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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1922)
The Omaha Sunday Bee MAGAZINE FEATURES VOL. 51 NO. 29. MAGAZINE OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING. JANUAKV i, 1922. 1-M FIVE CENTS READING SIGN ' By Kenneth B. Clarke lUbawa) - Tha Man from Arizona and the Girl from New York Couldn't See Around the Dig Bend in the Trail, Cut They Read the dew and They Took the Chance Together. LANHAM. tha owner of the Broken Trigger, ait by tha lamp on the big table, eewlng. It was an Incongruous buainess, for Lan hun waa tall and large handed and the thine he waa bent upon ao seriously was repairing a rtdlruloualy little pair of overalls. Hla foreman leaned over the back of a tilted chair, watching the operation Intereatedly. Acrosa tho bl( knee waa Kpread the scat of tha diminutive garment, acarred with a three-cornered tear. which had been rained Into hard welta by overhand airokea with naddle thread, pulled tight. . . "She reada like a Lazy I brand," the fore man declared. ."An' Khe aure'aets in the right -place." Lenham went on with hla task, unrespon sive, lie waa pushing the needle through a puckered ridge of the coarse material with the end of an empty rifle rnrtrldge. "You'ah young offspring's gotn' to feci like , he'a settln' on a rawhide rope," the foreman Miggcstcd. "Let me take 'cm down to tlfc black . smith ahop an' flatten them seams some on the anvil." . A Jerk of the thread loosened an avalanche of assorted stuff from the small pocket Into Laahn m's lap. Curiously he fingered tho col lection and spread the exhibits upon his broad panu. There was a little wad of red wool yarn, llje wheel from a broken spur, the dried head tit a horned toad, a Mcx Hilver dollar, and a' Jul glass atop'p"- from a bottle. tyl Lanham went n with his task, unrcspon Ue held It up to the light. "I wondered what had become of that." he said quietly. - "It was hers, you know." There was a peculiar gentle emphasis in the way he paid "hers." "Belongs to a bottle that always stood on her bureau. It held lilac water." Ills big hand closed tir'jtly upon the boy's treasure. Tho foreman lowered his eyes and dared at his boots. "Lilacs grew' where T, brought her from and were sort of strung along with our courting." Lanham rocked tho bit of glass on his palm and watched the changing colors gleaming from its facets. "Little 'Don probably hooks her memory up pretty close to that bottle, like a pup holding a scent. . She used to let him wet his nose with the stopper." i ' He restored Mho stuff to the boy's pocket when his sewing was flnlxhcd, and, taking the lamp with him, went off to his bedroom. Stand ing over the cot in a corner across from his own bed, the father lowered the lamp beside the sleeping boy's face. An anxious frown clouded the little lad's expression, as though he were not resting peacefully., t.unham crouched flown upon his heels and softly touched the ' small hand flung limply across tho blanket. At ' once the hand-tightened upon his linger,, tho child's frown, gave way to thai relaxation of happy surprise and the smiling lips drowsily whispered, "Muvvy!" Two years of solely masculine .attention had .molded .domestic matters at the ranch crudely . awry.- Lnnham noted that the little hand about his finger' was grimy in its creases.- that, tho1' '"V'orners of the . boy'. mouth were caked with ,.. dried syrup, that the tucking of 1bi bed .covers was bunchy and haphazard. Tho whole room had an air of dispirited unwelcome. Lanham's steady gray ryes roved over the dssolate, silent place. They came to rest again, tenderly, upon rhe boy's face. He gripped the small hand softly and rose to prepare for sleep. The regular ranch routine went on with un changing demands upon the father's attention end with unrelieved monotony for the boy until, early in December, a sudden Impulse seized upon . the cow hands to "make a Christina's for the kid." It caught them collectively, like a spread ing epidemic, and a stir of stalking mystery, enveloped the outfit. ','-. ' - .' By day the brawny, bowleggcd horsemen ' trailed little Don off, singly, and with' studied and cunningly indirect questioning sought to arrive at conclusions as to the small lad's secret ' longings. By night, bafiied and uncertain, they secretively thumbed over the bulky mail order catalog from Chicago, straining for suggestions. The spirit of competition was rife. , Eventually, one by one, they sent away let ters with enclosures of "money as each narrowed t a list of tentative selections to his final choice i of a' gift pre-eminent and each with an en- iarged air of elation.' Then, as certain notices began to arrive in the mails, they stole away one by one to the express agent at the railroad, a half-day's ride out, and rode in after dark, each craftily hiding a package in a place of