Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-18
,c..,,,,o,,. 1870, oy posd. Meod col
rus STARTS THE STORY
BY TINCIE E. ROE

IL
I.t,oi Lo b,o Inn Last's household. Jim
- s.otoyious for his skill Nth guns, and
sas controlled tho valley. for vedrs.
y,ut Courtrey seeks to oust htn,. Jtm
1, shot from bohind. He givos 7hdron
ner ner 1sS' sis beft Of pistols. She seeks 10
n, ,,ara Inc ma MO Of his murderer and
.,a,ns m N "ost him. More cattle hdUe
Zen seised, and Thdron calls out her
tk;rfy followers TO defy Courtrcy.
Tharon rides EI Key ana e onagsa Ss., oy
gos' ,.n ,,og IN Uniform, toith Courtrev a
,sy ~ yards behind. "Thot," she says,
Va Ike man Pm going to kal some
Day"
AND HERE IT CONTINUES
ar DON'T know IT," she said simply but
with profound conviction. Tn feelin'
=, piijy I know I'm goin' straight TO
~, Gun o. God I'm blind as a bat, II
sosnns yet goin' straight"
che lifted q hand and crossed herself
Coin straight--Mary willin'--an ~
.,r,s hack straight. II lies up there an
tonlS, 90 N, Jeff again" She made a wide ges-
svre that swept up and out, embracing
,Ss towering walls, the half-seen peaks
ara hst the stars.
I,l,Iy shut his lips and said no more,
-, there lay False Ridge, the sinister.
,,oppjng spine that came down from the
anisnds outside where the real great
world began. and lured those who trav,
.a%ninR pit to sliding slope and slant
,Sat once ridden down. could never be
,naicd again. according to the weird
s,nries that we're told Of It,
pu, II Tharon went TO the Canyons,
there lay his trail, too. IL she went
Sown False Ridge to death in the pits
md waterless cuts. he, asked no better
a. ,han TO follow-the faithful dog at
Sor foot. the shadow at her shoulder.
And 80 It was that dawn crept up the
,,,,s"veiyet of the night sky and sent
i,s steel-blue light deep in the painted
snlIts. and they rode unerringly forward
M the sounding passes.
when the light increased enough to
show the way they game abruptly to the
.no, where it was necessary to leave the
Ln,..s THE floor of the canyon up
which they were travelling lifted sharply
,o one huge step, breast-high to man.
Tharon In the lead halted and looked
sor a moment all up and down the Won
drous maze of pale, tall openings that
enconpassed them all round.
Che turned in her saddle and looked
hack the way they had come. There
was darker shadow, going downward,
but here and there those pale nouns
from the heights above down to their
In any one a man might turn and
,ose himself completely. for they in turn
were cut and ribboned with, other
mouths, leaving, spires and walls and
faces a thousand-fo on every hand.
Tharon, even in the tensity and pre-
| oeclpatten OF the hour, drew in her
breath and the pupils Of her blue eyes
spread. - Ia
softly, II always knew 1t would be like
this-too great to tell about! l knew
| il would hold somethin' for me--always
knew it--either life an It's best-or.
| death"
There was a simple grandeur about
gray in the steely light, felt the heart in
| his breast thrt. with their portent.
No matter what the Canyons held for
| her-either that glorious fulfllment Of
| life. DR. the simple austerity of death
no would have a part In 1t, would have
served her to the last. true to the love
he bora her, true to himself.
And Notwithstanding under Gods
heaven save death itself-could ever
wipe out the memory Of that kiss. given
| from the depths of her loving heart, the
aign-manua of her undying affection
Of her inviolats red lips that he had
ever known the mistress Of Lasts to
give to any man, save Jim Last himself.
He wiped a hand across his forehead,
damp with moro than the night cold, and
dismounted.
wen leave th horses hers" he said.
"rv. an extra rope to string across an
make a small corral"
He did not add that r, would fasten
this slim barrier lightly, so that a horse
that really waEtsd 10 break out-in the
frantic madness Of thirst say-might
do 80 .'...
Then he set about his task-but
rharon stood with strained eyes look
Ing up--and up--and ever UP to the
dimly appearing spine Of False Ridge.
Over there she knew In her heart, lay
the hidden Cup o. God. with it's secret.
the secret that meant all the world to
1 her. ..i
Tharon turned back and looked long
at FL Rey. She wondered II she would
ever see the great silver-blue stallion
again, ever feel the wind singing by her
cheeks, ever hear the thunder of his rum
ming on the hollow ranges. She saw the
stain Of Jim Lasts blood on the big
studded saddle and pain like death
stabbed her :"
IN get him." she had promised on
that tragic day, 80 help me God - and
mad made the sign of the cross.
What did she now?
Cast away all certainty of that fulfill
ment because a mana man almost a
saanger-lay somewhere In the Canyon
SouHtry, crawled somewhere along False
Mdse, perhaps, wounded and sick with
fever.
oh, hurry" she. whispered as Billy
made secure his last light knot in the
rope gateway across the cut and came
70 Join her.
She scrambled up the bench In the
onyon floor, gained her feet and went
~rwafd at a rush.
Steady, Tharon." warned the rider.
you aint used to climbin'. Save your
It was true advice. Long before the
qua was high overhead and day was
oroao IN the painted cracks she had be-
gun 70 heed 1t. AS she swung up the
sSer lifting floors, threaded this way
snd That between tho thin interceptlng
,,sa, AIS mat lowered hundreds of feet
susight up. she cast her wide eyes up
y. ~ wonder. Always she had watched the
Ssenyon Country from her western door,
lure ~ '' W." '"s
There was that about its myste..', its
usere majesty, that had thrilled her
n,aft from babyhood. She had pictured
"a thousand times and Always il had
STohsd S,osd Just so--piniS and gray ard SAT-
.ns vh' pale and misty with light when the
N.a, was high, blue and wonderful and
H. tss s as the luminary lowered, leaving
NV quick shadows.
IN sSur s after hour they climbed. mostly
n..annce' speaking now and then some
'rNSary word of caution, of assent
way and that Tharon turned, but
r.c,Isys moving upward In the same d.
A soh ssh From time to time Billy dropped
rss,a ,ued OF the red kerchief about his
Ss,S, SSS, touched the soft walls with the
a s mas, OF the knife he carried. This left
eyes, ' as d 'raii 10 MS framed
F,ns. noon they halted for a little rest,
tbs tnaron's saddle Billy had taken
brpdhlaa hask OF water, the tightly rolled
mrE r OF bread and meat in its meal
mos. Ihey ate sparingly OF this, drank
aOIe sparingly of the yatar piIi,, -,