The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1918-02-21
CHAPTER XIV.
Billy Louise Gets a Surprise.

II 4
heart because her crOwdlng doubts
and suspicious had suddenly de-
TelOped into black certainty just when
she had thought them dead forever,
Eilly Louise rode up the narrow,
rocky gorge. She had come to have a
vague comprehension of the tempta-
zion Ward must have felt. She had
come TO accept pityingly the possibility
that the cankcr of old influences had
eaten more deeply than appeared on
the surface. She had set herself
stanchly beside him as his friend, who
would helm him win back his self
respect. She felt sure that he must
suffer terribly with that keen, analyti-
cal mind of his, when he stopped to
think at all. He had no warped ethics
wherewith to ease his conscience. She
knew his ideas of right and wrong
we're as uncompromising as her own,
snd If he stole cattle, he did 1t with
bis eyes wide open to the wrong he
was doing. And yet
THAT'S bad enough, but to try and
fastcn evidence on someone else !"
Billy Louise gritted her teeth over the
treachery of 1t. She believed he had
done that very thing. How could she
help It? She had seen the corral and
had seen Ward ride away from it in
the dusk of the evening; or she be-
Iieved she had seen him, which was
the same thing. And she knew what
lay behind him. Was his version of
The past after all the correct one?
Might not the paragraph she had
burned been nothing more than the
truth?
Billy Louise fought for him; fought
with her stern, youthful judgment
which was so uncompromising. 1t takes
years of close contact with life to
give one a sure understanding Of hu-
man wp~Eoess and human endeavOr.
! At the I'D, when Blue would have
crossed and taken the trail home, Billy
Louise relned him impulSively the
other way. Until that instant she had
not intended to seek Ward, but once
her fingers had twitched the reins
against Blues neck, she did not hesi-
| tate; she did not even argue with her
self. She just glanced up at the sun.
saw that it was not yet nOOn-so much
may happen in two or three hours =
and sent Blue up the hill at lope.
She did not know what she would
do or what she would say when she
saw Ward.
The two mares fed dispritedly at
the lowest corner of the field, their
hair rough with exposure to the win
ter winds and the storms, their ribs
showing. With all the hay he had put
up. Ward might at least keep his
horses in better shape, Billy Louise
censured, as she passed them by.
Farther along, Billy Louise heard a
welcoming nicker and turned her head.
Here came Rather, thin-f1anked and
rough-coated. trotting down a shallow
gulley to meet Blue. The two horses
chummed together whenever Ward
was at the Wolverine. Billy Louise
pulled up and waited till Rattler
reached her. He and Blue rubbed
noses, and Blue laid back his ears and
shook his head with teeth barred, in
playful pretense of anger. Rattler
kicked up his heels in disdain at the
threat and trotted alongside them.
Billy Louise rode with puckered eye
orOws. Ward might neglect his stock
but he would never neglect Rather
like this. And he must be at home
since here was his horse. Or else =,
She struck Blue suddenly with heI
rein-ends and went Gathering up the
trail where the snow lay in shaded
crusty patches trimmed with dirt. The
trail was untracked save by the loose
stock. Where was Ward? What hac
happened to him? She looked again
at Rather. There was no sign of re
cent saddle marks along his side, ne
telltale imprint of the cinch under his
belly. Where was Ward?
Blind, unreasoning terror filled Billy
Louise. She struck Blue again anC
plunged into the icy creek crossing
near the stable. She stopped there
lust long enough to see how empty
and desolate it was, and how the
horses and cattle had huddled against
its sheltering wall out of the biting
winds; and how the door was shut
and fastened so that they could moi
get in. She opened 1t and looked In
and shut it again. Then she turned
and ran, white-faced, to the cabin
Where was Ward? What had hap
pened to Ward2 Thief or honest man
treacherous or true-what had hap
pened to him?
Billy Louise saw the doorstep banked
over with old, crusted snow. Hel
heart gave a jump and stopped still
She felt her knees shake under her
Her face seemed to pinch together, th'
flesh clingiDg close to the bones. Hel
whole being seemed to contract Will
the deadly fear that gripped her. I
was like that chill morning when sh'
bad crept out of her cot and gone owe
to mommie'S he'd and had lifted nom
mics hand that was hanging down.
She came to herself; she was run
ming up the creek, away from tn
cabin. Running and stumbling owe
rocks, and getting tripped with he
riding skirt. Ahe stopped, as soon a
she realized what she was doing; Sh
stopped and atood with her hand
pressed hard against each side Of he