inviolate seclusion. Christmas docs not come to the high, hori-roh-wide mesas of Arizona it has to be intri gued. Three days before Christmas Andy Ames, the runt of the outfit, rode away toward the mountains, Rn ; unladen packhorse trailing be hind him. He returned after dark on Christmas Eve to find that his bunkmates had plucked the cotton stuffing of his quilt all into little pieces to make anow for the tree he was bringing ) back. t The Chinaman's kitchen mirror had been ', broken into small bits and tied into, a festoon of glittering brilliants. Empty brass shells of assorted calibers, with tin stars and hearts and crescents fashioned' from cans, had been strung into dangling garlands. Candles had been spiked to clothespins, and their fervor had be come so emotional that a suit of underwear of Bud Sellers had been sacrificed in an attempt to extract the dye to stain 'the candles red. After the boy had been herded to bed and . the tree had been set up and dressed, the men disappeared In a body, only to return, one at a time, with cautious backward glances and hoarse whispers. Each slipped a package from under his coat and passed it to Lanham in sup pressed excitement. They gave their varied in structions: . , , "Open her up, Clint, an' stack her under the tree for His Xibs." - "Peel her down. Chief, an' set her where the light will hit Jer good." "Be aura an' tell him this here's from me." . The instructions differed, though all bore tha same note of unconcecaled pride; but the packages w ere strangely alike in shape and size and weight. Eight of them lay in a row. and Lnham curiously tore open the ends of the wrappings, one after another, and peeked in. Before going to bed he dug out a package of hla own. tossed it on the table, and stared at it in helpless perplexity. It varied from the eight ethers in no particular of shape. si or weight He held It in hia hands for a moment, thinking; then he cast it indifferently into the cobwebbed space behind the wood box and crossed softly to the doorway of the bedroom. For ten minutes or longer he stood somber and quiet, gaiing toward the shadowy corner where the little boy lay asleep. ' In the morning, when word came to the bunkhouse that little Don waa finishing hia breakfast and that the big moment of ahowing him the tree was at hand, the punchers aoft footed through the kitchen and dining room to the closed door f the big room. There, by kneeling, crouching, leaning and tip-toeing they ontrived to allign their eight heads vertically with the door frame, and at the round of Lan- Lanham ham's voice calling to -Don they, opened thedoor a crack. ... ',.' Slowly the. expectant grins on tho brown races slackened and hung loosely like slits in mail pouches. Their eyes, glinting in the candle light, widened and remained fixed in flshlike stares. For there, ranged' under the, tree. like a lack in an army, stood eight small rifles eight little .22 Winchesters,' as alike -.as 'gauge tests could make them. '- - ' The boy cajiie in' with Lanham's hand about his .shoulder. For a-long moment his, naze took in tho lighted -tree with its barbaric adornments. The surprise was complete, but mystifieafiouwas his outstanding emotion. - And then his eyes dropped to the-array of smalt 4' ms,,; ,-. " " The spread of gifts begftir'.an'd' ended with, rifle. . There waa niughf beside - The effort; to play' up "to, 'his " big father's expectations w1 ' manly end firm, but no word nor action came to" allay the rising lump in his throat. - In the end 1 the child in him won oyer the insecure ground ings of manhood. His arms vent' about tho long leg at his side. 'His faeo' dropped against Lanham's hip, and' tho stroking touch upon his : shoulder loosed a desolate sob frru his quiver ing lips. . . ' ' ' The door closed silently before the string of masks peering from the gloom of the dining room. And silently the-men straggled, buck to the -bunkhouse, noticing anything but one another. ; ;.- '. . ' In the big room, with their backs to the tree, Lanham and little Don sat" entangled' together in a great leather chair. The lingering last shudders of long sobbing were still shaking the little frame encircled in Lanham's arm. "What did you want?. What would you like, my old son?",,he asked, gently., . "I don't know. I d-don't know what," the child quavered. "Only something:" . 1 4 ; '--." Late one evening of the following spring, when the checking over of the herds had been completed and the range was promising fair, Lantiam sauntered over to his foreman's small cabin and asked him to step outside a minute. The two men leaned over a gate in the faint light from the open door, Lee Winton waiting . for Lanham to speak. A horse whickered softly . acfoss the corral,, and a dark body loomed to ward them through the cool dusk. Presently, the nibbling lips of a great brown head were thrust into. Lanham's hand and the confiding animal nudged him to provoke a fondling. Lan ham stroked the velvety nose inattentively. "I want to speak of. something I've been thinking about since last Christmas.'' he said, and seemed to- be . choosing a-beginning with . especial care. "About my boy," he added. Win ton smoothed a cigaret paper in ; regardful silence. . , V : .