Part 10 (1/2)
XXI
CARSON'S BLANK PAGES IN LIFE
When Carson left the cabin he followed the winding trail that led to the valley below The road to Saguache showed the hoofprints of a prospector's outfit, and the lare of the sun on the reflected snoas blinding and he drew his hat down over his eyes He was thinking of his worthless life since leaving college Once he had builded lofty hopes of future doings in the world, but he had allowed hione wherever the strongest tide wind carried He sa that he ht have marked out some honorable career and piloted his course toward it Others of his class in college were in a fair way to make their mark in the world Why was it not so with him? It was born in him, as it had been in his father, to choose the wild life of the frontier in preference to holding the presidency of a bank in Atlanta
He felt that the world in its wildest freedom was his for his pleasure The cords of restraint which society demanded were to him the fetters of a tyrant ruler, and so, as Sareen withes which bound him, Carson broke the laws of society--nay civilization, andto the ceremony of her people He repented the act to so knowledge that the world was too busy a place for people to give theo he realized that if he threw himself into the swirl of humanity and allowed himself to become a part of its motives and its emotions, that it would require a herculean effort to attain a position where he could look over the heads of othereffort required
Withal, he could not bring himself to quite understand why he had married Mary Greenwater, unless that she possessed soained control over forces of his nature which he did not understand True, there was but little or no obligation to the cereovernround it was null and void He was a free overnment Yet that act, of his own creation, somehow seemed to stand over him like a Frankenstein with an uplifted axe
The snoas deep, and as he plodded along with these thoughts running through hisbackwards he saw a horse drawing a sleigh, plunging madly down the road The reins were held by a wo the horse forward Soe mountain lions were in hot pursuit, their heavy bodies crouching and springing forward lance and, raising his hand as a signal to the girl in the sleigh to rein in, he sprang into the vehicle as she passed The ain, when, drawing his revolver, he fired at the fore in the snow Another shot and a second lion paused with a hty roar At this the other two turned and fled in the opposite direction
Carson now took the reins and stopped the horse The aniirl was calm but pale
”Rather a close shave, eh, Sis?”
”Truly,” she replied, ”how fortunate you were here I was driving to Del Norte when Iin the snow like kittens When I turned Bess, they pursued I want the one you have just killed, I want to have him mounted to remember today,--and--and--you”
”By allnow?”
”Back to Saguache after this fright Poor Old Bess could not have stood the race much farther See how she trembles I am the niece of Mr Amos My name is Annie Amos I have friends in Del Norte, whom I intended to visit I shall wait now until I have an escort”
”Ah--uache to see Mr A handle,--er, that is, to have the jug handle test hi Handle, I will get it right after awhile, and I want hiht as he turned the horse, ”I haven't the sense of a jackrabbit tothe snow in its death struggle and as Carson came near, it reared itself as if to e yellow, foam fell in flecks from its mouth, while a tiny stream of crimson stained the snow Carson's weapon spit fire and the creature rolled over h and, lifting it upon the edge of the box, uache to see my uncle, I fear you will be disappointed as he left thisfor an absence of several days”
”That does not matter as I have other business anyway Most any time will do, as I am in town quite often We would better not drive so fast Your horse is in a foairl at his side Her cal adventures with the mountain lions, surprised him Other woirl not yet out of her teens, as calm and collected as a veteran soldier after the battle And A to see and intended to kill if he proved to be the villain he suspected him to be, was her uncle
The white billows rose rank on rank on the distant mountains, while the snow of the valley shrunk visibly away, leaving the grey rocks naked and protuberant
The newly-
”I was thinking of your reo to Del Norte tomorrow if you had an escort, and as I have soive ive me equal pleasure to have you do so,” she replied with ad there anyway”
”I may need to purchase some new i Handle mine,” he explained ”I have heard of a new drill they are working over there and itfor the forirl, as a lad you will accompany me I shall make you acquainted with so hishisentertained by people of real worth once ht of the Frankenstein with the uplifted axe roan inwardly But pshaw! she did not know--never would know, and what people do not knoill not hurt the adirl beside him They were alone in the wide expanse of valley and had known each other only an hour, yet this girl illing to trust to his honor and manhood And be it said for Carson, as it may be said for thousands of other men on the American frontier, he would have yielded his life rather than betray that sacred trust Instances like this are common in the West
As they drove down the uache, the passers looked curiously at the pair in the sleigh and at the dead lion strapped behind When they stopped in front of the postoffice, a crowd gathered around the sleigh A supple figure edged through the crowd and addressed the girl:
”Kill it all by yourself, Annie?”
The fairl, and she turned her head without answering The supple figure felt the rebuff and all the round, however, until Carson returned and when he saw his face he quickly drew out of sight
”Toood-bye at her house