Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 7, 1925 — page 114: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ie Hf Pah Vata its se at ASN Psat AR 504 was reeling dizzily when she made her way to the edge of the wood where she had — - left her horse, and when she reached the animal she leaned against it and clutched — - the high pommel of the saddle to support. - beret: Although she was aware E her danger, saddle. For she had thought the incidents of the last few days were those unrelated happenings which occasionally mar the quiet peacefulness of everyday life—trag- edies which are the result of passion... Now she had discovered that behind all the tragedy was sinister purpose, compre- hensive scheming and ruthless force. The red haired man, Naylor, Fagin, Adams and a number of other men, were in league “against Nevins, Hamlin’s wife, Nellie Porter and herself. They would rob and murder - to attain their aims. 3 Somehow she got on the back of the horse, wheeled him and sent him Epiingis -into the night. As CHAPTER XIX. THE RED-HAIRED MAN. HEN the dawn came Edna was sit- ting upon her horse in the center of a vast section of wild, virgin coun- try, straining her eyes in an ere to 2S guish a trail. She was lost. trail in the darkness, for her only thought when riding away from the cabin had been to place as great a distance as possible he- tween herself and the red haired man. The section which was disclosed to her — by the first streaks of dawn, was desolate and trackless. No trail crossed it. She was in the center of a sea of saccaton grass, and the wire-edged blades clutched at her stir- rups and rustled raspingly as they bowed to the slight breeze. On two sides of her were high ridges of ragged rock. Behind ee her. was a stretch of open country, ahead was an undulating slope that appeared to ~~ go up until it merged into the dull gray sky. ___A fleecy mist was floating around her, with __wisplike streamers that disintegrated and = evaporated as she watched them. = ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. her fright. day she had arrived in Deming, she would She had passed the Willets — ? But although she was lost, she was slowly recovering from the horror of the night’s revelation and her determination to go to— Judge Travis was unshaken. She meant to tell him what she had heard and after tell-- ing him she would demand the protection —of the law. she lacked the strength to climb into the — ‘To her astonishment she had overcome -A short time ago, even on the have doubted that she possessed the courage to ride nearly all night through a wild coun- try without an escort. For in the old days, that somehow seemed remote as though belonging to the dim past, men had fieuratively danced: at her heels wherever she went, and she would not have considered it Sassible for her to do what she had done last night. She was rather amazed at her courage, and as she sat in the saddle watching the sky and the desolate land, she decided that if it wasn’t for wor- rying about Nellie Porter she would have enjoyed her experience. Yet she was more amazed to discover that she was developing ability to experience emotion. Hitherto, she had been bored by people who exhibited passion. She had con- sidered them ill-bred, common. Continued repression had made her unsympathetic. A few days before her arrival in Deming she would have cared little what might hap- pen to the Nellie Porters of the world; now she was seething with eagerness to help her. - And she thought she knew what had hap- pened to her. The series of tragedies which had quickly followed her arrival at Deming had startled her into revealing the dormant humanness of normal womanhood. When she perceived that the gray streak of light on the horizon was widening, she recovered her sense of direction. She head- ed the horse away from the growing light and sent him against the upland. And when she was at last riding the level land of a high mesa, she again found the Willets trail. An hour: later she was in the section of broken country about which Grace Rignal had warned her. But she was confident now, and although she slowed her horse and rode carefully, she went on steadily until - ‘the broken stretch was behind and she saw Willets. directly in front of her. EOMmIchooks.com—