The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-10-21
THE RED DAWN
BY MARY GERMAINE.

 l him out of my life. ] hated him. And 1 I hated the squaw who was mother 1 to us both. My father was Calder, a ! white man. But Selka is a half 1 breed. And I am a half-breed. We stand on the same footing. We are I both branded by the same cursed mixture of bloods."
 | He stepped across the veranda and put his hand on the shoulder of Selka | who stood sullenIy between the | sheriff and the twin. his eyes opaque | and expressionless, his face set in
 lines destitute of emotion. 1 He is my brother" Calder con l tinued with passionate emphasis al- 1 though his composure was still rig ] idly cold and unshaken. Blood will 1 tell. I own him as a brother, and I | will share his disgrace. If he is a thief, then I'm a thief. I've reached | for joys above my head, stolen things that can't belong to me. He is guilty. l I'm guilty, also. Set him free-Pu 1 pay his bali three times over. Give him a chance Let him have what 1 little show there is for-one of our | kind"
 l Silence followed this outburst. The l sheriff nodded somewhat shame faced1y; Lariat Jim seemed chewing l over Ilie pSCulIdTy auNaHldS6 10 De I derived from a three-foId bail; Cece- 1 lia appeared stricken by Calder's 1 stern acknowledgment of the ties of l blood; SellAa sAood. still -sullen and | irnpassive.
 Calder clung grimly as ever to his iron self-control that had almost taken him through. There was no shrinking in him from the desolate years which stretched ahead or his despised life. His glance swept the group clustered on the veranda, and he read the cor cluston pictured on each expressive face. With his head still high. he strode toward the steps.
 But, waking suddenly to purpose, the strongest in her nature rising 10 the surface. unheedfuI of the eyes fixed upon her. unheedful of the past. unheedful of the future, claimed at last by a, love she could not disown, Cece1fa threw herself into calder's path.
 E"Take me with you!' she cried. Take me! I'm yoursi Don't leave me behind! Whatever your blood. you're a mani Your life is mines It's love, John-Johnr'
 Her voice broke off in short gasp of pain. Calder had pusned her aside With a sob in his throat he COIliAl IIOl SuppIeSSs lie SpIStnS to the back of his horse and rode mad1y away.
 And now, with Q vehement expres- sion, Selka jumped to the middle of the veranda and watched the vanish ing figure, sitting tall and erect in the saddle and disappearing into the mysterious distances of the wilds. The savage in him shone from his beady eyes and spoke in his fierce, guttural voice.
 Me euchre him!" he exclaimed. 'tSelka euchre him! He lost all! He never come back! He kill seIf.' He crunched his teeth together in gIeefuI satisfaction. He no brother. He paleface. selka spit on his face"
 What q you mean, you divil ?'' the twin asked roughly.
 'He white man, Selka repeated. ''Me take no bail. selka hate white man. Selka Indian. Se1ka take care of self. Se1ka's mother squaw."
 Henderson sprang forward and shook the ha1f-breed savagely by the arm What do you mean?" he ask ed in a voice that brooked no evas- ions. 'Is Calder a white mani"
 Him white face,'' Selka acknowI- edged sullenly. ''F'ather white face, love white man. Squaw take care baby. Nurse him. selka born. Selka no brother. Selza laugh. Sellza spit in his face!''
 "Oh, damn!" the twin eSaculated in half-humorous, ha1f-tragic com prehension of the secret the revealing of which would prove John Calder's salvation. He motioned the sheriff to look after the haIf-breed and sprang lightly from the veranda to the back of his horse. Larfat Jim also leaned into his saddle
 The two rode off down the trail toward Rodeo, an expression of un- troubled serenity on each pink checked cherubic face. The posse followed in respectful silence, riding in a bunch around Selka and the sheriff. Soon all of them became a par of the wide panorama shining boldly but naysterious1y in the morn ing sunshine. Cecelia. her face blanched into a ghastly semblance of its former animation and bloom, leaned against the adobe wall of the house. Her gaze was still fixed on that single figure riding madly to the north; of what had last occurred she seemed to have no knowledge. Her eyes had the glazed expression of a person suffering the throes of death. She swayed dizzily forward; and when Henderson caught her tenderly in his arms, looked hopelessly into his watchful eyes.
 "He Is my husband.'' she said in a grief-stricken whisper, 'and he has Sone-gone and left me. And I love him. It is true. love him"
 The hopes that were ever ready to revive in Henderson's mind fell like spring flowers before the sicks of time. His optimistic young voiI- broke nniserably in his throat when he tried to speak. But he put on a brave front. Though it were filled with his Hfes blood, the cup Cecelfa craved should be held to her lips. With the memory of this resolve to steady his unwilling purpose, he lift ed Cecelia gently into one of the yer anda chairs and started for the yer anda steps.
 'where are you going?" Cecelia cried.
 ''I am going after-your husband Henderson replied, the unselfish re- solve ringing in his voice.