Middletown transcript., 1921-02-19
CHAPTER IIl-continued.

oS q pidluSludu udS uOL luc
knowledge of life itself that the noun
taineer has, simply because he does
not see 1T in the raw. And he has not
nalf the intimate knowledge Of death,
an absolute requisite of self-com-
posure. The mountaineer knows life
IL Its simple phases with little tradi-
tlon or convention to blur the vision.
Death Is very intimate acquaintance
that may be met in any snowdrift, on
any rocky trail; and these conditions
are very deadly to any delusions that
ne has in regard to himself. He ac-
quires an ability to see just where he
stands, and of course that means self
possession. This quality had something
to do with the remarkable record that
the mountain men, such as that mag
nif1cent warrior from Tennessee, made
In the late war.
Cranston knew exactly what Snow
bird would do. Although of a higher
order, she was a mountain creature,
even as himself. She meant exactly
what she said. If he hadn't climbed
from Dams prone body, she would
have shot quickly and very straight. If
he tried to attack either of them now,
her finger would press back before he
could blink an eye, and she wouldn't
weep any hysterical tears over his
dead body. If he kept his distance,
she wouldn't shoot at all. He meant
to keep his distance. But he did know
that he could insult her without dan
ger to himself. And by now his lips
had acquired their old curl of scorn.
"I'll 60, Snowbird," he said. 'Tll
leave you with your sissy. But guess
you saw what did to HMM two
minutes"
II saw. But you must remember
he's sick. Now CO." e
IF he's sick, let him stay in bed
and have wet nurse. Maybe you can
be that"
The lids dropped halfway over her
gray eyes, and the slim finger curled
more tightly about the trigger. "Oh,
I wish I could shoot you, Bert!" she
said. She didn't whisper it, or hiss it,
or hurl it, or do any of the things most
people are supposed to do in moments
of violent emotion. She simply said
it, and her meaning was all the
clearer.
"But you can't. And I'll pound that
milk-sop of yours to jelly every time
l see him. I'd think, Snowbird, that
you'd want man."
He started up the trail; and then
she did a strange thing. Hes more of
a man than you are, right new, Bert"
she told him. Hell prove it some
day." Then her arm went about Dams
neck and lifted his head upon her
breast; and in Cranstons plain sight,
she bent and kissed him, softly, on
the lips.
Cranston's answer was an oath. 1t
dripped from his lips, more poisonous,
more malicious than the venom of a,
snake. His features seemed to tight
en-, the dark lips drew away from his
teeth. No words could have made
him such an effective answer as this
little action of hers. And as he turned
up the trail, he called down to her
a name-that most dreadful epithet
that foul tongues have always used
to women held in greatest scorn.
Dan struggled in her arms. The
kiss on his lips. the instant before,
had not called him out of his half
consciousness. 1t had scarcely seemed
S,,e ~,
full dream. But the word called down
the trail shot out clear and vivid from
the silence, just as physicians face
will often leap from the darkness af-
ter the anesthesia. Something infinite
ly warm and tender was holding him,
pressing him back against holy place
that throbbed and gave him life and
strength; but he knew that this word
had to be answered. And only actions,
not other words, could be its payment.
All the voices of his body called to
him to lie still, but the voices of the
spirit, those higher, nobler promptings
from which no man, to the glory Of
the breed from which he sprung, can
ever quite escape, were stronger yet.
He tugged upward, straining. But he
didn't even have the strength to break
the hold that the soft arm had about
his neck.
"Oh, if I could only pull the trig-
ger!" she was crying. IF 1 could
only kill him"
"Let me-" he pleaded. "Give me
the pistol. I'll kill him"
And he would. There was no finch.
ing in sthe gray eyes that looked up
to her. She leaned forward. as if to
put the weapon in his hands, but at
once drew it back. And then a single
sob caught at her throat An instant
later they heard Cranston's laughter
as he vanished around the turn Of the
trail.
For long minutes the two of them
were still. The girl still held the mans
head upon her breast. The pistol had
fallen in the pine needles, and her
nervous hand plucked strangely at the
leaves of a mountain flower. To Dams
eyes, there was something trancelike,
q hint of paralysis and insensibility
about her posture. He had never seen
her eyes like this. The light that he
had always beheld in them had van
islfed. Their utter darkness startled
him.
He sat up straight, and her arm that
had been about his neck felt at her
side. He took her hand firmly in his,
and their eyes met.
1--WE must 60 home, Snowbird," he
told her simply. 'Tm not so badly
hurt but that can make it."