Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1914-07-31

They'll 90 to p%erdiuon. An its ell
because o. me"
"shoi They'll go right enough. you
or no you. But don't ye FRET
9Th preacher says eff we air a Stun
bin block" cried Lauretty, I'VE air
responsible"-
"Durn tn ~preacherl' roared her sire.
And the girl had said no more.
The "~preachin'" at Powell's Corners
was a sore spot with the old man, for
the slim young dreamer from the
slashes, with his earnest face and hery
eyes, who had held q months revival,
had said daring things to the noun
tainears and had missed death a dozen
times by a hairs breadth
He had inhamed the women with
that passionate zeal which Is TO be
found only in the solitudes where life
is barren OF emotions. and in Lauretty
he had stirred a longing for perfection
that wal an exquisite pain.
This day as the sun dropped behind
Windy peaks bumped shoulder. laying
deep blue shadows like nut spread
blankets in all the valleys. touching
the ridges with fairy gold and q bloody
haze. the two ome In Powell's cabin
stood together on the worn sill, clasped
in an unwonted embrace.
Don't ye fret, nanny" soothed
Lauretty. "Pap-herl not fight. Ye
know he'll not fight. An III come back
Boon-reai soon. An ef yo fret 20 hard
I'll not 60"
The girl laid down the faded, lOpsid-
ed carpetbag she had been holding and
put her hands on the dropping shout
ders Of the thin. tragic woman who
searched her fair face with swimming
eyes.
Eyes. ye Will Yes, ye will. my baby
chiler' she said TREMENDOUSLY. 'Whut
fer would ye stay hyar al yer nanny
did afore ye, achin' with fear when tn
clans air out, waitin', waitin'-an'
mebby givin' up yer sons-Tve give up
two afore yer pap pulled out oh. Lau-
rettyP'
Tears come hard to the mountain
woman, therefore this mother kissed
the girl and pushed her out, trembling.
upon the mysterious path to the world.
So II was that Lauretty, an hour
later, came to the path that angled
down around the western shoulder Of
Windy peak. She had stopped and lis
tened fearfully every few rods Of the
dusky way, shuddering leGt she hear
the distant crack Of rides. Now she let
out the breath that had held hard in
her white throat and Strengthened her
slender shoulders.
'They's on tn moth slope" she said
aloud with infinite relief. AN tn Lord
keep 'em from sheddin' o. blood"
Then she set her feet in their heavy
shoes more firmly in the path and
swung along its scented way. a dusky
white, slim shape In the shadows.
She wore her white dress" a cheap
creation Of rufies and starch, and her
straw hat with a cotton wreath. its
gaudy flowers ridiculous above the II
Quisite flower Of her face.
But In all her cbeapness Lauretty
was a lovely thing. and as she hurried
down the angling path something OF
the glory that was in her heart rode up
oYer her fear and her Inconsistencies.
setting a tremulous song IN her lips.
She had a voice as sweet as the
mountain waters that murmured TO
the slashes. and she raised 1t now upon
the night and the silence.
Far and clear It carried down over
the dropping slopes to a young man
who waited in tense eagerness.
81 go to meet my true love IN tn
fallin' o. tn dew
To the two ACROSS the path It came
with a fear giving shock, a p~rescience
OF disaster. and each rose ever 80 eau
tiously on an elbow, peering out,
Around the huge bowider came the
girl. her head we'll up, her eyes upon
the new stars in the pale sky. She
shifted the old carpetbag from one
hand to the other.
Hamp Garland in the laurel elump
saw, and his thin lips frightened while
a white line drew in around them. his
evil eyes took in the cheap straw hat
and the Anery OF the white dress.
At the logs end among the ferns
young Mat drew in a breath Of bias
phemy, and he edged IN inch toward
the open, taking in the carpetbag, the
signs Of going away.
To each OF the human tigers the ap
pearance Of the girl in her best attire
had but one meaning. a meaning cal
culated to set his lawless blood into
riot Of blood fury. Each believed him
self betrayed. each snatched at the
thought OF a tryst with his rival, eacf
saw the girl lost to himself, his name Z
byword among the clans.
Each gave way to the hard rage Of
the mountaineer. who considers ONLY
himself.
As LAuretty came down the patti
upon the clump Of laurel, her Bilvel
voice rising like a bird on the tendeI
words, my heart IL like tn noun
tainB. 20 steadfast an so true" eacl
man behind his owe set his grim lip
and his finger steadied on the trigger.
.. There was an instant when the sing
er was in plain sight q shining mari
In the cleaning.