Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1923-09-20

I sent his horse Majesty TO you. Neye
saw Gene so broken-hearted. Well
after he sloped for the border Bonit,
an ! were hard put to 1t to keep alive
But we got along. an I think 1t wa,
then she beganAto car a little for me
Once / went to II Cajon an run plumt
into Gene. He was back from the rev
olution an cuttin' up some. But / got
away from him after doln' all I could
TO drag him out Of town. A long time
after that Gene trailed up to the crags
IN found US. Gene had stopped drink.
IN. he'd changed wonderful, was fine
an dandy. II was then he began to
\ poster the life out OF me to make me
marry Bonita. / was happy. so was
she, an / was some scared OF spoilin'
II. Genes ~dog-gone hard to buck
against I had TO give In, an / asked
Bonita to marry me. Well, she wouldn't
at frst-said she wasn't good enough
for me. But / saw the marriage idea
was workin' deep. an | just kept on be-
In as decent as / knew how. SO IL
was my wantin' to marry Bonits-my
bein' glad to marry her-that made
her grow soft mn sweet IN, pretty rs
as a mountain quail. Gene fetched up
Padre Marcos. an he married u.s."
Danny paused in his narrative,
breathing hard, as II the memory of
the incident described had stirred
strong and thrilling feeling II him.
Stillwell's smile was rapturous. Made
line leaned toward Danny with her eyes
shining.
Miss Hammond. an you. Bill Still
well. now listen, for this Is strange
I've got to tell you. The afternoon
Bonita an | were married, when Gene
an the padre had gone. she left me
for a little. an when she came back
she wore some pretty yellow flowers
in her hair. She said some queer
things about spirits roifin' rocks down
the canyon. Then she said she wanted
TO show me where she always sat an
waited an watched for me when | was
away. She led me around under the
crags 10 a long slope. 1t was some
pretty there-clear an, open. with a
long sweep, an the desert yawnIn'
deep an red. There were yellow flow
on that slope. the same kind she
had In her hair.
"When | henrd the strange crack of
rollln' rocks-heard them rattle down
an roll an grow faint-I was some
out of my head. But not for long. Them
rocks were rollIn' all right, only 1t was
the weatherln' OF the cliffs.
AN there under the crags was a
gold pocket.
Then | was worse than locoed. I
went gold-crazy. ] worked like seven
teen burros. Bill, | dug a lot Of gold
bearin' quartz. Bonita watched the
for me, brought me water. That
was how she come TO get caught by
Pat Have an his guerrillas. Sure
Pat Have was so set ON dom Gene
ilrt that he mixed up with Don Carlos.
Bonita will tell you some staggerin'
news about that outfit. Just now my
story Is all gold"
Danny Mains got up and kicked back
his chair. Blue lightning cleaned
rom his eyes as he thrust a hand
.oward StIllwell.
"Bill, old pal, put her there-give me
your hand" he said. you were always
ny friend. You had faith In me. Well.
Danny Mains owes you, an he owes
Sene Stew art a good deal, an Danny
Mains pays. / want two pardners to
lelp me work my gold mine. You an
Sene. Go fetch him an right here In
his house, with my wife an Miss
hammond as witnesses, we'll draw up
partnership. Go nnd him, Bill. I
want to show him this gold, show him
low Danny Mains paysl An the only Z
drop In my cup today is that | /,
ant ever pay Monty Price" I
Madeline watched the huge Stillwell 7
md the little cowboy, both talking
Wildly, as they walked of arm In arm
o find Stewart. She imagined some =
hing of what Danny's disappointment
would be. of the elder mans conster-
Iatlon and grief, when he learned
stewart had left for the border. AT
his tuncture she looked up to see q :
yet familiar figure approach {
NJ. Padre Marcos
Mention OF fd0Ft Mdftos, Sight OF I
i'm, had always occasioned Madeline =
little I~ndehnable shock and now, as
e stepped to the porch. a %shrunken. e
topped, and sad-faced man, she was s
n
The padre bowed low to her. Q
Sonora, will you grant me audi a
nce2 1t is a matter Of great moment. @
,hich you might not care to have any
hear" a
wonderingiy Madeline Inclined her I,
cad. The padre gently closed one Z
cor and hen the others. o
"Senora, I have come to disclose a 4
own sinfulness in keeping L
to implore your pardon. Do v
remember that night Senior Stew a
rt dragged me before you In the b
'aiting-room at Ell Catonf" A
Yes replied Madeline. IL
"Senora. since that night you have l
Senior Stewards wifel" "
Madeline became as motionless as b
tone. She seemed 10 feel nothing.