The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-10-05
CHAPTER XXIII.

Duane returned to Fairdale and
tcamped in the mesquite till h 23rd Of
the month. The few days seemed end
less. All he could think of was that
the hour in which he must disgrace
Ray Longstreth was slowly but X
ably coming. In that waiting time he
learned what love was and also duty
When the day at last dawned he rode
like one possessed down the rough
slope, hurdfing the stones and crashing
through the brush, with a sound in his
ears that was not all the rush Of the
wind. Something dragged at him.
Apparently one side of his mind was
unalterably fixed, while the other was
a hurrying conglomeration of flashes
OF thought, reception Of sensations. He
could not get calmness. By and by,
almost i~nvoluntarily, he hurried faster
on Action seemed to make his state
less oppressive; it eased the weight.
But the farther he went on the harder
il was to continue. Had he turned his
back upon love, happiness, perhaps on
life itself?
There seemed no use to go or farther
until he was absolutely sure of himself.
Duane received a clear warning thought
that such work as seemed haunting
and driving him could never be carried
out in the mood under which he la
bored. He hung on to thai thought.
StNSId l IlIllSS IS SlO" UP, liz oNopPSu
only to go on again. At length, al he
mounted a low ridge, Fairdale lay
bright and green before him not far
away, and the sight was a conclusive
check. There were mosquitoes on the
ridge, and Duane sought the shade be-
meath them. 1t was he noon hour,
with hot, glary sun and no wind. Here
Duane had to have out his fight. Du-
ane was utterly unlike himself; he
could not bring the old self back; he
was not the same man he once a
been. But he could understand why.
1t was because of Ray Longstreth.
Temptation assailed him TIC hav her
his wife! 1t was impossible. The
thought was insidiously alluring. Du-
ane pictured a home. He saw himself
riding through the cotton and rice and
cane, home to a stately old mansion,
where long cared hounds bayed him
welcome, and a woman looked for him
and met him with happy and beautiful
smile. There might-there would be
children. And something new, strange,
~confounding with its emotion, came to
life deep in Duane's heart. There
would be children! Ray heir mother!
The kind of life a lonely outcast always
yearned for and never had! He saw 1t
all, felt 1T all. #.r.
But beyond and above all other
claims came Captain MacNelly's. 1t
" 40 lAlO NAiS y " AAg oAA SSAo AAA1
deathlike in Duane's soul For he
knew, whatever happened, Of one thing
he was sure-he would have to kill
either Longsrreth or Lawson. Long
stretch mighs be trapped into arrest;
but Lawson Aad no sense, NO control,
no fear. He would snarl like f. panther
and go for his gun, and he would have
to be killed. This, of all consumma
tons, was the one to be calculated
upon. ~. ..utas t
Duane came out of it all bitter and
caIlOus and sore-in the most fitting
of moods to undertake a difficult and
deadly enterprise. He had fallen upon
his old strange, futile dreams, now rem
dered poignant by reason Of love. He
drove away those dreams. In their
skinned Longstreth with his sharp
eyes, and the dark, evil faced Lawson,
and then returned tenfold more thrill
lang and sinister h old strange pas
sion to meet Poggin.
1t was about / o'clock when Duane
rode into Fairdale. The streets for the
most part were deserted. He went di-
rectly to find Morton and thinner. He
found them at length, restless, SOM
Der, anxious, but unaware OF the part
he had played at Ord. They said Long
streth was home, too. 1t was possible
that Longstreth had arrived home In
ignorance.
Duane told them to be on hand in
town with their men in ase he might
reed tEem, SSG then with teeth booked
he set off for Bongstreth's ranch.
Duane stols through the bushes and
trees, and when nearing the porch he
heard loud, angry, familiar voices.