The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1919-09-13

|
Il did not know it until we got
here. There was a message from Mac
Lean at the desk. waiting"
MacLean was not there, either!
I'VE are all ready" she cried
Mrs Hatfield and Mr. Richard cannot
come" Not for worlds would she give
In to her desire to call the whole
grim affair on let them think she
was disappointed, not she Though
the world blew away, she would go.
She found herself distributing slips
of mangled quotations. The white
Slips went to the women; the green
bits of pastcboard to the men. She
held a certain green card in her
glove 4 Leads on to fortune Rick
ard might come dashing in at the last
moment, The ideal mans way ape-
cial, perhaps: it did not seem credible
that he would deliberately stay away
without sending her word.
In a burst of laughter, the com
pany. discovered then that the guest
| of honor was also absent. Mrs.
Hardin hurried them out to the wait
ing buggies.
Dr1rily, they drove down the fly
! Ing street The wind was at their
| backs, but 1t tore at their hats, pulled
at their tempers. Their eyes were
| full of street dust.
flash of light as they were leav-
ing town frightened the thick dust
! clouds. "What was that?' cried Gerty.
] She was ready for any calamity now.
I mot lightningE Again. the queer
! light flashed across the Obscured sky.
Tom reused himself to growl that he
hadn't seen anything. And the dreary
farce went on.
lines partner was young Sutcliffc,
the English zanjer0. He was in the
| quicksand of Il comparison between
! English and American women, lines
| mischievOusIy coaxing him into deeper
waters, when there was a blockade
| of buggies ahead of them.
"The 4 G ranch" cried lines
| the queer unreal outlines of fences
and trees. ITS our first stop"
"Oh / say. that's too bad" began
Sutcllffe. hines was already on the
road, her skirts whipped by the wind
into clinging drapery.
Gerty's party found itself dlsorgan-
lied Partners were trying to find
or lose each other. Get in herer
Innes heard the voice of Estrada be-
hind her. He had a top buggy. She
hailed a refuge.
splendid !" she cried. what a
reliefw Climbing in, she said: 81
hope this isn't upsetting Gerty's ar
rangement."
Arrangement Look at them !"
The women were Fastening out of the
dust swirl into any haven that Of
Tered. With little sc&ams of dismay,
they ran like rabbits to cover
Gerty found herself with BIinn. At
the next stop there was a block Of
buggies. mo use changing again '"
She acknowledged herself beaten.
Let's go on. What are they stopping
for" Dismal farce it all was
She was pushing back her disheart-
ened curls when the beat of horses
hoofs back of them brought the blood
"Rickard ~ she thought. "He must
have come in "A special" The gloom
suddenly disgorged MacLean.
Hardin Where is he?"
whats upY yelled Blinn. els 1t
the river?" MacLeans face answered
him. His ranch secured again-"God
Almighty"
"The rivert" screamed the women.
The men were surrounding MacLean,
whose horse was prancing as if with
the Importance of having carried a
Revere. THE levee!" called Mac
Lean "Wheres HardinW He spurred
his mare toward Hardin, who was
blacker than Napoleon at Austerlitz.
ed" The other voices broke In, the
men pressing up. This threatened
them ALL Blinn's ranch lay In the
ravaged sixth district. Nothing would
save him. Youngberg belonged to
water company number one; their
bitches would go. HOLSTER and Will
son of the PalO Verde saw ruin ahead
of them. Each man was visualizing
the mad onward sweep Of that de-
stroying power. Like ghosts, the
women huddled In the dust-blowr
road.
"Where is 1t now?" demanded Blinn.
'It's here, right on us. You're all
needed at the levee," bawled Mac
Lean.
The levee! There was a dash for
buggies. scraping of wheels, the
whinnying of frightened horses. Some
one recalled the flashes of light they
had seen on leaving town. "What
were those lights-signals?'
"From the water-tower." MacLean's
voice split the wind. "The wires are
all down between the Crossing and the
towns. Coronel was on the tower--he
got the signal from the Heading-he's
been there each night for week %
This was a great night-for his chief
Richard
Gerty Hardin caught the thrill of
his hero-worship. How splendid, how
triumphant!
Innes found herself in her brothers
buggy. His horse, under the whip,
dashed forward. Suddenly he pulled
1t back on it's launches, narrowly