of the law and its bond
age. But when Dick Matson stepped
from the darkness and reclaimed his
RATA the cattle-thief broke into fierce
v~ituperations. 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 I
marry your daughter"
Escolante grew livid and his jaw
dropped. Then he opened a fresh
volley of imprecations, 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 it was horrid
to hear him. The sheriff and his men
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 we'll of nights
and Dick Matson grows rich off his
profits. Several plump brown chill
dren play about his door; and of
those he is inordinately fond. as is
also Dolores, who sees in them ador-
able replicas Of the mai she wor-
ships. The Two are very kappy. for
Dolores is still slim and beautiful;
and Matson wants no better life
than that of the range and his W
freside. There are moments, how
ever. when the hair stiffens on the
back of his neck. and a chill runs
along his spine.
These are the moments when he
reflects Oh the fact that the utmost
! that the courts could award to ESco.
iante 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.