The Trail Horde eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 325 pages of information about The Trail Horde.

The Trail Horde eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 325 pages of information about The Trail Horde.

“Oh!” she said; “will it never end?”

“It can’t last much longer, Miss Wharton,” he smiled.  “It has held on longer, now, than it should at this season.”

The sound of his voice reassured her—­it was calm, quiet, confident.  Some color came back into her face, and she smiled.

“I believe I was beginning to get the doldrums,” she said.

“That wouldn’t be startling, Miss Wharton.  Life in a line camp does become monotonous.  It is to be expected.  It becomes tragic.  Also, it has a humorous side—­viewed from a distance—­chiefly afterward.  In the fall, men go into line camps fast friends.  We always pair them that way.  Any other method would be fatal, for when the men come out in the spring they invariably are deadly enemies.  You can imagine what would happen if we sent into a line cabin two men who did not think well of each other.”

She shuddered and snuggled closer to him, letting her head fall to his shoulder.  A pulse of pity stirred him, and he permitted her head to stay where she had laid it, while he gently smoothed her hair.

He would have done as much for any woman in her position; the emotion that filled him was entirely that of pity.  She was vain and frivolous—­employing every artifice, but she was a woman despite that, and entitled, in the present circumstances, to what comfort and sympathy he could give her.

However, to Della, the moment of victory was at hand.  She had been a trifle worried just an instant before; and the white world outside had seemed to threaten to rush in and crush out her life—­the life she loved so well—­and she had been just a little afraid.

But she had not been too frightened to note Lawler’s sympathy—­the quick glow in his eyes, and the atmosphere of tenderness that suddenly seemed to envelop him.  It was surrender, she thought, the breaking down of that quiet, steady reserve in him which had filled her with resentment.

She caught his free hand and held it tightly, while she turned her head so that she could look into his eyes.

“Lawler,” she said then, in a low voice; “I lied to you.”

“Lied?” He stiffened, dropped his hand from her head and looked straight at her.

She laughed, lightly.  “Yes; I lied, Lawler.  The day we met in Willets—­you remember?  Well, I loved you from that moment, Lawler.  You looked so big and fine and strong.  I just couldn’t help it.  I did overhear Gary Warden telling those two men to cut the fence; and I didn’t want them to set all those cattle adrift.  But I didn’t intend to come here.  I started out to find your ranch—­the Circle L. I thought I would find you there, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to the Two Diamond right away—­that you would have to keep me at your house until the storm was over.  But I got lost, and when I saw the light in the window, here, I knew I had better go toward it.  But I came because I wanted to be near you, Lawler.  And now—­” She laughed and tried to draw him toward her.

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Project Gutenberg
The Trail Horde from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.