Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1923-12-07

him further than any amount of exer-
cised authority possibly could. And
Simon Colin knew the race from
which his bound boy had sprung.
From the first, Simon's treatment Of
his bound boy had caused his neigh
bors no small wonder--it was so un-
like him. He had sent him to the vii
lage school till he outgrew it, and had
allowed him to roam the woods with
out any sort Of restraint. Far from
discouraglng his very aptitude for
woodcrafr, he had even loosened his
heart-striMgs-and his purse-strings;
an infinitely harder thing for him to
do-to the extent of buying him the
best double-barreled shotgun the mar
ket afforded, and a revolver Of model
and workmanship as fine as the art Of
revolvermakin could produce at that
time-two gifts on which the boy GER
tainly cast no discredit.
The morning was far gone when the
| woodsman finished his task at the
| feed-pens.
| AS he stood leaning against the
| fence, the events of the day before
crossed his mind-the heelprints on
| the dusty deck Of the concealed house
boat the ivory-handled six-gun; the
| spark OF flint that had transformed the
| peering eyes Of the preacher when be
| faced the desperado's knife. From
this, his mind reverted to the words Of
Belden about what he had seen in the
| little park.
| A face rose before him-a face COM
| pelling in It's easy suavity-that, in
| spite of it's studious severity, seemed
| to have strange fascination for
Texie. He knew she had let him walk
home with her from the festival-a
privilege that meant more In the Flat
| woods than anywhere else in the
| world. A deep breath came up out Of
his breast; his hand gripped the fence
rail hard.
But many an insistent task lay walt
ing The thought reused him. AS he
raised his arm to put on his hat. the
sweat got at the cut In his shoulder
and stung him
he had intended to haul in some
shock corn from the bottoms He
| the blouse loose about his shoulder !;
finally went up into the woods to in
spect a string of rail fence that would
have to be repaired before the stock
cattle could be turned out of the lower
lots into the upland pasture.
h.d II eli n o.
fallen rails and Strengthening crooked
panels when a tiny spot of color In a
corner Of the fence caught his eye.
For some reason it arrested bis in
stant attention. In a moment he was
down on MS knees parting the weeds
and tangled brambles where a yellow
orchid had just unfolded the mysteries
OF Its enchanted slipper to the sun.
He rose to his feet after a time, but
stood gazing down at the fower-a
spot Of gold in its mean setting
Stopping few minutes later to
ease his shoulder a bit, he happened to
gtunce over the fence into the woods
The act was purely involuntary, but a
slgnt met his eyes that instantly drove
every other consideration out of his
mlnd-from behind a log a man was
glowering at him.
He ducked out of sight in a flash
ana the Woodsman stopped to his tash
-cnrelessiy; without so much as the
flick OF an eye to betray that he had
seen anything at all-but he had
caught a distinct view of slouch hat,
a rough flannel shirt, open at the col
lar, a glare Of dark eyes that smol-
dered in face dark and scowling and
covered with a stubble Of black beard
the desperate of the festival.
Texie's startled whisper, as she had
fastened the bandages about his shoul
der the evening before, flashed across
his thought. The face behind the log
and the face Of his memory rose to his
mind as distinct as reflection Ii
whispering spring. Unbelievable
though ii was-against all reason II
the light of that terrible letter-he
saw the resemblance she had fanciec
vague, half intangible, but none the
less a resemblance.
With the tail of his eye on the log
the woodsman went on with his work
apparently absorbed in it, really will
no other thought than to put as grea
a length of fence row as possible be
tween himself and that scowling face
and in as short a time as was prudent
The moment he thought himself ou
Of sight, he took out rail Of the fence
> crawled through the opening and, witt
every caution known to woodcraft
crept back through the underbrush to
ward the log. The broken outline of
at last came into view through cluml
Of hazel. He raised his head ever s.
little and lay listening Not falls
note disturbed the soft purr of nature
> the pulse Of the woods beat norma
He dropped his head; crawled up t
the log The leaves were f1attened an
still warm. but the man was gone.
He searched the moss and leaves ur
til he found the trail-the scrape Of
boot in a spot of moist ground at tn
Foot of on ooG A ftor that II WAS naC-