The Wild Olive

vi

Though slightly built and delicate, he was not physically timid; and as the seconds went by he was able to form an idea as to what had happened. He himself, in view of the tumultuous sympathy displayed by hunters and lumber-jacks with the man who passed for their boon companion, had advised Ford's removal from the pretty toy prison of the county-town to the stronger one at Plattsville. It was clear

you come

r three years since he had seen anything so dainty-not, in fact, since his own mother died. At all times his mind

or protection,

ed air imparted assurance t

look for that?" Wayne asked, in a

ulus Ford needed in order

otection from the man who sentenced me to dea

over his crossed knees, but he was unable to keep a

had the benefit of all the resources allowed by the l

ldren had risen. With his arm hanging limply over the back he sat

er a long pause, "when it's as transparent as yours. No o

s because I wanted you to have the benefit of every possible plea.

might have been a laugh, h

iced against me from the start because I'd sometimes kicked up a row

umes all men

ing to be, said against it is that five times out of ten it leaves human nature out of account. I'm condemn

e chair slipped from him; his gray eyes, of the kind called "honest," shot out glances of protest. The elder man found himself once more struggling against the wave of sympat

you from havin

ch there was more appeal than indignation "Look at me! I'm a strong, healthy-bodied, healthy-minded fellow of twenty-four; but I

protest, and though he w

duty to

achine. You were a human being before you were a judge. With your convictions you should have come down

ayne broke in, indignantly, from the doorway. "If y

like what I've s

ely slept or eaten since he knew he

man who puts an end to a useless discussion. "We can't spe

his morning. Circumstantial evidence means nothing to us in this isolated house, where you're no longer the judge, as I'm

hat are

omething to eat, and to go my way without being mol

yne said, in a tone not without

she sped down a passage. Before speaking, Wayne passed his hand a

a matter of fact, you're demanding my pledge to

spran

e law right up to its hilt, and your duty as a judge is performed. Sure

ill think you a man dang

do

ion of the courts that have judged yo

ost to the poor dog who comes under your roof for

figure cross the darkness. Could his pursuers be waiting outside for their chance to spring on h

concluded, his glance shifting rapidly betw

plied. "My first duty is toward my

you know you've sentenced wrongly. Fate has shown you

ence and yet feel that I cou

re you going

ct me to do but hand

ow

e look he fixed on the neat, middle-aged man doing his best to be cool and collected Wayne glanc

at Greenport, but I could strangl

u are now? As it is, there is a possibility of a miscarriage of justice, of which one day you may get t

time with a distinct flutter of a white dress. He could only think it was some one getting help together; and while he went on to

f doing violence unl

u are driv

urther claim upon me. I must fight against it single-handed-and I'll do it. I shall spare neith

t. As if in response to this challenge a tall, white figure s

ck and silent, as she beckoned to him, over the h

, who continued to beckon noiselessly, fluttering for an instant close to the threshold of the room, then withdrawing suddenly to the very edge of the terrace, waving a

. "My sympathy with you is very sincere. If I can get you

s flight over grass and gravel was like nothing so much as that of a bird skimming through the air. Ford's own steps crunched loudly on the stillness of the night, so that if any one lay in ambush he knew he

t where he had entered it from the right, she turned to the left, keeping away from the mountains and parallel with the

over it so lightly that Ford would have found it hard to keep her in sight if from time to time she had not paused and waite

not the main body of the forest, but one of its long arms, thrust down over hill and valley, twisting its way in among villages a

ey had been ten or fifteen minutes on the way, and that they might have gone a mile, when, after waiting for him to come almost near enough to speak to her, she began moving in a dire

m the mountain raised a black dome amid the serried points of the sky-line. The dryad-like creature beckoned him forward with her scarf, until suddenly she stopped with the deci

t. There are biscuits somewhere, in a box. G

closed the door upon him. Standing inside in the darkness, he heard the gr