The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1916-01-20
CHAPTER xviii-esatiassA.

Ne voo II no better mood than my
oo2 To encounter insult. and what had
bees Q simple difference between us
samol into . quarrel which reached
its elimination when he mentioned
divers name with 4 taunt. which the
boy. for alI bis obstinate clingins to
his journalistic idea. did not deserve.
Knowing my own temper. drew
hack Into the Hollow.
He followed mA
! tried to speak
He took the word out Of my mouth
This may have been with the intent
q Queiling my anger. but the tone
vas raspins. and. noting this and not
his words. my hand frightened insen-
sfbiy about the stick which the devil
Tor John scoviileD had put In. my hand
DID be see this. or was he prompted
by some old memory Of boyish quar-
fsIs that he should give utterance to
that quick. sharp laugh Of scorn! !
shall never know. but ere the sound
had ceased the stick was whirlins over
my head-there came q crash and be
fell Ny friend! My friend!
Next moment the earth seemed too
narrow. the heavens too contracted
for my misery. That he was dead
that my blow had killed him. never
doubted for an instant. I knew II, -
We know the face Of Doom when once
It has risen upon u.s. Never, never
again would this lump Of clay. which
. few minutes before had filled the
Hollow with shrillest whistling,
breathe or think or speak. He was
dead. dead. dead!-And What was I!
The name which no man hears un.
moved. NO amount Of repetition makes
easy to the tongue or welcome to the
ear! the name which I had
heard launched In full forensic elo
quence 30 many times In accusation
against the wretches had hardly re-
garded as being in the same human
class as myself rang in my ears as
though intoned from the very mouth
OF hell. I could not escape It. I should
never be able to escape It again
Though I was standing In q familiar
scene-a scene ! had known and fre-
quented from childhood. I felt myself
- isolated from my past and a. COM
pletely set apart from my fellows a.
the shipwrecked mariner tossed to
precarious foothold on his wave
dashed rock. forgot that other
criminals existed.
In that one awful moment I was IN
my own eyes the only blot upon the
universe-the sole inhabitant Of the
new world into which I had plunged
the world Of crime-the world upon
which had sat in Judgment before 1
knew
What broke the spell! God knows;
oil can say 10 that. drawn by some
ether will than my own. found my
glance travelling up the opposing blum
till At its top. framed between the
ragged wall and towering chimney of
spencer's Folly. saw the presence
I had dreaded. the witness who was
to undo me.
Il was woman-a woman with 4
little child In hand. did not see her
face. for she was Just on the point of
turning away from the dizzy verge. but
nothing could have been palmer than
the silhouette which these two made
against the 6ush Of that early evening
aky.
A long as could catch q glimpse
Of this woman's fiuttering skirt as she
retreated through the ruins. | stood
there. self-convicted. above the man
had slain. staring up at that blotch Of
shining sky which was as the gate Of
hell to me. Not till their two figures
had disappeared and 1t was quite clear
again did the instinct of self.preserva.
ton return. and with 1t the thought
Of flight.
But where could fly! No spot in
the whole world was secret enough to
conceal me now. l was a marked man
Better to stand my ground. and take
the consequences than to act the COW.
ards part and slink away like those
other men Of blood | had so often sat
In judgment upon.
Had ! but followed this impulse!
Had I but gone among my fellows.
shown them the mark Of Cain upon
my forehead and prayed, not for in
dulgence. but punishment. what days
Of gnawing misery l should have been
spared!
The horror of what lay at my feet
drove me from the Hollow. AS my
steps fell mechanically into the trail
down which had come in innocence
and kindly purpose only few minutes
before, startling thought shot
through my benumbed mind The
woman had shown no haste In her
turning! There had been a natural
ness In her movement, dignity and a
grace which spoke of ease. not shock
What If she had not seen! What II
my deed was as yet unknown! Might
not have time for-for WHAT did
not stop to think; just pressed on.
saying to myself. Let Providence de-
eide. II meet any one before I reach
ny own door my doom Is settled. II