The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, April 17, 1924, Image 6
Desert Dust By €du>in L Sabin Author of “How Are You Feeling?” eta. “Daniel ami I appear to be at Ruts, sir,” 1 said. “Why, I do Hot know, except that he seems to have had a dislike for me from the first day. If he'll let me Blone I’ll let him alone. I’m not one to look for (rouble.” ‘ Ilia heavy face, with those thick pursed lips and small china bine eyes, changed not a jot. “Daniel will take care of him fcelf.” } .“That is his privilege,’.’ I fcnsAvercd. “I am not here <o question his rights, Captain, as Jong as he keeps within them ; hut I don’t require of him to take 'care of me also. If hit will hold to his own trail I’ll hofd to mine, End I assure you there’ll be no rouble.” “Daniel will take care of him self, I say,” he reiterated. “Yes, »nd look after all that belongs to him, stranger. There’s no use threatening Daniel. AVhijt he does he does as servant of the , Lord and he fears naught.” “Neither do I, sir,” I retorted hotly. “One may wish to avoid trouble and still not fear it. I have not come to you with com plaint. I merely wish to explain. JVou are captain of the train and Responsible for its conduct. 1 give you notice that I shall de fend myself against insult and •nnoyauce.” I turned on my heel—sensed poised forms and inquiring feces; and his booming voice •tayed me. “A moment, stranger. Your talk is big. What have you to do with this woman Edna?” “With Mrs. Montoyo? What I please, if it pleases her, sir. If *he claims your protection, very good. Should she claim mine, ehe’ll have it.” And there, con found it, I had spoken. “But with this, Daniel has nothing to do. I believe that the lady you * mention is simply your present guest and my former ac quaintance.” IOU err, nc tuuuderefl, darkening. “You cannot be ex pected to see the light. But ’l ®ay to you, keep away, keep away. I will have no gallivant ing, no cozening and smiling and prating and distracting. She must be nothing to you. Never can be, never shall be. Her way is appointed, the instrument chosen, and ns a sister in Zion she •hall know you not. Now get you gone-” a favorite ex pression of his. “Get you gone, meddle not hereabouts, and 111 •ee to it that you are spared from harm.” Burprifling myself, and per haps him, I gazed full at him and laughed without reserve or irri tation. “Thank you, Captain,” I heard myself saying. “Iam per fectly capable of sqjf-protection. And I expect to remain a friend of Mrs. Montovo as long as she permits me. For your bluster and Daniel’s I care not a sou. In fact, I consider you a pair of damned body-snatchers. Good •vening.” Then out I stormed, boiling within, reckless of opposition— even courting it; but met none, Daniel least of all (for he was elsewhere), until as I passed on along the lined-up wagons I heard ray name uttertd breath lessly. “Mr. Beeson.” It was not My Lady; her I had not glimpsed. The gentle English dirl Rachael had intercepted me. Bhe stood between two wagons, whither she had hastened. -XOU will be careful I” “How far, madamt” “Of yourself, and for her. Oh, be careful. You can gain •©thing.” Her face and tone entreated hie. She was much in earnest, the roses of her round cheeks baled* her hands elasped. “I shall only look out for my •elf,” said I. ‘‘That seems neces •arv.” “You should keep away from •nr camp, and from Daniel. There Is nothing you can do. You—if you could only understand.” Her hands tightened upon each Other. “Won’t you be careful! More careful! For I know. You eannot interfere; there is no way. You but run great risk. Bister Edna will be happy.” “Did*she send you, madam!” X asked. “N-no; yes. Yes, she wishes It. Her place has been found. The Lord so wills. We all are happy in Zion, under the Lord. Burely you would not try to in terfere, sir!” * “I have no desire to interfere with the future happiness of Mrs. Monto^o, ” I stiffly answered. “She is not the root of the busi ness between Daniel am! me, al though he would have, it appear so. And you yourself, a woman, are satisfied to have her forced into *M or monism ? ’’ “She has been living in sin, sir. *The truth is appointed only among the Latter Day Saints. We have the hook and the word —the Gentile priests are not or dained of the Lord for laying‘on of hands. In Zion Edna shall he purged and set free; there she shall be brought to salvation. Our bishops, perhaps Brigham Young himself, will show her the way. But no woman in Zion is married without consent. The Lord directs through our pro phets. Oh, sir, if you could only see!” An angel could not have pleaded more sweetly. To have argued with her would have been sacrilege, for I verily believed that she was pure of heart. “There is nothing for me to say, inadam,” I responded. “As far as I can do so with self respect I will avoid Daniel. I certainly shall not intrude upon your party, or bother Mrs. Mon foyo: But if Daniel