The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1920-08-05
CHAPTER X.

ately following the incident In Pen
nington's woods had showed her that
under more propitious circumstances
she might have fallen in love with that
tempestuous young man in sheer rec
ognition OF the many lovable and man
ly qualities she had discerneo IN him.
AS an offset to the credit side of
Bryce's account with her. however,
there appeared certain debts In the
consideration of which Shirley always
lost her temper and was Immediately
quite certain she loathed the unfor-
tunate man.
He had been an honored and (for
aught Shirley knew to the contrary
welcome guest In the Pennington home
one night, and the following day had
assaulted his host, committed great
bodily injuries upon the latter's en-
ployees for little or no reason save the
satisfaction of an abominable temper,
made threats OF further violence, de-
clnred his unfaltering enmity to her
nearest and bestowed relative, and In
the next breath had had the insolence
TO praie of his respect and admiration
for her.
However, RI Of these grave crimes
sad misdemeanors were really insig-
nificant compared with his crowning
offense. What had infuriated Shirley
was the fact that she had been at some
pains to inform Bryce Cardigan that
she loathed him-whereat he had
looked her over coolly, grinned little,
and declined to believe her! Then.
seemingly as II fate had decreed that
her futility should be impressed upon
her still further, Bryce Cardigan had
been granted an opportunity to save,
In strikingly calm, heroic and pain
ful manner, her and her uncle from
certain and horrible death, thus plac-
ing upon Shirley an obligation that
was MS irritating to acknowledge as 1t
was futile to attempt to reciprocate.
That was where the shoe pinched.
Before that day was over she had
been forced to do one of two things
acknowledge in no uncertain terms her
Indebtedness TO him, or remain silent
and to be convicted of having been, in
plain language, rotrer. So she had
telephoned him and purposely left
ajar the door to their former friendly
relations.
Monstrousi He had seen the open
door and deliberately slammed 1t in
her face. Luckily for them both she
had heard, all unsuspected by him as
he slowly hung the receiver on the
hook, the soiiloquy wherein he gave
her a pointed hint of the distress with
which he abdicated-which knowledge
was all that deferred her from despis-
ing him with the fervor of a woman
scorned
The fascination which lighted
candle holds for moth is. too well
known to require further elucidation
here. In yielding one day to a desire
to visit the Valley of the Giants, Shir-
ley told herself that she was going
there to gather wild blackberrles. She
had been thinking of certain black
berry pie. which thought naturally in
duced reflection on Bryce Cardigan
and reminded Shirley of her first visit
to the Giants under the escort Of boy
I'm knickerbockers.
Her meeting with Moira McTavlsh
that day, and the subsequent friend
ship formed with the woods-boss'
daughter, renewed all her apprehen-
Isions. On the assumption that Shir-
ley and Bryce were practically
strangers to each other Gan assump-
,tion which Shirley. for obvious rea-
sons, did not attempt to dissipate)
Moira did not hesitate to mention
Bryce very frequently. To her he was
the one human being In the world
utterly worth while. and It Is nat
ural for women to discuss, fire.
quently and at great length, the
subject nearest their hearts. MORA
described Bryce In minute detail and
related to her eager auditor little un'
conscious daily acts of kindness,
thoughtfulness or humor performed by
Bryce-his devotion to his father, his
ideallstic attitude toward the Cardi-
gan employees. iss ability. his Indus
try. Aud presently, little by little,
Shirley's resentment against him
faded, and In her heart was born a
great wistfulness bred of the hope that
some day she would meet Bryce Cardi-
gan on the street and that he would
pause, lift his hat, smile at her his
compelling smile and forthwith pro-
ceed to bully her into being friendly
and forg,ving-browbeat her into ad-
mitting her change Of heart and glory
ing In II.
To this remarkable state Of mind
had Shirley Sumner attained at the
time John Cnriigan, leading his last
little trump in vain hope that II
would enable him to take the odd trick
In the huge game he had played for
fifty years, decided to sell his Valley
of the Giants.
Shirley. as explained In a preceding
chapter. had been present the night