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About The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1923)
RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA, CHIEF Light Sure Relief C FOR INDIGESTION The of Western Stars r -. .f &,' CHAPTER XIV Continued. 12 Ktevvnrt led Mnjesty out Into tlio diirUtiess past u line of mounted horses. "(iui'ss we're ready," lie sold. "I'll mnke the count." He went back along Uie line, mill on tlie retirn Madeline lienrd lilni Ray several times, "Now, everybody ride close to the horse In front, and keep quiet till daylight." Then the snorting mid pounding of the big black horse In front of her told Madeline that Stewart hud mounted. "All right, we're orf," he called. Madeline lifted Majesty's bridle and let the roan go. The trail led In u roundabout way through shallow gul lies full of Htone and brush washed down by Hoods. At every turn now Madeline expected to come upon wu tor and the waiting pack-train. Hut time passed, and miles of climbing, and no water or horses were met. Ex pectation In Madeline gave place to desire; alio was hungry. Stewart kept on. It was eight o'clock by Madeline's watch when, upon turn ing Into a wide hollow, she saw horses grazing on spare grass, it greut pile of canvas-covered bundles, and a tire round which cowboys and two Mexi can women were busy. Madeline fat her horse and reviewed her followers as they rode up single file. Her guests were In merry mood, and they all talked at once. "Hrookfast and rustle," called out Stewart, without ceremony. For that matter, Madeline observed Helen did not show any marked con trust to the others. The hurry order did not Interfere with the meal being somewhat In the nnture of a picnic. As soon as the pack-trnln was In i dullness Stewart started It off In the lead to break trail. A heavy growth if shrub Interspersed with rock and actus covered tile slopes ; unit now all tho trail nmienred to be uphill. The jinck-trnln forged ahead, and the trail ing couples grew further apart. At noon they got out of the foothills to face tho real ascent of the mountains. Stewart wnlted for Madeline, and ns she came up he said: "We're going to have a storm. Shall I call a halt nnd make campl" "I 'ere? Oh no I What do you think best?" "Well, If we have a good healthy thunderstorm It will be something new for your friends. I think we'd be wise to keep on the go. There's no place to make n good camp. If It rains, let It rnln. Tho pack outfit Is well cov ered. We will have to get wet." "Surely," replied Madeline; nnd she smiled at his Inference. She knew whut a storm wus In that country, nnd lier guests had yet to experience one. 'If It rnlns, let it rain." Stewart rode on, and Madeline fol lowed. Tho way led In n winding course through a matted, storm wrenched forest of stunted trees. Even up to this elevation tho desert reached with Its gaunt hand. The clouds over spreading the sky, hiding the sun, made a welcome change. The pnek train rested, nnd Stewart and Made lino waited for the party to come up. Here he brlelly explained to her that Don Carlos and his bandits had left tho ranch some time In the night. The blr grew oppressive; the horses pnnted. "Sure It'll be a hummer," Bald Stew art. "The first storm almost always Is bad. 1 can feel It In the nlr." The air, Indeed, seemed to be charged with n heavy force that was waiting to be liberated. One by one the couples mounted to the cedar forest, and the feminine contingent declaimed eloquently for rest. Hut there was to be no perma nent rest until night and then that de pended upon reaching the crags. The pack-train wagged onward, and Stew art fell In behind. The storm-center gnthered slowly around the peaks; low rumble and bowl of thunder In creased In frequence; slowly the light Minded ns smoky clouds rolled up; tho. air grew sultrier, and the exasperating breeze puffed a few times and then failed. An hour later the pnrtjr had climbed high and was rounding tho sldo of a great bare ridge that long had hidden the crags. The Inst burro of the pack train plodded over the ridge out of Madeline's sight. She looked hnck ward down the slope, amused to see her guests change wearily from side to side In their saddles. I-'ar below lay the cedar lint nnd the foothills. Fur to the west the sky was still clear, with shafts of sunlight shooting down from behind the encroaching clouds. Stewart reached thw summit of the ridge and, though only a few rods ahead, he waved to her, sweeping his bund round to what ft? saw beyond. It was an Impressive gesture, and Made line, never having climbed as high as this, anticipated much. Majesty surmounted the la"t few Mops and, snorting, halted beside Stewart's blnck. To Madeline the scene was as