Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1917-05-10

DE Spain. But the impending encOun-
ter never took place. De Spain. at.
tending closely TO his own business.
managed to Keep accurate track OF her
Whereabouts without getting in her
way. She had come to Sleepy Cat
dreading TO meet him and fearing his
Influence over her but this apprehen-
sion. with the passing of curiouSly
brief period. dissolved into conf.
dence in her ability TO withstand fur
thel Interference, on anyone's part.
with her feelings.
Gale Morgan rode into town fire.
quently and Nan at first painfully APP
pretended hearing sometime of Il dead
ly duel between her truculent gap adj
mirer and her persistent town courier
who was more considerable and bet
ter hammered. but no less logged. and.
in fact a good deal more difficult t.
handle.
As TO the bosterous mountain man.
his reSolute little cousin made no Sc
cret of her detestation Of him She
denied and defed him Us openly as a
II
continued Indifference She was quite
alone, too. in her fear of any fatal
meeting between the TWO men who
seemed determined to pursue her.
The truth was that after Calabasas.
De Spain. from Thief river 10 sleepy
Cat. was Il marked man None sought
10 cross his path or his purposes. and
neither the town haunts Of CalabaSas
men nor those Of their Morgan Gap
sympe thizers had any champion dis.
posed 10 follow too closely the alert
Medicine Bend railroader
In and about the hospital and in the
town itself. Nan found the CHEF oh.
stacle to her peace Of mind ia The talk
! she could not always avoid hearing
about De Spain Convalesceuts in the
corridors. practically all Of them men.
never gathered ia sunny corners or at
the tables in the dining room without
De SPANS name coming in some way
into the talk. 70 h- followed with vary.
ing circumsrau'Ia .-.v--~ nf what
really had har g.. '.t
lbasas.
And wiz
In which he had figured. exhausted az
topics, by long-winded commentators,
more or less hazy stories of hls earlier
experiences at Medicine Bend II the
company Of Whispering Smith were
dragged into the talk. One GONZALES
cent stage-guard at the hospital told
a story one night at supper about him
that chilled Nan again with strange
fears. for she knew 1t to be true. He
had had 1t from McAlpin himself. 50
the guard said, that De SPANS father
had long ago been shot down from am
bush by a cattleman and that Henry
de Spain had sworn to find that man
and kill him. And it was limited pref
~ strongly that De Spain had infOrma-
ton when he consented to come to
Sleepy Cat that the assassin still lived,
and lived somewhere around the head
Of the sinks.
On that very evening 1t CHANGED the
doctor came late. When he walked IN
he asked her if she knew it was From
tier day, and reminded her that just
year ago she had shot against Henry
de Spain and beaten the most danger
Gus man and the deadllest shot on the
mountain divide in her rifle match.
How he had grown in the magma
ton of Sleepy Cat and Music noun
tain, she said to herself-while the
doctor talked to her uncle-since that
day year ago. Then he was no more
than an unknown and discounted
marksman from Medicine Bend, beaten
by a mountain girl-now the most
talked-of man in the high country. And
the suspicion would sometimes obtrude
Itself with pride into her mind, that
she who never mentioned his name
when 1t was discussed before her,
really knew and understood him bet
ter than any Of those that talked so
much-that she had at least one great
secret with him alone.
When leaving, the doctor wished to
send over from his Office medicine for
her uncle. Nan offered to 20 with him,
but the doctor said it was pretty late
and Main street pretty noisy-he pre-
ferred to find a messenger. When
there came rap on the half-open door,
she went forward TO take the medicine
from the messenger and saw, standing
before her in the hall. De Spain.
She shrank back as If struck. She
tried to speak. Her tongue refused its
Office. De Spain held a package out
In his hand. Doctor Torpy asked me
to give you this"
Doctor Torpy? What is It'll"
Il really don't KNOW suppose it
Is medicine" She heard her uncle turn
In his bed at the sound of voices.
Thinking only that he must not at any
cost see De Spain, Nan stepped quick
ly into the hall and faced the messen-
ger. Il was over at the doctors Of
ice just now" continued her visitor
evenly; "he asked me to bring this
down for your uncle" She took the
package with an incoherent acknowl-
edgment. Without letting her eyes
meet his, she was conscious of how
fresh and clean and strong he looked,
dressed in a livelier manner than
usual-a partly cowboy effect, with a
broader hat and a gayer tie than he