Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-07-12
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Arrow TO the Mark.

0mltu, concentrating dDStrdcteQIy, as
his habit was, upon the work in hand,
was still deep in the vOucher-auditfng
when the office door was opened and
a small shocked voice said: ooh,
wOoh! how you startled me! [ saw
the light, and I supposed, of course, it
was colOnel-daddy. Where is he?"
Smith pushed the papers aside and
Hooked up scowling.
He was here a minute ago, with
SHllings. Said he'd be back. You've
come to take him homer"
She nodded and came to sit In q
chair at the desk-end, saying:
Don't let me interrupt you, please.
III be quiet"
II don't mean to let anything inter-
rupt me until I have finished what
have undertaken to do; I'm past all
thai, now"
Il have heard about what you did
last night"
About the newspaper fracas? You
don't approve of anything like that, of
course. Neither did I, once. But
there is no middle way. You know
what the animal tanners tell us about
the beasts. I've had my taste of blood.
There are a good many men in this
world who need killing. Crawford
Stanton is one of them, and I'm not
sure that Mr.. David Kinzie isn't an
other
Il can't hear what you say when
you talk like that" she objected, look
ing past him with the gray eyes
yelled.
DO you want me to lie down and let
them put the steam roller over me?" he
demanded irritably. rs that your
ideal Of the perfect MANI"
What l said, and what I meant,
had nothing at all to do with Timan-
yoni High Line and its fight for life"
she said calmly, recalling the wander
ing gaze and letting him see her eyes.
II was thinking altogether of one
mans attitude toward his world"
''That was some time ago." he put
in soberly. 1--WE gone a long way
since then, Corona"
Il know you have. Why doesn't
daddy come backY"
Hell come soon enough. You're
not afraid to be here alone with me,
are you?"
"No; but anybody might be afraid
of the man you are going to be-"
His laugh was as mirthless as the
CreakIng of q rusty hinge.
you needn't put 1t in the future
tense. have already broken with
whatever traditions there were left to
break with. Last night 1 threatened
TO kill Allen, and, perhaps, I should
have done 1t IL he hadn't begged like
a dog and dragged his wife and chill
dren into it."
Il know" she acquiesced, and again
she was looking past him.
"Aud that isn't ALL Yesterday Kin
Eie set a trap for me and bated it
with one of his clerks. For a little
while it seemed as If the only way to
spring the trap was for me to go
after the clerk and put a bullet
through him. It wasn't necessary, as
1t turned out, but If it had been"
ooh, you couldn't!" she broke in
quickly. 81 can't believe that of your
'You think I couldn't? Let me tell
you of q thing that I have done.
Night before last Verda Richlander
had q wire from q young fellow who
wants to marry her. He had found
out that she was here in Brewster,
and the wire was to tell her that he
was coming in that night on the de-
iayed Flyer She asked me to meet
him and tell him she had gone to bed.
He is a miserable little wretch; a sort
Of sham reprObate; and she has never
cared for him, except to keep him dan
CLING around with a lot of others. I
told her I wouldn't meet him, and she
knew very well that I couldn't meet
him-and stay out of Jail. Are you
listening?"
I'm trying to-"
1T was the pinch, and I wasn't big
enough-in your sense of the word-to
meet it. I saw what would happen.
If Tucker Jibbey came here, Stanton
would pounce upon him at once; and
Jibbey, with a drink or two under his
belt, would tell all he knew. 1 fought
it all out while / was waiting for the
train. 1t was Jibbey's placement or
the end of the world for me, and for
Timanyoni High Line
Dexter Ba1dwins daughter was not
of those who shrek and faint at the
Iapparition Of horror. But the gray
eyes were dilating md her breath was
coming in little gasps when she said /:
81 can't believe it! You are not 60
ing to tell me that you met this man
Ias a friend, and then
mo; 1t didn't quite come to a muir
der in cold blood, though I thought it
might. I had Maxwell's gunabout and