Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-27
INsTALLMENT XXX.


TT was dark by the time Happy Jack
called them to supper. Jim car
ried over an armload OF brush tc
i make a bright fire. BY its fare
Hays was seen approaching, and
when he drew near he said: Jim, die
they tell you straight how came tc
draw on Brad?"
Reckon they did," replied Jim
ccldly.
"Anythin' to say?"
mo, don't see how You could have
acted any differently"
oval, you've coppered 1t with the ace
The second Brad jumped me l seen In
his eyes he meant to egg me on To
draw So did it quick :. Jack what
you got for supper?"
BY tacit consent and without single
word the men avoided Happy Jack
table that night and ate around the
camp fire. Hays stood up, Smoky sat
on stone, Jim knelt on one knee and
the others adopted characteristic poses
reminiscent of the trail.
Cool after the rain" remarked Hays,
after he had finished. And he took up a
blazing fagot of wood. Reckon I'll
make a little fire fer my lady prisoner
He stalked away, waving the fagot TO
keep 1t ablaze.
Il call that nervy," declared Smoky.
'What you think, Jim?''
Just bluff. Watch him."
Hanks gone dotty," snortsd Happy
Jack Tibet CURL hates him."
Men, what this Herrick girl thinks or
feels is nothing to Hays" chimed In
Jim. ringingly.
at seen her last night when he called
me to fetch her supper" said Jack.
"Fust time I'd had peek at her face
lately Seemed a ghost Of tibet other
gurl.'
"Yes, and you fellows saw only a
ghost of the money Hays got from the
Herricks," retorted Jim, divining the
moment for revelation had come.
An angry roar arose. Smoky threw
up his hands and left the camp fire:
Then Jim, in brisf. cold terms. exposed
the Vaccinations of their chief. After
the first outburst they accepted the dis
closure in aStounded and ominous ST.
lence. Jim paced off into the dark
ness.
The fire Hays had built in front Of
the shelter cast bright light, showing
the girl walking to and fro. Jim kept
in the shadow of the cliff and stole
within a couple of hundred feet, then
sat down on the grassy bench. If the
girl spoke, whsn Hays brought her food,
it was too low to hear. Jim quivered
when she faced in his direction and at
the end of her short walk gazed across
at the camp fire. It was too long a
gaze to be casual.
Jim had a feeling that he could not
much longer stay his hand. Right then
If he had seen Hays as much. as touch
the girl he would have shot him, and
risked having it out with the men. But
thu chief sat there, a fading figure in
the dusk. Finally Helen went into her
tent. Jim grasped at that break in the
tension of the hour and stole away to his
bed
Some time during the night Jim was
awakened. As he lay there, eyes open.
a soft hand touched his cheek and a
whisper brought him wide awake, trans
fixed and thrilling.
gJim! Wake up. 1t is l."
you! What is it? Has that
"Hushl Not SO loud. Nothing has
happened. But I couldn't sleep
and must talk to you-or go out of my
mind
In the starlight her face had the
same pearl-white tint as the clouds.
"All right. Talk-but it's risky" he
whispered huskily. His had rested upon
the blanket. She put hers on it, as if
in her earnestness to assure him of her
presence and her feeling.
She bent lower, so that hsr face was