The Lamar register., 1917-05-30

quently and Nan at first painfully ap-
pretended hearing sometime of dead
ly duel between her truculent gap ad-
mirer and her persistent town courtier
who was more cOnsiderate and bet
ter hammered but no less logged, and
in fact, a good deal more difficult to
,hindle.
As to the boisterous mountain man,
mis- resolute little cousin made no Sc
cret of her detestation of MIN. She
denied and defied him as openly as
girl could, and heard his threats with
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 to Sleepy
Cat, was a marked man None sought
to cross his path or his purposes, and
neither the town haunts Of Calabasas
men nor those of their Morgan Gap
lsympathizers had any champion dis
posed to follow too closely the alert
medicine Bend railroader
In and about the hospital. and in the
town itself. Nan found the chief OBJ
stacle to her peace Of mind in the talk
she could not always avoid hearing
about De Spain COnvalescents in the
corridors, practically all of them men,
never gathered in sunny corners or at
the tables in the dining room without
De SpainS name coming in some way
into the talk. to be followed with vary.
Ing circumstantial accounts of What
really had happened that day at Gaia.
basas
} And with all the known escapade,
IN which he had figured, exhausted ms
topics, by long-winded commentators
more or less hazy stories Of his earlier
experiences at Medicine Bend in the
company of Whispering Smith were
dragged into the talk. One GONZALES
cent stage-guard ut the hospital told
a story one night at supper about him
that chilled Nan again with strange
fears, for she knew It to be true. He
had had 1t from McAlpin himself, so
the guard said, that De SPANS father
had long ago been shot down from am
bush by cattleman and that Henry
de Spain had sworn to find that man
and kill him. And 1t was limited pref
ty 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 It 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
a year ago she had shot against Henry
de Spain and beaten the most danger
Gus man and the deadliest shot on the
mountain divide in her rifle match.
How he had grown in the imagina-
ton Of Sleepy Cat and Music noun
tain, she said to herself-while the
doctor talked to her uncle-slnce that
day year agoi 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 a rap on the half-open door
she went forward TO tak0 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 itT"
81 really don't know-I suppose il
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. II was over at the doctors Of
fee just now" continued her visitor
evenly; 'he asked me to bring this
down for your uncle" She took the
package with an incoherent acknowi-
edgment. Without letting her eyes
meet his, she was conscious of how