Roanoke Rapids herald., 1923-11-02
A Romance
By Zane Grey
Copyright by Harper and Brothers

her adventurous experiences. If 1t had
RAT been fer the quiet and persistent
guardianship of her cowboys She might
almost have forgotten Don Carlos sod
the raiders. Madeline was assured OF
the splendid physical fitness to which
this ranch life had developed her. and
that she was assimilating something
of the Western disregard Of danger
a hard ride, un accident, Il day in the
sun and dust, an adventure with out
laws-these might once have been
matters of large import, but now for
Madeline they were IL order with MI
tie rest of her changed life.
There was never day tina: some
thing interesting was not brought to
her notice. Silwell, who had cease
lessly reproached himself for riding
away the morning Madeline was cap
tured. grew more like m anxious par
ent than a faithful superintendent. lie
was never at ease regarding her unless
he was near the ranch or had left
Stewart there, or else Nels and Nick
Steele. Naturally. he trusted more to
Stewart than to any one else.
Miss Majesty, It's sure amazln'
strange about Gene" said the old cat
tleman, as he tramped into Madelne's
office.
whats the matter now?" she In
quired
wal, Gene has rustled off into the
mountains again. Hes sneuked of
an Nels, who was down to the lower
trail, saw him meet somebody that
looked like Padre Marcos Wal, went
down to the church, and, sure enough
Padre Marcos is gone, What do yc..
think of that. Miss MajeSty?"
Maybe Stewart is getting religions.
laughed Madeline. Let him take hi,
mysterious trips into the mountains.
Here, Stillwell, ! have news for you
that may give you reason for worry.
have letters from home. And my Sis
ter, with a party of friends, is coming
out to visit me. They are society folk,
and one of them is an English lord
Let me read you a few extracts from
my mail"
Madeline took up her sisters letter
/ with a strange sensation of how cas-
lily sight of crested monogram and
scent of dellcately perfumed paper
could recall the brilliant life she had
given up. She scanned the pages of
beautiful handwriting. Helen seldom
wrote letters, and she never read any
thing, not even popular novels of the
day. She was as absolutely ignorant
of the West as the Englishlnan. who,
she said, expected to hunt buffalo and
fight Indians. Moreover, there was II
satiric note in the letter that Made
line did not like, and which reused
her spirit
When she finished reading aloud a
few paragraphs the old cattleman
snorted and his face grew redder.
Did your sister write that?" he
asked. "Dnes she think we're n lot of
wild men from Borneo?"
evidently she does. rather think
she is in for surprise. Now, Still
well, you are clever and you can see
Ine SlIuutlbI. l whit guests 10 ell
joy their stay here, but | do not want
that TO be at the expense of the feel
ings Of all of us, or even any one.
Helen will bring a lively crowd.
They'll crave txcitement-the unusual.
Let us see that they are not disap-
pointed. You take the boys into your
confidence. Tell them what to expect,
n1I IN ShuI
help you in that. l want the boys to
be on dress-parade when they are off
duty. | want them to be on their
most elegant behavior. l do not care
what they do. what measures they
take to protect themselves, what tricks
they contrive, so long as they do not
overstep the limit of kindness and