The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1918-11-01
CHAPTER XIV.

- -
and suspicious had suddenly de-
veloped into black certainty Just when
she had thought them dead forever,
Billy Louise rode up the narrow,
rocky gorge. She had come to have a
vague comprehension OF the tempta-
ton Ward must have felt. She had
come to accept pityingly the possibility
that the canker Of old influences had
eaten more deeply than appeared on
the surface She had set herself
stanchly beside him as his friend, who
would help 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
aud II he stole cattle, he did 1t with
his eyes wide open to the wrong he
was doing. And yet
''That's bad enough, but to try and
fasten 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 it7 She had seen the corral and
had seen Ward ride away from 1t In
the dusk Of the evening; or she be-
Heved 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
ruth?
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 hui
man wp~t,ess and human endeavor.
At the ord, 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 even argue with her
self. She just glanced up at the sun.
saw that 1t was not yet nOOn-sO much
may happen In two or three hours i
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 shallow
gulley to meet Blue. The two horses
chummed together whenever Ward
was at 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 pretense of anger. Rather
kicked up his heels In disdain at the
threat and trotted alongside them.
Billy Louise rode with puckered eye
brows. 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 hel
rein-ends and went Gathering up the
trail where the snow lay in shaded
rusty patches trimmed with dirt. The
6ail was untracked save by the loose
dpck. Where was Ward7 What hat
happened to him7 She looked agair
at Rather. There was no sign OF re
cent saddle marks along his side, NJ
telltale imprint of the cinch under hi
belly. Where was Ward?
Blind, unreasoning terror 6lled BIZ!
Louise. She struck Blue again ant
plunged into the icy creek CROSSING
near the stable. She stopped Their
Just long enough to see how empt.
and desolate 1t was, and how tn
horses and cattle had huddled agains
Its sheltering wall out OF the bitinl
winds; and how the door was shu
and fastened so that they could no
get in. She opened 1t and looked In
and shut 1t again. Then she turne'
and ran, white-faced, to the cabin
Where was Ward? What had haI
pened to Ward7 Thief or honest mar
treacherous or true-what had haI
pened to him?
Billy Louise saw the doorstep banke
over with old, crusted snow. He
heart gave q jump and stopped still
She felt her knees shake under bel
Her face seemed to pinch together, tn
flesh clinging close to the bones. He
whole being seemed to contract wit
the deadly fear that gripped her.
was like that chill morning when sh
had crept out Of her cot and gone owe
to mommie's bed and had lifted mon
mics hand that was hanging down. (.
She came to herself; she was rur
ming up the creek. away from tn
cabin. Running and stumbling owe
rocks, and getting tripped with he
riding skirt. She stopped, as soon a
she realized what she was doing; sh
stopped and stood with her hand
S.pnnaod hard voinet - ~ otdo If he