-. -.. "I find the little fellowis not part of us here. He is lonely, Lee damned lonely. He does not stiffen to the 'life oh the ranch.' He needs something to direct his interests or ' rather some one to direct them; and pretty soon ' he will need .book schooling." 5 Another silepce followed,' and the foreman rolled and re-rolled the tobacco of his cigaret. ' . . "If we were . to have a woman here " Lanham continued, and halted, "the. right kind of a womapsome 'otte'to take the place of the mother that left him " His fingers slowly combed through' the 'tangled mane of the big roan, and he abandoned this beginning as too involved. ' .. " L ' "What I've had in mind," he continued pres ently, "is some one young enough to be under standing and companionable to him some one interested enough to love him some one nice In the ways that this outfit lacksj But there's an obvious difficulty." ' ' ' The foreman ground the glowing end of his match into the gate rail and reflectively exhaled a thin drift of smoke. ' "1 reckon any female old enough to escape . the stigma of we-all cow waddies." he. comment ed, "would of prettynigh outlived "her useful ness to little Don." ' He glanced . toward the sound of men's low laughter beyond a lighted doorway at a little distance. " - "If there were another 'way to secure the right person for the boy I Vould choose it in preference." Lanharn stated after several min utes, and his voice came strangely devoid of its usual gentle modulation. "As it stand.", I am going to ask a young woman to marry me." To the foreman, who knew the feeling with which Lanham held to certain memories, the announcement struck with an almost physical impact. "There is only one woman I can think of and why I should think of her I do not know. I met her only once, and talked with her less than ten minutes. Why I think any fine woman might consider the proposal I have to make is beyond understanding a proposal of marriage with tha factor of love deliberately crossed out? ff .Y ' . i f "z? ut found himself oat on the veranda with Barclay's crumpled figure hanging tortured in the wrenching hi hand: Fatilelv he wondered what to do with the mam. - But I believe this woman might, in all sincerity. ' I am going twenty-two hundred m'k-s to find out.' I'll think it over, a bit." And he walked slowly away toward the house. , V He did think it over for several days more; and then he and. little . Don left for the east. , There were times during the long train jour ney 'when Lanham groped ."desperately - for 'an' - alternative plan that would make it possible for himi to turn back. Then at other : times ho searched methodically behind the general mo- live of plain impulse- for the exact point that had' drawn him forth to seek this -one woman, scarcely better known to him than any of 'fifty others with whom chance or .necessity had peca- sioned the 'exchange :of a fw ;wor!W f'jy " V Brought "down to affinal analysis., he th'ousbt , he found the underlying point in a memory: of ' ;lhe -vny A the . .gird - had .. ispoken the word "Arizona." ..-.,' . " . ,"'"" ''-.'" , He 'had met her in the offices of a firm, that looked after his interests in a northern mining property. ' Thoy hod bee.n intrqduccd by Bar- ' clay-' the secretary of the company, and she had 'ta1;en his dictation of .a few ' letters. . -Afls .ho ' .figned the letters .they t.hafl. talked,: briefly and impersonally. . She had questioned him inter estedly about the west. s ' "Arizona! How . I, love the sound of it!" she ' had said softly. '." . ... "' In the morning the , executives had not ' .arrived at. the office when' Lanham vcame in. . A ' boy was sorting mail in a far corner and a book- keeper was opening the safe. Miss Maitland stood beside her desk,removing her gloves. Lan ham had . been watching distantly the entrance -of the building, and had followed her up in the next elevator. , .. , ., ' , ; . . "Mr. Lanham!" the girl cried, out softly , in . pleasurable surprise as the big fellow stepped v toward her hesitantly. She gave him her hand Impulsively, as to an old friend that had re turned. - In her. eyes was a look as though she . were seeins "Arizona." , ' . ... ; - . "We were not expecting you. Mr. Barclay has not come down yet.": , i "I will see him later,". Lanham replied. , "I , came this morning. Miss Maitland. to see you -1o ask if I -might see you alone, later. Possibly this evening, when the .office closes?", , -... The. first thought to flash into the, girl's mind was that he wished to -question, her pri vately about sohiething to do wijth his business affairs in. which he did not wholly trust the firm.: She dropped the thought quickly. A man ' with his sort of gray eyes would not deal indi- ' ,'rectiy, and through u woman. Then it oc-, ; curred to her that possibly this meant the offer of a secretarial position in his employ prob ably in the west possibly on hi3 ranch. The surmise gave- her a little thrill of excitement . and of adventure knocking.