If the world had changed. The ridge was n mountain-top. It dropped before her Into n black, stono rldged, shrub-patched, niany-canybncd gulf. Massed Inky clouds were piling across the peaks, obscuring the high est ones. A fork of white lightning Hashed, and, like the booming of an avalanche, thunder followed. Madeline, glanced at S'ewart. He had forgotten her presence. Imninv nble as stone, he snt his horse, dark fnced, dark-eyed, and, like an Indliin unconscious of thought, he watched nnd watched. To see him thus, to divine the strange efllnlty between the oul of this winn. become primitive, and the savage environment that had developed him, were powerful helps to Madeline Hammond In her strange 'de sire to understand his nnture. A cracking of Iron-shod hoofs behind her broke the spell. Monty had reached the summit. "One, whnt It won't nil be doln' In a uilnnut Moses hlsself couldn't tell," observed Monty. Then Dorothy climbed to his side and looked. "Oh, Isn't It Just perfectly lovely!" she exclaimed. "Hut I wish It wouldn't storm. We'll all get wet." Once more Stewart faced the ascent, keeping to the slow heave of the ridge as It rose southward toward the loom ing spites of rod:. Soon he was off smooth ground, and Madeline, some rods behind him, looked back with concern at her friends. Here the real toll, the real climb began, and a moun tain storm was about to burst In all Its fury. The sky grew blacker; the slow gathering clouds appeared to be sud denly Agitated; they piled and rolled and mushroomed and obscured the crags. The nlr moved heavily and seemed to be laden with sulphurous smoke, nnd sharp lightning flashes be gan to play. A distant roar of wind could be heard between the peals of thunder. Stewart waited for Madeline under the lee of a shelving cliff, where the cowboys had halted the pack-train. Majesty was sensitive to the Hashes of lightning. Madeline patted bis neck and softly called to him. The wenry burros nodded; the Mexican women covered their bends with their mantles. Stewart untied the slicker at the back of Madeline's saddle and helped her on with It. Then he put on his own. The other cowboys followed suit. Pres ently Madeline saw Monty and Dor othy rounding the cliff, and hoped the others would come soon. A blue-white, knotted rope of light ning burned down out of the clouds, and Instantly a thunder-clap crashed, seeming to shake the foundations of the earth. This moment of the break ing of the storm, with the strange growing roar of wind, like a moaning monster, was pregnant with n heart disturbing emotion for Mndellne Ham mond, (ilnrlous It wus to be free, healthy, out In the open, under the shadow of the mountain and cloud, In the teeth of the wind und rain nnd storm. Suddenly, ns the ground qunked un der her horse's feet, nnd nil the sky grew black and crisscrossed by flaming A Romance By Zane Grey Copyright by Harper and Brother the ebony blackness. It grew larger. Hlnck tree-trunks crossed her line of vision. The light wus a lire. She heard n cowboy song and the wild chorus of a pack of coyotes. Stew art's tall figure, with sombrero slouched down, wus now nnd then outlined against a growing circle of light. And by the aid of that light she saw him turn every moment or so to look back, probably to assure himself that she was close behind. With n prospect of lire and warmth, and food nnd rest, Madeline's enthusi asm revived. What a climb 1 There wns promise In this wild ride nnd lone ly trail and hidden craggy height, not only In the adventure her friends yearned for. but In some nameless Joy and spirit for herself. '.. fasx.r Immovable as Stone, He Sat His Horse, Dark-Faced, Dark-Eyed, and, Like an Indian Unconscious of Thought. strenks, nnd between thunderous re ports there was a strnrtRe hollow roar sweeping down upon bur. she realized how small was her knowledge and ex perience of the mighty forces of nn ture. With blncker gloom nnd deufenlng ronr came the torrent of rnln. It was a cloud-burst. It was like solid water tumbling down. For long Madeline sal her horse, head bent to the pelting rnln. When Its force lessened nnd she heard Stcwnrt cnll for nil to follow, she looked up to see that he was start ing once more. She turned her horse Into his trail. Haln fell steadily. The fury of the storm, however, had passed, and the roll of thunder diminished In volume. The air had wonderfully cleared and was growing cool. .Madeline iiegun io feel uncomfortably cold and wet. Stew art wus climbing faster than formerly. nnd she noted that Monty kept at her heels, pressing her on. Time had been io,t, and tho camp-site was a long way off. The stag-hounds begun to lag and get footsore. The sharp rocks of the trail were cruel to their feet. Then, as