brings trouble to mo I will hand it back to him. That’s flat. He shall not flout me out of face. It rests with him whether we travel on peacefully or not. And I thank you for your interest.” “I will pray for you,” she said simply. “Good-bye, sir.” She withdrew, hastening again, sleek haired, round figured, modest in her shabby gown. I proceeded to the outfit with a new sense of disease. If she—if Mrs. Monoyo really had yielded, if she were out of the game—but she never had been in it; not to me. And still t conned the mat ter over and over, vainly convinc ing myself that the situation had cleared. Notwithstanding all my 1 noil, I somenow felt that an in centive hud vanished, leaving a gap. *The affair now had sim mered down to plain temper and tit for tat. I championed nothing, except myself. Why, will her submissive, in a fracas I might be working hurt to her, beyond the harm to him. But she be hanged, as to that phase of it. I had been led on so lar that there was no solution save as Daniel turned aside. Heaven knows that the matter would have been sordid enough had it focused upon a gambler’s wife; and here it looked only prosaic. Thus viewing it I fought an odd disappointment in myself, coupled with a keener disappointment in her. “You talked to Hyrum, I see,’’ Jenks commented. “I did.’’ 'Bout Dan’l, mebbet” “I wanted to make plain that the business is none of my seek ing. Hyrum is wagon master.” “Didn’t get any satisfaction, I’ll bet.” “No. On the contrary.” “I could have told you you’d be wastin’ powder.” “At any rate,” I informed. “Mrs. Montoyo is entirely out or the matter. She never was in it except as she was entitled to pro tection, but now she requires no further notice.” “ How sot” “That is her wish. She sent me word by Rachael.” “She didT Wallt” He eyed me. You swaller that!” “Willingly,” And I swallow ed my bitterness also. < “Means to marry him, does she!” “Rachael did not say as to that. Rather, she gave me to un derstand that a way would be found to release Mrs. Montoyo from Benton connections, but that no woman in Utah is oblig ed to marry. Is that true!” “Urn m.” Jenks rubbed his board. “Wall, they do say Brigham Young is ag’in prom ise’yus swappin’, and thiugs got to be doue straight, ’cordin’ to the faith. But an unjined female in the ehureh is a powerful lone ly critter. Sticks out like a sore thumb. They read the Bible at her plenty. Um-m,” mused he. “I don’t put muoh stock in that yarn you bring me. Then’s a nigger in the wood-pile, but he ain’t black. What you goin’ to do about it!” “Nothing. It’s not my con cern. Now if Daniel will niind his affairs I’ll continue to mind mine.” “Wall, Zion’s a long way off yet,” quoth friend Jenks. “I don't lok to see you or she get there—nor Dan’l either.” He being stubborn. I let him have the last word; did not seek to develop his views. But his contentious harping shadowed like an omen. CHAPTER XVI I Do The Beed We had camped well beyond a last bunch of the red-shirted graders, so that the thread of a trail wended before, lonely, sand obscured, leading apparently nowhere, through this desert de void of human life. Line stakes of the surveyors denoted the grade; but the surveyors’ work wras done, here. Rush ord' rs from headquarters had sent them all westward still, to set their final stakes across other deserts and across the mountains, clear to Ogden at the north end of the Salt Lake itself. Seemingly we had cut loose and were more than ever a world to ourselves. The country had grown sterile beneath ordinary, if possible; and our thoughts and talk would have been sterile also were it not for that one recurrent topic which kept them quick. In these journeyings men seize upon little things and magnify them; discuss and rediscuss a phase until launched maybe as an empty joke it returns freighted with tradgedy. However, now that once My Lady had eliminated herself from my field I did not see but that Daniel and I might taper off into at least an armed neutrality. If he continued to nag me, it would be wholly of his own free will. He had no grievance. Then in case that I did kill him —if kill him I must, and that eventuality hung over me like the sword of Damocles) I should be not ashamed to tell even my mother. In this I took what small comfort I might. I had not spoken at length with Mrs. Montoyo for several days. We had exchanged merely civil greetings. To-day I did not, see her during the march; did not attempt to see her—did not so much as curiouly glance her way, being content to let well enough alone, although aware tnat my care might be mis interpreted as a token of fear. But as to proving the case against me, Daniel was at liberty to experiment with the status in quo. Toward evening we climbed a second wide, flat divide. We were leaving the Red Basin, they said, and about to cross into the Bitter Creek Plains, which, ac cording to the talk, were ““a damned sight wuss!” Some where