The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-11-14
"a The Barrier =
~ - BY - IA
{ nm Rex Beach ~

tHN
squaw-a squaw!
you're not!' he cried.
mo honest man can marry me-. I'm
a v%agabond! The best l can get is my
bed and board, like my mother"
"By heaven! Who offered you that?"
Gales face was whittier than hers now,
but she disregarded him.
HE can play with me, but nothing
more, and when he is gone another
n can have me, and then another and
another and another"
That's all internal rot" he said.
There's fifty good men in this camp
would marry you tomorrow"
bah! l mean real men, not miners.
1 want to be a lady. l don't want to
pull a hand sled and wear moccasins
all my life and raise children for men
with whiskers. l want to be loved-I
want to be loved! l want to marry a
gentleman"
"Burrell!' said Gale.
NO." she fared up-"not him nor
anybody in particular, but somebody
like him, some man with clean finger
nails" !
He found nothing humorous or gro
tesque In her measure of a gentleman,
for he realized that she was stung to
a pitch Of and unnatural ex-
earnest.
The old man hesitated. "I1l W l
was wrong he said finally, staring
out into the sunshine with an odd ex-
preston. 'It was thoughtless and
wrong, dead wrong, but I've loved you
better than any daughter was ever
loved in this wide world, and I've
worked and starved and froze and
saved, and so has Alluna, SO that you
might have something to live on when
Pm gone and be different from us. 1t
won't be long now, l guess. I've given
you the best schooling of any girl on
the river, and I'd have sent you out to
a convent in the States, but | couldn't
let you 60 81 far away. l loved you
too much for that! l couldn't do
it, girl. I've tried, but you're all I've
got, and I'm a selfish man, l reckon"
mo, no! You're not!" his daughter
cried impulsively. You're everything
that's good and dear. but you've lived
a different life from other men, and
you see things differently. 1t was
mean of me to talk as / did" She put
her arms around his neck and Rugged
him. But I'm very unhappy. dad"
Don't you aim to tell what started
thisy' he said gently, caressing her
with his great, hard hand as softly as
a mother. But she shook her head,
and he continued, "I'n take the first
boat down to the mission and marry
your ma If you want me to-"
-En1r wuu1rr u0 any good" said
she. WED better leave things 40
they are" Then she drew away and
smiled at him bravely from the door.
"I'm very bad to act this way.
Scuses."
He nodded, and she went out.
Necia was in a restless mood, and,
remembering that Alluna and the chill
dren had gone berrying on the slopes
behind the Indian village, she turned
her way thither. All at once a fear of
seeing Meade Burrell came upon her.
She wanted to think this out, to find
where she stood, before he had word
with her. She had been led to observe
herself from a strange angle and must
verify her vision, as 1t were. What ii
he had changed now that he was
alone and had had time to think? 1t
would kill her If she saw any differ
ence in him, and she knew she would
be able to read 1t in his eyes.
AS she went through the main street
Of the camp she saw Stark occupied
near the water front, where he had
bought a building lot. He spoke to her
as she was about to pass.
"Good morning, miss. Are you rest
ed from your trip?"
She answered that she was and
would have continued on her way, but
he stopped her.
Il don't want you to think that min
ing matter was my doing" he said.
1--WE got nothing against you. Your
old man hasn't wasted any affection
on me-. and I can get along without
him, all right, but I don't make trou-
BILE for girls if l can help it."
The girl believed that he meant what
he said. His words rang true, and he
spoke seriously. Moreover, Stark was
known already in the camp as a man
who did not go out Of his way to make
friends or to render an accounting of
his deeds, sc it was natural that when
he made her a show of kindness Necia
should treat him with less coldness
than might have been expected. The
man had exercised an occult influence
upon her from the time she first saw
him at Lees cabin, but it was too
vague for definite feeling, and she had
been too strongly swayed by Poleon
and her father in their attitude toward
him to be conscious of it.
I'm going to build a big dance hall
and saloon here" said Stark, showing
her the stakes that he had driven.
Gas soon as the rush to the creek is
over I'll hire a gang of men to get out
a lot of house logs. I'll finish 1t in a