The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1916-07-20
CHAPTER X.


A hundred miles from the haunt~
most familiar with Duanes needs. far
up where the Nueces ran a trickIine
clear stream between yellow cliffs.
stood small deserted shack of covered
meQulte poles 1t had been made long
ago, but was well preserved. A door
raced the oTergrown trail and another
laced down into gorge of dense thtclc-
cts On the border fugitives from law
and men who hid in fear of some one
snty had wronged never lived in houses
with only one door.
1t Was Wild spot. lonely, not fit for
human habitation except for the out
cast Hs, perhaps. might have found !,
nSrd 70 leave for most of the other
Wild hooks in that barren cor7ut-,
DOWN IN the gorge there was never
1aiEsTig sweet water, grass all the wear
round cool shady retreats. deer. rab-
DTS. turkeys. fruit and miles and miles
o. narrow twisting. deep canon full Of
broken rocks and inpenetrable th;ckets.
1ne scream OF the panther was heard
there the sQuail OF the wildcat. the
cough OF the taguar. Innumerable bees
ouzzed in the spring blossoms. and If
seemed, scattered honey TO the winds.
Al "a there was continuous song of
oircs that OF the hooking bird loud and
sweet and mocking above the rest.
On clear days and rare indeed were
cloudy days-With the subsiding of the
vino al sunset a hush seemed to fall
around the little hut. Far distant dim
que mountains stood gold trimmed
gradually TO fade with the shading of
light. u
Al this quiet hour man climbed I'D
out OF the gorge and sat in the west
ward door OF the hut This lonely
watcher OF the west and listener to the
silence was Duane. And this hut was
the one where. three years before. len
hiYyl hoe IL
The killing OF a man named Sel,ere
ana the combination OF circumstances
1hat had made the tragedy memorable
regret had marked, II not change at
least cessation in Duane's activities.
he had trailed Sellers to kill him for
the supposed abduction of Jennie. He
had trailed him long after he had
iearned Sellers Travelled alone. Duane
wanted absolute assurance OF Jeunie's
death Vague rumors, few words here
ard there, unauthenticated stories. were
Al Deane had gathered in years to sub
s,antlate his belief-thst Jennie died
shortly after the beginning of her sec
ond captivity. But Duane did not know
surely. Sellers might have told him.
duane expected, IL not to force it from
rim al the end, to read 1t in his eyes.
bus tne bullet vent too unerringly; it
locked his lips and fixed his eyes.
Artsr that meeting Duane lay long at
the ranch house OF friend, and when
ne recovered from the wound Sellers
mad gwen him he started with two
horses and pack for the lonely gorge
on me Nueces. There he had been hid
Gen for months, a prey to remorse.
dreamer. victim of pIlantoyns
II took work for him to find subsis-
serfse in that rocky fastness And work,
action, helped to pass the hours But he
could not work all the time, even il he
rad found it to do. Then ia his idle
moments and at nigh. his task was to
si'se with the hell in his mind.
TIE sunset and the twilight hour
made all the rest bearable. The little
nut ON the rim OF the gorge seemed to
mold Jennie's presence. 1t was not as IL
ne felt her spirit. II It had been he
would have been sure of her death. He
hoped Jennie had not survived her
second misfortune; ard that intense.
hope had burned into belief il not
Iaurety. Upon his return to that locality.
on the occasion OF HIS first visit to the
hut, he had found things Just as they
had left them, and a poor. faded piece
Of ribbon Jennie had used to It'd around
or traveller ha1 happened upon tho lone
~ spot, which further endeared 1t to
Duane
A strange feature OF this memory. OF
Jennie was the freshness Of 1.-THE fall
ure of years, toll; strife death dealing
to dim tito deaden the thought OF
what might have been. He had mar
Felous gift OF INSTALLATION. He could
shut his eyes and see Jennie before him
Just as clearly as IL she had stood there
In the flesh. For hours he did that.
dreaming, dreaming OF life he had
never tasted and now never would
taste. He Saw Jennic's slender. grace
TuI figure, the old brown ragged dress
In which he had seen her first at
BANDS. her little feet In Mexican sam
dals. her fine hands coarssned by work,