The Washington herald., 1909-05-23

the gun lock under the thumb OK Jean
{ checked him
/ shivering nervously. he stumbled out
OF the tent into the open. Wakened sud
denly from a drunken sleep 10 stare
+ across q leveled rife barrel upon such a
face. ne found his courage gone Them
bling with a blank expression on his face,
ne stood awaiting the event.
strip of your dGds,
I Fallon hal not undressed. With a
I vagGe sen, OF amszenent AT his OWn
act, he Obeyed and stood naked before his
master.
StiH hc.ding the rife IeveIed with one
hand, the Frenchman threw a steel and
flint 10 the other.
Burn EN- up
( Like a man IN a dream. Fallon obeyed.
1 Supporting the ieveied gun with MS
right arm, Jean stralghtened his left and
/ pointed east across the Bad Lands: Go
that way" he said; and keep going I'm
behind you And II you keep on far
enough by and by yOuH get 10 the river -
! FallOn started At q distance OF fifty
I yards he hesitated, turned about AID
cast imploring eyes upon the FrenchmaR.
Jean. jean he gasped, you're not
going tO-you're not going to"
His voice chOked him and he shud-
dered; for it was more than a face that
he saw above the leYeled rife barrel It
was his own hideOus deed become visible
II sickened him strangely In a panic
he turned and fed eastward into the
wilderness.
lie ran until sharp twinges OF pain In
his chest forced him 10 slacken his pace
I His feet were cut and bruised with the
stony trail. and ever and anon he looked
I behind him with a spasmOdic jerk Of the
I head. lest something swift and pitilesss
should creep upon him through the
silence Of the dawn.
Hour by hour as he proceeded. now
walking. now running. the character OF
/ the wilderness changed about him. Vege-
tation became scarcer and scarcer Here
and there a few stgnted trees cIung with
/ sprawllng. snakelike roots 10 the sickiy
soil Of the hillsides-gnarled. sinister
dwaTfs. struggling bitterly to the end
On the northern slopes the sallow bunch
/ grass thrust its points into the air, its
! naked roots feeling about for food amid
4 the clay and shale. Squat weed growths
( struggled from the c-evices Of the rocks
and fought the sordid battle.
Little by little the full consciousness OF
Z
upon his back crept upon Fallon, and
1 the panic passed.
He halted. drew himself to his fun
height and looked about him His pur-
suer was not to be seen. But everywhere
about him grotesque rock shapes. hewn
/ into the semblance OF intelligence by the
storms OF ages. turned their ashen, fea =
4 tureless countenances upon him and
/ leered and scowied and grinnedI
And there in the\broad glare Of noon a
( burning sense Of shame and degradation
came upon Fallon. As though he had
/ been startled by the sudden unmaskiug
! OF thousand eyes. he crouched 10 hide
/ bis nakedness.
/ Catching sight Of a scant blue shadow
that fell from an oversheiving rock. he
( crept into its meager protection. And
I now the ego OF this man. used to mas
/ terry. Fevolted- Shaken with sudden anger
/ he clenched his fists and ground his teeth.
He had killed and he had meant 70 XIII,
/ And he was gladI Glad, Had not the
/ Dane deserved It? Why did he cross Fal-
lens path like a sneaking thief? Couldn't
+ he see how things stOod2 L was good
! enough for him-the low-down tow-head-
ed sneak with his mutton face!
! at that moment Fallon felt that he
could face a thousand rifles. But slowly
grew up in his brain the picture Of the
/ talL patient Dane-the kind. the trusting
/ Dane-waiting bravely for the treacher-
+ Gus blow with the tin cup on his head
Somehow he felt lump IN his throat
I At the thought of the tin CUP How often
/ had they drunk out OF It together-water,
coffee. whisky-most everything that was
wet their parched mouths had shared
from Il together
Suddenly. as ne was brooding. there
came the guttersI sf1arl, the spat-ping-