Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-01-19
THE BARRIER
GP SVove1 By REX BEACH
AUTHOR OF THE SPOILERS"


I buffaloed at the very thought or her, so
| he just hung around and slept late SO
THAT he might dream about her and feel
Y like he was her equal or that she loved
! back at him. You know! The other fell
/ low came from neighboriug town, and
| he wasn't the same kind, for he'd knock
] ed around more, and was better liar,
| but he wasn't right. No, sir! He was
sure a wrong guy, as it came out, but
J he was handsomer and younger, and the
very purity and Innocence of the girl
| drew him, reckon, being change from
what he had ever mixed up with"
wy don dis good man TAX shot at
4, him?" asked Poleon. holly.
! First, he didn't realize what was go
4 ing on, being too tied up with dreaming,
I I reckon; and, second, neither man didn't
/ know the other by sight. living aS they
; did in different parts; third, he was an
ordinary sort of fellow, ana hadn't ever
/ had any trouble, man to man, at that
time. Anyhow, the girl.up and took the
, bad one"
/ wat does de good man do, eh?''
We'll, he was all tore up about IT, but
he went away like a sick quail hides
/ out"
Oats too bad"
He heard about them now and then,
/ and what he heard tore him up worse
than the other had, for the girls hus-
| band couldn't wear the harness long,
| and, having taken away what good there
was in her. he made up in deviltry for
4 the time he had lost. She stood 1T pretty
well, and never whimpered, even when
J her eyes were open and she saw what
/ prize package she had drawn. The fact
, that she was game enough to stand for
, him and yet keep herself clean without
| complaint made the man worse. He tried
/ to break her spirit in a thousand ways,
/ tried to make her the same as he was,
! tried to make her a bad woman, like the
others he had known 1t appeared like
the one pleasure he got was to torture
her"
IVY don she quit 'im?" said Doret.
Dat ain wrong for quit man lax
him."
She couldn't quit on account Of the kid.
They had a youngster. Then, too, she
had ideas of her own; so she stood 1t for
three years, living worse than a dog, till
she saw 1t wasn't any use-till she saw
that he would make a bad woman Of
her as sure as he would make one of the
kid-tin he got rough"
mol No! You don't mean dat? No man
don hurt no woman" interjected Doret.
by God! That's just what 1 mean, =
the trader answered, while his face had
grown SO gray DIS u lhoASh ms DlOWS
"IIe beat her.
Poleon broke into French words that
accorded well with the traders harsh
voice.
The woman sent for the other man af-
ter that for he had been living lone
ly, loving her all the time, and you'd bet
ter believe he went"
"Ha! OATS fine! OATS dam fine! said
the other. 'Tll bet dere's hell to pay
den-w'at?"
yes, there was kind of reckoning"
The old man iapsed into moody silence
the younger one waiting eagerly
for him to continue, but there
came the sound of voices down the trail,
and they looked up.
Here comes Lee" said Gale.
wat happen den? I'm got great inter
es' bout dis woman" Insisted Poleon.
TITS a long story, and I just told you
this much to show what 1 said was true
about a good girl and bad man, and
to show why want Necia to get a good
one. The sooner it happens the better it
will suit me- a..
Neither man had ever spoken thus OPEN
~ to the other about Necia before, and
although their language was indirect.
each knew the others thought. But there
was no time for further talk now, for the
others were close upon them. AS they
came into view. Gale exclaimed:
We'll, if he hasn't brought Runnion
alongr'
"Humphg' grunted Doret. st don think
much of dat Teller. Wat de matter wit
No Creek anyhow"
The three new arrivals dropped down
up the moss to rest. for the up-trail was
heavy and the air sultry inside the for
est. Lee was the first to speak.
did you get away without bein' seem"
he asked.
Sure" answered Gale. 'Poleon has
been here two hours"
That's good; don't want nobody tag
/ GIN along"
| I'VE came right through the town bold
| ly," announced Stark but If they had
seen you two they would have suspected
something, sure"
! Runnion volunteered nothing except
oaths at the mosquitoes and at his pack
straps, which were new and cut him al
ready. AS no explanation of his presence
was offered, neither the trader nor Doret
made any comment then, but It came out
later, when the old miner dropped far
enough behind the others to render con-
versation possible.
! You decided to take in another one,
eh?" Gale asked Lee.
| 1T wasn't exactly my doin's," replied
I the miner. STARK asked me 10 let KUN
/ MON come long, bein' as he had grub
staked him, and he seemed so set on it
that 1 askeressed. You see, it's the first
chance / ever had to pay him back for
favor he done me in the Cassiar coun-
try. There's plenty of land to go around. -
/ 1t was Lees affair, thought the trader,
and he might tell whom he liked, so he
said no more. but fell to studying the
back of the man next in front, who hap
pened to be Stark, observing every move
and trick of him, and, during the fire.
quent pauses making point Of listening
and watching him guardedly.
All through the afternoon the five men
wound up the valley, following one an
: others footsteps, emerging from sombre
thickets of fir to founder across wide
pastures of "nigger-heads," that wobbled
| and wriggled and bowed beneath their
feet, until at cost of much effort and
profanity they gained the frmer footing
! of the forest. Occasionally they came
| upon the stream, and found easier going
along its gravel bars, till a bend threw
| them again into the meadows and mesas
I on either hand. Their course led them
far up the big valley to another stream
that entered from the right, bearing
backward in a great bow towards the
Yukon, and always there were dense
clouds of mosquitoes above their heads.
At one point Stark. hot and irritable,
remarked: