The Dolores star., 1916-12-15

noiselessness with which q beaver
slips into the water.
Il reckon We kin Jest lay thar q
spell. added the woman. whilst I
goes out an sees what victuals l kin
skeer up"
Left alone. the girl from Philadel-
phfa ran over the events of the day
events which seemed to smother her
under a weight OF squalor and fore
boding.
AT length from the road came loud
shouts Of drunken laughter. broken
by the evident circumstances Of a
companion who sought to enjoin quiet.
and by these tokens the Turin"
woman knew that the lord OF the
sQuaiid manor was returning. and that
he was coming under convoy She
shrank from meeting with Fletch
McNash: but II she went out by the
only door she knew she would have
to confront him. SO she lay still.
FIetch was deposited in one Of the
split'bottom chairs by the doorstep.
Il Jest went over thar ter borry a
hoe" he proclaimed, an I met up
with some fellers and thar was all
manner of free ticker. They had white
ticker an bottled.in-bond Ticker. an
! none Of hit didn't cost nothin' Them
fellers jest wouldn't hardly suffer me
ter come away"
An whilst we war a-soakin' up thet
thar free ticker them pertater sets was
a-dryin' up waitin' ter be sot out"
came the stern wifely reminder.
Between the strident voices came
every now and then the softly modu.
lated tones of the stranger whose
words Juanita lost. Yet, somehow,
whenever she heard them she felt
terances the woman outside also
spoke in softer tones.
Whoever the stranger was, he car
ried In his voice a reassuring quality.
so that without having seen him the
girl felt that in his presence there was
an element Of strength and safeguard
ing.
At last from one of the beds she
heard a scuffiing sound. and a moment
later a childish form opened a door at
the back OF the cabin and slipped out
into the darkness.
That revealed an avenue of escape.
Juanita had not known that these win.
dowless cabins are usually supplied
with two doors. and that the one into
which the wind does not drive the
weather stands open for light on win
try days. Now she, too rose noise
iessly and went out Of the close and
musty room. 1t was quite dark out
there and she could feel. rather than
see, the densely foliaged side of the
mountain that doomed upward at the
back.
In her brooding she lost account OF
time. At last she heard a voice sing
out frUn the stile:
I'm Jim White. an I'm a-comin
in"
A thick welcome from Fetch Nc
Nash followed. and then again silence
settled.
After a while, as she sat there on
the rock, with her chin disconsolately
In her hand and her elbows on her
knees, Juanita became conscious OF
footsteps and knew that someone was
coming toward her. Then she caught
the calm voice which had already i'm
pressed her-the voice of the stranger
who had brought home the half-help
less householder.
Il reckon we're out Of earshot now
1 reckon we kin hev speech here; but
heed your voice an talk low"
In the face of such preface the girl
shrank back in fresh panic. She had
no wish to overhear private converse
tions.
, She huddled back against the rocL
and cast an anxious glance about hel
for way to escape. Behind lay the
mountain wall with its. junglelike
growth. where her feet would sound
an alarm Of rustling branches and dis
| turbed deadwood. But the men were
strolling near her. and to try to reach
the house would require crossing theh
path.
Then the second shadow spoke, and
its voice carried beside the nasal
shrillness 30 common to the hills the
tenseness of suppressed excitement
"Thar's liable ter be hell ternight'
The girl thought that the quie,
stranger laughed, though of that she
could not be certain.
Il reckon ye mean concernin' Cal
Douglas?'
"Thet's hit; when 1 rid outen Peril
this afternoon Their Jury he'd done took
Their case. an everybody lowed they'd
find q verdict afore shutdown"
Il reckon"-the taller of the two
men answered slowly. and into his
softly modulated voice crept some
thing Of finty finality-'I reckon can
tell ye what that verdict's goin' to
be. Cal will come clear"
Tibet hain't Their pint" urged the
messenger excitedly. Tibet hain't why
I've rid over hyar like a bat outen
hell ter cotch up with ye. was