in the Bitter Creek Plains our course met the coutse of the Overland Stage road, trending up from the south for the passage of the Green River at the farther edge of the Plains. I had only faint hope that Mrs. Montoyo would be delivered over to the stage there. It scarce ly would be her wish. We were destined to travel on to Salt Lakg City together—she, Daniel and I If the Red Basin had been bad and if the Bitter Creek Plains were to be worse, assuredly this plateau was limbo: a gray, bleak, wind-swept elevation fairly level and extending, in elevation per ceptible mainly by the vista, as far as eye might see, northward and southward, separating basin from basin—one Hell, as Jenks declared, from the other. Nevertheless there was a wild grandeur in the site, flooded all with crimson as the sun sank in the clear western sky beyond the Plains tjiemsclves, so that our plateau was still bathed ia rudy color when the Red Basin upon the one hand had deepened to purple and the white blotches of soda and alkali down in the Plains upon the other hand gleamed evilly in a tenuous gloaming. Wo had corralled adjacent to another tainted pond, of which the animals refused to drink but which furnished a little rank forage for them and an oasis for a half dozen ducks. A pretty picture these made, too, as they lightly sat the open water, burnished to brass by the sunset so that the surface shimmered iridescent, its ripples from the floating bodies flowing molten in all directions. After supper I took the notion to go over there, in the twilight, on idle exploration. Water of any kind had an appeal; a soli tary pond always has; the ducks brought thoughts of home. Many a teal and widgeon and canvas back had fallen to my double barreled Manton, back on the Atlantic coast—very long ago, before I had got entangled in this confounded web of misad venture and homicidal tendenies. To the pond I went, mood sub dued. It set slightly in a cup; and when I had emerged from a little swale or depression that I had followed, attracted by the laughter of children playing at the marge, whom should 1 see, approaching on liee diagonal, but, yjrs. Montoyo—her very hair and form—coming in lik*;-wiso, perhaps with errand similar to mine: simple inclination. And that (again perhaps) was a mutual surprise, indeed awk ward to me, for we both were in plain sight from the camp. Cer tainly T could not turn off, nor turn back. Not now. It was make or break. Hesitate I did with involuntary action of muscles; I thought that she momentarily hesitated; then I drove on, defiant, and so did she. The fates were resolved that there should be no dilly-dallying by the principals chosen for this drama that they had staged. Our obstinate paths met at the base of a small point white with alkali, running shortly into the sedges. Had we timed by agree ment beforehand we could not have acted with more precision. So here we halted, in narrow quarters, either willing but un able to yield to the other. She smiled. I thought that she looked thinner. “An unexpected pleasure, Mr. Beeson. At least, for me. It has been some days.” “I believe it has,” I granted. “Shall I pass oni” “You might have turned aside.” “And so,” I reminded, “might you.” “But I didn’t care to.” “Neither did f,'madam. The pond is free to all.” I was conscious that a hush seemed to have gripped the whole camp, so that even the animals had ceased bawling. The children near us stared, eyes and mouths open. “You have kept away from me purposely?” she asked. “I do not blame your discretion.” “I am not courting trouble. And as long as you are contented yonder-” “I contented?” She drew up, paling. “Why do you say that, when you must know.” She laughed weakly. “I am still for the Lion’s den.” “You have become more re conciled—I’ve been requested not to interfere.” “You? Without doubt. By Daniel, by Captain Adams, likely by others. More than requested, I fancy. And you do perfectly right to avoid trouble if possible. In fact, you can leave me now and continue your walk, sir, with no reproaches. Believe me, I shall not drag you farther into my affairs.” (To be Continued.) Pile-Drivers. Victor Murdock. Not one man In a million the world over understands the device of short selling. The reason Is that most men do not speculate. Little groups of men In all coun tries do speculate and they do un derstand short selling. As oc casion offers these men pound the daylights out of farmers, rail roads, Industries, and during the last two weeks they have been putting the fixings to one of the great nations of the earth— France. Short selling Is accom plished by contracting to sell something you haven't got. It looks Innocent enough, but when the shortsellers mass their efforts, the effect on the price of a thing Is that of a pile-driver. About two weeks ago, the shortsellers went after the franc. The franc was In a weak position and the short sellers drove It down until