Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-01-09
Dom,on, had struck nsr, 4yo1'vs cus

But he wished that he had not had %
make that excuse. Then, being hon
at, be told her Ill about Adfienns L.
cott-even about how. after no be-
lieved that he had been outcast BY his
uncle and herself, he had had his mo-
ments Of doubt. Now that II Was all %
clear, now that there could never %
doubt, 10 wanted the woman who had
been 20 true friend to know the girl
whom he loved. He loved them both,
but was In love with only one. He
wanted to present to Sally the friend
who had made him. and to tho friend
who had made him the Sally Of whom
he was proud. He wanted to tell
Adrienne that now he could answer
her question-that each Of them meant
to the other exactly the same thing;
they were friends Of the rarer SORT
who had for little time been In dan
ger OF mistaking their comradeship FOR
passion.
As they talked, sitting on the stile,
Sally held the ride across her knees
Except for their own voices and the
soft chorus Of night sounds, the nils
were wrapped In silence silence az
soft as velvet. Suddenly. in q pause,
there came to the girls ears the crack
ing Of q twig in the woods. With the
old, instructive training Of the noun
tains she leaped noiselessly down, and
for an instant stood listening with
intent ears. Then, in low, tense
whisper, as she thrust the gun into
the mans hands. she cautioned:
cit out Of sight. Maybe they've
done found out we've come back
maybe they're trailin' vel"
With an instant shock she remem
bered what mission had brought him
back, and what was his peril: and he
too. for whom the happiness OF the
moment had swallowed up othel
things, came back to q recognition Of
facts. Dropping into the old wood
craft, he melted out Of sight into the
shadow, thrusting the girl behind him
and crouched against the fence, throw
ing the rife forward, and peering into
the shadows. AS he stood there, bal
ancing the gun once more IN his
hands, old instincts began to stir. ole
battle hunger to rise, and old realiza
lions Of primitive things to assault,
him. Then. when they had waited
with bated breath until they were boil
treasured, he rose and swung thu
stock to his shoulder several times
With something like sigh Of con
tentment, he said, half to himself:
"Hit feels mighty natural ter throw
this old ride-gun up. ! reckon maybe
I kin still shoot hit"
Il learned some things down there
at school, Samson" said the girl, slow
", "and wish-I wish you didn't have
to use this"
"Jim Asberry is Dead" said the maj
gravely.
"Yes," she echoed. "Jim Asberry''
dead" She stopped there. Yet. hel
sign completed the sentence as though
she had added, "but he was only one O
several. Your VOW went farther"
After q moments pause, Samson
added:
Jesse Purvy's dead"
The girl drew back. with . fright
ened gasp. She knew what this meant
or thought she did.
Jesse Purvy!" she repeated. "Oh
Samson. did ye-?" She broke OF, ant
covered her face with her hands.
'No, Sally" he told her. II didn'
have to-" He redtsd the days occur
rences, and they sat together on thu
etile, until the moon had sunk to tn,
ridge top.
Capt. Sidney Callomb. who had beer
dispatched in command of a militi,
company to Quell the trouble in tn,
mountains, should have been soldier
by profession. All his enthusiasm
were martial. His precision was mill
tary. His cool eye had note Of com
mand which made itself obeyed. H,
had rare gift Of handling men, which
made them ready to execute the i'm
possible. But the elder Callomb hat
trained his son to succeed him at tn,
head Of a railroad system. and tn
young man had philosophically under
taken to satisfy his military ambitions
with State Guard shoulder straps.
The deepest sorrow and mortiflca
ton he had ever known was that which
came to him when Tamarack Spicer
his prisoner of war and man who hat
been surrendered on the strength O.
his personal guaranty. had been as
Fascinated before his eyes. In some
fashion, he must make amends. HI
realized, too, and it ranked deeply
that his men were not being genuinely
used to serve the state. but as instru
ments Of the Hollmans. and he hae
seen enough to distrust the Hollmans
Here, in Hixon, he was seeing thing!
from only one angle. He meant tt
learn something more impartial.
Besides being on duty az an Officer
Of militia, Callomb was a Kentuckian
interested in tho problems Of his com
monwealth. and, when he went back
he knew that his cousin, who occupied
the executive mansion at Frankfort
would be Interested in his suggestions
The governor had asked him to report
his Impressions. and he meant to, It
tor analysing them.
SO, smarting under his impotency
Captain Callomb came out Of his ten
one morning. and strolled across tn,
curved bridge TO the town proper. H,
knew that the grand jury was conven
ing, and no meant to cit a. q spectacle,