The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1915-11-13

the man whose WORDS Sd1QS1 pIOmpl
obedience-and finally as the self
declared advocate OF peace
He was standing, as she entered,
little back from the hearth, with the
detached air OF one who drops into the
background or comes to the fore with
equal readiness. She found that in
appearance as In voice he bore rough
sort OF impressiveness about him In
the brighter light stood the messen-
ger, a gaunt youth, in whose wild.
sharp features Iurked cunning. cruelty
and endurance But the other man,
who stood q head taller. fell into
pose Of indolent ease which might
wake instantly into power.
II was a face strongly and ruggedly
chiseled, but so dominated by unfal-
tering gray eyes that one was apt to
forget all else and carry away only
memory OF dark halr-and those eyes
Then, as they sat at table and the
girl struggled with her discontinue
over each unclean detail OF the food,
she raised her eyes from time to time.
always to encounter upon her the
steady, appraising gaze OF the dark
stranger.
When they rose from the table the
stranger drew Fletch, now somewhat
sobered by his meal. aside, and the
other men retired to the chairs IN the
dooryard. Then the girl from the East
slipped away and took up her solitary
place on top OF the stile. where she
sat thinking.
At last she was conscious of a pres
ence besides her own, as Of someone
standing silently at her back
Rather nerTously she turned her
head, and there, with one foot on the
| lower step of the stile, stood the
young stranger himself. Once more
their eyes met, and with little start
she dropped her OWL
81 kinder hate to bother ye. ma'am,"
said the even voice, but I can't hardly
get acrost that stile whilst ye're settin'
on it"
There was no note of badinage or
leVity in his tone, and his clear, drawn
features under the moonlight were en-
tirely serious.
Juanfta rose, CT beg your pardon. !"
she said hastily, as she went down the
stile on the far side.
/
the man easily, still with a serious
dignity as he, too, crossed the road.
While he was untying the knot in
his bridle-rein the girl stood watch
ing him. In the easy Incidence Of his
movements was the ripping some
thing that suggested the Jeopardy
frictionless strength.
The very quality that gave this
young stranger his picturesquenesE
and stamped him as vital and dynamic
in his manhood sprang from that wild
roughness which he shared with his
eagles and Dawn shared with hel
weedlike flowers And yet 1t wa!
somehow as though this man, whose
voice was so calm, whose movement
were so quiet, whose gaze was so un
arrogant, was crying out in q clarion
challenge with every breath: Il an
mani"
Suddenly she wondered If in hin
she might not find an ally She fel
very lonely. To have counsel witt
someone in these hills less stupid.
phlegmatfc than Good Anse Talbot
would bring comfort and reassuranc
to her heart She must cope with tn
powerful resourcefulness of Bad Ans
: Havey, he Of the untamed ferocit
and implacable cruelty and shrewd in
} telligence. If some native son coui
share even a little of her viewpoin
she would find in him a tower O
strength.
Perhaps he had yielded to the VI
/ spoken appeal Of the deep. rangefu
eyes that were always gray, yet neve
/, twice the same gray. and the sweet
: sensitive lips so tantalizingly charm
? ing, because they were fashioned 70
| smiles and were now dropping instead
81 reckon he said. you find it RICH
, different, don't you?"
= She nodded.
, "But it's very beautiful" she adde
! as she swept her hand about in a gel
= ture OF admiration
It was he who nodded at that. yer
gravely, and almost reverently. thong
at the next moment his laugh wa
\ short and almost ironicaL
3 81 reckon God never fashioned an.
D thing better-nor worse" he told he
I when you've breathed it an seen
+ an lived 1t, no other place is tit
a dwell in, an yet sometimes l low tia
God didn't mean it to be the habits
, ton of men an women It's cut OF
n for eagles an hawks an wild thing
It belongs to the winds an storms al
bear an deer. It puts fire into vein
t meant for blood, an the only crop
II raises much is hell"
L "You-you've been out in the othe
I world-down below?" she questione'
?, yes; but couldn't stay down Their
It 1 couldn't breathe, hardly. l sic
ened-an' 1 came back"
d She turned to him impulsively-
It 81 don't know who you are" ST
began hurriedly, but know that 70
brought this man home when he va
not in a condition to come alone