Madeline began to tire, she noticed less and less around her. Her horse climbed and climbed, and brush and sharp corners of 'stone everlastingly pulled and tore at her wet garments. A gray gloom settled down around her. Night was approaching. Stewart's horse was on u Jog-trot now, und Mndellne left the trull more to Mnjesty than to her own choosing. As black night begun to envelop her surroundings, she marked tlitit the II r trees linil given plnco to pine forest. Suddenly a pin-point of light pierced CHAPTER XV The Crags. Glad Indeed wns Madeline to be lift ed oft' her horse beside n rourlng lire to see steaming pots upon red-hot conls. Except about her shoulders, which had been protected by the slick er, she wus wringing wet. The Mexi can women came quickly to help her change In a tent nearby; but Made line preferred for the moment to warm her numb feet anil hands and to watch the spectacle of her arriving friends. "Warm clothes hot drinks and grub warm blankets," rang out Stewart's shnrp order. Then, with Florence helping the Mexican women, It wns not long until Mndellne and the feminine side of the party were comfortable, except for the weariness and aches that only rest and sleep could nllevlate. Neither futlgue nor pains, however, nor the strangeness of being packed sardinellkc under canvas, nor the howls of coyotes, kept Madeline's guests from stretching out with long, grateful sighs, and one by one drop ping Into deep slumber. Madeline whispered a little to Florence, and luughed with her once or twice, und then the light flickering on the canvas faded and her eyelids closed. Dark ness and ronr of camp life, low voices of men, thump of horses' hoofs, coyote serenade, the sense of wnrnith and sweet rest all drifted away. When she awakened shadows of swaying branches moved on the sunlit cunvns above her. Slow, regulnr breath ing nttested to the deep slumbers of her tent comrades. She observed pres ently Mint Florence was missing from the number. Madeline rose and peeped out between the flaps. An exquisitely beautiful scene sur prised nnd enthralled her gaze. Eager to get out where she could enjoy nn unrestricted view, sho searched for her pnek, found It In a corner, and then hurriedly nnd quietly dressed. Ilcr favorite stag-hounds, Hubs and Tartar, were asleep before the door, where they hnd been chained. She awakened them and loosened them, thinking the while Mint It must have been Stewart who hnd chained them near her. Close at band nlso wns a cowboy's bed rolled up In n tarpaulin. The cool nlr, fragrant with plno and spruce and some subtle nnmeless tang, sweet and tonic, made Madeline stand erect nnd breathe slowly and deeply. It wns like drinking of n magic draught. She felt It In her blood, Mint It quickened Its flow. Turning to look In the other direction, beyond the tent, she saw the remnnnts of Inst night's temporary camp, nnd farther on a grove of benutlful pines from which came the sharp ring of the nx. Wider gaze took In n wonderful park, not only surrounded by lofty crags, but full of crngs of lesser height, many lift ing their heads from dark green groves of trees. The morning sun, not yet nbove the eastern elevntlons, sent Its rosy nnd golden shnfts In between the towering rocks to tip the pines. Mndellne, with the bounds beside her, walked through the nearest grove. The ground wns soft and springy and brown with pine-needles. Florence espied her under the trees and came running. She wns like n young girl, with life nnd color nnd Joy. Sho wore u limine! blouse, corduroy skirt, nnd moccasins. And her hair wns fastened under a band like an In dian's. "Castletoirs gono with a gun, for hours, It seems," snld Florence. "One Just went to hunt him up. The other gentlemen nre still asleep. I Imnglne they sure will sleep up heali In this air." Then, business-like, Florence fell to questioning Madeline about details of camp arrangement which Stewart, and Florence herself, could hardly see to without suggestion. As the day advanced the chnrm of t lie place grow upon Madeline. Even at noon, with the sun beating down, there was conifortnblo wnrmlh rather than heat. It wns the kind of warmth that Madeline liked to feel In the spring. Presently a chorus of merry calls attracted her attention, nnd she turned to see Helen limping along with Doro thy, and Mrs. Heck nnd Edith sup porting each other. They were all lested, but lame, and delighted with tho place, and as hungry as bears iwakened from n winter's sleep. Then they hnd dinner, olttlng on tho ..'round after the innnner of Indians; L ind It was a dinner that lacked merri ment nnlv because ever body was too busily appeasing appetite. For a few days the prevailing fen tuies of camp life for Madeline's guests