Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1917-02-16

expectin' is a Mexican, and day before
yesterday he killed a man over in Jim
Wells county. They got ME by phone
at Hebbronville and told me he'd left.
He's headin' for the border, and he's
due here about shutdown. now that Ar
royo Grande's dry. l was amin TO
let you ride his horse"
''Then-you're an officer"
"Yes'm. Ranger. So you see / can't
help you TO get home till my man
comes. Do you live around here?'
| The speaker looked up inquiringly, and
after an instant'S hesitation the wom-
an said quietly:
II am Mrs. Austin" She was CRATE
| full for the gloom that hid her face. Il
| rode out this way to examine a tract
of grazing land"
1t seemed fully minute before the
Ranger answered; then he said, in u
casual tone, II reckon Las Palmas is
quite a ranch, ma am"
Yes. But we need more pasture"
| 81 know your La Feria ranch, too.
was with General Castro when we had
that fight near there"
"You were a MaderistaT'
"Yes'm. Machine-gun man. That's a
| fine country over there. Seems like
the Almighty got mixed and put the
Mexicans on the wrong side of the
Rio Grande. But / reckon you haven't
seen much of La Feria since the last
revolution broke out"
mo We have tried to remain neu-
trail, but" Again she hesitated. Mr..
Austin has enemies. Fortunately both
sides have spared La Feria."
Law shrugged his broad shoulders.
ooh, well, the revolution isn't over
A ranch in Mexico is my idea of a bad
blanket, sought favorable spot upon
which to spread it. Then he helped
Mrs. Austin to her feet-her muscles
had Stiffened until she could barely
| stand-after which he fetched his sad
die for pillow. He made no apollo
his guest expect any.
When he had Staked out his horse
for the night he returned to find the
woman rolled snugly in her covering,
as in a cocoon. The dying embers flick
cred into flame and lit her hair redly.
! She had laid off her felt hat, and one
/ loosened braid lay over her hard pill
! low. Thinking her asleep, Law stood
mOtiOnless, making no attempt to hide
F.. his expression of wonderment until,
unexpectedly, she spoke.
what will you do with me when
! your Mexican cOmes?" she said.
well, ma'am, I reckon I'll hide you
! out in the brush till I tame him."
"Thank you. I'm used to the open.
] He nodded as if he well knew that
she was; then, shaking out his slicker,
! turned away.
AS he lay staring up through the
thOrny mesquite branches that rooted
! him inadequately from the dew, he
marveled nightly. A bright, steady
! burning star peeped through the leaves
| at him, and as he watched it he remem-
| bered that this red-haireG woman with
! the still. white face was known far and
wide through the lower valley as '"The
Lone Star" Well, he unused, the name
| fitted her; she was, if reports were
| true, quite as mysterious. quite as cold
and fixed and unapproachable, as the
! title implied. knowledge of her iden-
! titys had come as a shock, for Law
| knew something of her history, and to
| find her suing for his protection was
quite thrilling Tales of her pale
beauty were common and not tame,
but she was all and more than she
| had been described.
She had not been too proud and cold
to let him help her. In her fatigue
she had allowed him to lift her and
| to make her more comfortable. Hot
against his palmS-palmS unaccus-
I toned to the touch of a wOman's flesh
he felt the contact of her naked feet,
as at the moment when he had placed
them in the cooling water. Her feeble
resistance had only called attention to
I her sex-to the slim Wilderness of her
/ ankles beneath her short riding skirt.
Following his first amazement at be-
/ holding her had come a fantastic ex-
/ PLANTATION of her presence-for mo-
ment or two it had seemed as if the
/ fates had taken heed of his yearnings
and had sent her to him out of the
dusk-wild fancies, like these, bother
men who are much alone.