Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-02-23
illustrated by
DENMAN FINK
CONTINUATION OF CHAP. KILL
Stark Takes n Hand i'm the Game

Stark Takes a Hand i'm the Game
Your skin is like milk beneath your
tan. and-I don't mean any disrespect.
hut Well. I'm just so damned surpris-
ed! Come over here and sit down while
I mix you something to put the heart
back into you.
He showed forward a big chair with a
wolf-skin flung over II, into which she
sank dejectedly. while he stepped to the
shelves beside the Yukon stove and took
down a bottle and some glasses. She
glanced about with faint curiosity. but
the interior of the cabin showed nothing
out OF the ordinary, consisting as It did
Of one room with cot in the corner.
upon which were tumbled blankets, and
above which was a row OF pegs. Opposite
was a sheet-iron box-stove supported
knee-high on a tin-capped framework Of
wood, and In the centre a table with OIL
cloth cover. Around the walls were some
cooking utensils. few cases OF canned
goods and clothes hanging in a row.
I'm not fixed up very well yet" he
A apologized.
rive been 70 busy at the saloon to
. waste any time on living quarters.
{ But it's comfortable enough Tor an old
: roadster like me. for I've Iearend there's
Z only three things necessary ror a mans
comrort-warm clothes, a full stomach,
! ana a dry place to sleep. All the rest
J that goes 60 make a man content he
: has inside him. and I'm not the kind to
: be satisfied. no matter where am or
e what 1 have. 1 never was that kind,
= so I Just don't make the attempt"
he was talking to give her leeway,
and when he had concocted a weak tod
dy. insisted that she must drink It,
which she did, listlessly, while he ram
pled on.
i've noticed a few things In my life,
Miss Necia, and one OF them IS that IL
I often does a heap or good 70 let out and
| talk things over; not that a fellow gains
any real advantage from disseminating
his troubles, but IL serves to sort of
ease his mind. kolks don't often come
TO me for advice or sympathy. I don't
have IL to give, but maybe II viii help
you TO tell me what caused this night
marauding expedition OF yours" Seeing
that she hesitated, he went on: II sup
pose there's a lot OF reasons why you
! shouldn't confide in me- don't like
that old man or yours, nor any OF your
4 friends; but maybe that's why I'm in
terested. II any OF them has upset you,
iii take particular pleasure IN helping
you get even"
| II don't want to ger even, and there
IS nothing TO teIly' said Necia, ''excepI
1
I them" She smiled a painful, crooked
smile at him.
Your old man has been rough to
your
mo. not Nothing OF that sort
Then it's that soldierT' he quizzed,
shrewdly. Il knew you cared a heap
for him. Don't he love your
Yes! That's the trouble: and he
wants TO marry me; he swears he will
IN spite or everything"
: see hereI L don't quite roIlow.
thought you liked him-he's the KIND
most women go danny over"
Like himP' The girl trembled with
emotion. Like him! why-why,
would DO anything to make him happy
1 Il guess 1 must be kind OF dull
stark said, perplexedIy.
Don't you seer I've got to give him
up-rm a squaw."
-Squaw hell! With those snouIdersY
stark checked himself, TOR ne found
ne was rejoicing In his enemy's defeat
and was in danger OF betraying himself
to the girl. In every encounter the
\ young man had bested him, and these
4 petty defeats had crystallized his an
upathy TO Burrell into hatred sc
i strong that he had begun TO lie awake
nights planning a systematic quarrel
| FOR he was the kind or man who throve
! upon contentious; so warped in SOU
that when no man offered him offense
ne brooded over fancied wrongs and
| conjured up a cause for enmity, goad-
ing himself into that sour, sullen habit
| or mind that made him a oread ana n
menace TO all who lacked his favor
His path was strewn from the border
/ north with the husks OF fierce brawls
4 and he bore the ineradicable mark OF
II the killer, carrying always En his brain
those scars that hate had scared. In
/ his eyes forever slumbereo a flame
/ waiting TO be blown to life, and when
Il embroiIed In reuds or chickering's a Gus
tom had grown upon him 10 ugnt THESE
nights in secret many times, until
OF nights he would lie IN solitary
Il darkness writhing in spirit as he bounded
HIS man TO desperation, or forced him
into a corner where he might Stake his
/ thirsty vengeance After such black
sleepless hours he dragged himself from
his backgrounds of fancy. worn and
weary, and the daylight discovered him
more saturnine and moody. more menac-
| ing than ever.
He had brooded over his quarrel with
Gale and the Lieutenant ever since theiI
first clash. for in this place they fur
nished the only objects upon which his
mania could WOrk-anQ IL was mama
the arrangement OF a diseased, distorted
mind. His regard for Nicola was care
less within, a rather aimless, satisfying
hobby, not at all serious. entirely extra
neous to his everyday life. and interesting
only from its aimlessness. being as neal
10 an unselfish and decent motive as tht
man had ever come. But it was not o.
sufficient consequence TO stand on
against or swerve the course OF a quarrel
wherefore. he was gladdened by the new
Of BurrelPs discontinue.
so you like him too much to stanC
in his way" he said. meditatively. How
does your father look at it'%
He wants the Lieutenant to marry me
He says he will fix IT up all right; bu
he doesn't understand. How could her
You are doing just right" concurret
the man, hypocritically, and you'll liv'
to be glad you stood out" Now tina
both his enemies desireo this thing, h
was set on preventing II, regardless o
the girl. How did the Lieutenant TAX
IL when you refused him?"
He wouldn't take II at all. He onl!
/ laughed and declared he would marry me
: anyhow" The very thought thrilled her
Does he know you love him?"
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