were sleep and rest. The men were inure visibly affected by the mountain air than tho women. This languorous spell disappeared presently, and then the days were full of life mid action. Necessarily, of course, Madeline and her guests were now tin own much In company with the cow Imys. And the party grew to bo like ntie big family. Madeline found the situation one of keen ail double Interest for her. If before she bail cured to study her cowboys, particularly Stewart, now, with the contrasts afforded by her guests, she felt by turns she was iimuscd and myall tied and perplexed mid saddened, and then again subtly pleased. From the thought of Stewart, and the watchfulness growing out of It, she discovered more ubout him. He was not happy; he often paced up nnd down the grove nt night; he absented himself from enmp sometimes during tho afternoon when Nels and Nick und Monty were there; he was always watching the trails, as If he expected to see sniiie one come ruling up. ne alone of the cowboys did not Indulge In the fun and ta'. ; around the camp fire. Ho remained i.rcoceupled and sad, and wus always lon'cing away Into dis tance. Madeline 1 ml a strange sense of his guardianship over her; and, re membering Don Cn los, she Imagined he worried a g.ind deal over his charge, and, Imbed, over the safety of all the party. A favorite lounging spot of Made line's wus a shaded niche under the leu of ciugs facing the east. Here In the shade of afternoon, she and Edith would often lounge under a low branched tree. Seldom they talked much, f.ir It was afternoon and dreamy with the strange spell of this moun tain fastness. There was smoky haze In the alleys, a fleecy cloud resting over the peaks, a sailing eagle In the lilun skv silence that wus the un broken silence of the wild heights, nnd a soft wind laden with Incense of pine. One nfternoon, however, Edith ap peared prone to talk seriously. "See here, Mnjesty Hiitiiniotid.doyoii Intend to spend the rest of your life In this wilderness?" she asked, bluntly. Maihiine was silent. "Oh. It Is glorious! Don't misunder stand me, dear," went on Edith, earn estly, as she laid her hand on Made line's. "This trip has been a revela tion to me. I dhl not tell you, Mnjesty, that I was 111 when I arrived. Now I'm well. So well! Look nt Helen, too. Why, she wns n ghost when we got here. Now she Is brown nnd strong und beautiful. If It were for nothing else than this wonderful gift of health I would love the West. Hut I have come to love It for other things even spiritual things. Mnjesty, I have been studying you. I see and feel what Mils life has made of you. When I came I wondered at your strength, your viril ity, your serenity, your happiness. And 1 was stunned. I wondered nt the causes of your change. Now I know. You were sick ai Idleness, sick of use lessness, If not of society sick of the lmrilule noises and smells nnd contacts one can no longer escape In the cities, I am sick of all that, too, and I could tell you many women of our kind who suffer In a like manner. You Have done what many of us want to do, but have not the courage. You have left it. I nm not blind to the splendid dif ference you have made In your life. I think I would have dlscovoredfeven If your brother had not told me, what good you have done to the Mexicans und cattlemen of your range. Then you have work to do. Thnt Is much the secret of your happiness, In It not? Tell me. Tell me something of what it means to you?" "Work, of course, hns much to do with any one's happiness," replied Madeline. "No one can be happy who has no work. As regards myself for the rest I cun hardly tell you. I have never tried to put It In words. Frank ly, I believe, If I had not' had money that I could not have found such con tentment here. That Is not In any seiM' a Judgment against the West. Hut If I had been poor I could not have bought nnd maintained my ranch. Stlllwell tells me there are many larger ranches Mian mine, but none Jut like It. Then I am almost inly ing my expenses out of my business. Think of Mint! My Income, Instead of biliig wasted, is mostly mired. I think I hopo I am useful. Of course my ranch and range nre renl, my cowboys are typlenl. if I were to tell you how 1 feel about them It would simply he a story of how Madeline llnnimond sees the West. They are true to the West. It Is I who am strange, nnd whut I feel for thom may be strange, too. Edith, hold to your own lunptesslons." "Hut, Majesty, my Impressions have changed. At first I did not like the wind, the dust, the sun, the outliers open stretches. Hut now 1 do like them. Where once I saw only terrible wastes of barren ground, now I see beauty and something noble. Then, at lust, your cowboys struck me as