The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1942-10-01

Ann McGarrah was at the door
way of her store, watching Morgan.
He paused in the dust, most of the
energy and purpose out of him; it
was the faint push of an old habit
which swung him around, carried
him through the Old Town to the
cemetery, and took him to the foot
of Lila's grave.
In this dark silence she was close
to him, she was very real. Some
things faded and some did not; her
image was quite clear-that dark,
dramatic face with the light of
laughter veering so swiftly to the
heavy shadows of despair and an
ger and tears. Childlike and wom-
anlike by turns; hating herself and
hating him for the mistake of run
away marriage, and bearing it trag-
ically while the short year went on,
and dying with no love for him, no
soft word.
But he remembered now
thought which had occurred to him
earlier in the night. A man could
not live forever in the past. One
by one the links connecting him to it
gave way. Hillhouse and Breathitt,
who had ridden beside him through
these earlier years, we're dead. The
sound of their voices was gone, their
common memories were broken.
Now Ben Herendeen was dead in
the dust and at last, as he paused
here in the wholly silver-shot fog, he
felt adrift and free. There was moth
ing left of the old quarrel, the old
fine times, the old adventures, the
old songs. The last link of the past
had broken and he realized that he
was, at twenty-nine, man looking
ahead because there was no other
way to look.
1t affected him powerfully; it
spilled something into his blood, like
a chemical absorbing the virus of
an old fever. Looking down at Lila's
headboard he said, to her and to
himself in a gentle voice:
81 guess that's all. What's gone
is gone"
He had been gone from the ranch
nearly two hours. When he came
into the living room he found Pad
den ready to leave. Padden said:
'That wasn't as bad as it looked.
Lige is all right. Mrs. Lige just
came"
"Where's Catherine?"
Started home about fifteen min
utes ago."
Jump came in. 81 got the boys
riding circle on the place. Fox Will
ing's out on the flats, behind the
rocks"
"You can pull them in. It's all
over"
"What?"
"I met Ben in town." said Nor
gan, and left the room at once.
Jump followed him to the porch,
calling "For Gods sake, Morgan,
tell man :" Morgan curved
around the yard and was lost in the
fog.
Lige Whites wife stood beside the
bed, looking down at her husband.
Padden closed the door definitely be-
hind him as he left the room. Now
she said: "Tou were on the way
to town, weren't you, Lige? And
then you changed your mind and
started into fight"
"Well," he said, "it was way of
passing the time.'
t'I know. Times been heavy on
your hands these last years. And
your house has been empty, hasn't
it?"
He could smile, weak as he was.
He still had his old flash of gall
lantry. mo house is empty with
you in it, Grace"
you're lying, Lige. know why
you were going to War Pass. I've
known for long time
He laid hand over his eyes. "I
am not proud of that, Grace. God
knows | hate dirt. But there are
things ;" He didn't 60 on with
it; he had no way of explaining and
SO lay still.
She said: "This is the first time
ever saw you weak, the first time
you have been helpless. Most al
ways you have been SO well, SO full
and I've kept away from you.
Sometimes you have frightened me.
Lige. Sometimes you have made
me feel ashamed. ! have been a
strange wife.
He said. Il saw a vase one time
in a museum. 1t was a beautiful