The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1915-04-02


mp2rtantly; q wea, saoes and stock.
y g now, and I've been to school lit.
tie. I'm awfully-awfully ignorant,
Samson, but I've started, and reckon
you can teach nc"
His voice choked Then, her hands
strayed up, and clasped themselves
about his head.
oh, Samson" she cried, as though
someone had struck her, you've cut
yore ha'r."
1t Will grow again." he laughed
But he wished that he had not had to
make that excuse. Then, being hon.
est, he told her all about Adrienne Les.
cott--even about how, after he be-
lieVed that he had been outcast by his
uncle and herself, he had had his mo-
ments of doubt. Now that it was all so
clear, now that there could never be
doubt, he wanted the woman who had
been so 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 the 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 rifle across her knees.
Except for their own voices and the
soft chorus of night sounds, the hills
were wrapped in silence-a silence as
soft as velvet Suddenly, in a pause,
there came to the girls ears the crack
ing of 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 a 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 YET
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 other
things, came back to a 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, old
battle hunger to rise, and old realiza-
tons of primitive things to assault
him Then, when they had waited
with bated breath until they were both
treasured, he rose and swung the
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 rif1e-gun up. / reckon maybe
| kin still shoot hit.
81 learned some things down there
at school, Samson" said the girl, slow
ly, and wish-I wish you didn't have
to use this"
Jim Asberry is dead" said the man
gravely.
YES" she echoed, "Jim Asberry's
dead" She stopped there Yet, heI
sign completed the sentence as though
she had added, but he was only one Of
several. Your VOW went farther"
After moments pause, Samson
added:
Jesse Purvy's dead"
The girl drew back. with a fright
ened gasp. She knew what this meant
or thought she did.
Jesse Purvy!" she repeated. ooh
Samson, did ye-?" She broke off, ant
covered her face with her hands.
mo, Sally" he told her. Il didn't
have to-" He recited the days occur
rences, and they sat together on the
stile, until the moon had sunk to the
ridge top
Capt. Sidney Callomb, who had been
dispatched in command Of a militia
company to quell the trouble in the
mountains, should have been soldier
by profession. All his enthusiasts
were martial His precision was mill
tary. His cool eye had note of com
mand which made itself obeyed. He
had a rare gift Of handling men, which
made them ready to execute the i'm
possible. But the elder Callomb had
trained his son to succeed him at the
head of a railroad system, and the
young man had philosophically under
taken to satisfy his military ambitions
with State Guard shoulder straps.
The deepest sorrow and mortified
ton he had ever known was that which
came to him when Tamarack Spicer