Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-01-06
APONlANCF or II
6yZANEG GREY
CHAPTER XII.

clear stream between yellow cliffs,
stood n small deserted shack of cover
ed mesquite poles. 1t had been made
long ago, but was well preserved. "A
door faced the overgrown trail, and
another faced down into Il gorge or
dense thckets. On the border fugi-
tives from law and men who hid In
fear Of someone they had wrongcd
never lived in houses with only one
door.
1t was n wild spot. lonely, not fit
for human habitation except for the
outcast.
On clear days--and rare indeed were
cloudy days--with the subsidinS of the
wind at sunset Il hush seemed to fall
around the little hut. Fnr-distant DIM
blue mountains stood Sold-rimmed
gradually to fade with the shading or
light.
At this quiet hour man climbed
up out of the gorge and sat in the
westward 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,
Jennie lad nU-sed him back to i!Ic.
The killing OF Il man named Sellers,
and the combination Of circumstances
TINT had made the tragedy mclnor-
able regret. had marked, ii not Il
change. ut least II cessation in DuAne's
activities lie had truiicd Sellers to
kill him for the supposed ahHUc'ihS
of Jennie. Vague r;i,Nnrs. n few words
here ANA ,;icrr. unau;hrntiCatId stor.
les were all that Duane h"d gathered
in wears to >uhst"nti;,tr his belief
that Jennie died shortly after the be-
ginnin. of her second captivity.
Sellers MATT have told h.!l. l'IHn"
expected. If not 10 force il from him
at the end. TO read It in his eos. Ent
tie hu!.c: went too unc"r,H=.y; it
locked his lips and fixed Us r.:2..
After that meeting Duane lay long
at the rarcl-housc of Il friend, aud
when II" recovered from the wountl
Sellers had given him he started with
two horses and q pack FOR the lonely
gorge on The NuecrS. There he had
been hidden for months, Il prey to re-
morse. II dreamer, Il victim OF
phantomS.
It took work for him to fad 81
Sistcncc IN tiMt rocky fas;n"Ss.
work. action helped to pass the lEG
Eut I've could not work Ill thr Ill
even If he had found it 10 do. II
in his idle moments and ut night
task was to live with the htI "a
mind
The sunset and the twilight hr
made all the rest hcurahlc. Th" liz
hut on the rim Of the gore seemed
hold .jcnuic'S presence. Ii WnS Il
as if he felt her spirit. II /; had bee;
lie would have been $;lr" of her death.
He hoped Jennie bad not survived her
second misfortune: "ni at iNtcn !"
hone had burned into belief, if not
surety.
\ strange feature of this mr:EaI''
of Jennie was the freshness of IL i
failure of years. toll. strife. dealt
denlinr to dim ito dcntCn III,
thought of what might have been. he
had marvellous gift Of vis,aiZa,ion,
He could shut his eyes and see .Fcnuir
before linn Just rs clearly as if she
had stood there in the flesh. Fo-
hours he did That dreaming. dreaming
of life he had never tasted and NOW
never would taste. He thought OF her
beauty and sweetness. OF the few
things which had come to mean to
him that she must have loved MIN !:
and he trained himself to think or
these in preference to her life ut
BANDS, the escape with him, ana
then her recnpture. because such meln-
cries led to bitter, fruitless pain. he
had to fight suffering because 1t was
eating out his heart.
Sitting there. eyes wide open. he
dreamed of the old homestead and his
white-haired mother. He saw the OLD
hOme-life, sweetened and filled by dear
new faces and added joys, go on be-
fore his eyes with him part Of it.
Then in the inevitable reaction. in
the refux of bitter reality. he would
send out voiceless cry no less
poignant because 1t was silent {:
"Poor fool! No. 1 shall never see
mother again--never 90 hOme--never
have home. I am Duane, the Lone
Wolfw
A group Of specters trooped out Of
the shadows Of dusk and, gathering
round him. escorted him to his bed.
Every one OF his victims, singly and
collectively, returned to him for ever,
it seemed. in cold, passionless, accus-
ing domination. They did not accuse
him Of dishonor or cowardice or brutal
ity or murder; they only accused him
of death. It was as II they knew more
than when they were alive, had learn
ed that life was a divine mysterious
gift not 10 be taken. They thromgca
about him with their voiceless clamor.
ing, drifted around him with their
fading eyes.
After nearly six months in the
Nueces gorge the loneliness and mac
ton of his life drove Duane out upon
the trails seeking anything rather
than to hide longer alone, n prey To
the scourge of his thoughts. The mo-
ment he rode into sight Of men a re-
markable transformation occurred IN
him. A strange warmth stirred in him
IA longing to see the faces Of people
to hear their voices--a pleasurable
emotion sad and strange. But 1t was
only precursor of his old bitter