The Forfeit

re. It was moist; it was dank with the reek of decaying matter. The way was a seemingly endless battle against odds. But

Jeff to accept and endure the tortures and shortcomings wh

rses' flanks in a gray horde, almost obliterating their original colors; and a bleeding mass resulted every time either man raised a hand to the back of his own neck to soothe

ckhorses fought for their very lives, often hock deep in a sucking mire. While the beasts, who bore the burden of their

t have left the nervous equine mind staggered, and helpless, and beaten. As it w

he

e saddle and began to sweep the blood-inflated mosquitoes from his horse's flanks. Bud, with less haste, proceeded to

he valley with one

most affectionately upon the wide stretch of blue-tinted

and remounted. Jeff silently foll

ded than with the purpose of his journey. He knew they had reached the central point from which they were to radiate their search of the labyrinth of hills. His mind was upon the wealth of possibility before them. The difficulties. Bud, for the t

st broke the sile

way. Them slopes." He indicated the western boundary of the valley rising up, up to great pine-crested heights. "A thousand-two thousand feet. And hills beyond. Big hills, with snows you couldn't melt anyhow.

flooding the simple brain behind them with a joy

he wakes up, why, I don't guess he kin even think like it, an' he sure ain't a hell of a chance to paint that way anyhow. Say, d'you make it these things are, or is it jest something He sets in us makes us see 'em that way? He's big-He surely is. I'm glad I come along with you, Jeff, boy. Y' see, a feller sort o' sits around home, an' sees the same grass, an' brands the same steers, an' thinks the same thinks. Ther' ain't nothin' he don't know around home. He gets so life don't seem a thing, an' he jest

to the emotions locked away in his heart. Those who knew him regarded it as reserve, even hard

ning he had at last received, and which he had been seeking ever since it had bec

e parts a heap

iggers. Know it? Say, you could dump me right down anywhere around here for fifty miles an' more, an' I'd travel straight here same as the birds fly." He laughed again. "When you said you'd the notion of huntin' out your brother, who was huntin' these hills, you give me the excuse I'd been yearnin' to find in years. I wanted to see these hills again. I wanted it bad. Guess I was jest crazy fer it. It didn't get me figgerin' long, either, to locate wher

you n

stretched his ungainly legs wi

things," he nodded, in simpl

oes Nan know you

It ain't our way worryin' other folks with our troubles. You see, most folks ain't a heap o

seem to figure this valley's any sort of trouble, nor its associations.

ts. Then he gave way to another of

ee troubles wher' there shouldn't be none. You an' me we're guessin' to make a pile o' dollars, so we could set up a palace on 5th Av'noo, New York, if we was yearnin' that-a-way. I don't reckon there's many fellers 'ud find

ng else in life. Say, your little girl's a bright jewel. I don't need to say

all its simple delight dropped from the strong weather-tanned face, to be replaced by an almost painful dejection. P

weat from his broad forehead. "An' Nan's goin' to do jest as she notions. She's goin' to live around her home as long as she feels that way. When she don't feel that way she's goin' to quit. When she feels like choosin' a man fer herself-why, I'm goin' to do all

head and a deep

run all my way so far, an' I don't guess you can keep on dealin' the c

The older man in his earnest simplicity had opened out t

e was thinking of Nan as he had known her for some five years. From the days of her schoolgirlhood he had watched her develop into a grown woman full of all that was wholesome and winsome. She was her father over again, trustful, simple, fearless, and she was possessed of a whimsical philosophy quite beyond her years. Her beauty was undeniable, her gentle kindliness was no le

th a gesture which roused him

" he o

came rivetted

fire-sure,"

such a distance. It was a break in the wonderful sea of varying shades of restful green. It wa

passed between them, but as they rode on it oc

younger man observed him he might have discovered a curious expression almost amounting to pai

and, hundreds of acres in extent, whose upper limits were confined only by the summit of the valley's slope, where it cut

st of it, and his voice broke with painful sharpnes

ep distress and grievous disappointment.

