The Benson signal., 1917-10-27

HE saw fire on Music mountain
and watched the lower end of the gap
all night. Sassoon was a wide-awake
man."
"Well, I'm sorry, Pardaloe," con-
tinued De Spain after moment. ''NO-
body could call it my fault. 1t was
either he or I-or the life of a woman
who never harmed hair of his head,
and woman I'm bound to protect. He
was running when he was hit. If he
had got to cover again there was moth
ing to stop him from picking both Of
US off,"
"He was hit in the head"
De Spain was silent.
"It was a soft-nose bullet" contin-
ued Pardaloe.
Again there was a pause. "T'll tell
you about that, too, PardalOe," De
Spain went on collectedly. II lost my
rifle before that man opened fire on
us. Nan happened to have her rifle
with her-if she hadn't, he'd we
dropped one or both of us off Ell Capt.
tan. We were pinned against the wall
like a couple of targets. If there wer0
soft-nose bullets in her rifle it's be-
cause she uses them on game-bObcats
and mountain lions. l never thought
of it till this minute. That is it."
"What 1 came up to tell you has to
do with Dave SassoOn. From what
happened today in the gap l thought
you ought to know it now. Gale and
Duke quarreled yesterday over the way
things turned out; they were pretty
bitter. This afternoon Gale took it up
again with his uncle, and it ended in
Dukes driving him clean out of the
gap."
"Where has he gomez"
"NobOdy knows yet. Ed Wickwire
told me once that your father was shot
from ambush q good many years ago.
1t was north of Medicine Bend, on a
ranch near the Peace river; that you
never found out who killed him, and
that one reason why you came up into
this country was to keep an eye out for
a clue"
"What about it?" asked De Spain,
his tone hardening.
81 was riding home one night about
a month ago from Calabasas with Sas-
soon. He'd been drinking. l let him
do the talking. He began cussing you
out, and talked pretty hard about what
you'd done, and what he'd done, and
what he was going to do" Nothing,
it seemed, would hurry the sorry
"Finally, Sassoon says: THAT hound
don't know yet who got his dad. 1t
was Duke Morgan that's who got him.
I was with Duke when he turned the
trick. We rode down to De Spain's
ranch one night to look up rustler.'
That" concluded Pardaloe, 'was all
Sassoon would say"
He stopped. He seemed to wait.
There was no word of answer, none Of
comment from the man sitting near
him. But, for one, at least, who heard
the passionless, monOtonous recital of
a murder of the long ago, there fol-
| lowed a silence as relentless as fate,
| a silence ShrOuded in the mystery of
the darkness and striking despair into
| two hearts-a silence more fearful
| than any word.
Pardaloe shuff1ed his feet. He
coughed, but he evoked no response. 81
thought you was entitled to know"
he said finally. "Now that SassOon will
never talk any more."
De Spain moistened his lips. When
he spoke his voice was cracked and
harsh, as if with what he had heard he
had suddenly grown old.
"You are right, Pardaloe. I thank
you. IEwhen lin the morning. Par
daloe, for the present, go back to the
gap. I will talk with Wickwire-to-
morrow
"Good night, Mr.. de Spain"
"Good night, Pardaloe."
Bending forward, limp, in his chair,
supporting his head vacantly on his
hands, trying to think and fearing to
think, De Spain heard Pardaloe's meas
ured tread on the descending steps,,
| and listened mechanically to the re-
| treating echoes of his footsteps down
Lu0 SIICCI. ulIcI
ute passed. De Spain made no move.
A step so light that it could only have
been the step of delicate girlhOod, a
step free as the football of youth,
| poised as the tread of womanhood and
| beauty, came down the stairs. Slight
as she was, and silent as he was, she
walked straight to him in the dark
ness, and, sinking between his feet,
wound her hands through bis two
arms. II heard everything, Henry"
she murmured, looking up. An invol-
untary start of protest was his only
response. II was afraid of a plot
against you. I stayed at the head of
the stairs. Henry, told you long ago
some dreadful thing would come be-
tween us-something not our fault.
And now it comes to dash our cup of
happiness when it is filing"
She stopped, hoping perhaps he
would say some little word, that he
|