St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1922-11-25
FARMER NOVEMBER Is
With them and me, and by

"Sure. With them and me, and by
yourself"
Dick drew a deep breath, and even
after Bedding had departed he forgot
for moment about the letter In his
hand. Then he unfolded the paper
and read:
Dear Dick-Youve more than saved
my life. To the end Of my days you'u
be the one man to whom owe every
thing. Words fail to express my feelings.
This must be q brief note. Bedding IL
waiting, and used up most Of the time
writing to Mercedes.
I'm leaving Mercedes in your charge,
subject, OF course. to advice from Belding.
Take care Of her. Dick, for my life IN
wrapped up in her BY all means keep
her from being seen by Mexicans. We
are sitting tight here-nothing doing.
If things quiet down before my COM
mission expires, I'll get leave of absence,
run out to Forlorn River. marry my
beautiful Spanish princess and take her
to civilized country, where, opine,
every son of gun who sees her will lose
his head, and drive me mad. Dick, harken
to these glad words: Rojas 10 in the hos
pital. was interested to inquire. He
GS
bone, three broken ribs, and a fearful
cash on his face. He'll be In the hospital
for month. Dick. when meet that pig
headed dad OF yours I'm going to give
him the surprise of his life.
Send me line whenever any one
comes in from F. R., and inclose Mer-
cedes' letter in yours. Take care Of her,
Dick, and may the future hold In store
for you some OF the sweetness I know
FoithF,,l3v
While Dick was eating his supper,
with appetite rapidly returning to nor
NAL, Ladd and Jim came in. Their
friendly advances were singularly
welcome to Gale, but he was still
backward. He allowed himself to
show that he was glad to see them,
and he listened. It took no keen judge
Of human nature to see that horses
constituted Ladd's ruling passion.
"Shore it's cinch Beldin' Is agoin
to lose some OF them animals Of hts, :"
he said. "You can search me II DOM
think there'll be more doln' on the Dor
der here than along the Rio Grande."
"Look-a-here, Laddy; you CANT be-
lieve all you hear" replied Jim, seri-
ously. II reckon we mightn't have
any trouble"
'Back up, Jim. Shore you're stand
In on your bride. There's more dom
than the raidin' Of few bosses. An
Forlorn River Is goin' to get hers |"
Another dawn found Gale so much
recovered that he arose and looked
after himself; not, however. without
considerable difficulty and rather dis.
heartening 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
ceiyed one response. mellow, ISL,
senor." 1t was not az much az he
wanted, but considering that It was
enough, he went out. In the shade OF
beautiful tree, he found the girls.
Mercedes sitting In 4 hammock, Nell
upon a blanket.
what a beautiful tree," he e0
claimed. Il never saw one like that
What Is it7''
'Palo VERDE" replied Nell.
"Senor, palo verde means greer
tree" added Mercedes.
Little by little Dick learned detaila
Of Nell's varied life. She had lived
in many places As a child she re-
memberad Lawrence. Kansas, where
she studied for several years. Their
che ,,oo,,od - Q%311xyo<nv 0k4ahnuna
from there to Austin, Texas, and on ia
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 60 II worse. Oh,
I 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 1 remember
the college at Lawrence, though was
only twelve. I saw races-and once
real football Mr.. Gale, Of
course, you've seen gamesT
Eyes, a few" replied Dick: and he
laughed a little. It was on his lips
then to tell her about some Of the
famous games In which he had par
ticipated. But he refrained from e1-
plotting himself. There was little,
however, of the color and sound and
cheer, of the violent action and rush
and battle incidental to a big college
football game that he did not succeed
in making Mercedes and Nell feel Just
as II they had been there. They hung
GREATNESS and wide-eyed upon his
words.
Some one else was present at the
latter part Of Dicks narrative. The
moment he became aware Of Mrs.
Belongs presence he remembered
fancying he had heard her call. and
now he was certain she had done 30.
Mercedes and Nell. however. had been
and still were oblivious to everything
except Dicks recital. He saw Mrs.
Bedding cast strange, intent glance
upon Nell, then turn and 60 silently
through the patio.
Dick was haunted by the strange ex-
preston he had caught on Mrs. Beld-