The Comanche Reflex (Comanche, Okla.), Vol. 21, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, September 30, 1921 Page: 7 of 8
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THE CGMAN'CIIE REFLEX
H£SS-
co:
That path I It lad oat of an old
world Into a now Peering through tho
bushes bo aparad a harried fiance to
w'hrd tbo low place In tho fence where
the path croeeed The stars peopled
tho place with memorise A girl with
bosket round frank ores tho son
bonnet caught by an overhanging
thah tbo carl that wouldn't behave—
they D camo to Ufa oat of tho
obadows So many things bad hap-
pened since ho walked that path with
her that It seemed long long ago and
h waa only yesterday
‘llte picture dissolved A breath' be-
tween steps It bad held him and ho
off on the long lanky Jog Tho
Dry had brought a half longing to
traverse tho path again bat pradeace
warned him to keep away Tbo sharp-
wet eyes In tbo Platwooda would bo
eo that path at sunrise -
' If tbo night did bold the menace ho
feared — that la ao many words bad
threatened— It would undoubtedly de-
velop in or ‘ near tbo three-gabled
cabin Aa be drew near the place bis
mastery of woodcraft showed in his
approach' r The bushes were' not-allowed
to give np a sound
- A light shone through the front wln-
dows of the fualq room of the cabin
He wondered at this It made him
uneasy for the evening was gone and'
the ripe night Come Not' many rain
dies were alight at that hour-'In -the
Flatwoods He sank back nmlerJhq
hushes and' crawled nearer The mus-
lin curtains were drawn but no
fckadowa crossed them The stillness
within vaguely disquieted him' He
was searching fyr a way to crawl a
little nearer when the low tones 'of
” the cello brokp' across the silence and-
he knew the girl- was keeping her lone-ly-
vigil beside -the stricken old man
i Then came thg voice from a throat
the gods had kissed Each tone found
a kindred sound in the' cello and
coaxed It forth to flutter out upon the
listening night In a lustrous witchery -'
that somehow brought to the fancy of
the listener under the-bushes a pic-
ture of soft-winged swallows skim-
ming over sun-kissed waters
The figure of a man slid into the
candle glow that beat the night back
for a space outside’ the window —
trim compact jaunty — the man he
ceased to wonder nr He' glanced
boat palled himself together mode
half petulant step toward the door
The man la Xhe underbrush stif-
fened slowly rose 1 noiseless u
moke Tho man approaching the
door seemed te heel tuts stopped The
ether sank down again la the bushes
Tbo hood of flowing hair rocked bock
and forth acrooa tho curtains
It waa a st ruined moment a threo-
hnsdod game la tho dark an Intense
throe-angled drama of Ufo- mayhap
of more then Ufa If tho honor of a
woman -te more than that
The man hesitating before the door
had the next pUy What held hie
bahdf The ooogT Perhaps hie plane
were not yet ripened to the full He
made another seep toward the door
topped Jerked his shoulders up sav-
agely glared 9 beat brought hie eye e
heck to the racking shadow swore
softly turned ood stalked silently
way down the path toward Fallen'
Rock ' ’ ” ’
CHAPTER IX
The Man He Had Expected to Find
Prowling There
hod expected to And prowling there
The picture was gone He hod little
ear for the music that followed The
' hand of the listener at the window
stole op against the light and dragged
off his hat The man crouching In the
bushes could make out the crisp locks
that clung close to the bared head
The song ended The last soft har-
mony of the cello lost Itself among
the listening trees There came a muf-
fled shuffling inside the cabin a huge
shadow as of two figures bulked to-
gether crossed the curtain of the
window at the west side of the door
Tffle Pearlhunter knew what was hap-
pening — the girl leading the stricken
man to his bed But his eyes were
upon the still figure outside the win-
dow One shadow qme back a slim
trim shadow there followed the
creaking of a chair a bead hung
with loose hair rocked back and forth
across the curtain — and the man who
crouched under the bushes knew the
girl was alone with her thoughts
The man at the window watched
the shadow Yt seemed to rouse him
—to recall fancies that the song had
Ones to Every Man
For some distance down the branch
the Pearlhunter followed the night
prowler Within sound of the water-
r foil he followed him and 'then turned
’ hack toward the cabin of the three
gables He had corrte’1ihto the path
and was passing the pool when the
light -went out In the windows He
was sorrv for ttaf He ha d-hoped to
have speech with-the girh TJ'oriorrow
would be too late Tomorrow- the law
would be on his trnjl — and a pair of
eyes more terrible' than the law ’
Leaving' the path ’ he' stepped’ out
upon the flat’ rock’ that Jutted from
the bank Into the pool Once he
glanced at the cabin then sprang to
the bank and went on up the path
It was far the hardest thing he had
ever tried to do In his life to go round
to that east window It was partly
open Ills breast was pounding his
ears 'humming'1 He forced himself np
to the window and -brought his lips
close to the sah ’ - - e
“Wild nose!"
