Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-11-21

welcome to Gale, but he was stin
show that he was glad to see them,
and he listened. 1t took no keen judge
of human nature to see that horses
constituted Ladds ruling passion.
ashore it's q cinch Bedin' is agoin'
to- lose some of them animals of his"
he said. "You can search me If l don't
think there'll be more doln' on the bor-
der here than along the Rio Grande."
'Look-a-here, Laddy; you CANT be-
liere all you hear" replied jim, seri-
ously. 81 reckon We r1ightn't have
any trouble"
Back up, Jim. Shore you're stand.
In on your bride. There's more doin'
than the raiGin' of few ho4Tes. An
Forlorn River is goin' to get kers!"
Another dawn found Gale so much
recovered that he arose and looked
after himself; not, however, Without
considerable difficulty and rather dis
heartenlng twinges of pain.
Some time during the morning he
heard the girls in the patio and called
to ask If he might join them. He re-
ceived one response, mellow, Isl,
senor." It was not as much as he
wanted, but considering that T. was
enough, he went out. In the shade Of
beautiful tree he found the girls,
Mercedes sitting in a hammock, Nell
upon blanket.
"What q beautiful tree!" he e1-
claimed. II never saw one like that.
What Is it?"
"Palo verde" replied Nell.
"Senor, palo verde means green
tree" added Mercedes.
Little by little Dick learned details
Of Nell'S varied life. She had lived
IN many places AS child she re-
membered Lawrence, Kansas, where
she studied for several years. Then
she moved to Saltwater. Oklahoma.
from there to Austin, Texas, and on to
Waco, where her mother met and mar
ried Bedding. They lived In New
Mexico awhile, in Tucson, Arizona, in
Douglas, and finally had come to lone
ly FOrlorn River.
"Mother could never live In one
place any length Of time" said Nell.
"And since we've been In the South
west she has never ceased trying to
find some trace of her father. He
was last heard of in Nogales fourteen
years ago. She thinks grandfather
was lost in the Sonora desert.
And every place We go is worse. Oh,
! love the desert. But I'd like to 60
back to Lawrence-or to see Chicago
or New York-some Of the places Mr.
Gale speaks Of / remember
the college at Lawrence, though was
only twelve. I saw races-and once
real football Mr.. Gale, Of
course, you've seen games"
eyes, few" replied Dick; and ne
laughed q little. 1t was on his lips
then to tell her about some of the
famous games in which he had pnr-
ticipated. But ne refrained from ex-
plotting himself. There was little,
however, Of the color and sound and
cheer, of the violent action and rush
and battle Incidental to big college
football game that he did not succeed
In making Mercedes and Nell feel just
as If they had been there. They hung
breathless and wideeyed upon his
words.
Some one else was present at the
latter part Of Dicks narrative. The
moment he became aware Of Yrs.
Belongs presence he remembered
fancying he had heard her call, and
now he was certain she had done so.
Mercedes and Nell, however, had been
and still were oblivlous to everything
except Dicks recital. He saw Mrs.
Bedding cast strange, intent glance
upon Nell, then turn and go silently
through the patio.
Dick was haunted by the strange ex-
preston he had caught on Mrs. Beld-
ing's face, especially the look in her
eyes. 1t had been one Of repressed
pain liberated in flash Of certainty.
The mother had seen how far he had
gone on the road of love. Perhaps she
had seen more-even more than he
dared hope.