The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1923-01-25
By
EDISON MARSHALL
Author of
"The Voice of the Pack"
Copyright by Little, Brown, and Co.

clearly than ever he understood why
the Rosses had died, soone than re-
linquish 1t, a4d why its usurpation by
the Turner's had left such a debt OF
hatred to Linda. All men know that
the love Of home is one of the few
great impulses that has made toward
civilization, but by the same token it
has been the cause of many wars. Per-
haps the day is coming when this love
will die in the land. but with II will
die the strength to repel the heather
from M walls. and the land will not
be worth living in, anyway. But ii
was not dead to the mountain people.
No really primitive emotion ever is.
The Rosses had known this instinct
very well. AS all men who are strong
thewed and of real natural virtue, they
had known pride of race and name,
and 1t had been a task worth while 10
build this stately house on their far.
fiber to it freely nc man who beheld
the structure could doubt that fact.
They had simply consecrated their
lives to it their one Work by which
they could show to all who came after
that by their own hands they had
earned their right to live.
Bruce saw the broad lands lying I'M
der the moon. There were hundreds
of acres of alfalfa and clover to fur
niSh hay for the winter feeding. There
were wide, green pastures, ensilvered
by the moon, and fields of corn laid
ont In wen rows. The old appeal of
the soil, an instinct that no person Of
Anglo-SaXon descent can ever COM
pleteiy escape, swept through him.
They were worth fighting for, those
fertile acres.
Not for nothing have a hundred gen.
eratlons of Anglo-Saxon people been
tillerS of the soil. Tb"y had left a
love of 1t to Bruce. He knew what
it would be like to feel the earth's
pulse through the handles Of a pillow, to
behold the first start of green things
in the spring and the golden ripening
in fall to watch the fiocks through the
hreathleSs nights and the herds feed
ing on the distant hills.
Bruce looked over the ground. He
knew enough not t o continue the trail
farther. The space IN front was bathed
in moonlight. and he would make the
best kind of target TO any rifieman
watching from the windows Of the
house. He turned through the ~coverts,
.nnl.;nr tl, ph,Inu, Of Tho f,rn.t, %
one side.
BY going in a quartering direction
he was able TO approach within two
hundred yards of the house without
emerging into the moonlight. At that
point the real difficulty Of the stalk
began. He lowered in the shadows.
then slipped one hundred feet further
to the trunk of a great oak tree.
He could see the house much nor
plainly now. True, it had suffered neg
ed painting and many Of its windows
were broken. Bruce rejoiced to see
that there were no lights in the east
wing of the house; the window that
Linda had indicated in the note was
just a black square on the moonlit
wall.
There was "a neglected garden close
to this wing of the house. If he could
reach this spot in safety he could APP
preach within a few feet Of the house
and still remain in cover. He went
fiat, then slowly crawled toward Ii.
Once a light sprang up In a window
neal the front, and he pressed close
10 the earth. But in Il moment ii went
away. He crept on. He didn't know
when a Waterman in enc of the dark
figure. But he did know perfectly just
what name of greeting he might ex-
pect in this event. There would be a
single little squirt of fire in the dark
ness. so .'naIl that probably his eyes
would Gu te fail to catch II. If they
did discern it. there would be no time
for a message to be recorded in his
brain. Ii would mean a swift and GER
tain end of all messages. The Turner's
would lose no time in emptying their
rifles at him. and there wouldn't be the
slightest doubt about their hitting the
mark. All the clan We're expert shots
md the range was close.
The place was deeply silent. He
felt a growing sense Of awe. In a mo-
mcnt more, he slipped into the shad.
ows Of the neglected rose gardens.
He lay quiet an instant, resting. He
didn't wish to risk the success of his
expedition by ~fatiguing himself now,
He wanted his full strength and
breath for any crisis thai he should
meet In the room where Linda was
confined.
Nevertheless, the stock Of his rifle
felt good in his hands. Perhaps there
would be a running fight after he got
the girl out of the house, and then his
cartridges would be needed. There
might even be a moment If close worR
with wharf guards the Turner's had sci
over her. But the heavy stock USED
like u club. would lie most use 10 hin
then.
Many times. he knew. skuIkIng fg,
ires had beer concealed in this gar
len. Probably the Turner'S, in the
lays IF the biood-feud, had often wait
d in lis shadows for u sighf ~ some
,ne 81 their eneiaies In a lighted win
lew. old ghosts dwell, In H. he coula