It Was worth only 8.42 cents. It Is 19.8 cents at par. France is fighting for its life against this onslaught. It has borrowed fifty million dol lars of American bankers and fifty million more from British bankers to enter the market to keep the franc from dropping Into J the depths. It Is paying six per o cent, far this , money. The tax payer will pay this In the end. He always does pay In the end for the frolics and upkeep of the gamb lers. The Call. t never hear the March winds blow In their sweeping, blustering war, But they stir In my heart a wild desire To bundle up and away. Away where the blue sea stretches wide. Where the gray gulls scream and dip As they circle over the flapping sails Of a stout and sturdy ship. For I was a sailor lad so bold In the years that are long since past. And I've viewed the seven seas that are From the top of a swaying mast. I have felt the thrill of battling waves With staunch and loyal matss. I have sailed to magic ports afar Where romance lives and waits. But now I must sit and rest and dose— Old age brings ills and fears— Or, so they say—so a younger man Has filled my place for years. But whenever 1 hear the March winds blow, ’Tls a oall from the sea it sceins. And It fires my heart with the old de sires— Even old men have their dreams. Katherine Edelman In the Kansas City Star._ _ _ Modern Methods. From the Waukegan Sun. Inhaling deeply In the early morn ing Is practiced by the modern girl, also; but she does It through a cig arette. i C//W" 71 I V Jllll The Cross and "t/VU Crete it printed HARMONIES genuine package TTAVE your interior walls tinted FI the exact color. Exercise your own good taste in just ^ the color tones to bring out the best features of every room. There is only one sure way. ^_lnsteadcf Kalsomine or Wall Wouldn't Ride Free President James Buchanan Insisted on paying his fare at all times when he traveled, never receiving a pass, even though he was out of office. He would have been horrified at the Idea of traveling free when he was pres ident. Friends often heard him say: “I will pay my way while I can af ford It. When I cannot afford to pay, I will stay at home."—From Inklings. New Auto Signal A new rear signal for automobiles displays the word “slow” in green light when either the clutch or brake pedal or broke Is operated and “stop'* In red when both are used. The man who achieves self-mastery >as accomplished much. Tree to Decorate With proper attention and care* trees of small size will thrive in small patches of soil where larger trees, with their spreading root systems, might languish, says the American Tree association of Washington, D. CX Tlie efTect of these formally pruned trees Is dignified and decorative, and gives a fine touch of green to a street lined with high-class shops or hand some houses in solid rows. - | Here'e Real Drug Store One drug store in New York has never cnrried anything hut drugs, yet has remained in the same location for more than fifty years. There Is no place like the home of a young man’s best girl. InantM rnai^artdlM . naaa jmmmSM XM , Will Your Family Be Happy This Spring? 4 Suppose you have defi nitely decided to buy a Chevrolet this Spring. That does not necessari ly mean that you are going to get it. Anyone posted on con ditions in the automo bile business will tell you that thousands of families are going to be unable to get cars this Spring. That has been true almost every Spring for years, but the short age in April, May and June, this year, is going to be more serious than ever before. The cnly way to be sure of a Chevrolet this Spring is to order it NOW. If you do not want to pay for it in full at this time, any Chevrolet dealer will arrange terms to suit your convenience, so you can pay asyou ride. You will be surprised to learn how easy it is to pay for a Chevrolet. Will Chevrolet Advance Prices? Ten make* of automobiles have already advanced in price. In spite of increased costs of ma terials. the Chevrolet price is still the same. How long—we cannot guarantee. To make, sure of your Chevrolet at pres ent low prices BUY NOW! Chevrolet Motor Company, Detroit, Mich. Division of General Motor* Corporation * Price* f. o. b. Flint, Michigan Superior Rmditer - - 9490 Superior Sedan ... 9799 Superior Touring ... 499 Superior Commercial Chatalt 399 Superior Utility Coup. - 940 Superior Light Deli eery - 499 Superior 4-Paaaangar Coupe - 7)9 Utility Bxpreae Truck ChMais 999 Fitter Belie* on Closed Model* _} Cotton From Auatrlia It has been predicted that within a Jew years Australia will send a mil ion bales of cotton each year to be ised In the Lancashire cotton mills. There are no fools so troublesome is those who have some wit. Principles of Justice The fundamental principles of Ju*-' tlce are, first, that no injury he don* to anyone, nnd, secondly, that It b* subservient to the public good. Our idea of a plucky man Is oo* who refuses to be plucked.