- . "I should like to impose one condition," she replied with engaging note of challenge, in her voice, "that you. talk to me again about the west." . . -; j "I shall talk to you about Arizona," Lanham , answered, smiling, but with a peculiar tone of seriousness that rather tended to confirm tho girl's hasty speculation. s .. . It was arranged that he should call for her t five o'clock. He came a little early and talked ' with Barclay, .but. left when she was ready,', and they went uptown on top of .a Fifth avenue'bus. "As they' rode, above, the crowds and the traffic ther.girt. kept.up a running fire of gay, satirical 1 'commek on, people' and the phases of city life , .about them, which she. felt must ' strike- him humorously. . .'Lanham found f himself being , genuinely .entertained. : ..' . '. - At Fifly-ninth.. street they left the bus and walked through, the park, up and across to the . street of the, girl's little apartment. Lanham talked' of roundup, days on the range, of the .country' where his . ranch lay on the 'Broken Trigger, and of how to roast wild turkey over , . an opea fire. Rqsponsive to the girl's eager interest-he 'talked Well and found many half-forgotten things of unexpected interest to himself. ' 3ut of the thing he had come to speak to her ' about he could not talkat all; and the girl knew .that something had slipped. She wondered If .her manner had been too social to impress him favorably as one stiited f"r secretarial duties. ' . t'pon leaving' her nt the steps of the apart ment Lanham managed a vague beginning. r "My little boy Is with me. He is mere lonely than any boy should be. ' I should like mights well, to have you know him, if you could that is, if you would care " And., .now the girl understood ' it all, she thought.- Busy man in town for few days no friends week-end coming.' and .boy on his hand."' But why this reeking of a private inter view and this elaborate leading up to to simple ' a request? .'Tomorrow is Saturday," she answered. In terestedly: "let me have him for the afternoon. . W caa go to see tho animals at Bronx park and baye bo end of a jw4 V " ' "That's good of you," .Lanham said, grasp ing her hand, and again there was that peculiar (.ar'nestnesy in his manner as he added, "I hope you will find him likable and good company." The next evening Lanham waited for them at the subway station. - They. raced down the platform towaj-d him with a burst of happy laughter.' Helen Maitland's eyes- were" bright. . "Adorable!" she breathed .in a. "whisper, with a nod toward the small head : hugged, under her -arm. And then aloud, "We're going back to- morrow to' finish up.'V-' - j , '.; - ' ' .y'" They'dinfed together,' arid afterward' took the , boy to the Hippodrome. His body was limp . with fatigue, but ..his eyes were still alight nd.' spa"rklin'g as Lanham helped him- unbutton and unbuckle for bed,- - ' .'',' -'v'T'1 .'.,'".V '.?'. . "How do you like Mis(s .Maitlnud, eld son?" '.' Lanham spolic quietly,- sccaningly with the most . casual, interest,, in order, that, the answer should not , be colored to meet any suggestion of ex pectance, i i . , . ; . , ' j -,; :"0( T- can't tell you how much,- dad! She just makes you feel glad," sort- of." ' ' , ; , "About this racket tomorrow, son did you ; speak of it first,' or did slie?" ' " "Well, I don't know exactly.' We stood look- ing back toward where the monkeys, were, and then, she looked at me and I .looked at her, and . Chen she laughed that glad way and I laughed and then I reckon' we both said it right together, . sort of 'Eef's,. come agaiii tomorrow!!" At their meeting to start the expedition-the following day Lanham asked to join with them. At the zoo he loaded Don with ' peanuts and turned him , loose upon the .monkeys, taking the girl to, himself. ' A sudden panic hed seized him, to have the affair. over with as quickly as pos sible; either to declare himself fairly and squarely before this unsuspecting 'young crea ture and to face her probable amazement, or to abandon the -idea, forthwith. He had decided, abruptly,, to see, it through. ' , ' Leading her to a bench in the open, where the least attention would be attracted, he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and wait ed before, speaking until a. jumpy pulse beat in his throat subsided.- , V , . ' i "In . tho.