The Long Chance

in Bob McGraw's brown eyes. She failed. She could not think calmly. She was conscious of but one supreme emotion as she gazed at this man who had ridden into her life, gun in hand. She wa

heart, something that throbbed in the untouched recesses of her womanhood, arousing in her a fierce, almost primitive desire to possess this man, to fond

to the cashier's counter at the eating-house, she would still have these defensive weapons against the invasions of the sensual, smirking, patronizing male brutes with which every passing train appeared to be filled; the well-dressed, hard-finishe

out of the desert at a time when she needed him most; it was not that he came in all the bravery and generous sacrifice of youth, shedding his blood that she might not shed tears; it was not the service he had rendered her that m

perhaps, but for all that he was the sort of man at whose feet women, both good and bad, have laid their hearts since the world began. He was kind. H

she sat. She turned to the bed and saw that Bob McGraw was watching her ag

n the man's eyes. She was crying a little as she slipped t

oh, Bob, dear, you'll be very, very good to me, won't you? You must b

duties had suddenly been increased a thousand-fold, if it was to hold inviolate this sacred joy of possession which thrilled him now. He was alert and conscious,

very wonde

laughing at

ate-the great, bi

hy

afford to. My

g, red-headed

dn't you sa

over such a trifle as a

hat" he complained. "

I'm selfish. I want to listen to you

possessions, for in his way Mr. McGraw was something of a frontier dandy. His calm contempt of life and death amused Donna when she compared it with his boyish concern for his dashing equipment.

d head with the practiced eye

lendid in that big new Stetson that blew in the day before y

she kissed him and went out to the kitchen to prepar

ad never carried a gun before, but something seemed to tell him that he might need one to-day. Borax O'Rourke generally carried one and if Borax had talked

tly in demand. Borax O'Rourke, having told all he knew, which was little en

n, "what's the latest? A

while he shook O'Rourke as a terrier shakes a rat. Then, after two prodigious parting kicks, accurately gauged and delivered, the gambler crossed over to the hotel, leaving the garrulous one to pick himself out of the dust, gasping like a chicken with the pip. It is worthy of remark that the discomfiture of Borax O'Rourke was observed by Mrs. Daniel

. Late in the afternoon he was awakened by a knocking at his door. He spr

mbler greeted him.

Pennycook. He sat down. "Harley, old man, you'v

ay violent hands on? You wouldn't expect me to choke ol

guns reachin' down to his hocks an' he's

. However, I wish you'd carry

o t

n' take up his old job o' skinnin' mules. Tell him I'll loan him that roan pony in the corral, an' he can saddle up an' git.

I was you, though, Har

r and brought forth McGraw's auto

gh. Of course you'll tell Borax privately. No use arousin' his pride lettin' the whole town kno

cook. "I'd hate to see any

k you

all r

es

feller that

r ridin'

rd

. He'll pul

hot to sleep, so he lay there, rubbing his chin and thinking. Late in the afternoon he heard the sound of a horse loping through the s

ar witness for the prosecution" he mused. "But I'll stay an' tell 'em Bora

for he did not. No one ever wrote to Mr. Hennage. But he had seen Mrs. Pennycook dodging int

ight. Mr. Hennage stepped lightly inside, and at that moment he heard Mi

Miss Pickett.

ublic place, Mr. Hennage did not feel it incumbent upon him to announce his presence by coughing o

n, where he could be looked after. Of course not! He might be sent to a hospital and she wouldn't have a ch

ghed. "Who is h

to ask Harley Hennage, but you know how stu

ced to. Still, I'm not surprised at anything she'd do, the stuck-up thing. She just thinks she's it, with her new hats and a different

ok. "If a dook was to ask her she wouldn't have him. Sh

ood for San Pasqual" Mi

lady," Mrs. Pennycook deprecated, "but for my part

o' last night's performan

e. It's hard to believe. I know the girl for a sly, scheming, hoity-toity f

x O'R

ld eve

's no use trying. Water will seek its own level, Miss Pickett. You remember her mother. Nobody

the twig is bent" M

know, just as well as I do, that no man or set o' men ever looks twice at any respectable woman that goes

n' assistant postmistress here for fifteen years, an' nobody's ever

P. Hennage serenely. "Even in a tough town like

livery window and looked ou

!" sneered

xhibit A to prove it, ain't you, Miss Pickett?

u?" Mrs. Pennycook's vo

gues nor sharpened the consciences o' some of my old lady friends. You'

ou, Mr. Card Sharp" Miss P

e turned to Mrs. Pennycook. "Would you oblige me, Mrs. Pennycook, with a few minutes of your valuable t

le woman-" Mrs.

in', I guess" he reto

got anything to say to me,

gambler answere

t-office and waited unti

nnycook,

d glanced at him scorn

" the gambler c

have stopped more quickly. She turn

perch. Bless you, Mrs. Pennycook, this thing o' bein' respectable must be hard on the constitution. Havin' been low an' worthles

ssip like a rain of blows. Her ey

's got to stop. Hereafter, if you've got somethin' to say about Donna Corblay you see that it's somethin' nice. You gabbed about her mother when she was alive, and the minute I saw you streakin

Hennage," wailed Mrs. Penny

lf of it and

he'll be around here again, blackmailing poor Da

she won't tell 'em all her business, you speak a good word for her. Understand? And the first thing tomorrow mornin' I want you to get out an' nail that lie that Donna Corblay kissed the feller that saved her from them tramps l

ered Mrs.

m. You'll never see him again. I'll save you from gos

ennycook promis

er Joe, but he had neglected to inform her what the "something" was which he had "on" brother Joe. Mr. Hennage could see no profit in telling her that it was a blood-stained tarpaulin, under which Mrs. Pennycook's brother reposed, qui

ed, however, to avoid identification of the body by keeping Dan Pennycook from at

ggone it" he muttered, "if this ain't the worst town in California for killin's. I never did see such a one-horse camp with such a big potter's field. If I wasn't a

p to the freight yards he had spied Mrs. Pennycook's brother dodging into an empty box-car. Mr. Hennage had seen this worthy upon the occasion of his (Joe's) last visit to San Pasqual, the object of the said visit having been imparted to him by Dan Pennycook himself. Having no money available for the blackmailer, poor Pennycook had come to Hennage to borrow it. Upon the occasion of the payment of the loan, Pennycook informed Mr. Henna

sert, to where the sun glinted on the dun walls of the Hat Ranch. In the middl

e gold teeth flash

so full o' a nu

ould all be as

d walked acro