Licking Valley courier., 1921-10-27
THE CLAN CALL.
(Centinued from nage twe.l

or at least nearly squarely from the
frOntP As 1t was. the Goliath had been
shot straight through the temples
That third shot had been fired by some
hidden friend Of Dale's, the major de
clared, and It had been done for the
purpose Of saving Dale's life. Ball
had been In the act of playing a COW.
ardly trick; he had killed man In
North Carolina by just such trick
and he had b0asted of 1t.
The attorney for the state made a
rejOinder that almost favored the de-
fendant. Then the court charged the
jury. and the twelve good men retired.
The jury was out not more than
twenty minutes, but to Elizabeth Lit
tfeford it,was an age of torture.
The twelve men filed slowly in and
faced the judge, who turned austere
eyes upon them and asked:
Gentlemen of the jury, have you
reached verdict?"
They had. Elizabeth Lttleford's
head swan as she bent forward to
catch the foreman's words
"Not guilty!"
A wild shout rose from the leathery
throat of the happy BY Heck. The
Morelands and the Littlefords }cheered
until they were hoarse. Sheriff Tom
Flowers had difficulty in Quletlng the
tumult. Bill Dale shook hands until
his shoulders ached. The Balls and
their relatives, bitter with resentment
and hatred, stole out, were given their
rifles, and went toward the big hills
with the eye of the militia hard upon
them.
Then the Morelands and the Little.
fords and the Hecks, with Dale and
his mining man Hayes, came out, and
they, too, started for the big hills.
Dale had hired horse and a side
saddle for Ben Littlefords daughter
and the two rode in each others com.
pany on the journey home. When they
were well into the mountains, Dale
drew his horse over close to that of
his companion.
"As soon as l can build and furnish
-" he began, when Elizabeth inter
rupted:
"We're ridin' too fast. We're too
much ahead o. the others. One O. them
Balls might try to pick you off with
his rife gum"
"Not much danger of that" Dale re.
piled. "The Balls have already been
warned about sniping your father told
them that their very name would he
secured off the earth If there was any
sniping. Besides, BY Heck is acting
as advance guard somewhere ahead Of
u.s."
He continued "As soon rs ! can
build and furnish a little house out
near the mine, | want you TO marry
me, Babe. Will you?"
Elizabeth Littieford seemed not to
have heard.
"Will you, Babe?"
| She faced him sadly. He saw in
her hazel eyes the same queer light
Of tragedy that he had seen there q
day or two before; and now, as tnen
he wondered what ii could mean.
"Tell me, Babe"
Her head fell forward. The sunlight
found gllnts Of gold in herthlck chest.
nut-brown hair. She was silent Tor o
moment; then her voice came duly;
I'D better not marry you, Bin Dale
Dale sat up straight and rigid in
his saddle and stared hard at her sol
emnly beautiful profile He coult
hardly believe that he had heard cor.
rectly. He knew she loved him. Sht
had told him that she loved him. Ther
why wouldn't she marry him? HI
tried to reason It out, and the attempt
made his brain ache; he was unable
to reason. He knew only that she was
all Of the future to him, all Of the
world TO him, and-that she had re
fused to marry him.
| When they were within two miles
Of home, Dale went suddenly whit,
and caught her almost rudely by {
wrist.
rs 1t Jimmy Fayne2" he demanded
hotly.
She gave him q. reproachful glance
and said nothing. He flung her hanC
from him angrily.
Dale did not speak again until the,
had entered the broad valley that was
home to him. Somehow he felt linn
now. The great wave of anger hat
passed.
II guess you are too good for me,
he said. There was weakness in hl'
voice, and II was the first weakness
she had ever known In him.
"Will you always think of me al
the finest and most beautiful woman
In the world?' she asked.
Always"
"It's the best can hope for" mur
INJURED Elizabeth, 4
-. "What do you mean?"
hYs"Its the best I can hope for" Eliza
beth repeated as though she were Ia.A
Ing to herself.
They rode on In silence.
~
) There was no sleep for Bill Dale that
night. The sweetness of his liberty
had oil been taken away by Babe Lit
tleford's refusal to marry him. FL
became bitter toward her again. Sh'
had been exceedingly unfair to him
while she really loved him, she wa
going to marry Jimmy Fayne hocaus
he had SO much money She wus un
grateful to him: 1t was throurJ b.u
that she was being educated, beMl
lifted out Of her uncoulh and Hitter
ate self and set on higher social ant
Intellectual plane All he had eve
heard Of the so-called unfuthomabl
mystery. Of womanklnd he now he
ileved. and more. All this, of course
was unworthy. But BIZ Dale was in