- west, Miss Maitland, a man gets into a .way of 'reading sign,' as f. ,s called out there, wherever he goes. His welfare, sometimes' bis life, depends upon his ability to see and re member little things he runs across on a trail. '.' The depth of, a hoof print, the way a twig has been bent, the look in a.man's eye anything' may be sign to him and tell him things he needs to know. ; From' sign he comes to pretty ' definite conclusions about things he can't see around the bend. Sometimes he's put where he will stake-ag6od deal on his judgment, and take a lot of responsibility." : - .; f v Lanham' raised his eyes from the walk and gazed off vaguely beyond the distant groups of holiday -folk. . J r : , ' "I met 'you a long time ago," he "continued, "Our trails crossed just oncer but I read .sign ' then, and now, after three years, I've come 2,000 miles' to ask you something that may just stir v . up that lively sense of humor of yours and pile me on the; back of my head, or it' may draw' down scorn and anger upon ine." , . He hesitated,'" but fearing ' that slopping s would mean weakening he caught himself -up ; again quickly;. ; , , ' ' ' ' "It has taken a good deal of thought to de cide if this would be a right thing to' do,; and : a gopd deal of nerve to get to the" point of ask- ... ing you. ".And. all r have to go on is what, I've - , built' up ; out 'of impressions sigh. "But-I'm . staking a good deal .on my, judgment, that at ' least you would' be understanding.". ' - - '"I would'like to be," the girl replied. "Maybe, ,', I will be. yet if we give us both time." "She-was . smiling in genial amusement;' he was so like an awkward .boy inviting .hfs teacher to a picnic t It did look like the offer.of a' job aftt'r all; but she 'wondered ' that there' should be, so much "." diffidence. ' ' . ;- : - .Lanham "felt her smile' upon hint and was conscious that he had been circling about the i : issue.,' At least he could turn and loolt the girl .. in the eyes. ; He did so. " " -" 'This is 'different. Miss Maitland.'. Jsot many -" WQmen would.be understanding.1 . you're -the ' only one I know that might be both understand- ing and interested, and well" They both 4 smiled now. . Lanham couldn't help "it, after she ted. And then with earnestness, hut with re gained assurance, Lanham continued: 1 .' "I've tried 'to make it easy. I fear I can'f. It Cjoncerns my .little son. He hasn't any moth--cr, and he needs one desperately out there irv. that bungling, man outfit. I've come to - ask' you to go back-with us and be a mother to him." This was different. But for the moment all other significance was dulled for the girl by the bright promise of the words, "go back with ! us." She felt inly "Arizona" calling. Lanham grasp or gazed at her, amazed by the sparkle of delight in her expression. . "I suspect ou do not understand after all yet. There wouldn't be another womanwithin eighteen miles; not another gentlewoman with in eighty. There would be no seclusion from daily contact with a dozen lone men shut aWay in a life of -their own making. The problem would entail being married to me going back under the claim of my unquestioned protectin;'-V ..v -The; girl started, involuntarily. Her .lips were parted and her eyes were wide in amaze ment; but she' was not bewildered by the pro posal so much as struck by a startling remem brance. She recalled 'thinkipg on the day when Lanham sat dictating by her desk, "What eyes . r be trusted!" And as, he turned away to leave her, "What a back to rest behind for shelter!" '" Here were the thoughts returned in a proffered actuality the call to trust the- protection' offered. - She turned upon him a look , of quiet wonder. , . ' V "---..' "Forgive me, if you . can!" Lanham spoke quickly. "I intend, only, respect. In return for what I ask I am prepared to give you all that t have left to give." lie looked away; then added gently: VThat would mean everything but love. Please know I care enough for. your feel ings to spare you any implied effrontery of that sort, after a day. and a half acquaintance." "Please don't be so concerned over my feel ings." Her tone was without rebuke, and not at all Ironic. . "They are buried deep. You see, I have worked for years in an office, where men ere habitually unconcerned. And besides, you know, you are staking your judgment on my understanding." - ' , ' Lanham smiled again. "Well, frankly," he declared with an undefinable sense of relief, "I held a memory of you, and you seemed to char acterize the sort of things I would like to have surrounding my boy. I came directly to you in my trouble. . I thought of you here, alone, and not happy. You seemed not to have found the things you desired and, in a way, to be resigned to less. I found myself desolate, and left with a problem that was beyond me. With difficulty and a sort of bafflement in both of our lives, it seemed as though possibly