The Washington herald., 1914-03-11
INTO THE
FOOTHILLS

'Tf you strike her again I'll kill you"
There was dangerous CLINT in Ruth's
eyes as she aimed the shotgun at her
father and touched the trigger Don't
you-don't you dare touch her, she
blazed.
The old miner looked sneeringly at the
woman who covered in terror at his
feet and brokenly begged for mercy.
Then he caught the defiant CLINT in his
daughters eyes, and the arm. with which
he had meant to strike the final crushing
blow fell Imply to his side. With a
sullen snar, he turned and shuffied away.
Ruth mopped the blood from her
mothers face. The bruised. distorted
features stirred hot anger within her. Il
could have killed him for that" she
cried The old woman walled pitifully.
Ruth assisted her into the wagon and
tried to make her comfortable.
A short distance from them a young
man struggled to his feet and staggered
away with the lurching gait of a wound
ed man. Ruth watched him with anxious
eyes till he disappeared among the trees.
He had Joined them while they were
eating their dinner by the roadside. Ruth
had liked his handsome and bluntly
honest face. She had seen a cunning
expression creep into her fathers eyes
as the young miner Tecklessly confded
to them that he had struck rich lode
and that ne was on his way to the city
for tools and supplies. Bit by bit her
father had drawn out his secret. and
then came the blow that sent the young
miner limp and senseIess to the ground.
The old man would have killed him had
not his wife interfered. and then the
miners rage exploded in bruising blows
and the woman had sunk to his feet
bleeding and begging.
AS she sought to comfort her mother,
Ruth shut her eyes as IL to exclude the
memory of the awful scene The old
miner, still grumbling suddenly, was
hitching the ponies to the wagon.
The rangers will be out Iookin' for us
pretty quick" he muttered. IF you'd
let me finish him he wouldn't have been
alive to tell the story
Ruth silenced him with an eloquent
glance. They drove on and toward even
ing stopped at a shack that seemed de-
serted. The miner declared his intention
of stopping there overnight, and Ruth
helped her mother into the cabin. II was
evident the shack had been occupied re-
Gently, and the owner might be back any
time. But Ruth. fearful OF the conse-
ouences IL she permitted her sick mother
To travel farther that night put her TO
bed and bandaged her wounds
When she looked out the wagon the |
burros had disappeared. and she knew |
that her father, fearing the rangers and /,
the laws vengeance, had fed and de- |
serted them. She felt intense relief at |
the thought that he would no longer tor |
ment them. The shack was well stocked |
with supplies, and they were in no imme- |
diate danger of starvation
The next morning the old woman was
better and Ruth. craving a little exer- |
else strolled out over the hills. She
wondered whether the handsome young |
miner had safely reached his destina-
ton, or whether-she shuddered at the |
thought-he had bled to death some /
where in the wilds.
Suddenly her feet slipped and a rough |
surface bruised her hands. Crouching on /
her knees she was staring intently at .
number of rough little Jumps that lay
scattered about her. She picked up one
of them and fingered it speculatively. A
look of perpleXity mingled with joy crept
into her face. She knew those hard lit
tie Jumps well-ever since she was child
she had heard Of men going into frozen
and maddening wilds to find them. Il
Cold" he nurmured happily. She
surveyed the ground shrewdly, and her
knowledge, acquired the daughter of
a prospector. told her she had struck a
rich lode. She gathered a few Of the
nuggets and ran toward the cabin. her
neaTl lHtS "Oulu
rich and har old mothers remaining days
would be softened by possession of the
comforts for want of which she had
grown gray and shriveled.
She flung the cabin door open and
stepped up TO the bed. Tnen she drew
back with a cry she glimpsed her
mothers glazed eyes and rigid features.
She flung herself down beside the still
form. pleading. begging, and praying for
a sign of life. But there was no answer.
The old woman was dead-dead from
blows struck by her husband.
Bitterness and heart-bruising grief
found vent in hot tears that sprinkled
the old wOman's cold face. After an
hour OF weeping she rose and her wildly
staring eyes caught a glimpse of the
little nuggets. She laughed Historically.
They would do her no good now-all the
wealth in ~ world UDIld mean nothing
70 her. She pushed back a shutter and