t's

troubled eyes sought the charred rem

. Them walls; them fallen logs. Burnt. Burnt right through to the heart of 'em. That's all that's le

burnt wood hung heavily upon the air. He threaded his way carefully toward the char

ral shape, and the great logs which had formed its walls, still remained to test

at in the saddle just gazing at the destruction. That was all. So he turn

*

rotting, charred remains of a human figure. It was beyond recognition, except in so far as its human identity was c

of the old post wall. Another figure lay sprawling on the ground. Near by i

gutted precincts and gazed speculatively upon the picture. His imagination reconstructed so

d furnace of the woods blazing, and he saw men struggling with all their might to save themselves, and some of their more precious belongings. The reckless daring of those two, perhaps at the last moment, returning to their shelter on one final journey to save some detail of their ho

hese men were fur hunters. Who-who were they? He drew close up to each body in turn, seeking identity where none was d

it shou

He was gazing down upon the second body, in earnest, horrified contemp

chasin' up, Jeff," he sa

you kno

as incisive,

pelt hunters. Not by

speaker, and a great re

they-then?" h

was a ranc

ts? You

ht on out of here,

hich held so difficult a riddle. And presently they were again with their horses, which w

lmost impatience in

er of rough fences, uneven, crud

by folks who hate work o' that sort anyway. An' I'd say, Jeff, cattlemen-real cattlemen-don't dump a range down in the heart of the Cathills, not even fer this sweet-grass you can see around, when ther'

pted the other's admittedly better understanding of these things all the more rea

Then he added: "But an

camp some'ere e

es

ollow up t

older cattleman's tone. And his words

don't

r hiding. Wal, I guess there's jest one thing to be done. It's ou

t about-

im squarely

irst, Jeff. The ot

his duty as a cattleman scarcely had the right to claim him at such a time. But the older man's manner made it difficult to protest, and

aid resignedly. "We can leave our pack ponies, an

thing. We'll make this time good. We're goin' to fin

*

e more acute its suffering under adversity. Such penalties lie ambushed for the strong

he hoofs of a considerable herd. There was no difficulty, and the pace he made was rapid. But, even so, Bud's keen eyes never left the well-defined trail. He was

e track. "Ther's a great bunch of horsemen been over this. Kind o' seems to

n the trail as Bud's, only he

valley," he said. "Maybe there

d in the saddle as his horse "propped" itself to a sta

's do

mpanied by a keen look

ere wide wit

ther'," he went on pointing away to the right. "That's the way they've took, clear a

oo

was pointing at a bluff of wide-spreading sturdy trees t

and that which he beheld robbed him

g emotions. Something painful was slowly creeping into the eyes of

ak

d was m

ly, but led the way to

deous things were hanging suspended by rawhide ropes. They were swaying g

oughs. The animal moved willingly enough for a few yards. Then panic suddenly beset it. It shied. It reared and plunged. The fierce reminder of the spur was powerless to a

bolt, but Bud reached its hanging reins and secured it. Then he sat sti

sguise the rest of the contorted features. The head was tilted over on one side. Its flesh was ghastly, and deep discolorations blotched it from the neck up. The body was clad in the ordinary garb of the prair

o real pity in him for the fate of a cattle thief. He understood only the justice of it from the p

ions prevailed. A colored handkerchief concealed the glazed eyes, a

ng hair. In this instance the bandage over the eyes had fallen from its place, and lay lodged against the raw h

unspeakable. Once his lips parted, and there was an automatic effort to moisten them with

y of a hell from the sight of which he is powerless to withdraw his terrified gaze. He knew nothing but the agony which smote through his every sense. The world about him, the place, even the hideous swaying remains of a on

*

which required no words. There was that about the dead, distorted face which was un

. But it was only for a moment. Then he moved swiftly, a

knife gleamed. The next moment

ly broke the silence of

n't dare, or-I

ched his cheek. The blazing eyes behind it sho

e was stronger than the ma

est goin' to hide him away wher' mebbe the good God'll watch over him, an' help him, an' surely will forgive him. You ken jest help me, boy, to locate th

e stricken man's hand dash across his eyes, and, as it pas