Argosy, Vol. 119, No. 2 — page 93: what you’re looking at

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

tr, =) 7 ‘ Why, daddy—why did you do it? Oh, you have made it so hard for me!” ‘There, there, honey,” he consoled, reaching out and patting her shoulders again. “I’ve been a heap cenSLY, but it ain’t goin’ to happen again.” His eyes shone through a mist that had come into them. ‘“ Pve been talkin’ with Kane Lawler, an’ he opened my eyes. I’ve bee blind to what it all meant to you. An’ from now on I’m goin’ straight—straight as a die! “ Ruth,” he went on, when he saw in- credulity in her gaze; ‘‘ I wasn’t to tell you. it reckon Lawler would half kill me if he knowed I was tellin’ you. no use, I’ve got—” “ Did you give your word to Lawler, daddy?” : “I sure did. But I’ve get to tell you, Ruth. Mebbe you knowin’ will sort ot ce me to go through with it. ‘Kane Lawler was here this mornin’— he come here to see me about a Circle L cow that I was runnin’ my brand on the night before. He talked.mighty plain to me—an’ earnest. He offered me a job over to the Circle L, an’ I took it. ‘““T rede over there this afternoon, an’ Lawler’s straw-boss put me to work. Then to-night. Lawler rode in an’ took me out by the corral. He gave it to me straight there. He’s goin’ to restock my place an’ give me a chance to get.on my feet. He’s goin’ to put his shoulder behind me, he says, an’ make me run a straight trail— takin’ a mortgage on the place to secure ‘He give me a letter to his mother, sayin’ I was to have what stock I wanted. _An’ Pm to repay him when I get around to it. Honey, I’ve got a chance, an’ I’m never goin’ to slip again!” Ruth walked to the deor and threw it open, standing on the threshold and gazing out into the dull moonlight, across the vast sweep of plain from which came the low moaning of the night wind, laden with ee tery. For a long time, as she stood there, pride fought a savage battle with duty. Her face was pallid, her lips tight-clenched, and But there ain’t THE TRAIL HORDE, 243 shame unutterable gripped her. To be sure, Lawler had enjoined ker father to si- lence, and it was evident that she was not to: know. Still, she did know; and Lawler had added an obligation, a debt, to the already high barrier that was between them. Yet she dared not evade the obligation, for that would be rebbing her father of a chance over which he seemed to exult, a chance which promised his redemption— ter which she had prayed, Her heart was like lead within ie dull weight that threatened to drag her down. And yet it throbbed with gratitude, with hope and with thankfulness. For if her father really meant to try—if he should succeed in redeeming himself in Lawler’s eyes and in her own, she might one day be able to go to Lawler with no shame in her heart, with the comforting assurance that her father had earned the right to hold his head up among men. To be sure, there would always be the shadow of the past mistake lurking behind; but it would be the shadow of a mistake corrected, of a black Her father was waiting when she finally turned to him—waiting, his chin on his — chest, his face crimson with shame. “ Ruth, girl—you ain’t goin’ to judge me too harsh, are you?” he begged. Again she could not resist the pathetic appeal in his eyes. She ran to him again, holding him tightly to her. A cool gust swept in through the open deorway—the night wind, laden with mystery. But the girl laughed, and snuggled closer to the man; and the man laughed hoarsely, vi- brantly, in a voice that threatened to break. CHAPTER XII. KINNEY’S CANON. A? the close of the second day the big trail herd halted at the edge of the vast level over which it had come. The herd had been driven forty miles. Cattle, men, and horses had passed through a country which was familiar to them; a country fea- tured by long grama-grass, greasewood, and cactus plants. } There was no timber on the level. The JOOKS G) Gom : + 2 he Nay 1 iso eed Re wt naa! mn (€()