The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-12-04

enough to do it?'
Il uttered a cry and took her In my
arms. the arms that had ached for her
all those years. Then | kissed her for
the first time"
The old man tried to light his pipe,
which had gone out. but his fingers
shook SO that he dropped the match.
"Her plan was for me to take the
youngster away that night and for her
to join us later, because pursuit was
certain. and three could be traced
where one might disappear. She would
follow when the opportunity offered.
| saw that he had instilled a terror
into her and that she feared him like
death, but as | thought 1t over her
scheme seemed feasible, so | agreed. l
was TO ride west that hour with the
sleeping babe and conceal myself at a
place we selected, while she would
say thai the little one had wandered
away and been lost in the canyon or
anything else to throw Bennett off.
After II time she would join us. Well,
the little girl never walked when l
took her in my arms nor when the
mother broke down again and talked
to me like a crazy III
Il Travelled hard that night and
snapped horses at daylight. Then,
leaving the wild country behind, | came
into a region | didn't know and found
a Mexican woman who tended the
child for me. for | was close by the
place where Merridy was to come.
Every night | went into the village in
hopes that some word had arrived,
and | waited patiently for a week.
Then | got the blow. | heard it from
the loafers around the little postoffice
first, but 1t dazed me so | wouldn't
believe 1t till | borrowed the paper
and read the whole story, with the
type dancing and leaping before me.
1t took some hours for 1t to seep In
even after that. and for years l re-
called every word of the ID lie
as If 1t had been branded ON me with
hot irons. They called 1t a shocking
crime, the most brutal murder Cali
fornia had ever known, and in the,
headlines was my name in letters that
struck me between the eyes like a
hammer. Mrs. Dan Bennett had been
foully murdered by me In a fit of sud.
den. jealousy, and | had disappeared
with the baby, The husband had re-
turned unexpectedly to find her dying.
so he said. but too far gone to call
for help and with barely sufficient
strength to tell him who did it and
how! Then the paper went on witt
the tale of my counting her and hfr
turning me down for Bennett. ]. ted
how | had gone off alone up into the
the hills, turning into a bear that no.
body, man or child. could app, zach.
1t said | had brooded there al this
time till the mania got uppernnst and
so came down to wreak my vengeance.
They never W did me the credit of
calling me crazy. | was a fend incar-
nate, a beast without sou and a lot
of things like %that-and, remember, l
had never harmed a living thing In all
my life. However, that wasn't what
hurt. What turned E1e into a dull,
dead. suffering thing was the knowl-
edge hat she was gone. For hours I
couldn't get beyond that fact. Then
came the realization that Bennett had
done 1t, for I reasoned that he had
dragged a hint of the truth from her
by very force of the fear he held her
Inland slain her. God! The awful
ragp hat came over me! But there
was nothing to do. | had sworn to
%J,a I;ttlo 30 nn,,IIn5t %olya
vengeance on him. | couldn't go back
and prove my innocence. for that
would give the child to him.
"Whdf a night I spent! The next day
I saw l had been indicted by the grand
jury and was a wanted man. From a
distance | watched myself become an
outlaw: watched the county put a price
upon my head, which Bennett dou-
bled: watched public opinion rise to
such a heat that posses began to scour
the mountains. What l noted in partic-
ular was a statement In the paper b a
the Borrowing husband takes his be
reavement with the quiet courage
which marks a brave man! 1t hap
pened that the Mexican woman
couldn't read and talked little. Still, /
knew they'd find me soon-it couldn't
be otherwise-so Il made another run
for it, swearing an oath. however, be-
fore l left that I'd come back and have
that gamblers heart
ut was lucky 7 went. Tor they un-
covered my sign the next day, and the
country where I'd hidden blazed like a
held of dry grass. They were close on
my heels. and they closed in from ev-
cry quarter. But. pshaw. know the
woods like an Indian. and the wild
things were my friends again, which
would have made 1t play If I'd been