The Holly chieftain., 1923-08-02
RirnroCk Trail 9 ''"'' ';;' !: i; Nate
i By j. ALLAN DUNN -
Author Of
"AMan to His Mate"
Etc.


ergetic, good.fellow-well-met promoter
and engineer OF other peoples for
tunes.
There was not much spoken be-
tween Molly and Sandy on the way
back to the ranch. She seemed con-
tent to breathe In deep the herb
scented air and gaze at the noun
tains.
Sandy, riding a little to one side, q
little back. of her, SO that he could see
her better without appearing to stare.
echoed, for the time, her happiness.
This was Molly, the girl who had
sworn when she told them of her
fathers death. He could recall the
tone Of the words at will.
'The id road Jest slid out from
under. He didn't have h--l-chance!"
Molly, who had put arms about his
neck and kissed him good-by when she
went to school-how long ago that
seemed-and said. Sandy. / don't
want to go, but I'll be game"
This Was his Mollyl The knowl-
edge swept over Sandy and left him
tingling. Love came to him, the flrst
clean white flame of farst love, burn
ing like lamp in the heart Of a man.
1t was for this. he knew. that he had
been woman-shy, that he had cher
ished his own thought Of womanhood
as something SO rare q thought might
tarnish 1t. First love. shorn Of boy
fallacies. strong, irresistible, protec-
tive, passionate.
Game and dainty, tender, true, a
girl-woman, partner-what partner
she would make, western-bred !
He checked himself there. She was
western born, but what had the trans
planting done7 Would she ever now
be satisfied with western ways2 She
would come to him, Sandy knew that.
Whatever he asked her she would not
refuse. But would that be fair to
her? And he did not want her to
come to him out Of gratitude. he
wanted her nature to fuse with his.
1t seemed no time since he had
taken her from her saddle and car
ried her, tired, heartsore child, in
his arms. She must have fair
chance to see If the East, with all 1t
could offer her of amusement and In
terest, would not outbld the claims
of the West. He must walt and watch
and hold himself In hand though his
love and his knowledge Of 1t thrilled
through him, charging him as If with
an electric current that strove to
close all gaps between him and Molly,
struggling ever, in mind and body, to
complete the circle.
They got to the ranch ahead Of the
flivver by a scant margin. Miranda
Bailey inducted Molly and her chap
eron governess into the quarters she
had helped prepare for them. Molly
giving little cries of delight at the
improvements she saw downstairs.
Miranda came down first and Joined
the partners.
"Molly is certainly sweet" she said.
"She's grown into woman an she's
grown away from the old Molly.
Can't say as how she's affected none
an her speech an manners Is sure
fine. That gels natcherally got a
grand disposition.
1.-THE Nicholson person-her first
name is Clarice-is well-meanin'
enough. She amt shif'less, but she
amt what you'd call practical I
reckon she does fine in teachin' Molly
some things, but she'd be plumb
wasted out west. I'll say she never
washed out anything bigger than a
hankychif or cooked thing larger'n
an egg. An she cudn't boss sick
lizard. But she's easy to git alon
with, suppose.
"That Donald is a good-lookin' lad"
went on Miranda. ut must take him
an awful waste of time to fix his
clothes every time he puts 'em on. /
don't know how smart he is inside.
but he's got some of them movin'-
picture heroes beat on appearance.
I'm wonderin' what Molly thinks
about him. AS for his father. he's
smart enough inside an out. But he
talks too much like politician to
suit me. I'm mighty glad we got cash
for our claims. Keith's too slick an
smooth an smilin' to suit me-"
It was lengthy diatribe from MI
randa Bailey, accustomed as they
were to hear her state opinions freely.
The trio at Three Star had, univer.
sally come to respect her decisions
and also her intuitions. and none of
them had felt especially cordial
toward Keith as man. though they
considered him good in his profession.
"The writer, Kiplin'." said Sandy,
wrote poem about East an West,
sayin' that never the two c'ud meet.
Eff Keith tries to 'hamjlgger Molly out
of anything that's comm to her by
rights, why. reckon that's one time
the West an East Is goin' to meet
an mebbe lap over bit. So fur, he's
put money In our pockets. Here's
Molly ;"
"Tm goin' home" said Miranda no