The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1915-03-20

The thing which you call fascina-
ton in me was really Just, a proxy
Drennie- You were liking qualities in
me that were really his qualities. just
because you had known him only II
gentle guise, his finish blinded ycll
to his courage. Because he could CbrIs
'to woman the heart Of woman you
failed to see that under 1t was the
iron and fire You thought you saw
those qualities in me, because I wore
my bark as shaggy as that scaling
hickory over there. When he was get
| ting anonymous threats Of death eE-
cry morning he didn't mention them
/ to you He talked OF teas and dances
1 know his danger was real, because
I they tried to have me kill him-and
| If I'd been the man they took me for,
I reckon I'd have done it. 1 was mad
to my marrow that night-for a min
ute. I don't hold a brief for WiIfred,
/ but know that you liked me first for
| qualities which he has as strongly as
land more strongly He's q drawer
man than I, becuse, though raised to
| gentle things, when you ordered BIN
into the fight he was there. He never
turned back or flickered. 1 was raised
on raw meat and gunpowder. but he
went in without training"
The girls eyes grew grave and
thoughtful, and for the rest OF the
way she rode in silence.
There were transformations, too, In
| the house OF Spicer South. Windows
had been cut, and lamps adopted 1t
was no longer so crudely a pioneer
abode. While they waited for dinner,
| a girl lightly crossed the stile, and
came up to the house Adrianne met
her at the door, while Samson and
Horton stood back, waiting. Suddenly,
| Miss Lescott halted and regarded the
| newcomer in surprise. It was the
same girl she had seen, yet a different
| girl. Her hair no longer fell in tangled
masses. Her feet were no longer bare.
| Her dress, though simple, was charm
/ ing, and, when she spoke, her English
/ had dropped its half-illiterate peculiari
/ ties, though the voice still held its
! bird-ike melody
'Oh, Samson cried Adrienne, you
two have been deceiving me! Sally.
you were making up, dressing the part
/ back there, and letting me patronize
you"
SaIIy's laughter broke from her
throat in a musical peal, but it still
! held the note of shyness, and it was
Samson who spoke.
'1 made the others ride on, and got
Sally to meet you just as she was when
1 left her to go East" He spoke with
a touch of the mountaineer's oversen-
sitive pride. 81 wanted you first to see
my people, not as they are going to be,
/ but as they were 1 wanted you to
know how proud 1 am Of them-iust
| that way"
That evening, the four Of them
walked together over to the cabin Of
the Widow Miller. At the stile, Ad-
rienne Lescott turned to the girl and
said:
81 suppose this place is pre-empted-
I'm going to take Wilfred down there
by the creek, and leave you two alone"
Sally protested with mountain hos
pitality, but even under the moon she
once more colored adorably
Adrienne turned up the collar Of her
sweater around her throat, and, when
she and the man who had waited, stood
leaning on the rail of the footbridge,
she laid q hand on his arm
Has the water flowed by my mill,
WilfTed?" she asked
What do you mean?" His voice
| trembled.
will you have anything to ask me
when Christmas comes?"
eff can wait that long, Drennie."
he told her.
Don't wait, dear" she suddenly ex-
claimed, turning toward him, and
raising eyes that held his answer.
Ask me nowi"
But the question which he asked was
one that his lips smothered as he
pressed them against her own
Back where the poplar threw its
sooty shadow on the road, two figures
sat close together on the top Of a
stile, talking happily in whispers. A
girl raised her face, and the moon
shone on the deepness Of her eyes, as
her lips curved in a trembling smile.
you've come back, Samson" she
said in low voice, but, If I'd known
how lovely she was, I'd have given up
hoping 1 don't see what made you
come"
Her voice dropped again into the
tender cadence of dialect.
Il couldn't live withouten We, Sam
son. I jest couldn't do hit" Would he
remember when she had said that be-
fore?
81 reckon, Sally" he promptly told
her, 81 couldn't live withouten you,
neither" Then, he added, ferTentiy.
I'm plumb dead shore 1 couldn't"
THE END.