The Red Cloud chief., 1917-10-25

X that"
The man got upon his feet rather
unsteadlly.
"That's the limit" he said denni-
lively. I'm n man now, Corona too
much Of a man, I hope, to hide behind
another mans grave. I'm going back
to Brewster, todayr
The young woman made a quaint
little grimace at him. How are you
going to get there?' she asked. Its
twenty miles, and the walking is aw-
fully bad-in spots"
"But I must go. Can't you see
what everybody will say Of me?-that
l was too cowardly to face the music
when my time came? Nobody will be-
lieve that I wasn't n consenting party
to this h%ide-away!"
"Sit down." she commanded calmly
and when he obeyed: "From day to
day, since I began coming out here,
John, I've been trying to rediscover
the man whom I met just once, one
evening owe a year ago, at Cousin
Adda's house In Guthrievllle: I can't
find him-he's gone"
'COrOna !! ne Sulu. lnen you reC-
ognized meT
"Not mt first. But after a while
things began to come back and what
you told me-about Miss HIGHLANDER,
you know, and the hint you gave me
Of your trouble-did the rest"
"Then you knew-or you thought
I was a criminalT"
CIo -AIIaI md hAv uo10 vy0S rnct-
ing upon the nearby gravel heaps.
cousin AIDA wrote me-. But that
made no difference. / didn't know
whether you had done the things they
said you had, or not. What I did
know was that you had broken your
shackles in some way and were try
ing to get free. You were, weren't
your"
II suppose SO; in some blind fash
Ion. But 1t is you who have set me
free. Corona. 1t began that night in
Guthrieville when I stole one Of your
gloves; 1t wasn't anything you said;
1t was what you so evidently believed
and lived. And out here: I was SIM
ply a raw savage when you first saw
me. I had tumbled headlong into the
abyss Of the new and the elemental,
, and IL I am trying to scramble out
, now on the side Of honor and clean
manhood, It is chiefly because you
have shown me the way"
, "When did I ever, John ?"-with an
up-glance Of the gray eyes that was
almost wistful.
, always, and with a wisdom that
, makes me almost afraid Of you. For
+ example, there was the night when I
r was fairly on the edge Of letting Jib-
a hey stay In the mine and go mad If
he wanted to: you dashed me with the
I one word that made me save his life
I instead Of taking 1t. How did you
3 know that was the one word to say?"
- "How do we know anythingT" she
I inquired softly. "The moment brings
y it's W inspiration. 1t broke my
heart to see what you could be, and
to think that you might not be 1t,
after all. But I came out here this
morning to talk about something else.
t What are you going to do when you
are able to leave Sunrise GulchT"
t "The one straightforward thing
there is for me to do. I shall go back
e to Lawrenceville and take my medi-
!" cine"
s. "And after that?"
t "That is for you to say. Corona.
Would you marry q cOnvictT
"You are not guilty"
"That Is neither here nor there. They
will probably send me to prison, just
the same, and the stigma will be min,
II to wear for the remainder Of my life
pass 1t on to you-and to your chill
dren, Corona . II I could get
my own consent to that, you couldn't
get yours"
Eyes, I could, John; I got 1t the first
time colonel-daddy brought me out
here and let me see you. You were
out Of your head, and you thought yor
: were talking to Billy S~tarbuck--in thu
automobile on the night when you were
\ going with him to the fight at the dam
1t made me go down on my W knees
John, and kiss your poor, hot hands,"
= He slipped his n good arm aroun'
her and drew her close.
snow I can go back like a man ant
fight it through to the end" he exulte'
N soberly. "Jibbey will take me; know
HI he is wearing himself out trying t
make me believe that he can wait, an,
" that Verda understands. though h
won't admit II. And when 1t Is al
= over, when they have done their wors
to me-"
With q quick little twist she brok
away from the enclrcling arm.
a, "John, DEAR" she said, and her vote
- was trembling between a laugh and
sob, "I'm the wickedest, wickedes
ay, woman that ever lived and breathed-
and the happiestl I knew what yo
he would do, but ! couldn't resist IN
ry- temptation to make you say 1t. Ill
ten this morning colonel-daddy got