The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1912-05-23

by anything like the outburst Of few
minutes since"
Il am glad, too admitted the man
"For / declare couldn't help it. II
have to be with you either you have
got to be mine or else you would have
to decide that it could never be, and
then I'd go off and fight it out"
i Leave me to myself said the girl
earnestly 'for little while; it's best
so; would not take the finest. noblest
man on earth"
land am not that
Unless / loved him. There Is some
thing very attractive about your per-
sonality; don't know in my heart
whether 1t is that Or
Good" said the man, as she hesi-
tated. That's enough" He gathered
up the reins and whirled his horse
suddenly in the road. Il am going
back I'll wait for your return to
Denver, and then"
That's best" answered the girl.
She stretched out her hand to him,
leaning backward. If he had been a
different kind of man he would have
kissed it: as 1t was he took it In his
own hand and almost crushed 1t with
a fierce grip.
Wen shake on that, little GIRL" he
said, and then without backward
glance he put spurs to his horse and
galloped furiously down the road.
Nc. she decided then and there, she
did not love him, not yet. Whether
she ever would she could not tell. And
yet she was half bound to him. The
recollection of his kiss was not al
| together pleasant memory; he had
| not done himself any good by that
bold assault upon her modesty, that
reckless attempt to rifle the treasure
| of her lips No man had ever really
| touched her heart, although many had
engaged her interest. Her experience
| therefore was not definitive or con-
elusive If she had truly loved James
| Armstrong, in spite of all that she
might have said. she would have
| thrilled to the remembrance OF that
! wild caress. The chances, therefore,
were somewhat heavily against him
that morning as he rode down the
trail alone,
His experiences in love affairs were
! much greater than hers. She was by
/ no means the first woman he had
kissed remember, suspicious reader,
| that he was not from Philadelphia
hers were not the first ears into
which he had poured passionate
| protestations. He was neither bet
| ter nor worse than most men, perhaps
he fairly enough represented the aver
age: but surely fate had something
| better in store for such superb wom-
an. A girl of such attachments and
such Infinite possibilities, she must
mate higher than with the average
| man. Perhaps there was subcon-
I seriousness of this in her mind as she
silently waited to be overtaken by the
rest of the party.
There were curious chances and
| strange speculations in that little
| company as they saw her sitting her
horse alone. A few moments before
| James Armstrong had passed them at
a gallop, he had waved his hand as
| he dashed by and had smiled at them,
hope giving him certain assurance,
although his confidence was scarcely
warranted by the facts.
His demeanor was not In consonance
! with Ends somewhat grave and some
what troubled present aspect. She
! threw off her preoccupation instantly
and easily, however, and Joined read
lily enough In the merry conversation
| of the way.
| Mr.. Robert Maitland, as Armstrong
| has said, had known him from boy.
There were things in his career OF
| which Maitland did not and could not
approve, but they were of the past. he
reflected, and Armstrong was after
! all pretty good sort. Mr.. Maitland
i standards were not at all those OF his
/ Philadelphia brother, but they were
| very high. His experiences Of men
had been different; he thought that
Armstrong, having certainly by this
| time reached years of discretion, could
| be safely entrusted with the precious
| treasure of the young girl who had
| been committed to his care, and for
whom his affection grew as his knowl-
| edge of and acquaintanceship with her
| increased.
AS for Mrs. Maitland and the two
| girls and the youngster, they were
Armstrong; devoted friends. They
knew nothing about his past, indeed
there were things in 1T of which Matt
| land himself was ignorant, and which
had they been known to him might
have caused him to withhold even his
| tentative acquiescence in the possibili-
| ties.
Most of these things were known
to old Kirkby, who with mastery
skill, amusing nonchalance and amaz-
| ing profanity, albeit most of it under
| his breath lest he shock the ladies',
fooled along the four nervous, excited
bronchos that drew the big supply
wagon. Kirkby was Maitland's oldest
and most valued friend He had been
| the latter's deputy sheriff, be had
been a cowboy and a lumberman, a
mighty hunter and a successful miner,
| and now, although he had acquired a
reasonable competence and had nice
little wife and pleasant home in the
moUntain village at the entrance to
the canon, he drove stage for pleas
IRE rather than for profit. He had
given over his daily twenty-five mile
jaunt from Morrison to Troutdale to
other hands for short space that he
might spend little time with his old
friend and the family who were all
greatly attached to him on this outing.