The Lamar register., 1920-12-08

"Nc' Nor" sne sain -'I'nn1 ~ny--
inat!'
He looked down AT the hand IN his
sleeve; picked II up; held 1t an in
stant: suffered her to take IL away,
II know who killed Louie Solomon"
he said slowly. "a knew who has The
Blue Moon-absolute knowledge. hu
no proof Hen he on my trail tomor-
row and his eyes are the most danger
Gus eyes in the Flatwoods He'd ask
nothing better than Ii chance ;" Kill
me. And I am any mans game now"
II is marvellous how woman's in
tuition will drive at the very heart of
q matter that puzzles men. She saw at
n fash what had escaped the wits of
the whole village.
you mean the-the-timber buyer
she said.
II mean the timber buyer" he an
swered, with a quick look AT her. His
eyes see everything. You must destroy
these bloody rags. and you must rake
the yard In the morning. Rake the
east yard first, and then the west. I'm
not aiming to leave any tracks. but
It's so dark I can't make sure" He
was talking rapidly. I'm not expectin'
10 leave the Flatwoods, and-you, un-
less they crowd me hard; not Till I've
run him down and found my proof,
But the odds are against me II any
thing should happen, ! want you to
have this money. And the minute you
hear they've got me, you must go
straight to the sheriff. Don't risk the
woods another hour. Put yourself un-
der his protection. and tell him why;
have the money transferred to You:
and-send for that surgeon"
The tears beat their way up into the
girls eyes In spite Of her. and ran
down her cheeks. Her head bent low.
II was the one thing he knew not how
to face His hard life hadn't taught
him that The tears hurt him What
had caused them1 Maybe II was Just
q woman's way. Maybe he had done
wrong to come 10 her with his cuts
and blood and danger.
She raised her face after time. He
drew long breath; dropped his hand
to his side: stared in astonishmeni.
She was smiling-smiling through the
tears-and the dimples were back The
ways of woman-utterly beyond him,
and past finding out She smOothed
the draft out In her hands and was
looking at him over II.
81 wonder II ought to take It," she
mused to herself. Us much as to him.
He took the paper out Of her hands
folded # and with masterful air
thrust II under fold Of the loose gar.
ment across her bosom.
81 haven't soul Ia the world to
leave IL 70 but--y0u"
His slow eyes left her face and
stared hard at the basin of red water
Stepping over to the stand, he stopped
and snuffed the candle. The huge
shadow of him filled the room. Turn
ing away, after he had the candle
again at full flame, his eyes came back
to the thoughtful face of his compan
ion.
''That revolver saw yesterday on
the mnntel-is It loaded?''
81 think So"
She looked up In curious half sur
prise, as If the question had brought
her thoughts back from afar.
hhy SET II
"Why-yes-"
He shaded the candle again while
she lifted the curtain over the door I;
paused a moment TO listen to the
heavy breathing of the sleeper In the
west room; crossed to the mantel over
the fireplace and brought him the re
volver.
Several minutes the man spared to
its inspection: testing the action Of
the hammer. cylinder revolution and
trigger pull; replacing the somewhat
corroded cnps on the tubes with new
ones; even packing fresh grains Of
powder into the tubes where he
thought necessary.
do you know how 1t use it7" he
asked, looking up from his inspection.
1--WE shot lots of squirrels with it,
sometimes clear In the treetops," she
answered. And once / killed a hawk
that pestered the chickens"
grin puckered his eyes for mo-
ment, then his brows lowered. An
other question, hard one. had to be
asked, that set him raking over his
slim stock of words for ways to ask 1t.
DO girls-I mean-have you got any
place about you-your dress-to car
ry it,"