The Paducah evening sun., 1909-05-15

siderably taken aback when a
quarter of an hour after the
young lovers ecstatic return tc
his quarters Gale knocked at his door
for the traders visit. coupled with the
late hour aud his somber countenance
forecast new complications.
Hes here to object. but Il wont
60" thought the lieutenant as he made
his visitor welcome.
: Meade swung his big reading chail
out beneath the hanging lamp and, go
ing TO the sideboard. brought back q
bottle. some glasses aud a pouch Of
tobacco. Noting The old mans sigh OF
fatigue as he sat himself down heavi
", he remarked sympathetically;
Mr.. Gale. you've made a long trip
To-day and you must be tired. II this
talk is to he lengthy. why not have q
drink with me now and postpone II un-
I'm tomorrowf"
"I've been tired for eighteen years" ("
The other replied. Tonight hope TO
get rested.y
Well let's get at IT," the younger
Imam finally said.
IL suppose you'll want 10 interrupt
and question me heap. but III ask
you to let me tell this story the way
| Il comes 10 me till | get IL out. Like
wise you'll want to know what all
this has to do with you and Necia.
Yes; she told me about you and her.
rnd that's why I'm here" He paused.
you really think you love her. do
roug"
Burrell removed his pipe and gazed
1t its coal impersonally.
Il love her so well. Mr.. Gale. that
nothing you can say will affect me.
III hesitated at first about asking her
Ito be my wife because-you'n appre-
elate the unusual-weil. her unusual
history. You see, l come from a coun-
try where mixed blood Is about the
My thing that can't be lived down or
overlooked, and I've been raised with
notions OF family honor and pride Of
race and birth, and so forth, that
might seem preposterous and absurd
to you. Eut a heap OF conceits like
that have been bred into me from
generations back. They run In the
blood Of every old family in my coun-
Try, and so. I'm ashamed to say, l
hesitated and tried to reason myself
into giving her up. but I've had my
Ieyes opened, and see how little those
things amount to, after all I'm going
TO marry Necia, Mr.. Gale. I'd Ike TO
DO a the day after tomorrow. Sunday,
but she isn't OF age yet. and II you OBJ
lect we'll have to wait until Novem-
Der, when she turns eighteen. Wed
both like your consent, OF course. I'd
be sorry to marry her without It. But
II you refuse wen be forced to dis
please you" He looked up and met
the fathers gaze steadily.
The other mans lips framed faint
smile.
"we'n see. l wish to God I'd had
your decision when was your age.
This story would be different and cas-
Ter 10 tell" He waited a moment,
then settled to his self appointed task
II was mining at the time up In the
mother lode country Of California.
which was the frontier then, pretty
much as this is now. only we had bet
ter things to eat. was one of the frst
men into a camp named Chandon-
helped to build It. In fact-and got bold
Of some ground that looked real good.
II was hard mining, however, and, be-
ing poor, l was still gripping my drill
and hammer after the town had grown
up. r4 0t
"a woman came out from the east
Vermont Il was-and schoolteaching
was her line Of business, only she
hadn't been raised TO II, and this was
her first cIatter at the game. Her
folks died and left her mp against II,
gathered from what little she told
ue-sort Of an old story. ! guess, and
usual, too, only for her. She was
plumb unusual"
He seemed to ponder this a moment
and then resumed:
1T don't make any difference 10 you
how / first saw her and how / began
to forget that anything else In the
world was worth having but her. I'd
lived in the woods all my life. as
said, and knew more about birds and
bugs and bees than l did about won.
en-. / hadn't been broke proper and
didn't know how to act with them, but
laid out to get this girl. and did
fairly well. There's something Wild In
every woman that needs to be tanned
aud It isn't like the wildness that runs
In wood critters. You can win that
over by gentleness. but you have tc
take 1t away from a woman. Every
live thing that couldn't talk was my
friend, but / made the mistake OF
courting my own kind the same way
not knowing that when two Of any
species mate the male must. rule.