The Oakes times., 1917-03-15


quenchable spirit of the surviving pio.
neer-these had been in him; and the
killings, one after another, the wild
and haunted years, had made him, ab.
sOlutely in spite Of his will, the gun.
man. He realized it now, bitterly,
hopelessly.
The thing he had intelligence
enough to hate he had become. Al
last he shuddered under the driving,
ruthless, inhuman blood-lust of the
gunman. Actual pride of his record
Actual vanity in his speed with q
gun! Actual jealousy of any rival!
Duane could not believe it. But
there he was, without choice. What
he had feared for years had become
a monstrous reality. He stood strip.
ped bare. his soul naked-the soul Of
Cain. And at the utter abasement
the soul he despised suddenly leaped
and quivered with the thought of Ray
Longstreth.
Then came agony. He loved the
girl. He wanted her. All her sweet.
ness, her fire, and pleading returned
to torture him.
At that moment the door opened, and
Ray Longstreth entered.
Duane" she said, softly. captain
MacNelly sent me to you"
"But you shouldn't have come" re.
piled Duane.
"As soon as he told me would
have come whether he wished it OF
not. You left me-all of us-stunned.
I had no time to thank you. Oh, l dc
with all my soul. 1t was noble of
you. Father is overcome. He didn't
expect so much. And he'll be true.
But Duane, was told to hurry, and
here I'm selfishly using time"
"Go, then-and leave me. You
mustn't unnerve me now, when there's
a desperate game to finish."
"Need it be desperately" she whisp.
cred, coming close to him.
YES; it can't be else"
Her eyes were dark, strained. beau.
tiful, and they shed light upon
Duane he had never seen before.
you're going to take some mad
risk" she said. LET me persuade
you not to. You said-you cared for
me-and I-oh, Duane-don't you
-know-?"
The low voice, deep, sweet as an
old chord, faltered and broke and
failed.
Duane sustained a sudden shock
and an instant Of paralyzed confusion
Qf thought.
She moved, she swept out her hands,
and the wonder of her eyes. dimmed
In a flood Of tears.
my God! You can't care for mer'
he cried, hoarsely.
ed.
"But I dol dot"
Swift as light Duane caught her and
held her to his brea~t. He stood hold
Ing her tight, with the feel of her
warm, throbbing breast and the CLASP
Of her arms and flesh and blood reali.
ties to fight terrible fear. He felt
her, and for the moment the might
Of it was stronger than all the demons
that possessed him. And he held her
as If she had been his soul, his
strength on earth, his hope Of heaven,
against his lips.
The strife Of doubt all passed. He
found his sight again. And there
rushed over him tide Of emotion un-
utterably sweet and full, strong like
an Intoxicating wine, deep as his na-
ture, something glorious and terrible
as the blaze of the sun to one long in
darkness. He had become an outcast;
wanderer, gunman, victim of
circumstances; he had lost and suf-
fered worse than death in that loss;
he had gone down the endless, bloody
trail, killer of men, a fugitive whose
mind slowly and inevitably closed to
all except the instinct to survive and
a black despair; and now, with this
woman in his arms, her swelling breast
against his, in this moment almost Of
resurrection, he bent under the storm
OF passion and Joy possible only to
him who had endured so much.
'Do you care-a little?" he whis-
pered unsteadily.
He bent over her, looking deep into
the dark, wet eyes.
She uttered a low laugh that was
half sob, and her arms slipped up
to his neck.
"A little! Oh, Duane-Duane-a
great deal!"
Their lips met in their first kiss.
The sweetness, the fire of her mouth
seemed SO new, SO strange, so irresist-
ible to Duane. His sore and hungry
heart throbbed with thick and heavy
beats. He felt the outcast's need Of
love. And she gave up to the enthral-
ling moment. She met him halfway,
returned kiss for kiss, clasp for clasp.
her face scarlet, her eyes closed, till
her emotion overcame her and she fell
back upon his shoulder.
Ito be continued)