Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-02-14
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CHAPTER XVII.
VT 1ulA1N0 4 HIA1IA01 -
Na'EEAE Eais dawn = =. I'm
INT berlost and. stopping In the
shade. sat waiting for
Ersckles
Along ths nortA line cans Frsctiss,
fairly staggering When he turned east
and reached Sleepy sneke creek, slid
Ing through. the swale like the long
black s.aks for whicb Il was NAMED.
hs eat down On the bridge anil closed
his burning eyes. but they would not
stay shut. A. II pulled by wires. the
heavy lids asw open and the outraged
nsrvse -aad- snssoles Of his body
danced. twitehed and tineieA.
He bent Forward and Idly watched
the shnpid Iet4e stream lowing be-
meath his feet. Stretching back into
the sawals. It came creeping between
an imRenetrahie wall of magntncept
wild 6oKexs. Yipea and ferns. Milk:
weed. goldenrod, ironwort. fringed
gentians. cardinal flowers and turtle
head stood On th6 yerY EDGE Of t1e
creek. and every rdower Of them grew
. double f1,fhe Vita. wiid ttmasis
crowned with SNOW the heads Of trees
scattered here and thet4 along the
hank.
Fr6ckles sat no stu that presently
the brlm Of his hat was covered with
snake feeders. rasnng their crisp
wings and singing as they rested.
Some Of them settled on the club aud
one on his shoulder. He was so quiet
and Fathers. fur and gauzS were 50
accueromyi 10 linn that III a5S:: the
swale' they want on With their daily
life and forgot he was there.
The heson family wadad ahOut the
mouth of the creek. Freckles idly
wondered whether the nerve racking
rasps they occasionally emitted 1ndi-
Gated Aonesdc felicity or raging
quarrel. 4 shettpoke, with faring
G. est, SEsat stalking across bare
space near the creeks mouth. A
stately brown bittern waded out into
the clear flowing water, lifting his feet
high at every step and setting them
down gingerly. as II he dreaded wet
ting, them, and, with slightlE parted
beak, STOOD eagerly watching about
him for worms. Behind him were
some migAty trees Of the swamp
above, and fellow the bank glowed
solid wall Of goldenpQd.
No wonder the ancieuts had chosen
yellow % the color to represent vic
tory, for tn aerce. conquertng hue Of
the sun wes in 1t. They had done well.
! seo,.in: ehecsing purple ass the color. Of
royalty. TWAS dlgnidel. compelling
color, and II ito warm tone there was
a hint Of htopd.
Il Svas IT, Lambsflsst's hour to pro-
claim her sovereignty and triumph.
Everywhere she haunted her yellow
banner and trailed: the purple Of her
mantle, that was pAler In the thistle
heads. took on strength IN the first
opening asters. and glowed and burned
In the ironwort.
Compellingly beautiful was the Linn
berlost, but cruel withal; far back in
there bleached thsspncodined bones of
her victims, and s1e had missed era
ding him. oh. 80 narrowly!
Below the Gig. dripping silver
gray head. with shining eyes. was eau
tiousIy lifted, and Rrecklss' hand slid
around to his revolver, Higher and
higher cams the head; a long. heavy.
fur coated body rose. now half. now
tiarep-f ourths ont Of the water.
FreckIes Looked at his shaking hand
and doubted. but he gathered his
forces, the shot rang out. and the otter
lay still. He hurried down and tried
to lift It. he could scarcely muster
strength to carry # to the bridge. The
consciousness that he really could not
70 farther with IL made Frecklcs re-
alize the fact thar he was well up to
the limit OF human endurance. he
could bear It little, II any. longer.
Every -four the face Of the angel wav-
cred before him. and behind It tho
awful distorted image Of Black Jack.
Is he swore to sthe punishment he
would mete out to her.
Freckles stopped when he came to
the first guard. and telling him of his
luck, asked him to. so for the otter and
carry 1t up to the cabin. as he was
anxi1sas 70 meet Mclean. Freckles
passed the second guard without seeing
him, and hurried. up to the boss. He
stood silent under the eyes Of Mclean.
The boss was dumfounded. Mrs.
Duncan had led him to expect that he
would and Freckles in a bad way. but
this was almost deathly. The fact
was apparent that the boy scarcely
knew what he was doing. His eyes
had q glazed, farsighted look in them.
that .wrung the hedrt Of the man that
loved him. Without a thought of pre-
Iiminaries Mclean leaned in the sad.
die and drew Feeckfes up to him.
my poor ,lad!' he said. my poor.
dear lad: tell me. and We will try to
right itv'
Freckles mad twisted his fingers In
Nellie's name. At the kind words bis
face dropped on McLean's thigh and
he shook with nervous chill. Mclean
gathered hisAcloser and waited.
"Frsckles.s. said Mclean at last.
.'wili you tell me. or must set to
work In the. dark and try to 6nd the