The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1914-01-27
At&A5|I;;&|:N52
by ca SETTER
AUTHORIZE THE TWO-oUN NAMED
eoevNetr ~ OUTING PUB. CO. iois
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talking to the parson. but could not
catch their words. Later she had
mounted her pony and had ridden
away through the sunshine of the
morning. Sho had been married-it
was her wedding day--and that was u
month ago.
Well, she had found q change.
What would her father say when he
heard Of it-of her marriage to u
cowboy. an unprincipled scoundrel
What could he say? Tho marriage
could be annulled. Of course. It was
not legal. could not be legal.
What would her friends say when
they heard Of it-as they must heor
1t II she went to the law for redress ?
Her friends In the East, whose good
wishes. whose respect, she desired ?
Mockers there would he among them,
she was certain; there were Knockers
everywhere. and she feared their
taunts. the shafts of sarcasm that
would be launched ut her-aye, that
would strike her-when they heard
that she had passed a night In O lone
cabin with strange cowboy-had
been married to him!s
a month had passed since the af-
ternoon on which she had ridden w
TO the porch Of tho Double II ranch
house to be greeted by Duncan with
tho information that he had that
morning received q telegram from her
father announcing her coming. It had
been brought from Lazette by q
puncher who had gone there for the
mail, and Duncan was at that moment
preparing to drive to Lazstte to meet
her. under the impression that she
would arrive that day. There had
been q mistake. Of course. but what
did It matter now? The damage had
been wrought and she closed her lips
A month had passed and she had not
told-she would never tell.
Conversations she had had with
Duncan: he seemed a gentleman, liv-
Ing at the Double r ranch house with
his sister, but in no conversation
with any one had Sheila even men,
toned Dakota's name, fearing that
something in her manner might be-
tray her secret. To every one but
herself the picture Of her adventure
that night on the trail must remain.
invisible.
She looked furtively at Duncan.
stretched out beside her on the grass.
What would he say II he knew? He
would not be pleased. she was cor
tain. for during the month that she
had been at tho Double R-riding out
her to sec that he had taken liking
to her-more. she herself had OBJ
served the telltaie signs Of something
deeper than nero liking.
6he had not encouraged this. OF
course. for she was not certain that
she liked Duncan. though he had
treated her well-almost too we'll, In
fact, for she had at times felt a cer-
tain reluctance In accepting his little
attentions-such personal service as
kept him almost constantly at her
side. His manner, too, was ingra-
tiating: no smiled too much to suit
her; his presumption Of proprietor
ship over her irritated her not q little.
As she sat beside him on tho grass
she found herself studying him. az
she had done many times whom he
had not been conscious of her gaze.
He was thirty-two-he had told her
% himself In . burst OF confidence
though she believed him to be much
older. Tho sprtnkling Of gray hair
place his age at thirty-seven or eight.
Besides, there were the lines of his
face-the set lines Of charaoter-in-
dicating established habits Of thought
which would not show 30 deeply In
. younger face. His mouth. she
thought, was . tribe weak. yet not
exactly weak either. but full-lipped
and sensual, with little curves at the
corners which, she was sure, indi-
Gated either vtndictiveness or cruelty.
perhaps both.
"You have been here month now"
he said. How do you like the coun-
try?" .s-,A
II like It," she returned.
She was looking now at the other
picture. watching the simmer of the
sun on the distant mountain peaks.
1T improves" he said. ION ac-
the people" He
flashed q smile at her. showing his
teeth.
II have seen no one except your
sister. a few cowboys and yourself.
I haven't paid much attention to the
cowboys. like your sister. and am
not In the habit OF telling people to
their faces what think Of them. The
country does not appear to be densely
populated. Are there no other ranches
around here-no other cattlemenT
"The Double II ranch covers an area
Of 100 square miles," said Duncan.
"The ranch house is right near the
centre Of II. For about twenty miles
in every direction you won't find any,
body but Double r uaen. There are
line-camps. Of course-dugouts whore
the men hang out over night some
timss-but that's all. To my knowl-
edge there are only two men with
shacks around here. and they're
mostly of NO account. One Of them
ID Doubler-Ben Doubler-who hangs
out near Two Forks, and the other 10
. fellow who calls himself Dakota,
who's got shack about twenty miles
: dom the Ute. q little OF the Lasstts
'"rhey are ranchers. I suppossi"
shsila's face was avertsd % that