New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-04-19
CHAPTER XIV.
Billy Louise Gets a Surprise

FRIGHTENED. worried, sick
heart because her CrOwding doubt
and suspicious had suddenly d,
veloped into black certainty just whe
she had thought them dead foreve
Billy Louise rode up the marrow
rocky gorge. She had come to have
vngue comprehension of the tempt,
tion Ward must have felt. She ha
come to accept pltyingly the possibiIit
that the cank"r of old influences ha
eaten more deeply than appeared o
the surface. She had set hersel
stanchly beside him as his friend, VIII
would help him win back his sci,
respect. She felt sure that he mus
suffer terribly with that keen, analyti
cal mind of his, when he stopped t
think at all. He had nc warped ethic
wherewith to ease his conscience. Sh'
knew his ideas Of right and wrOnj
were as uncompronising as her own
aud If he stole cattle, he did it will
his eyes wide open to the wrong h,
was doing. And yet
That's bad enough, but to try ant
faStcn evidence on someone else =
Eilly Louise gritted her teeth over thu
treachery OF it. She believed he hat
done that very thing. How could she
help it? She had seen the corral anC
had seen Ward ride away from 1t In
the dusk Of the evening; or she be
lieved 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 vas so uncompromiSing. 1t takes
years of close contact with life to
give one a sure understanding Of hui
mar w~e0'-,ess and human endeavOr.
At the I'D. when Blue would have
crossed and taken the trail home, Billy
Louise refined 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 hest.
tate; she did not ever argue with her
self. She just glanced up at the sun.
saw that 1t was not yet n0On-so much
may happen in two or three hours =
and sent Blue up the hill at a lope.
She did not know what she would
do or what she would say when she
saw Ward.
The two mares fed dispiritedly 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-flanked and
rough-coated, trotting down a shallow
gulley to meet Blue. The W. horses
chummed together whenever Ward
was ut the Wolverine. Billy Louise
pulled up and waited till Rather
reached her. He and Blue rubbed
noses, and Blue laid back his ears and
shook his head with teeth barred, In
playful preteuse of anger. Rather
kicked up his heels in dlsdain at the
threat and trotted alongside them.
Billy Louise rode with puckered eye
brows. Ward might neglect his stock,
but he would never neglect Eattler
like this. And he must be at home,
since here was his horse. Or else 49,.
She struck Blue suddenly with her
rein-ends and went Gathering up the
trail where the now lay In shaded.
patches trimmed with dirt. The
was untracked save by the loose
Where was Ward? What had
at Rather. There was no sign Of re-
rent saddle marks along his side. no
imprint Of the clnch under his
Where was Ward?
Blind, unreasoning terror filled Billy
I.oh!se. She struck Blue again and
into the icy creek crossing
near the stable. She stopped there
long enough to see how empty
md dcsolate II was, and how the
and cattle hal huddled against
- sheltering wall out of the biting
; inds; and how the door was shut
nd fastened so that they could not
in. She opened it and looked in.
nd shut it again. Then she turned
nd ran. white-faced. to the cabin. {
Where was Yard? What had hap |
'cned to Wsrd7 Thief or honest man, !
reacherous or true-what had hap I
to him? {
Billy ]. louise saw the doorstep banked
yer with old, crusted snow. Her I
gave a jump and stopped still. |
he selt her knees shake under her.
Ter face seemed to pinch together, the ]
icst; cllnging close to the bones. Her ]
being seemed to contract with
he deadly fear that gripped her. II
as like that chill morning when she
ad crept out of her rot and gone over I
I, NOMINEES bed and had lifted NOM I
hes hand hat was hanging down. -. v
She came to herself; she was run S
ing up the creek, away from the y
sbin. Running and stumbling over Il
,cks. and getting tripped with her h
ling skirt. She stopped, as soon as II
re realized what she was doing; she n
IopDed and stood with her hands +