The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1922-09-28

course he would And you came. say
way. May heaven bless you for III
Bruce She leaned toward hlm. az.
peaiing. aud forgive nae What !
said
Rruce stared az her IN amazemeat
he could hardy realize that lhis was
the same voice that had hesu 20 torn
with passion moment before In an
instant al her hardness was gone
and the tenderness of a sweet and
Wholesome rafurc has taken iis place
he ieit curnus Warmth stealing
over hlm
~Thes meant what r,cy said Rruce
Believe iar II theSe mcn can 10 ~
other thlng lhey San keep their v"rl
They didn't msi ihreaten deaih 60
ine I cvuid ha,e run The r.>k ~ that
hady as wanted 10 make them pay
before died would have gladly
rlu that risk
"iou ure amazed NJ the free wag
sFeak 20 death The girls sou know
IN the cits. don't even know the word
Ihcs don't know what Il means They
don't understand ihe sudden end ~
Ire ilehi ;as darkness-the coid--
tie awful fear that Il isi lisa real
iiy here something 20 nsbt against
every hour 81 every day There are
iust three things 20 do in the noun
iains-to i've and love and hate
There's no saffness There's no mid
at pround She smiled gnmiy.
~rse li,cd with death. ana I've
heard II lt. apa I've seen II ali my
lIfe II there hadn't hecn any othcr
way ! would have seen it Ia ilr dra
nias ~ sLe wild creatures that 20 on
around me an ihe time ioull rei
down 20 eases here Rrucc- or else
,oun run away These men said
they'd Do worse things 81 me than
knl mc-and didnl dare take the
Risk.
"nui once ~ twice was able 10
gct Nord 10 old rimim-s'he only ally
! bad lett She was ~ tlie true hrr,-l
Bruce NouA can her hag hut
shes women AZ be reeknncl with
Size conld hate to1-warse Than
she-raiilesnske hates he man thar
Killed her maie-and hating Is all
that's kept her alive You shrink
when ! Soy the word Masbc ,uu
won't shrink when I'm dime
This old WOMAN tried to eet in
communication with every snungcr
that visited the hias lou see Bruce.
she couldn't write herself Aud the
one time | managed 20 get a written
message down 70 her. telling her a.
give It TO the first stranger 10 null
one of my enemies got IL away from
her expected to die that night
wasn't going 10 be alive when the
clan came The only reason ] didn't
Vas because Simon-the greatest %
them all and the one hate the most
kerf his dan from coming. lie aad
bis own reasons
Prom then on she had 10 depend
on word ~ mouth But AZ last lusl
few weeks she found man
that knew you And II Is your story
from now on
They were sulI a little while. Bruce
arose and threw more wood on the
fre.
"it's o-'y the beginning" he said.
AN, ou want me 10 tell you ally"
she asked h, ianily.
"Of course Why Jid come heref"
You won't believe me when I say
that I'm almost sorry sent for you"
Size spoke sl;nost breaihlessiy. Il
didn't know that II would be like this
That you would come with q smile on
your face and light Ia your eyes
looking for happiness And instead
Of happiness fIBd all this
She stretched ont her arms TO the
forests Bruce understood her per
fectly. She did not mean the woods
in the literal sense. She meant the
primal emotions that were their spirit
Ito know the rest. you've got 10 20
back a whole generation. Bruce. have
you heard u the terrible blood feuds
that the mountain families sometimes
havef'
-Of course. Many tines
These mountains Of Trails End
have been The scene of as deadly a
blood-feud as was ever known IN the
West. And for once the wrong was
all on one side.
"A few miles from here there Is
wonderful valley. where a stream
flows. There is not much tlilable land
in these mountains. Bruce. but there.
along that little stream. there are al
most Eve sections-ihree thousand
acres-of as rich land IS was ever
plowed That tract OF land was sc-
CURED long sgo by 4 family named
Ross. and they got Il through some
kind Of grant I can't be definite as
10 the legal aspects CT all this story.
They d0n't matter snyway-onIy the
results remain.
These Ross men were fronfiersmen
Of The erst order They were rirtuous