We '!" "So you suggest that we-pool our misfor- . tunes and work out a partnership of wretched- ' ness! I'm not sure that I should enjoy that." "I fear I put it badly." "I think you put it gloomily. Now, assum ing you wish to induce me to come, why not offer the inducements instead of dispiriting me over the prospect?" ' Lanham looked up quickly.. But there was no flippancy in the girl's quietly humorous gaze. After all, the suggestion was obviously logical; he was not presumed to be making love to her. "I. really .mean to' offer all thaf I have to give," he safd. "You 'would be leaving every familiar association and giving your life's hap piness into our keeping. I "would try to make it secure.,. Love you would have, I know, from little Don. I would give you every material comfort and all kindly consideration in my pow er.. I would protect you in every way. And you would know the feel of sweeping distance, clean air ' and ' sunlight, and the sweetness of purple evenings the things I believe you said must mean to you 'Arizona.' I'm afraid that is all." . . "That is much." The girl spoke with quiet feeling. She looked off over the treetops and color from aroused emotions tinged her cheeks. Silence fell, between them, but it was a pause that held Lanham tense as he watched her. -, "How strange." she said, speaking as in a reverie, "how-different - from any way I had thought of It as coming!" ; She turned to face Lanham and.the light of excitement was in her eyes. "The way of 'Arizona!' " . i. .' "You -must see" he interposed. " "I do see. It isn't that I am confused or bewildered; it is the thrill of having to decide one's action in a big way,' on what lies unseen around a great bend in the trail. To stake one's ' whole future on a' single. cast of judgment'." ,'But'I .never meant you do not have to decide " - : "No." I don't want it spoiled by waiting to ponder over it. Our trails crossed but once, and now as they cross again yuu hail me and beck on to-follow. on. , Something in me cries out to ."lust the way of. it. . I didn't know anything ever could be like that. .It may never be again. And that' must be the way of my answer." The girl's hands were clasped tightly upon her knee, and again she looked off over the treetops. "Six years' a go, when I was twenty," she con tinued, "with one quick thrust" Fate struck at me to-crumple up my happinecs took away a father, home," comfort, and a carefree sense Of trust and a man who had talked love, but who disappeared when it was found there was no wealth. And now it is mine to Mrik back and retake the gladness of living. , v "At twcnty-nlx with disillusionment behind one well, one la content to find happlneaa lit Implcf realities. You bring those to me, hon cutlj, generouHly and lovo la neither uffcrtd nor asked. 1 could feel honored and aafa In your care always. So lt me hava my big mo-, ment of decision now." She dropped her hand Into Lanhnm'a and thalr fingers closed together. "I will uo with you around tha bend," ahe said. Tho hitudclasp between them had only tha solid quality of binding an agreement, but It waa not until tha girl released her flngera that Lanham relaxed hla hold upon her hand and roused from unnotlclng abstraction. At the close of the day Lanhum brought ' back confused impressions In which monkeya and elephants and hla boy'a laughter and tha rlrl'a flushed chceka were intermingled aa In a dream. It seemed aa though their talk on -tha bench must bo a dream also, and that he must await some confirmation from her before accept ing it as a reality, At the apartment steps again at parting lan ham watched the girl aa she knolt before lit t lata Don with her arma about him to aay good-night and then he knew. "Vou will hRve many thlnga to do, of course. How long do you think?" he asked her. "A few clothes, some hooka to pack a week, ten days what does It matter? Why wait?" ahe askd. "And when shall we " Lanham faltered and stopped, confused. But the girl answered iwered a. At lightly and steadily. "On the day you may plan to leave. least I will hold to that much womanly reserve lerve.'.' From the pastor'a atudy in an inconspicuous little church they went directly to the train; and In the early evening, three daya lataV, Lan ham brought tha buckboard around to tha adobe' atation for the drive to the ranch. Darkness fell before they reached tha ranch, and aa they drew Into the folds of soma low hills they encountered a blackness of night that made Helen wonder at the calm assuranca with which Lanham sent tha horses on at an un checked rapid pace. She could hear tha alap and creak of harness ahead of her, but not a thing could she see of the team or tha road. Inetinctively she cowered low on the seat and clung closely to the little lad beside her, aa though to ward off a mysteriously palpabl something that continuously threatened to closd