Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-03-07

the West could iind-a vague, wandering
suggestion of the inireqncnt passing "i
man, bat il was n open print 10 him.
lie had followed il down over The breast
of the moutain for two hour, seeming IT,
sure lead through canyons, around huge
boulderS. over fallen trees.
lie was u powerful man, built of the Wit
al life of high pure mir, 81 rough fare, and
hardship. Ills face, tanned like leather,
gave simple accounting Of his existence.
Everything about HIM. from the faded felt
hat pulled well over hiS eyes, to the heavy
boots thai held The 'lckcd-in breeches AT
the knee, bespoke a Little from long use Of
me washing pan. and he had the habit ot
silence which settles inevitably ON those
who are much alone. Today, his thIn-lip-
ped mouth under the scraggly mustache
was snapped together like a trap by the
leverage OF his square jaw.
As he strobe forward. the sincwy brown
hands swinging nt his sides were clcnched
into fists that never undoubled. They had
frightened upon themselves, only opening 10
erope for his hat. and had remained 80
since that sickening moment mp there in
the shack beside a lifted board and u lit
tie emp box that should have held two
sacks Of duly yellow Jumps.
Since that moment he had opened Meth
er his. hands nor his lips.
He had simply started erimly down the
mountainSide There was but one man
who knew of the box under the loose board,
one man who had u shack somewhere down
among the sage-brush and mesquite. a
slim young fellow who had come from the
East IN the early spring. The heart OF
the lonely man, trailing over his tricklina
stream, had leaped with an old ache he
had long though dead when he walked into
the camp al the mountain. and spoke IN
the manner Of those whose lot lies among
the pleasant things of life.
Winners Remembered things that were
best forgotten, times when he had spok-
en- with that accent. before the silence OF
the great hills had stilled his tongue. lie
had seen in the young man the embodiment
of another life, and during the long sum
mer he had met h,m often. Away upon the
mountain. for Winners never left il.
Ills quarterly trips for supplies took
him and his solitary pack-Pony up over
the ridge and down the other way. But
young Barworth often came Ia the shack,
AZ first with high hope and certainly, once
in wild excitement over u small find. and,
a. the heat Of the summer advanced. IN
lower spirits.
Once he had thrown himself down ia
abandonment of the despair that falls up
on q man IN the pitiless solitudcs. when the
foothills I'll coInplacently above their hid
den gold. and the hard brought stores run
low Tor IT, lack. Then Winners had lift
ed the loose plank, and Barworih had tax
en- heart again. for down in the shack on
the sage brush plain there was y woman
and ! little child. 4 baby horn ia the early
summer.
Wilmer had never seen them. lie had
not changed the box with the two sacks,
for only Iiarworih had seen the hiding
place. and in the West To suspect ones
friend i 1" descend unSpeakably.
That waS a month ago.
Wilmer had worked from dawn 30 dark,
sitting the tiny dull lnmp~ from the more
brilliant sand. each nigh, adding a little
To the weight of the sacks. zach night
dreaming Of the world he would 20 back to.
The time was not far away now. There
would be gold "a buy him back the things
he had tried 10 forget. the Things that
would make life worth the living, for there
had been times when Winners had ponder
ed the ~advisability of not doing -.
Now those times were nearly over, and
the new old life would blot oui these years
in the mountains. Yet Winners had won
dered sometime, when he caught Il glimpse
Of hi, fact, knceling 10 drink Of the little
stream, whether anything could repay those
years.
And today the two sacks were gone.
Wilmer had shut his lips and turned
toward the ,agehrush. every nerve 10 hi~
body twitchIng with such fury a~ he had
never known ia hi life. lie was 4 quiet
man. Therefore. passion dad not ride with
a high hand. Only hls eyes lighted with
the longines. the toll, showed that murdeI
sat calmly IN hi heart, waiting.
lie swung along Barworth's almost i'm
perceptible trail. watching every turn. M
stone or shadow escaped hi, searching ont
of the hills he came, and the low growth
Of the mesquite swallowed him. AZ noon
shack. Ii was a desoIate place. The
sagebrush encroached on the ~cant clear
ing, and the neat If the sun beat down on
the warped gray slabs of the tiny habiia
ton lost IN tie vast silence.