The Border Legion

belief, not so much in the almost indefinable aging and sadness of the man, as in the

came to me this morning and said he thought you were the ghost of Dandy Dale. That name will stick to you. I don't care how you treat my men. But if you're friendly you'

f dust and horses and leather and whisky and tobacco. Joan did not recognize any one there, which fact aided her in a quick recovery of her composure. Then she found amusement in the absolute sensation she made upon these loungers. They stared, open-mouthed and motionless. One old fellow dropped his pipe from bearded lips and did not seem to note the loss. A dark young man, dissipated and wild-looking, with years of lawlessness stamped upon his face, was the first to mo

de friends with them. An occasional rider swung up the trail to dismount before Kells's cabin, and once two riders rode in, both staring-all eyes-at her. The meaning of her intent alertness dawned upon her then. Always, whatever she was doing or thinking or saying, behind it all hid the driving watchfulness for Jim Cleve. And the consciousness o

, Jim Cleve. They were riding up the trail. Joan's heart began to pound. She could not meet Jim; she dared not trust this disguise; all her plans were as if they had never been. She forgot Kells. She even forgot her fear of what Cleve might do. The meeting-the inevitable

nterested in the approaching group. Loud talk dinned in Joan's ears. Then she went in the door as Kells stalked by, eyes agle

tive voice, but she could understand nothing. The babel of hoarse voices grew louder. Kells appeared, entering the door with Pearce. Jim Cleve came next, and, once the th

and his power and position might have

ecame sudd

s up?" dem

th good humor. "There ain't much wrong.... Cle

and a fleeting tigerish gleam across his face, impressed Joan with the

clamation was likewi

t bull so easy. But he's shot up some. He's layin' over at

e's Bate Wood?... Bate, you can take my kit and go fix

Cleve an' Cleve tryin' to mix it with them-an' ME in between!..

a cigarette in his lips. His face was white except where there seemed to be bruises under his eyes. Joan had never seen him look like this. She guessed that he

fight about?"

. "Reckon I'd just as lief

ntrasts. Kells was keen, imperious, vital, strong, and complex, with an unmistakable friendly regard for this young outcast. Cleve seemed

draw on Gulden?" a

, and with his piercing eyes on Kells he bl

t you asked me the other day

d Cleve. "This

ou're in bad with Gulden's friends. If I can't

on my side," said Cleve, an

vely. "Every man on this border needs

ask for it; I

ness, too. I'm not in

tude. Nothing could have been easier than to rouse the antagonism of Jim Cleve, a

nd?" queried Cleve, with his d

replied the b

his soul! He had fled to the border in reckless fury at her-at himself. There in its wildness he had, perhaps, lost thought of himself and memory of her. He had plunged into the unrestrained border life. Its changing, raw, and fateful excitement might ha

rce, "tell me what happened-what y

ss. He walked an' walked just like a cougar in a pen. You know how Gulden has to be on the move. Well, we let him alone, you can bet. But suddenlike he comes up to our table-me an' Cleve an' Beard an' Texas was playin' cards-an' he nearly kicks the table over. I grabbed the gold an' Cleve

b you'll li

't have a job I'd like,' re

dness. I've seen gunfighters lookin' for trouble-for someone to kill. But Gulde

ted the Brander gold-diggi

egan to bend low, ready to duck. Gulden didn't look no different from usual.

ve, quick, like he was ple

I'm pickin' you to go with me. We'll spl

d. The other fellers were dodgin' low. An' as I ducked I seen Gulden, flat on his back, draggin' at his gun. He stopped sh

, you could have heard him for a mile.... Then, as I told you, I had trouble in holdin' back a general mix-up. An' while

e loves to fight-to kill. But Gulden's all but crazy. This last deal proves that. I leave it to your common sense. He rides around hunting for some lone camp to rob. Or some girl to make off with. He does not plan with me or the men whose judgment I have confidence in. He's always without gold. And so are most of his followers. I don't know who they are. And I don't care. But here we split-unless they and Gulden take advice and orders from me. I'm not so much siding with C

d them, and in silence they crowded out of

or do you mean to make yourself the cha

that enveloped his head "I don

headed at the very

Cleve's suggested

rcing sharpness. "I'll be your friend if you let me.... Bu

ce of earnestness. "I'm no good or I wouldn't be out her

t makes men wild. If you don't get killed you'll change. If you live you'll see life on this border. War debases the moral force of a man, but nothing like what you'll experience here the next few years. Men with their wives and daughters

