Mexico Missouri message., 1917-04-26
CHAPTER XVIII.
FACING the Music.

Facing the Music.
They had not underestimated the
danger from Sassoon's suspicious ma
levOlence. He returned next morn
ing to read what further he could
among the rocks. 1t was little, but it
spelled q meeting of two people-Nan
and another-and he was stimulated to
keep his eyes and ears open for fur
Their discoveries. Moreover, continu-
ing ease in seeing each other, unde-
tected by hostile eyes, gradually rem
dered the lovers less cautious in their
arrangements.
De Spain, naturally reckless, had
won in Nan girl hardly more con-
cerned. Self-reliant, both of them,
and instinctively vigilant, they spent
so much time together that Scott and
Lefever, who, before a fortnight had
passed after Dukes return home, sur
missed that De Spain must be carry
ing on some sort of q clandestine af-
fair limiting toward the gap, only ques-
toned how long it would be before
something happened, and only hoped
it would not be, In their own word,
unpleasant. 1t was not theirs in any
case to admonish De Spain, nor to
dog the movements Of so capable q
friend, even when his safety was con-
cerned, so long as he preferred to keep
his own counsel-there are limits
within which no man welcomes unin-
vited assistance. And De Spain, In
his long and frequent rides, his pro-
tracted absences, indifference to the
details of business and careless humor,
had evidently passed within these
limits.
What was stage traffic to him COM
pared to the sunshine on Mans hair;
what attraction had schedules to offer
against q moment of her eyes; what
pleasing connection could there be be-
tween bad-order wheels and her low
laugh?
The two felt they must meet to dis
cuss their constant perplexities and
the problems Of their difficult situa-
ton; but when they reached their
trysting places, there was more Of gay
ETY. than gravity, more of nonchalance
than concern, more of looking into
each others hearts than looking into
the troublesome future. And there
was hardly an inviting spot within
miles of Music mountain that one or
the other of the two had not waited
near.
There were, of course, disappoint-
ments, but there were only few fail
ures in their arrangements. The diff
culties of these fell chiefly on Nan.
How she overcame them was source
of surprise to De Spain, who marveled
at her innocent resource in escaping
the demands at home and making her
way, despite an array of obstacles, to
his distant impotence.
Midway between Music mountain
and Sleepy Cat a low-lying wall of
lava rock, in part sand-cOvered and in
part exposed, parallels and sometimes
crosses the principal trail. This undu-
latlng ridge was a favorite with De
Spain and Nan, because they could
ride in and out of hiding places with
out more than just leaving the trail
itself. To the west of this ridge, and
commanding 1t, rose rather more than
a nile away the cone called Black Cap.
Suppose" said Nan one afternoon,
looking from De Spain's side toward
the mountains, someone should be
spying on us from Black Cap?" She
pointed to the solitary rock.
"If anyone has been, Nan, with n
good glass he must have seen ex-
changes of confidence that would make
him gnash his teeth. know IL ever
saw anything like it I'd go hang. But
the country around there is too rough
for horse. Nobody even hides around
Black Cap, except some tramp hold-up
man that's crowded in his getaway.
Bob Scott says there are dozens Of
mountain lions over there"
But Sassoon had the unpleasant pa
tience of a mountain lion and its dog
ged persistence, and, hiding himself on
Black Cap, he made certain one day
of what he had long been convinced
that Nan was meeting De Spain.
The day after she had mentioned
Black Cap to her lover, Nan rode over
to Calabasas to get bride mended.
Galloping backs she encountered Sass
soon just inside the gap. Nan so
detested him that she never spoke
when she could avoid it. On his part,
he pretended not to see her as she
passed. When she reached home she