The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1916-05-25

would he horse. 1t had been har
i swimming n perilous foothold an
little enough leeway to safety.
1t was not long before the girl froi
her elevated post saw him coming no.
through the opposite woods along tn
road to the ford.
III She was surprised that any on
could lave made the ford that day, an
a very real uneasiness made itself fel
in her as she watched Bucks IA
approach. Just where the road shelve
into the turbid water he paused, ans
raising his eyes, saw her.
A quick pleasure flashed into Burk'
eyes, though instantly he reminde
himself that h could have known @
his coming or expected to see hir
there. Then he gave his attention t
his reluctant horse.
rs it safe, Buck?" called Jess.
/. ooh! ] reckon so. l got over thi
mornin' all right"
His horse wheeled around suddenly
Buck putting him with spurs and quir
once more at the risk. A risk it was
he knew.
There's a big log comm down.
Buck"
The log swirled by, eddied an,
caught among the hanging roots anc
vines beneath the bluff upon which
Jess sat.
Il wouldn't stay on that bank, Jess,
urged Buck. Its badly scooped out
an the bank is crumblin' somethin
fierce higher up the river"
On the words he carried his horse
%plunging and Laundering into the cur
rent, heading the frightened ANNA
well up stream lest he be swept below
the ford and down the river. Jess saw
his danger then, and her heart stood
still.
Despite his best endeavors the horse
lost Roadway in the rapid current.
Then for a time he seemed to be
holding his own, but it was the prog
ress of the treadmilI. If he should be
swept beyond the ford where the banks
~ cut under the force of the water, the
chance for horse and rider would be
slender, indeed.
And that seemed about to happen,
for the current eddying in shore was
swirling them down at an angle that
would miss the shelving ford.
In the helplessness of her terror
Jess groaned. But Buck knew his
danger, too, realized that, unaided,
the horse would not make his escape.
Jess held her breath as she watched.
uncoiling his snake lariat from the
horn of his saddle, Buck took a few
hasty but well considered swirls. and
sent the rope flying outward and up
arc toward the stump of a cotton
wood about whose base the moose set
tied and drew taut as he wound the
lariat by a deft twist around the sad
die horn just in the when the
battling horse was borne beyond the
ford.
Urging the animal forward once
more, Buck drew in the slight slack of
the rope inch by inch, and in a mo-
ment more stood in safety on the slo-
ping bottom, his horse spent and shiv-
ering.
So tense had beer the strain on Jess
that the reaction left her faint, and she
did not nov even when she heard
Buck call to her. He stood coiling his
lariat. and blowing his horse, hidden
from sight of the girl by the higher
bank upon which she was.
Jess" he called again, come away
from that bank 'Tain't safe there"
In h a m Jess wished he
would ride on homeward and leave her
alone. She did not want him to see
the weakness that was upon her and
which she could not conquer by effort
of her will.
Instead OF going On. Buck, leaving
his horse to wait for him, clambered up
the bank and drew near her.
In her nervousness Jess released her
knee from h pommel and slipped to
the ground. Her face was still very
white, and her hand on the rein trem-
bled as h led her pony forward a few
PAGES.
why, Jess Buck cried. did it
danger 'cept for the horse. | could ha'
swum for it. had it come to that
He had moi seen her thus alone since
that memorable day on the dam. The
evidence of her distress about him: the
neafness OF her body to him. pictures
que for all it's ugly habiting in rain
proof rubber; the appealing expression
IN her eyes-an appeal of which Jess
herself was unconscious-the remote
ness Of them 10th from all others
these things sent the love of her rush
ing to Bucks heart.
Jess" he asked suddenly very
graye, WHY did o say what you did
She looked him fairly in the ewes.
very pallid, very still.
it was so. Buck. Cause it
was the truth"
1T wasn't the TRUTH"
1t was in my heart to have it SOL
she persisted. 1T was in my mind. /
reckon God Almighty would call it so.
An all You done, you done for me"
I'm a man." he said, his voice muf-
fled. "'Twarn't all done for YOU. Jess
for you an met"
Instinctively the girl drew back. sud
den rear in her dark eyes-fear not
lone of him, and. therefore, the more
battling to Buck.
Quickly his voice rang out in sharp,
alarmed command. and he sprang for
ward, selling with one hand the girl
and with the other the startled pony.
For Gods sake, GOMEZ" he cried,
and pulled them forward.
1t was in the nick of time. There
a crashing, tearing, s~plashIng
sound behind them as the ground up
on which Jess and her horse had been
standing crumb1y suddenly and plunged
into the river below.
less kilrain a never sWooned in
all OF her strong, young life. but now
a faintness that was overwhelming
her. She reeled against her
pony, who. still startled. swerved aside.
leaving the girl swaying ~unsteadily.
Yet even then she lifted a protesting
hand as Buck 1eaped toward her.
1T is where YOU beiongs" he cried
exultant for all his pity as his arms
closed about her and her head rested
weakly against his breast. 1T is
where Tn going I'd hold you, Jess, over
my baa rf fOrayer HnJd yrt, ft1} The