edly by one and made such a hero of-that I

ool, and his face was inscrutable, but a bitterness

ok his head doubtfully, as if Cleve's transparent speech only added to the compl

amazed at the magnificent madness of him, thrilled to her soul by the meaning of his attack on Gulden, and tortured by

compel herself to meet it, regardless of the tumult that must rise within her. When all had been said, her experience so far among the bandits, in spite of the shocks and suspense tha

she had not removed from the belt. And at such moments, she had to ponder in the darkness, to realize that she, Joan Randle, lay a captive in a bandit's camp, dressed in a dead

inarily dressed. Then how would Jim Cleve ever recognize her? She remembered her voice that had been called a contralto, low and deep; and how she used to sing the simple songs she knew. She could not disguise that voice. But she need not let Jim hear it. Then there was a return of the idea that he would instinctively recognize her-that no disguise could be proof to a lover who had ruined himself for her. Suddenly she realized how futile all her worry and shame. Sooner or later she must reveal her identity to Jim Cleve. Out of all thi

cabin she was in a m

the table and being

her, in surprise and pleasu

ng and said that she cou

ll bet you hold up a sta

stage?" e

me along lively with breakfast.... It's fine to see you there. That mask changes you, though. No one

hat Joan had heard Red Pearce tell the night before; an

ted over some rotten girl who's been faithless or something. Most women are no good, Joan. A while ago I'd have said ALL wo

do-when he sees-me?" asked Joa

wift with a gun. That's a bad combination. Cleve will kill a man presently. He's shot three already, and in Gulden's case he meant to kill. If once he kills a man-that'll make him a gun-fighter. I've worried a little about his seeing you. But I can manage him, I guess. He can't be scared or drive

n your band?" asked Joan, and sh

queried Kells, evidently n

ered Joan. "Is this-th

can control him he'll be of value to me-he'll be a bold and clever and dangerous man-he'll last out here. If I can't win him, why, h

ate and, looking up, st

eer quick-and went to-to-than live to b

which he threw his cup against the wall attested t

r. You'll know that the moment you see him. I really think he or any man out here would be the better f

to see him first

t Bate Wood-"that you showed when you shot me. You're going to see some sights.... A great gold strike! Men grown gold-mad! Woman of no more account than a puff of cottonseed!... Hunger, toil, pain, disease, starvation, robbery, blood, murder, hanging, death-all nothing, no

Joan's horse brought out

condition," he said. "Pretty soon we may have a

l I ride?"

like up and do

ing to have

say you wo

trust

es

e. And if I change m

to me. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." As she mounted the

n he saw her; his voice mellowed; his manner changed. He had meant to tell her again that he loved her, yet he controlled it. Was he as

lch till the trail started into rough ground. Then turning, she went back, down under the pines and by the cabins, to where the gulch narrowed its

imed. "Reckon we've run agi

r with bold and roguish eyes. Joan had run square into them round

y Dale we heerd of,"

it with a girl insid

ted the bold glances of these men. If there were any possible decency among them, this outrageous bandit costume rendered it null. How could she ever continue to wear it? Would not something good and sacred within her be sullied by a con

s in cabin doors. Joan avoided riding near them, yet even at a distance she was aware of their gaze. On

l, she headed for the other side of the gulch. There were clumps of willows along the brook through which she threaded a way, looking for a good place to cross. The horse snorted for water. Appare

the other side of her horse. Then she turned. Jim Cleve was in the act of rising from his k

er life. The surprise was tremendous. She could not

his scorn was for the creature that bandit garb proclaimed her to be. A sad and bitter smile crossed his face; and then it was followed by an expression that was a lash upon Joan's bleeding spirit. He looked at her shapely per

ehow, and rode with blurred sight back to the cabin. Kells appeared busy with m

save! Jim Cleve had seen in her only an abandoned creature of the camps. His sad and bitter smile had been for the thought that he could have loved anything of her sex. His scorn had been for the betrayed youth and womanhood suggested by her appearance. And then the thing that struck into Joan's heart was the fact that her grace and charm of person, revealed by this costume forced upon her, had aroused Jim Cleve's first res

ould I expect-standing there like a hussy before him-in this-this indecent rig?... I must see him. I must tell him. If he recognized me now-and I ha

e had met Jim Cleve here in the dress in which she had left home there would have been the same shock of surprise and fear and love. She owed part of that breakdown to the suspense she had been under and then the suddenness of the meeting. Looking back at her agitation, she felt that it had been natural-that if she could only tell the truth to Jim Cl