The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1909-02-26
CHAPTER XII.

CHAPTER XII.
When Constable opened his eyes he
Was Tar down the slope, and Breen was
Bending over him.
Hello T. said he. ''What endorsed
4s1 had just settled down comforta-
ply to view that spout when-pluffl !
PECAN to lose track O. things and my head
BROKE. What was it-gas, altitude--T'
more likely old Peles was up to some
thing he preferred you shouldn't see"
Aaid Breen. II know the racket turned
me sick a. . poisoned rat while was
dragging at your leg. know that the
Aatives wouldn't venture within two hum
4rsd yards; also, that you are = mortal
Aeavy young person"
"And 10 you retrieved the fallen under
ths guns Of the enemy1 That was good
1t you, Breen. It was, indeed"
The natives were pressing In. Darkness
Was beginning. Breen was conscious Of
= catch In his throat.
''Pstsr," said Breen quietly, II ran
1fem you this morning"
"You didn't run from mo this after
coon, the which II lucky for me. Take q
little touch yourself, old playmate, and
don't get moody. One needs pal when
one makes such a mussy dumping-ground
~ good chances. The engaging Mr.. Stem
bridge never did me any harm, and all
that the newspapers could accomplish In
&hs minds Of people at large would move
me to no deeper emotion than to say,
Dear folks be-hanged r"
peter, II hadn't been here, you
would be q good daylight run out On the
decent ocean by this time, with the lady r.
"Please don't goad yourself further,
&3reen. That matter ID mine-aIl mine"
Constable spoke In q low voice. Breen
was bending over him in the dusk. "You
didn't force yourself upon me. You didn't
sven come along by chance. asked you
- cruise with me. You volunteered to
tall me about yourself. I said 1t wasn't
necessary. This man has q mind, and
he Isn't coward was the conclusion
came to that night, and l haven't seen
It to change my opinion"
But the Lady"
"Yes, the lady has spoken. I am done
down and out. The point Is,
you didn't turn on Pelee's throttle. You're
hot to blame because I'm a dub of a
lover. I'm not on sick report"
You're game, Peter" said Breen as
he helped the ether into the saddle.
mot game enough to abduct one fright
pned little mother-handled girl" Consta-
BILE replied.
They were riding together Down the
winding trail, apart from the guides. The
lights Of Ajoupa Boullion were ahead,
and the mountain carried on a frightful
drumming behind. The coiling masses of
volcanic spume. miles above the craters.
generated its own fire, and, lit in the
flashes, looked like pillows of boiling steel.
Constable was very weak, and Breen rode
Apon sheer nerve-nerve that men had
eften wondered at.
sPeter," he said at length, "yeu are
not through trying to get the lady out of
EhisT'
ITO think that such a tone and such
= question could come from the implaca-
bic Stembridge' |" Constable said, with
laugh.
''Ths 'implacable Stembridgs' was never
crucified BEFORE" Breen answered. ITO
you and me. together, 1t does not vastly
snatter that 1 am Stembridge, one Of the
bigger wolves. But others have come In.
Because l am here. you stand dazed to-
night, your heart torn out. Because l
am here. you went up to the mouth of
that horrible pit to-day, and lay down to
die. have played with men and women.
Peter, but never wrecked white man
before, or broke the heart of friend"
A hand stretched across the dark and
ALL a.
there. II know how you feel; but what
would you have me doT Constable mutt
tered.
when l see q wisp Of smoke on the
horizon, and know that you and the lady
and the Madame are wrapped in it"
For four days I have been dreaming
chat dream, Breen."
ut must come true this night. There
will have been a reaction. Go there to-
night. Speak to her alone. Tell her how
you came to know mellow men look at
these things-that the newspaper story
was as new to you as to herself. Tell
her Of your trip to Pelee, and how the
disorder they see and hear down in the
city looks up there at first handl"
1t was at this instant that full-rigged
thought sprang into Breen's brain, which
had known but the passing of hopeless
derelicts throughout the day. He dared
not trust the thought to words, lest the
other should cancel it, but he called to
the guides to increase the pace.
"Ah, she would not listen to words of
snine," Constable answered hopelessly. "If
she had any faith in me, words would not
be necessary. A man knows when he Is
beaten. have drawn my little quietus
Cor one day. To-morrow-"
There may not be any tomorrow for
Saint Pierre"
"Of course. For that matter, We might
be boiled out like a pair Of tater-bugs
before we can pick up a snack In Ajoupa
Boullion. Then, again, the people may
be right, and I frenzied alarmist. Pc
lee ia throwing Of pressure true and
steady a. a clock running down. 1t NAV
b that he'll relieve his crowded cham
6ers this way"
Such words, more than anything that
had passed, revealed the extent Of Con-
stables reaction. They were entering
Ajoupa Boullien, where food and fresh
mounts were procurable.
"It's probably better for her that she
did not give herself to me-" Constable