Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-06-04
CHAPTER TX.
THE Aw AKENlNC

every occasion to talk with the GIRL
and when he asked her this morning
about the reports concerning Lees
strike she told him Of her trip and all
that had occurred
You see. I'm nine owner now
she concluded az il hadn't been 4
secret would have tod you before |
went, so you could have been ole of
the FIRST
I'm goin' anyhow" he said. elf the
lieutenant will let me and If it's not too
tate"
Then she told him Of the trail by
Black Bear creek which would save
him several hours.
$50 that's how YOU and he made it?'
he observed. gazing at her shrewdly.
81 supposed you wcrt with your IA
ther:"
"Oh, no! We beat him H." she said
and fell to musing at the memory OF
those hours passed alone with Meade,
while her eyes shone and her cheeks
elOwed. The corporal saw the look. and
III DOIc Oul d tuCOl Law LNA h'N'' "Ni
ing the past month, so as he liEgt:cd
he set about q task that had lain in his
mind for some time. AS 4 rule, be was
not careful man in his speech. ADD
the delicacy of this mancuvcr ta&co Ills
ingenuity to the utmost. for be loved
the girl and feared to say too mu"a
The lieutenant IS smar, yennS
fellow" he began. and it w1s SILK
work jumpin' all those claims lie
just like him to hefriend a girl like
you. I've seen him do it before
"Whatw exclaimed Necia. "Befriend
other girls?'
COR things just like it. He's always
dom favors that get him into trou-
bic"
This couldn't cause him trouble,
could it, outside of Stark's and Run
MONS grudge?"
"NO, | reckon not" asSented the cor
poral. cropping blindly for some way Of
expressing what he wished to say.
Except, Of course, it might cause a
lot Of talk at headquarters when it's
known what he's done for you and
how he done it. l heard sOmethin'
about 1t down the street this morn
in so I'm afraid it will get to St.
Michaels and then to his folks"
Il don't understand" said Necia.
"He hasn't done anything that any
man wouldn't do under the same cir
cumstances."
mo mans got right TO make folks
talk about q nice girl" said the ccr-
poral, "and the Teller that told me
about 1t said he reckoned you two
was in love" He hurried along now
without offering her chance to speak.
"Of course that had to be caught up
quick; you're too fine girl for that
"Too fine?" laughed Necia.
81 mean you're too fine and good to
let him put you in wrong, just as he's
too fine a fellow and got too much
ahead of him to make what his peo-
pie would call a mesSy-alliance."
"Would his people object toto such
a thing" questioned the girl. They
were uIOEc III NuC StViC, ohN ~ tAiNJ
could talk freely. 'T'm just suppos-
ing. you know"
20 Lord, Would they object? Cor
poral Thomas laughed in highly arti-
fetal manner that made Necia bride
and draw herself up Indignantly.
eco ahead and tell me; won't be
offended" insisted the girl. "You
must. | don't know much about such
things, for I've lived all my life with
men like father and PoleOn and the
priests at the mission, who treat Inc
lust like one Of themselves. But
somebody will want to marry me some
day, suppose, so I ought to know
what is wrong with me-" She flushed
up darkly under her brown cheeks.
Corporal Thomas began to perspire
uncomfortably, but went on doggedly:
I'm goin' to tell you story, not
because it applies to Lieutenant Bur-
rell"-
"Of course" said the girl.
but just to show you what mean.
1t was good long spell ago, when
was at Fort Supply, which was the
frontier In them days, like this is now.
We freighted in from Dodge City with
bull teams, and it was sure the fringe
of the frcntier-nO women, no society,
nothin' much except fort, lot of In
juns and q few officials with their
wives and families. Now, them kind
of places IS all right for married men,
but they're tough sleddin' for single
ones, and after awhile Teller gets
awful careless about himself. He
seems to go backward and run down
mighty quick when he gets away from
civilization and his people and reStau-
rants and such things. He gets plumb
reckless and fOrgetful of what's what.
There was captain with us, a young
Teller that looked like the lieutenant
here and a good deal the same sort
high tempered and chivalrious and all
that sort of thing, West Pointer, TOO,
good family and all that, and, what's
more, q captain at twenty-five. Now,
our head freighter was married to 4
squaw, or leastways he had been, but
In them days nobody thought much or
1t any more than they do up here now,
and particularly because he'd had a
government contract for long while,
ran big gang Of men and critters and
A had made lot Of money. Likewise
he had a girl. who lived at the fort and
was mighty nice to look at and restful
to the eye after year or so of cactus
trees and mesquite and buffalo grass.
She was twice as nice and twice rs
pretty as the women at the post, and
as for honeywell, her dad could have
bought and sold all the officers in a