Where the Trail Divides

the brown of earth that filled the spaces between-like the longitudinal stripes of a prairie gopher or on the back of a bob-white.

ground whitened from the lavishly scattered pollen of the frayed tassels. In the dooryard itself was a dug well with a mound of weed-covered clay by its side and a bucket hanging from a pulley over its mouth. It was deep, for on this upland water was far beneath the surface, and midway of its depth, a frontier refrigerat

d about the place. With them into this land of silence had come a mongrel collie. For a solitary month he had stood guard; then one night, somewhere in the distance, in the east where flowed the Big Sioux, had sounded the lon

of late August. Silent as a mute was he as to what he had seen; ela

he queried when

n-browned autocrat, nod

ig man got clumsily to all fours and, p

y through the sun and the dust; climbed slowly, the tiny brown arms clasped tightly about his neck, down

py, kid," h

p, daddy," comma

can't s

an. Sing 'N

My breath's all

apa; prett

rough and unmusical as that of a crow, echoing and re-echoing in the narrow space-bent over at last, touched his bearded lips softly to the winsome, motionless br

his old hammer shotgun, and, loading both barr

beat scorchingly hot thereon, he returned to the doorstep, lit his pipe, drew his weather-stained sombrero low over his face, through half-closed eyes inspected the lower lands all ab

n beside him, her

she requested steadily.

face the tobacco glowed more

repeated Margaret

th. The great bushy head no

" he

saw t

well, after all, for you to know." One hand indicated the

d y

second." Puff, puff. "

thinking of baby. Th

eel the quiver of her body against his, the involu

me. Perhaps-Oh, Sa

ss. In the tiny patch of Indian corn each individual plant drooped, almost like a sensate thing, beneath the rays, each broad leaf contracted, like a roll of parchment, tight upon the parent stalk. In sympathy the colour s

; but neither thought of sleep now. As passed the slow time and the sun sank lower and lower, came the hour of supper; but likewise hunger passed them by. Something very like fascination held them there on the doorstep, gazing out, out at motionless i

am

es

saw,

g pressure

the eyes-out there at

breath tightened. "They're all about: a score at least-I don

again-the eyes! Oh,

the hand pressure so tight that, although she made no sound, the blood left the woman's fingers. "Tell me you

on

ll me you forgi

e you,

in a dozen places. No living being was visible, not a sound broke the stillness of

hey mustn't take either of us alive. The

and. The last l

lves. They wouldn't come this

fiercely beneath the grip that kept her back. "I

rga

st, I

her there. She's safe unless we sh

should happen to

t Yankton, and they'll co

Sam,

man being could give ans

distant conflagration. For and eternity previous it seemed to the silent watchers there had been no move; now again at last the grass stirred; a corn plant rustled where there was no breeze; out into t

s voice was strained, unnatural. "They'l

wonders, it was the

n at least show them

land-my

g to his feet. "Oh, how can you forgive me, can God forgive me!" Tight in his arms he kissed he

u, man; a

assive before the darkened doorway of the cabin, looking straight before him, God alone knows what thoughts whirling in his brain. Again in front of him sounded and resounded the alien call. The dark figures against the sky took life, moved forward. Simultaneously, on the thatch of the cabin roof, appeared two other figures identical with those in front. Foot by foot, silent as death, they climbed up, reached the ridge pole, crossed to the other side. On, on advanced the figures in front. Down the easy incline of the roof came the two in the rear, reached the edge, paused waiting. Of a sudden, out of the maize patch, out of the grass, seemingly out of space itself, came a new cry-the trilling

roke the silence. Within the darkness of the cabin

lled a vo

ans

peated mo

wer of voice

a woman's figure; brea

me, tremulous, wailing;

roats. Again the earth vomited the demons forth. Naked, breech-clouted, garbed in fragments of white men's dress, they swarmed into the clearing, into the cabin, about the two prisoners in their midst. Passively, patiently waiting for hours, of a sudden they seemed possessed of a frenzy of haste, of savage abandon, of drunken exhilaration in the cunning that had won the ga

ng had but whetted their appetite for the finale. Savagery personified, cruelty unqualified, deadly hate, primitive lust-every black passion lurking in the recesses of the human mind stalked brazenly into the open, stood forth defiant, sinist

the swift little river; then turned north, leaving the abandoned, desolated settlement, the ruined cornfields, as tokens of their handiwork, as a message to other predatory bands who might follow, as a challenge to the white man who they knew would return. As passed the slow hours toward morning they moved swiftly and more swiftly. The gliding walk became a dog trot, almost a lope; their arms swung back and forth in unison, the pat, pat of their moccasined feet was like the steady drip of eaves from a summer rain, the

with a throb in its depths that spoke lo