Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-12
THARON OFLOST VALLEY
BY TINCIE Z. ROE
Author OF "The Maid Of the Whispering Hs" "The Heart
OF Night Wind" etc.
By TINCIE E. ROE
,oo,yrtOnt. 1870. bv Dodd. Mead & co..
rms STARTS THE STORY

r,.roo Last Is one Of the tDonders
a. Lost valley she ana on Anud
csairoI bio Jim Lasts homsehod. jon
ggvv".otorious for his sktll Uth ghhs,
n,d has controlled tho puHcp ior years.
gng pnt "Toprtrey seeks to oust him. jim
shbt ron, behind. He Dtpes Thdron
"O a.i lesson In shooting and hands
w ~. sJs ben Of pistols. she. seeks 10
n. 1s,yn Inc udpio OF his murderer and
,oos ,,s 10 "get him,' More c9tue have @
been sei:ed, aud Thdron ca''s om hcr
mg T,orou rides nj Rey and is chased BY
rrnvrtrcv she stops at the cabin Of
~ ,non IN uniform, NTH Courtroy q
~ w., wards behiild. "That," she says,
"a, Ike man I'm going TO kHl some
day" -
y,ENsET. springlng forward, caugh
n nj Rey's bit The, stallion reared
1 and struck but lie held MN uowh'
,Therc is use, Tharon," he painted
ans vital! Since that day on Baston''
.,.,s when you backed out past me
have had you In my mind.-lny Thought,
&c. 5oy and night--there is use, and II
~ pson Nc your hands from blood-Court
2 2nR or any othcr--if It takes my life
| Nso help me God y
Tbe " rirl leaned down and her blue
.yss blazed in his face: A., o....s -.
aAn' make me false 10 Ill. vi I'oSSyS OF
1ni @ you or anybody else.--could do that
trlckl Let go !" ,,,,,., o,,,
tom tho fickerinR shade OF the willows
and was gone around TOWARD tns nortn
there was only tne soona oa "1e, of,
,,apn MnS1 where the silver Hollow bnhbled
aIy,i above its snowy sands, passed q
sp1,b sspsmbling hand across his eyes and
stood as in n trance. ,,,., A, 10
n, what did u mean! Wnat mao 9 n9
pprinnnS him that his usual ly quiet
Hssars,,a had rushed into that torrehtial
soessb that dealt with life and death?
Wbat was Tharon Last to him!
s,,n Woman with her weapons on her
hps rider Of wild horses!
slowly as IL he had gained an added
walgh, OF years. he relned CAPITA In and
swung himself up. lie rode east from
the spring tSward ot he ao feress and an for tho
frst time he saw the rolling country
with tragic eyes ar.
II held deep issues----lif 70 and death
and the passing or continuing or regimes
and dynasties - but II was won
drous country and, come good or bad.
Il had become his own. He swung
|, around in his saddle and looked far back
across the valley He saw the golden
light on its uncounted acres, the shadow
falling al the foot Of the great Rockface,
the mighty wall itself with the silver
ribbon Of the Vestal's Veil falling
straight down from the upper rim, the
distant town. looking always like a dull
b gem in dark setting, and a thrill
shot 10 his heart.
Yes, II he lived to do his work In the
hidden valey-if he was shot this night
on his own doorstep. 1t was his country.
He who was allen in every way was
yet native.
Something in the depths Of him came
down az from far distant racial hnunts
and was at home.
SO he rode slowly up among the scat
tered oaks with his hands folded on tho
mutilatcd pommel. and he knew that his
lines were definitely cast.
Tharon Last rode into the Holding
and dismounted In unwonted silence.
There was q frown between her brows,
an unusual thing. She turned the stall
lien into his corral. dragged off the big
studded brdlo on post
. The men were not In yet. Far toward
the north beyond the big corras she
could SEQ the cattle grazing toward
nosssssars no@s surge oodoa OF savage Joy In her
Jim Last had worked for ali his life.
Not one hoof or hide should Courtrey
'hhe WITHOUT swift repriSal,
Not one inch should he push her from
yer apowed purpose--not though all the
susngers IN the world came to Lost
valley and pratcd Of blood-guilt.
but ior some vague reason which she
Couldn't have analyzed had sho wished,
. sne Went to tho paled-in garden where
we silver waters trickled and searched
among the few flowers growing there
ior some blossom, sweeter, tenderer,
more mild and timid than usual for the
pais hands Of tho Virgin in the deep
H. touth room.
with tho posy in her fingers she slip
ped quietly TO her sanctuary and lrnelt
before tho statue, pensive, frowninp
'aguely stirred. She whispered tho pray
es uhat Anita had taught her, but she
u .ounu WIN start that the words were
reahnlngleSs' that she was saying them
-, Her mind had been at the Silver Hol-
wv wv seeing again the forest mans dark
80, 80, 50 grave, SO quiet, SO deep-her
ss ,snt hahd was conscious as II had
never been IN all her life before. She
sau ss,, strange mans condemning voice,
" ,rn 'he warmth of his hands pressed
Ao,h me mistress of Lasts shook herself.
to.n mentally and physically, and set
herself % TO rcsay her prayers.
Nneh she came out to the life and
s, ,suo OF thc ranch house the cattle wero
,hnv,aNihg INTO the far corrals under
,o svm dnSt' the riders We're shouting,
ADnns fhuIa sang in the kitchen. and |
.,.. a,a passed back and forth about the
evening meal wv
mere was Il slim moon in the west |
Weps ypso @ lnS canyon Country. Tho skies |
d. sottly alight, high and yaulted |
WosInu Stu mysterious and sweet.
hu'ta,slie,tce' hunv tana.ce' profound az eternity,
tha wom wsGm'gl3ly above Lost Valley and |
shelvins tne eastern ramparts OF the
tho nnrs, mountains, the rocklands at
this nGpon; sTc There was little sound in ali |
'ns sleeping wilderness 0N ''' GIL
foII ~ NE was rare. The waters that
az a. at seasons from the open mouths
face "S w canyons half way up the Rock
Itself IRE t6ae drled, Down In the valley
t.orVan which never went ont frnss, .s oI
,nnIrS," H. Far to the north a black bIot
|n,ona nave been visible with a fuJier
snra-G.;ourtreys herds bedded ON the
priyiIcveedGo edo only stock in the valley so
a, Along the foot OF the Rockfacs :, .,o
ssry evening a tinv Ge nrocass;o III the
dlSs eu, three burros, their naci, -sad ru
Tied emIply save for a couple OF SACKS
that aoWIoss each, and weazened rorn,
packer "SpMed them--Old Pete, the snow
Canyon VSund %Omd on his nightly journey To
for the cnoIIn' ior The. bags of snow
freshmeTpT,SS TTSllhg Of the Golden Clouds re-
mIssSN%~as s was a little old mar, proteso,,o and
the bpsn, bnra, yet he followed briskIv aStnr Srr
trayelSrar which were the fastest Sts
He roI,osi oi their kind In the land
tho It'll" sut on his handy legs and kent
the wisD It!'nalS of nt, on a constant trot with
ing foe cries that heralded bIs con' .ne
echoes roIa a mile ahead and sent oI, thc
walls, A'ITt,tnIerating A between the canvon
followed ,hIS httIS north of Corvan no Son
lance, the" r"S s,,h ,hh9ckface close for a dis. dis
,rrsscks and SdIIGdenly turned back on his
drais was the hSGippeared' ialTsred burros and all
opentd sGidENnntry, u narrow mouth 10 tbae sne
The thousaewise into the very breast 90
along atsSSihd-foot a tSi Wall and led h. St