The Holly chieftain., 1923-10-11
CHAPTER lII-continu.d.


B.
She was alone-alone! Beyond law,
Justice, mercy even, without friend.
4 hope; a mere atom left to perish at
the will Of brute. Even God had de-
serted her.
Her wrist watch had stopped. and
she possessed no knowledge of the time.
yet surely it must be late. The respite
now would be short; those who were
coming to carry out this mockery
could not be delayed much longer.
She even hoped now they would come /;
anything was better than this uncer.
tainty, this horror Of waiting
She wondered where Bob Meager
was, and what he was doing. There
was no movement about the house,
except that of the cook In the detached
kitchen. The fellows regular work
would have been completed long ago /;
no doubt he was buslly preparing
some sort of feast with which to cele-
brate the wedding. The wedding! Her
wedding! There was the harsh mock
cry of laughter in her voice as she
repeated over aloud the ironfc words
Her wedding! Girl-like she had Won
deFed often what 1t would. be like.
And now 1t was here; she was actually
waiting the hour, the moment. And
the husband; the man whom Fate or
the devil had brought to herr He
was waiting, too, no doubt, alone in
the front room yonder, drinking him
self into reckless courage. becoming
4 greater demon with every moment
Of delay. It was too much, too much.
The very heart seemed to go out of
her, and she buried her face in her
arms on the sill, her body shaking
with the sobs which could no longer
be restrained.
Suddenly her ears caught the dis
tant sound Of horses hoofs through
the silence, and she sat up, gasping
for breath, once more clutched by fear.
Yes, they were actually coming. the
end was already at hand; he had not
lied to her, not merely threatened
he was really brute enough to carry
out the mad scheme. She was upon
her feet, standing. motionless and
rigid, back beyond view. when the
little party rode up to the main door
Of the ranch house, which opened at
their approach, startling beam Of
light flashing within.
There were but three in the COM
pany, all men. Two of the faces she
could not distinguish at all, one a
rather trim figure, sitting his saddle
like cavalry man; the other hump
ing, decidedly ungainly fellow. topped
with broad Mexican sombrero which
completely shaded his features. These
two remained mounted, but the third
man swung instantly down from the
saddle, noisily greeting Meager as he
stepped into the open doorway. He
was heavily built American, with
coarse. bloated face, and wore
scraggly beard. When he spoke he
croaked like frog.
"Hullo, Bob!" he called out, wad-
ding forward. "Well, 1 got here all
right
$50 I see," with no special cordiality
In the voice. which was hoarse from
drink. "And you didn't come alone,
Garrity; who the hi is with your
"Alone" He sputtered out a laugh.
did you think I'd ride across that
id desert at night alone? Not for
all the money you got, Bob Meager.
Arvan came along with me, an out
here at Silver Springs we run into
another old pard o. yours, an per
suaded him to ride on along with us.
Amt that all right?"
at depends D-n you. GarrIty,
told you this was to be private af-
fair. didn't 1? Who Is the fellow you
brought along from Silver Sprlngs?"
"Frisco-don't that beat hip"
"Frisco! Why, by Cd. l never
supposed he dared show up this side
the line" He stepped out eagerly.
reeling little from the liquor he car
He'd, yet heading straight toward the
taller figure in the dim light. The lat
ter swung down from the saddle and
met him, Meager, garrulous with
drink, greeting him effusively.
"Say, I'm glad to see you, Kid" he
burst forth, "but how the HI do you
1are come here? There is lot o.
xuys who'd kill their own mother fer
he reward Arizona's got on you.
Tryin' to commit suicide9"
mo. not as desperate as that. Bob"
- hn Nth