dirty, rough, loud, crude, savage all that wus primitive. Hut 1 was wrong. I have changed. The dirt was only dust, and this desert dust Is clean. They are still rough, loud, crude, and savage In my eyes, hut with a difference. They are natural mou. They uro llttlo chil dren. Monty Price Is one of nature's noblemen. The hard thing Is to dH cover It. All his hideous person, all his actions and speech, are masks of bis real nature. Nels Is a Joy, a sim ple, sweet, kindly, quiet nian whom some woman should have loved. What would love have meant to him! Ho (old mo that.no woman ever loved liiui except his mother, and he lost her when he was ten. Every miin ought to be loved especially such a mini as Nels. Somehow his gun record does not Impress mo. 1 never could believe ho killed it mini. Then take your fore man, Stewart. He Is a cowboy, his work and life the same as the others. Hut he has education mid most of the graces wo are In the habit of saying make a gentleman. Stewart Is a strange fellow, Just like this strango country- He's a man, Majesty, und I nilmlre him. So, you see, my Impres sions are developing with my stay out here. I like the country, I like the men. One reason I want to go home soon Is because I urn discontented enough nt home now, without falling In love with the West, for, of course, Majesty, I would. I could not live out here. And that brings me to my point. Ad milling all the beauty, and charm and wholcsoiiieness and good of this won derful country, still It Is no place for you, Madeline Hammond. You have your position, your wealth, your name, your family. You must marry. You must have children. You must not give up all that for u quixotic life In a wilderness." "I urn convinced, Edith, that I shall live here all I he rest of my life." "Ob, Majesty! I hate to preach ibis way. Hut I promised your mother I would talk to you. And the truth Is I lint I hate whnt I'm saying. I envy .von your courage and wisdom. 1 know you hare refused to marry I'.o.vil Har vey. I could see that In his face. I believe you will refuse CnsMeton. Whom will you marry? What chance Is there for a woman of your position to mary out here? What In the worlcj, will become of you?" "(Julcn sube'f" replied Madeline, with a smile that was almost sad. Not so many hours after Mils con versation with Edith Madeline sat with Hoyd Harvey upon the grassy promon tory overlooking the west, and she listened once again to his hiiave courtship. Suddenly she turned to him and said, "Hoyd, If I married you would you be willing glad to spend the rest of your life here In the West?" "Majesty!" he exclaimed. There was iininze In the voice usually so even and well modulated ainiizo In the handsome face usually so Indifferent. Her question hnd startled him. She saw him look down the Iron-gray cliffs, over the barren slopes and cedurcd ridges, beyond the enctus-covered foot hills to the grim and ghastly desert. Just then, with Its red veils of sunlit dust-clouds, Its Illimitable waste of ruined and upheaved earth, It was n sinister spectacle. "No," he replied, with a tingle of shame In his chock. Madeline said no more, nor did he speak. She was spared the puln of re fusing him, and she Imagined he would never ask her again. There was both relief and regret In the conviction. It was Impossible not to like Hoyd Harvey. He was handsome, young, rich, well born, pleasant, cultivated he wus nil Mint made n gcntleniun of his class. He wus considered a very desirable and eligible young num. Madeline admitted all this. Then she thought of things that were perhaps exclusively her own strange Ideas. Hoyd Harvey's white skin did not tan even In this south western sun and wind. His hands were whiter Minn her own, nnd us soft. They were a proof Mint he never worked, ills fnitne was tall, graceful, elegant. It did not bear evidence of ruggedness. He had never Indulged In a spurt more strenuous thiin yachting. He hated effort nnd activity, lie rode horseback very little, disliked any but moderate motoring, spent much Mine In Newport and Europe, never walked when he could help it, and hail no am bition unless it were to pass the days pleasantly. If he ever had any eons they would be like him, only a genera lion more toward the Inuvitnblo extinc tion of his race. Madeline returned to camp In Just the mood to make a sharp, deciding contrast. It happened fatefully, per hapsthat tho tlrst man she saw was Stewart. Stewart was a combination of lire, strength, and action. These at tributes seemed to cling about him. There was something vital and com pelling lu his ptesence. In him Mnde llne saw the strength (if his forefa thers unimpaired. The life in him was niurvelously significant. 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