The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-12-26

Hey. Rube!- narYhaled the edrcus
forces. There vas q battle royal. In
which the local contingent vas badly
used up. more than one man being -
1ously injured.
David Jenison fought beside his fel-
low performer. Who rallied to protect
the dressing tent and the terrified
women. In the darkness and rain.
after the night performance. the op-
posing forces mingled and fought like
wild beasts- The young Virginian.
vigorous - . colt. vas Q hero among
his comrsAss. For days aftervsrd ev-
eryone talked ot the stubborn stand
he made At the rear of the dressing
tent. who're be svuAS . stake With
savage effectiveness in combat with
half . dosen rioters Who had cut the
ropes. allowing the siAswalls to drop
while many Of The women were dress
ing.
He vas asAti,s toe CAsastins BraA-
dock. Who vas waiting IN ths test
for him. instead Of going to the hotel
with her mother earlier In the eve
ming. He gioriaed himsslf forever in
the eyes Of the tsrriAsA girl. He was
never to forget the seet, trsmuloss
words OF loviAs anxiety she used.
quite unconseiously. while she went
about tho task Of baadasing tie cuts
on his face half a hesF later in her
mothers room. whsrs many Of their
inumates had gathered for attention.
I'VE must And Dick Cronk and At
tend to his wounds" protested David.
addressing the others who were there.
He came TO my assistance before
anyone else arrived. think he
dropped nom the sky"
Ruby Noakes closed her eyes sud
denly to hide the telltale gieam that
had leaped into them. She knew that
Dick Cronk was fighting for her. and
her alone.
Il saw him tust now" she said AFT
or . moment. He didn't have
scratch. and he 10 perfectly mad with
Joy over the whole thing"
He could fall out Of Q balloon and
not even get lump on his head, that
feller could" grumbled the contor-
who had two very black eyes
and several Jumps"
Braddock. partially sobered by the
serious consequences likely to arise
from the riot. spent an uncomfortable
day In the town. The circus manager
nureooAAA In hs1Sr.v rnu v1~ ~Sr- A.
that his people had been
set upon and were in no way rsspon-
sible for the ARRAY. Threats Of suit
against the town for damages had the
desired effect; the authorities were
eager to let the aggregation depart.
But in that sanguinary conflict Da-
vid Jenison had won more than his
spurs. These volatile, impressionable
people. in disdain for their own DO
sitions in life. were saying, Blood
will tell" Down to the lowliest men,
ial the sentiment regarding him un-
derwent a subtle but noticeable
change. He was no longer the guile
less outsider. He was exalted even
among those who once had scoffed.
Anxiety. worry and a mighty crav-
ing for exoneration. with \ glorious
return to the land of his people. trium-
phant In his innocence, were telling
on the proud high-spirited youth. A
gauntness settled in his face. There
was \ hungry. wistful look in his
eyes. His ever winning smile re-
sponded less readily than before.
Sharp lines began to reveal them
selves. Ranking his nostrils His heart
wac bitter. The weeks had brought
him to fuller realization of the hor-
rid blight upon his fair name. He
had come to see the wreck in all its
cold, brutal aspects. The realization
that he was haunted. branded thing,
with a price on his head, sank deeper
and deeper into his soul. Hunted!
Chased as a criminal! He, q Jenison
of Virginia!
Nor was he permitted at any time
to feel that he was safe from arrest.
Thomas Braddock, savagely disap-
pointed on that shameful night, made
life miserable for the young clown.
Only q sodden hope that there was
still a chance to secure the treasure
kept him from actually doing bodily
harm to David, to such an extent that
he might be forced to leave the show.
The proprietor was sinking lower
and lower in the mire Of dissoluteness.
There was no longer any pretense of
sobriety. He drank with vicious dis
regard for the common aspects of de-
cency. He was ugly, quarrelsome, re-
sentful of any effort on the part of
his friends to guide him out of the
slough in which he was losing him
self. More than one kindly disposed
person had been knocked down for
his interference" as Braddock called
it. David Jenison shrank from con.
tact with him, revolving against the
language he used, despising him for
the threats he held over him, dis
tressed by The snarling requests for
money. A single magnet held him
Christine He endured torment and
ohlonuy that he might ALWAYS he tharo