in and Immerse her. Quietly Lanham's voice came out of the to soothe her unspoken misgiving. "Another mile and you will see at the Broken Trigger, but it will takt than half an hour to reach them. You all of this very beautiful in the morning! The foreman and the Chinaman we only ones to offer a welcome when they arr- the men reticently kept to the bunkhouse. Helen it was aa though she had been blindfolded and placed upon a dimly Mtj strangely set and cast for some fantastic mime. The Chinaman grinned and ducked rled away with a slap-slap of cushloneJ prepare a supper. Lee "Winton carried til to Helen's room and shyly gave her ha mighty pump In acknowledgment of 1 duction; tfte'n 'tite Jllgh heels clacked across the veranda Hoot and he alippn into the dark. And so Helen Lanhail herself around the great beHdv. 'th oeaung queeny. . Coming ' from her room the she found Lanham waiting for her. fore the wide fireplace. ' "It looks pretty rough and tousled," he said, . Indicating the big room. "I'm seeing it through your eyes, and I'd no idea it was quite so awful. But you will know what it needs. . When you're ready I'll give you- a few of the boys and you can hold a little roundup in here," But Helen waa not noticing the room. Her eyes were upon Lanham, bright with wonder. Booted and clothed for the saddle, he seemed to be even broader of shoulder and taller by inches. In gray doeskin breeches and a soft leather vest edged with a narrow band of Indian beadwork, .. ., . . , 1 1. 1 1. . ,'. 1 T n ,. A 1.. U . . , throat, and silvered spurs at his heels, he seemed to have regained his native element. The litha power and gentle, dominant ' poise of the man stood forth with a touch of primitive splendor. She had nbt thought of him as handsome until v this moment. Feeling her gaze upon him, he glanced down at his boots and explained: "I've been trying out a horse I wired Lee to break in for you. After breakfast we'll see if you are pleased with him. There is a little butte three miles from here, where I would like you to meet' 'Arizona.' " i - t j it,., t - j .... , ...... ir.i.. X lei uiu.1 mil jum mealing j-uu, nvien answered. "I wonder if I, too, can ever become like that!" The following day Helen held her roundup. She could wait no longer to lay her hands upon the possibilities of the big room with its Navajo rugs and its general spirit of frontier homeliness and rugged comfort. The boys came at Lan ham's command, shy and blundering before tha sweet voice and laughing dark eyes of the little "herd boss." Their embarrassment took the form of wild-eyed, plunging rushes to do her will. They seized upon furniture cr swept up indiscriminate armfuls of anything loose at tha mere pointing of her finger, and hurtled into one another in mad dashes for the door and Veranda with their burdens. , With quick intuition Helen promptly called them by their first names and with a comradely touch that at once relieved a feeling of tension and dread the men had been under since the receipt of Lanham's telegram. Deftly she drove them with a firm hand and lured them from their shells with a winsome gaycty that grad- ; ually reduced the outfit to a state of willing; servitude and adoration. Stooping over the woodbox with a broom, Bud Sellers prodded a dust-laden package from -the narrow space next to the wall. .The sle and weight and shape of the package seemed to awaken memories in Bud. Stripping back a little of the torn wrapping from the end, ha identified the contents exactly. Lanham's name, itS consignee, lettered boldly on the labelcom pleted, the story. But crouched on hands and haunchaBV Mid, tilting his chin to the heavens, he loosed a lose, desolate howl and another, and another, a rising.anguish. The sounds brought Hales irOBtf her investigation of Lanham's room. "What in the name of mercy has happened now?" she asked. "What is it?" Bud solemnly handed her the package. "It happened a long time ago. ma'am." he answered. "I reckon the Chief had ought to tell you. I just can't. Ask him when the little fella ain't around." he added, guardedly. When Lanham returned in the evening hd stood in the doorway and gazed. The big room! was marvelously altered in arrangement, order" and cleanliness. Enticing welcome reached out to him. from every point with a sort of prace givlng benediction. Flowers and richly colored ijroupiniis of wild shrub branches brightened dull cornera, and in the lamplight at the c-.nte table Helen sat reading to Don. Khe was s ned in something that fell softly In blue silken folda and a light scarf lay about her shoulders and over her bare arms. Don had a look of recent and thorough scrubbing and brushing thaf brought a self-conscious but happy smiTe to hia iips as he gazed up at his father. Lanham unbuckled hia spurs and droppf them on tha veranda by the door: and for tfcaji , Turn to Tag Three.) " 1