Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-04-09
''DooCC'!''
BY
BY HAROLD TITUS.
Author OF ITO the Victor"
Copyright
The Frank A. Munsey Company
TUESDAY. APRIL 9. 1918.



She had n,ked so exQulsitely femi
nine when she reeled into his arms,
and now her voice gritted as she ex.
pressed the aged yearning for IAN
eye for an eye and a tooth for q
t00th,'
Il wonder where dad isl" she said
struggling to rise.
Hardy helped her. and she chung to
his hands as she gained her feet,
swaying a trifle dizzily.
my father is Bob Mitchell. the
deputy marshal, and"
So this was the girl who was to be
the wife of Walter Kennedy! Peculiar
trick OF his mental machinery which
brought up memory OF casual refer.
ence to such relationship at that mo.
nent. and yet it carried with il a dis.
unct shock!
She spoke further. but he did not
hear, for he was suddenly fired with
: peculiar interest in the girl.
The deputy had been a squaw.man;
therefore in her veins flowed blood OF
the native American, and the fact
heightened that picturesque charm
which she had for him. On the other
hAnd, 1t was said that she was the af.
flanced. wife OF Kennedy one
man for whome he held an instructive
dislike.
He came back to these words:
"-br if my father" pride was
there had landed the rifle well,
they wouldn't have been riding SO
easily for their getaway now"
4 weakness struck him in The pit OF
the stomach. II was irreconciIabIe-
the look Of this young woman and her
evident lust for that harsh retribution
Of the border which passed for jus.
tice!
She withdrew her hands from his
and moved pace toward the door.
Il must be going" she explained in
voice that was not steady. Dad
VIII be after them and he may need
me
"Oh, wish | were a man so could
ride with him--after Sears!"
Her body seemed to stiften with her
hatred for the outlaw and her wish
was voiced between tight teeth.
With no word or gesture OF fare.
= well--for all he knew as needless of
MS presence as she had been on enter
ing the room-Ruth Mitchell passed
into the hall and down the stairs.
For long moment Hardy stood
still, thinking, trying to make his i'm
pressi0ns justify; then he, too, de.
scended the stairs and mingled with
the historical crowd, and watched Bob
Mitchell ride away with a resolnte
man on either side TO trail the fleeing
gunner.
The balance OF the day was given
over to impatient waiting. All Kibeka
waited and talked and swore and won.
dered until dusk, when Bob Mitchell
and his companions rode back on drag.
sled horses, wei and weary and empty.
handed.
NOT trace" the deputy said as
ne stamped into his Office, thoroughly 4
dlsSruntled, and those who could not
crowd In behind him scurried for
other places of shelter.
Ellis Hardy sought the warm secIu.
sion OF his Office with a sigh of relief.
He wanted 10 be alone, for he had so
much to think over, so many new i'm.
pressions TO digest, that even the
presence OF agreeable individuals
would have disturbed him.
In the first place was that reckless
outlawry; in the second, the girl. The
two themes of thought divided bis in.
terest finally, and az the evening pro.
crossed and his pipeAmoke filled the
room, thinking of Ruth Mitchell. of
her beauty, Of her hardness, excluded
all else.
What was she, this girl of the
border?
Was she stripped by that environ.
ment Of those tender qualities that
made for his best notion of woman.
hood? Or was he SO far out of touch
that he could see only exteriors?
Might this hardness be only reac.
ton from her intense love Of peace?
So absorbed was he In bordering
over these things that Hardy did not
hear the step ascending. and IL was
not until the knob of his Office door
ratified as It turned that he was aware
OF the coming of another.
He twisted in his chair and looked
without rising;
A man entered the room.
He was dripping water from A