Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1922-11-16

"A gOlden-haired girl, blue-eyed,
white-skinned, red-lipped, tall and
slender and beautiful. He had never
forgotten, and an old, sickening re-
morse knocked at his heart. He rose
and climbed out Of the canon and to
the top Of the mesa, where he paced
to and fro and looked down into the
weird and mystic shadows, like the
darkness Of his passion, and farther
on down the moon track and the gilt
tering stretches that vanished in the
cold blue horizon. In that endless,
silent hall of desert there was a
spirit; and Cameron felt lowering
phantoms Of peace.
He returned to camp and sought
his comrade.
II reckon we're two Of a kind" he
said. "It was woman who drove me
into the desert. But I come to re-
member. The deserts the only place
I can do that"
"Was she your wife?" asked the
elder man.
mo"
A long silence ensued. The camp
fire wore down to a ruddy ashen heap.
IT had a daughter" said Camerons
comrade. "She lost her mother at
birth. And II didn't know how to
bring up a girl. She was pretty and
gay 1t was the-the old story"
His words were peculiarly signif.
cant to Cameron. They distressed
him. He had been wrapped up in his
remorse. If ever in the past he had
thought of anyone connected with
the girl he had wronged, he had long
forgotten. But the consequences of
such wrong were far-reaching They
struck at the roots Of a home.
"Well, tell me moreT' asked Cam
eron earnestly.
ut was the old, old story. My girl
was pretty and free. The young bucks
ran after her I guess she did not run
away from them. And I was away
good deal-working in another town.
She was in love with wild fellow. l
knew nothing of it till too late. He
was engaged to marry her. But he
didn't come back. And when the dis
grace became plain to all, my girl left
home. She went west. After while
l heard from her. She was we'll
working-living for her baby. A long
time passed. l had no ties. I drifted
west. Her lover had also gone west.
In those days everybody went west.
l trailed him, intending to kill him.
But l lost his trail. Neither could l
find any trace Of her. She moved on,
driven, no doubt, by the hound of her
past. Since that l have taken to the
wilds, hunting gold on the desert"
Eyes, it's the old, old story only
sadder, l think" said Cameron: and
his voice was strained and unnatural.
''Pardner, what Illinois town was it
you hailed from?"
"Peoria."
"And your-your manner? went on
Cameron, huskily.
"Warren-Jonas Warren"
That name might as well have been
a bullet. Cameron stood erect, mo-
tioness, as men sometimes stand mo-
mentarily when shot straight through
the heart. In an instant, when
thoughts resurged like binding flashes
of lightning through his mind, he was
a swaying, quivering, terror-stricken
man. He mumbled something hoarse-
ly and backed into the shadow. But
he need not have feared discovery,
however surely his agitation might
have betrayed him. Warren sat brood
ing over the campfire, oblivious Of his
comrade, absorbed in the past.
Cameron swiftly walked away in
the gloom, with the blood drumming
thick in his ears, whispering over and
over:
"Merciful Cd! Nell was his daugh-
teri"
AS thought and feeling multiplied,
Cameron was overwhelmed. Beyond
belief, indeed was it that out of the
millions of men in the world two who
had never seen each other could have
been driven into the desert by memory
Of the same woman. 1t brought the
past so close. 1t showed Cameron
how inevitably all his spiritual life
was governed by what had happened
long ago That which made life sig
nificant to him was wandering in
silent places where no eye could see
him with his secret. Some fateful
chance had thrown him with the IA
ther of the girl he had wrecked. 1t
was incomprehensible; 1t was terrible.
1t was the one thing of all possible
happenings in the world of chance
that both father and lover would have
found uncomfortable.
Something within him cried out to
him to reveal his identity. Warren
would kill him; but It was not fear of
death that put Cameron on the rack
He had faced death too often to be
afraid. 1t was the thought of adding
torture to this long-suffering man. All
at once Cameron swore that he would
not augment Warren's trouble. or let
him stain his hands with blood. He