Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1932-12-29
XIII

6iofld uiu not KNOW III snc n6u
slept or tainted. When she regained
consciousness. though 1t was pitch
dark and dead still, there was no first
puzzled moment of uncertainty. Thar
last wonderfully glad thought which
had filled brain and heart when she
sank down or her %tir-boughs had per-
sisted throughout her moments or
hours OF Inconsistencies. rsrvadinG
her subconscious self g%loriously, flow
ering spontaneously In an awakening
mind. Mark King had come back to
her I'm her moment Of peril, he had
battled for her like the great=hearted
hero that he was, he had saved her
and had brought her home Back
homel She had prayed to God when
utter undoing seemed inevitable, when
death had seemed more desirable than
life. and He had answered. He had
sent Mark King to heri
She was saved, and though 1t was
cold and dark and still, she felt her
heart singing within her. Having lived
through all that she had endured, hav-
Ing been brought safely through 1t,
she was as confident of the future AS
though never had evil menaced her.
She felt new strength eoursing through
her blood, new hope rising within her,
new certainty that all was right with
her and Mark King. that all would be
right eternally. Terror and anguish
and despair that had surged over her
In SO many great flooding waves now
receded and were gone. in their place
shene the great flame of life trium-
plant: she thrilled through with the
largeness of life.
Never. thank God, would she forget
how Mark King. forgetful Of self. con-
temptuous OF the frightful odds against
him. had hurled himself into the midst
Of those drunken beasts never would
she forget how godIike he had stood
forth In her eyes as those others
leaped upon him and he beat them
back. Forgetful of self-he had al
ways been forgetful OF self She could
not think of him as she had ever
thought of any other man she had
ever kn0Wn-for what other man would
have come to her as he had done.
counting death gladly II only he could
stand between her and the hideous
thing that attacked herr The rush OF
great events had swept her mind clear
Of pettiness and prejudice; they bore
her on from familiar viewpoints and
to new levels; like roaring winds out
Of a tempestuous north they cleared
away the wretched fogs that had en-
wrapped a s~elf-centered girl; they
made her see a man In the naked glory
of his sheer. clean manhood.
In glad defiance OF a Gloria that
had been. she vas proud of the man
hood Of a man who had beaten herl
He had been right: he had done that
as the last argument with an empty
headed, selfish girl who deserved no
better at his hands, a girl who had
been like the Grafton whom she SO alb
horred and despised-despised ever In
death. She had been like Grafton the
cowardly. contemplate, petty. selfish
dlshonorablel All along Mark King
had been right and she had been
wrong, at every step He had been
gentle and patient after q fashion
which now set her wondering and. In
the end, lifted him to new heights In
her esteem. When, without loving him,
she had lied with her eyes and mar
ried him. that had been a Grafton sort
OF trick-like stealing his partners
food
Without loving him. No, thank
God not that She had always loved
him: she loved him now with her
whole heart and soul, with an adora-
ton she had saved for him.
MARK" she called softly.
In the utter dark she could see MOTH
ing. She called anxiously. MARK.
where are your" There was no an
She sprang up and called to
him over and over. When still there was
no reply she began a hurried search
for a match; there were still some
upon the rock shelf. Then 1t was that
she stumbled over something sprawl
ing on the floor.
MARK" she cried again. .Oh-
Mark,
She found a match; she got some
Try twigs blazing. In their light she
saw him. He lay on his back like a
lead man, his arms outflnng, his white
ace turned up toward hers. There
vas a great smear OF blood across his
the track of a bloody hand as IL
lad sought TO wipe a gathering dim
less out OF his eyes. The fire burned
she saw 1t glisten upon a
title pool of blood at her side. She
melt and bent over him, scarcely
,reathing. If he were dead-if. after
Ill this. Mark King were dead His
yes were closed: his face was death
y white. looking the more CHASTITY
the dark stain across 1t.
For a little while she sat motion
ess. her brain Keeling. But almost
Immediately her brain cleared and
here stood forth MS In a white light
he inc thought: Mark King was
bout to die and he must not die For
Ie was Mark King. valiant and full OF
Igor and vitality, a man strong and