Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1923-09-13

tacrs hiSseu IT. BfTuck again. ana NIX
With n pun. almost dra wing her
from the saddle. he tore the whip from
her hands. 1t was not that action ON
bis part, or the sudden strong master
fulness of his look, so much as the
livid mark on bis face where the whip
had dashed that quieted. IL 1t did not
check, her fury.
That's nothing" he said, with some
thing of his old audacity. THAT'S
nothing to how you've hurt me"
Madeline battled with herself for
control. This man would not be de
MED. About him now there was only
the ghost of that finer, gentler man
she had helped to bring into being.
The piercing dark eyes he bent upon
her burned her. went through her as
IL he were looking into her soul. Then
Madeline's quick sight caught a fleet
Ing doubt, a usefulness, a surprised
and saddened certainty In his eyes,
saw IT shade and pass away. Her
woman's Intuition, as keen as her
sight, told her Stewart In that momen
had sustained a shock of bitter, final
truth.
For the third time he repeated his
question to her. Madeline did not an
swer; she could not speak.
you don't know | love you. de
your" he continued. passlonately.
THAT ever since you stood before me
In that hole at Ghiricahua I've loved
your You can't see I've been another
man. loving you, working for you, llv-
ing for your You won't believe I've
turned my back on the old wild life,
that I've been decent n honorable
and happy and useful-your kind OF
a cowboy7 You couldn't tell, though
/ loved you. that | never wanted you
to know IL. that I never dared to
think of you except as my angel, my
holy Virgin? What do you know OF
a mans heart and soul7 How could
you tell OF the love, the salvation of
a man who's lived his life in the ST.
lence and loneliness7 Who could teach
you the actual trutii-that a wild COW.
boy, faithless to mother and sister, ex-
eept In memory, riding a hard. drunk.
tA AAuh HtiutEnt " nttls Udu lOOktu
into the face. the eyes of a beautiful
woman infinitely beyond him, above
him, and had so loved her that he was
saved-that he became faithful again
that he saw her face In every flow.
er and her eyes In the blue heaven7"
Madeline was mute. She heard hen
heart laundering In her ears.
4
Stewart leaped at ner. His power.
full hand closed on her arm. She
trembled. His action presaged the
old instructive violence.
"No; but o think I kept Bonita
up In the mountains, hat / went Sc
cretly to meet her, that all the while
/ served you 1 was Oh. / know
what you think / know now. /
never knew till I made you look al
me. Now. say It'll Speak,"
white-hot, blinded. utterly In the
fiery grasp of passion. powerless to
stem the rush of a word both shame
full and revealing and fatal, Madeline
crieds
"Yesi"
He had wrenched that word from
her. but he wal not subtle enough, not
versed In the mystery< of woman's
motive enough, to divine the deep
significance of her reply.
For him the word had only literal
meaning confirming the dishonor In
which she held him. Dropping her
arm, he shrank back, a strange action
for the savage and crude man she
judged him to be.
But that day at Chiricahua you
spoke of faith" he burst out. You
said the greatest thing In the world
was faith In human nature. You said
you had faith In mel You made me
faith in myself"
His ~reproach, without bitterness or
scorn. was q lash to her old egoistic
belief In her fairness. She had
preached a beautiful principle that
she had failed to live up to.
You think / am vile," he said You
think that about Bonita And all the
time I've been / could make |
you ashamed could tell you"
His passionate utterance ceased I
a snap of his teeth. His lips set
IN a thin, bitter line. The agitation
Of his face preceded a conclusive Q
wrestling of his shoulders. /
"No. mol" he painted. Was it his
answer to some mighty temptstionf
Then. like a bent sspiing released, hs
'prang erect But I'll be the man
he dog-you think mer~ '
He laid hold Of her arm with rude,
powerful clutch. One pull drew her
half out Of the saddle into his {
rms. She fell with ner breast against
lis. not wholly free of stirrups or
iorse. and there she hung. utterly
,owerlessl Maddened. writing. sha
ore to release herself All she coald
was to twist herself niA
Ierself high enough to 80 hts hc&
That almost paraiy1ed her. DID N
mean to kill herf Thea he whipped
lis arms around her and scxsBAs1 -
Close to him she felt thD
Of his heart: her own seeDod
n have frrnno m h. nrud HI 4