Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1918-04-11

u u
your elbow when you left the supper
table Mt Jim Briggs that night Il !
hadn't known how 1t would be. went
there out OF sheer curiosity to take al
look at you-maybe out Of q spirit OF
defiance. too, because I knew that !
was certainly not welcome even II they |
were willing to take my money for q
meal. And came away all up In the /
air. There was something about you |
the tone of your voice. the way your
proud little head Is set ON your shout |
ders, your makeup in generalEthat |
sent me away with a large-sized crouch |
at myself, at Cariboo Meadows. and at |
you for coming In my way"
''Why7" she asked In wonder.
Because you'd have believed what |
they told you. and Cariboo Meadows |
can't tell anything ebout me that isn't |
bad" he said quietly. my record
there makes me entirely unfit to asso-
ciate with-that would have been your
conclusion. And wanted to be with
you. to talk to you. to take you by
storm and make you like me as felt
I could care for you You can't have
grown up, little person. without realiz-
ing that you do attract men very
strongly. All women do, but some far
more than Others"
Perhaps" she admitted cold1y.
"Men have annoyed me with their UNI
welcome attentions. But none OF them
ever dared go the length of carrying
me away against my will. You can't
explain or excuse that"
I'm not attempting excuses" Bill
made answer. There are two things
I never do-apologize or bully. dare
say that's one reason the Meadows
gives me such a black eye. II they
weren't a good deal afraid of me, and
always laying for a chance to do me
up, they wouldn't let me stay in the
town overnight. So you can see what
handicap I was under when 1t came
to making your acquaintance and
counting you In the orthodox manner"
you've made a great mistake" she
said bitterly. "ff you think you've re-
moved the handicap. I've suffered q
great deal at the hands of men in the
past six months. I'm beginning to be-
lieve that all men are brutes at heart"
Roaring Bill sat up and clasped his
hands over his knees and stared fixedly
into the fire.
mo-" he said slowly, call men are
not brutes-any more than all women
are angels. I'll convince you of that"
'Take me home. then" she cried for
lornly. 'That's the only way you can
convince me or make amends"
mo-" Bill murmured, 'that isn't the
way Wait till you know me better.
Besides, couldn't take you out now If
wanted to without exposing you to
greater hardships than you'll have to
endure here. Do you realize that it's
fall, and we're in the high ATTITUDES
This snow may not go of at all. Even
=
week. You couldn't wallow through
snow to your waist in forty-below-zero
weather"
"People will pass here, and I'll ge,
. word out" Hazel asserted desperately
, "what good would that do you,
You've got too much conventional re
gard for what you term your reputa
ton to send word to Cariboo Meadows
that you're living back here with Roar
ing Bill Wagstaff. and won't some one
, please come and rescue you" HI
. paused to let that sink in, then con
!, tinued: Besides, you won't see 4
white face before spring; then only b.
. accident. No one in the North, out
, side of a few Indians, has ever seer
this cabin or knows where it stands"
: She sat dumb, raging inwardly. Fo
the minute she could have killed Roar
e ing Bill. She who had been so sure ii
!. her independence carried. whether O
no, into the heart of the wilderness a
the whim of man who stood q self
confessed rowdy. in i'll repute amon
his own kind. There was a slumber
ing devil in Miss Hazel Weir, and /
= took little to wake her temper. Sh
: looked at Bill Wagstaff, and her breas
. heaved. He was responsible, and h
could sit coolly talking about it. TIL
resentment that had Smoldered agains
Andrew Bush and Jack Barrow concer
trated on Roaring Bill as the arch OF
fender of them all. And lest she yfel
!, to savage impulse to scream at hin
she got up and ran into the bedroom
slammed the door shut behind her, an
threw herself across the bed to muf1
the sound of her crying in a pillow
After time she lifted her head
= Outside, the wind whistled gustil
!. around the cabin corners In tn
hushed intervals she heard q stead
:. pad. pad. sounding sometimes close b
y her door, again family at the far en-
= OF the room. A beam of light shon
: through the generous latchstring hol
In the door. Stealing softly over, sh
peeped through this hole. From en-
to end of the big room and back agai
Roaring Bill paced slowly. lookin
straight ahead Of him with a fxet
absent stare, his teeth closed on hi