Little Falls herald., 1913-05-23
|: ONLY i ] ROMANCE !
. E E$ &.%,
An Adventure That Cleared
Miss Gussie's Mind.
. '.S.g.s >.F.
BY LUELLA WAITE.

1ty. There was but one drawback to
her complete happiness. Young Harry
Caswell of Boston had imagined for q
year past that he was very much in
love with her. She didn't have any
such feeling for him. She doubted if
she ever would have, but she had join
ed the campers to have time to think it
over and had arrived to find him very
much in evidence. -
1t was 10 o'clock when Miss Gussie
fastened her pony to wild plum tree
at the head of gulch two miles from
camp and made her way down it and
alongside brawling creek until the
! wall on her right rose up full hun
dred feet in massive ruggedness. Then
she found a comfortable seat on rock
and began to sketch the grim wall and
the half dozen trees whose roots had
found a foothold thereon. It was a
| quiet, solemn place, even with the
! brawling Of the creek in her ears, and
the girl worked for an hour. forgetful
| almost of where she was. Then there
came sudden and startling Interrupt
ton.
While Miss Gussie was hitching her
broncho to the plum tree and descend
ing the gorge man about thirty years
old, neither good nor bad looking, but
possessed Of fighting jaw, was rout-
ed out Of his camp on the mountain
trail above her ten miles away. Five
men, all mounted, came upon him as
he was saddling up and called upon
him to surrender. He yelled back in
defiance, and, taking cover, he stood
them off for half an hour, woundlng
two and being himself grazed by a
bullet. Then, as the survivors began
to work around to his rear, the man
mounted his broncho and hed down
! the trail at full speed. The three un-
wounded men pursued him, firing
whenever the curving trail brought
him into sight. The girl in the gorge
heard the shooting and shouting, but
could not locate the sounds. In her
alarm she rose to her feet and was
looking up and down, seeking to make
out the situation, when a man and
horse came over the top of the cliff
above her and crashed into tree fifty
feet down. Thence they DETECTED into
the top of a second tree, thirty feet
lower, and as she gazed with wide
open eyes the two bodies brought up
in the creek almost at her feet. She
heard the shouts of men and the clat-
ter Of horses hoQfs above. but both
soon passed out Of hearing. T., :
The girl sprang from the rock and
bent over the bodies in the creek. The
horse was dead. but the rider lived.
In a moment she had dragged him out
of the creek, and as he came to he
stared at her in stupid surprise. Sit
ting up after moment, he dreamily
| asked:
"Did l come over the cliff there?'
"You did, was the answer, "and
your horse lies dead in the creek.
Those trees broke your fall"
"Much obliged to the trees. Did the
sheriff's party keep on down the trail?"
$50 the sheriff was after you?" she
queried as she stepped back pace.
Eyes, but give me chance to tell
my side Of the story. l had claim
up on the mountain. and hound Of
man jumped it. tried to shoot him
! out. That's the game in these parts,
and there's nothing criminal about it.
Don't be afraid of me. You belong to
some camping out party. suppose?''
! Eyes, and will ride back and get
help Tor you"
"Don't do it. If you'll help me bit
can get along here all right. Help
me over against the wall. Thanks.
Now, then, I'll want blanket and
some food, and shall depend on you.
You have the soul of an artist and
therefore plenty of romance. We will
stop at romance. 1t will be an incident
for you to think of, and it will save me
making long explanations to the sher-
if. Shall it be as l say, or will you
leave me to make dinner for the first
bear that comes along? Don't take too
much trouble. and keep thinking what
a romantic incident it is. No love, no
matrimony-just romance!''
| 4ucIc WAS SO"cLulllS, LII IuO lCCh4CSo
nature Of the man that appealed to
Miss Gussie She doubted that he had
told her the truth about himself, but
he was temporarily helpless, and she
sympathized with him. She gave him
4 her monday lunch and rode away to
camp, returning with a blanket and
further provisions. She suggested the
camp again, but the man made light of
his shaking up and declared be was
doing very we'll. Give him three or
four days and he would be ready to go
his way.
When the girl left the gorge on this
occasion it was understood that she
was not to return next day, but early
next morning she stole bottle Of lini-
ment from the medicine chest, bribed
the cook to put up a luncheon for two
and rode away for further sketching.
She found the stranger stin and lame,
but more talkative than the day before
i On this occasion she saw more ro-