St. Tammany farmer., 1922-10-28
FARMER covINGToN OCTOBER

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 1t 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. It 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 fa-
ther of the girl he had wrecked. It
was incomprehensible it was terrible.
It was the one thing of all possible
happenings in the world Of chance
that both father and lover would have
found unendurable.
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. It 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
would tell the truth Of Nell's sad story
and his own, and make what amends
he could.
Then Cameron's thought shifted
from father to daughter. She was
somewhere beyond the dim horizon
line. In those past lonely hours by
the campfire his fancy had tortured
him with pictures Of Nell. But his
remorseful and cruel fancy had lied
to him. Nell had struggled upward
out of menacing depths. She had re-
constructed a broken life. And now
she was fighting for the name and
happiness of her child. Little Nell!
Cameron experienced shuddering
ripple in all his being-the physical
rack Of an emotion born of new and
strange consciousness. He felt that
it had been given him to help Warren
with his burden.
He returned to camp trying to
evolve plan. All night he lay
awake thinking.
In the morning, when Warren
brought the burros to camp and began
preparations for the usual packing,
Cameron broke silence.
''Pardner, your story last night made
me think. 1 want to tell you some
thing about myself In my younger
days-it seems long now, yet it's not
so many years-I was wild. I wronged
the sweetest and 1oveliest girl l ever
knew. went away not dreaming that
any disgrace might come to her. Along
about that time I fell into terrible
moods| changed learned l really
loved her. Then came a letter I
should have gotten months before. It
told of her trouble-importuned me to
hurry to save her. Half frantic with
shame and fear, got marriage GER
tificate and rushed back to her town.
She was gone-had been gone for
weeks and her disgrace was known.
Friends warned me to keep out Of
reach of her father. 1 trailed her
found her. married her. But too
late! -. She would not live with,
me. She left mel followed her west,
but never found her"
Warren leaned forward little and
looked into Cameron's eyes, as If
searching there for the repentance
that might make him less deserving Of
mans scorn.
Cameron met the gaze unf1inchingly,
and again began to speak:
''You know, Of course, how men out
here sometimes lose old names, old
identities. It won't surprise you much
to learn my name isn't really Cam
eron, as once told you"
Warren stlffened upright. It seemed
that there might have been a blank,
suspension, between his grave in
terest and some strange mood to come.
Cameron felt his heart bulge and
contract in his breast; all his body
grew cold; and 1t took tremendous
effort for him to make his lips form
words
"Warren, I'm the man you're hunt
ing. I'm Burton was Nells lover I"
The old man rose and lowered over
Cameron, and then plunged down
upon him, and clutched his throat
with terrible, Sitting hands. The
harsh contact the main awakened
Cameron to his peril before 1t was
too late. Desperate fighting saved
him from being hurled to the ground
and stamped and crushed. Warren
seemed maddened giant. There was
q reeling, swaying, wrestling struggle
before the elder man began to weaken.
Then Cameron, buffeted, bloody,
painted for speech.
"Warren- on! Give me-a
minute. J I married Nell. Didn't you
know that1 =. Il saved the child!"
Cameron felt the shock that vibrated
through Warren. He repeated the
words again and again. AS If COM
PEELED by some resistless power, War
rem released Cameron. and, staggering