Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-05-03
CHAPTER Xxx.
Gale Persists

! When within an hour De Spain
joined Nan, tense with suspense and
anxiety. at the hospital. she tried nard
to read his news in his face.
Have you seen him?" she asked
eagerly. De Spain nodded. what
does he say?"
Nothing very reasonable"
Her face fell. 81 knew he wouldn't.
TELL me all about it, Henry-every-
thing"
She listened keenly to each word. De
| Spain gave her a pretty accurate re-
citaI of the interview, and Mans appre-
hension grew with her hearing of it.
II knew it" she repeated with con-
viction. Il know him better than YOU
know him. What shall we do?"
] De Spain took both her hands. He
held them against his breast and stood
| looking into her eyes. When he re.
garded her in such a way her doubts
and fears seemed mean and trivial. He
| spoke only one word, but there was
world of confidence in his tone i:
"Stick."
|
turned his gaze, and with little trou-
bled laugh drew closer. "Stick, Man,"
he repeated. st will come out all
right"
She paused a moment. "How can you
know?"
q know because it's got to. talked
it all over with my best friend in Medi-
cine Bend, the other day"
''Who, Henry?"
Whispering Smith. He laughed at
your uncle's opposing us. he said if
your uncle only knew it, it's the best
thing that could happen for him. And
he said if all the marriages opposed
by old folks had been stopped, there
wouldn't be young folks enough left
to milk the COWS"
Henry, what is this report about the
! CalabasaS barns burning?"
'The old Number One barn is gone
and some Of the old stages. We didn't
| lose any horses and the other barns
are all right. Some of our Calabasas
or gap friends, probably. No matter,
We'll get them all rounded up after a
While, Nan. Then, some fine day,
we're going to get married"
De Spain rode that night to Gala
| b2saS to look into the story Of the fire.
| McAlpin, swathed in bandages, made
no bones about accusing the common
| enemy. No witnesses could be found
to throw any more light on the inquiry
[ LN l. "a H.
| Spain made only pretense of a formal
| investigation. If he had had any
| doubts about the origin of the fire they
| would have been resolved by an anony
! nous ScraWl, sent through the mail,
promising more if he didn't get out of
| the country.
But instead of getting out of the
| country, De Spain continued as a mat
| ter of energetic policy to get into it.
He rode the deserts stripped, SO to say,
| for action and walked the streets of
Sleepy Cat welcoming every chance to
| meet men from Music .m9untain or the
| Sinks. 1t was on Nan that the real
hardships of the situation fell, and
| Nan who had to bear them alone and
! almost unaided.
Duke came home a day or two later
without a word for Nan concerning his
encounter with De Spain. He was
shorter in the grain than ever, crustier
to everyone than she had ever known
him-and toward Nan herself fierceIy
resentful. SassOOn was in his COM
pany great deal, and Nan knew of
old that SaSSOOn was a bad symptom
Gale, too, came often, and the three
were much together. In some way,
Nan felt that she herself was in part
the subject of their talks, but no infOr-
nation concerning them could she ever
get.
One morning she sat on the porch
sewing when Gale rode up. He asked
for her uncle Bonita ted him Duke
had gone to Calabasas. Gale an
nounced he was bound for Calabasas
himself, and dismOunted near Nan.
prOfessedly to cinch his saddle. He
fused with the straps for a minute,
trying TO engage Nan in the interval,
without success, in conversation. Look
here: Man," he said at length, studious-
ly amiable, don't you think you're
pretty hard on me. lately?"
''No, I don't" she answered. eff
Uncle Duke didn't make me, I'd never
look at you, or speak to you-or live
in the same mountains with you"
81 don't think when q fellow cares
for you as much as I do, and gets out
of patience once in a while, just be-
cause he loves a girl the way a red
blOOded man can't help loving her, she
ought to hold it against him forever.
Think she ought to- Nan?" he demand
kept silence.
Il think" she responded, showing
her aversion in every syllable, before |
q man begins to talk red-blood rot, he |
ought to find out whether the girl cares |
for him, or just Ioathes the sight of |
him."
He regarded her fxedly. Paying no |
attention to him, but bending in the |
sunshine over her sewing, her hand fly !
ing with the needle, her masses of |
brown hair sweeping back around her |
pink ears and curling in stray ringlets |
that the wind danced with while she
worked, she infiamed her brawny cous-
ms ardOr afresh ''You used to care
for me, Nan. You can't deny that
Her silence was irritating. Can your
he demanded. Come put up your
work and talk If ont I didn't uSe to