He heard her start and spring up
In bed Then all was breathless still
“Wild Rose!”
The bed creaked He heard her
soft feet moving about over the floor
A - muffled shadow came toward the
’window — a shadow and a whisper
‘Tenrlhunter!”
lie reached his hand inside A white
arm and slender fingers came out of
the gloom and found his palm The
shadow on the outside and the shadow
on tho inside drew closer the one
searching what that word would be
Tle 1 tan swallowed hard “I sold
tl’e nine Moon to Louie Solomon to-
day — five thousand dollars”
He felt a- thrill in the girl’s fingers
“This nftemoon Louie Solomon was
murdered and the pearl stolen
She shuddered took her hand out of
his and fumbled the looe garment
about her shoulders but made no an-
swer Her mind was unconsciously
prepared for terrible things
“They accused me of the crime !”
The girl gasped Her hands flut-
tered toward her throat
“You !” :
“Me” he answered strained and
slow “I’ve come to tell you myself
because — because — you trusted me
The mob had 'the rope around my
throat But the sheriff got me away
and put me In Jail I broke out and
came to tell you I couldn’t bear for
you to think — ”
She stood perfectly still Inside the
window He mistook her silence He
laid his hand 00 the window ledge and
tried to drive his eyes through the
gloom to her face
“Please believe me !” he pleaded He
couldn’t have pleaded harder had he
faced judge and Jury Instead of mere-
ly a ragged girl of the Flatwoods “I
didn’t kill Louie Solomon I didn’t
take the Blue Moon — ”
The white arms reached out toward
him
“No ! No ! I do believe you !”
Her face had come close to the win-
dow He could see her eyes — like star
spots in the dark — big with startle-
ment for they had caught sight of his
tattered blouse the dried blood on-
him and clotted in his hair With a
cry her hands went to his face
“Why your head is bleeding! And
your face!”
“Scratches! Nothing but scratches !”
he hastily reassured in tones that cau-
tion held low pained at her distress
pleased too his eyes alight
“But this one on your head I It’s a
cut — deep — and still bleeding” Her
voice was steadier “Top must let me
bind up this one”
He glanced toward Fallen Rock
“We da’sn’t risk a light” he said
“For your sake we da’sn’t
Jhe shrank hack foio tho reran -Ho
drew half 0 atrp nearer laid hia arm
on tho ledge and stood fumbling Iho
easement lost In thought
“And yet I've that to do that must
have light" h mused more to him-
self than to her raisin his head after
a time and glancing toward the dim
otllne Inside the window “la there
a Mind on your window that would
hide a candle T"
-Why— yes — “ oho answered pos-
ited and stow
It was a tong time before he spoke
again Had the light served she might
have seen In hi eyes the struggle ho
e'en going through He rubbed his
drawn lips togeloer to loosen them
“Will you frost me In your room?"
The girl started Her hands clutched
oarb other She knew It waa not to
hare his wound dressed that he
asked -Short aa her acquaintance
with him had been she knew It -waa
not- that It was no light reason that
had drlveo him to ask such a prlvh
lege It gripped her shook her hot
strangely enough did not frighten her
4 “I’ll trust you"
Not often In a man's life doe ha
henr such gracious words Nature la
not lavish of such gifts The shoul-
der of the Pearlhunter lifted Tho
droop left bl head
“May I route now? Tho night la go-
ing The moon will ho op la another
two hour"
"Teer - x
She stood forth? bock la tho gi
(Is slipped lightly In over tbo alii
"Please draw the blind before
Ught the candle" ho directed
Ho sow her seta reach op along the
casement The Mlod cone - down
within touching dints nee of each other
they stood la pitch darkness: a man
aud a woman — a ton©— wrapped In tho
silent secrecy of the deep woods He
heard her quick breath' His heart
heat ‘up IntO’hts throat Her gar-
ment brushed- against him He heard
her slippered feet feeling their way
across the floor
There came the guarded scrape of
1 mateh A sputtering tardy flame-
’ y r r -
-your areas -to tS
Woudering she opened tae drawer place about 70'
of the small stand under the mirror ry It V - -
and placed pen and Ink before him She was looking ftlm hyr eyes
He picked op the pen awkwardly— o frank and wlde-ejre thaj’had no
flab -spear an oar or 0 six-gun fitted need to narrow
hi haod better— dipped It lo the Ink "I haven’t" she answered “but I I
laid tha draft upon the vtand squared ' can make one”
h)mself and after no araall patna suc-( “I advise you to'
eroded In writing the word “Pearlhunt- lit laid the revolver on the'atand
er“ arrow the back It waa qulta evl- and turned back to her The time bad
drotly relief when the unaccustomed
task waa over lie laid the pen down j
as -If glad to he quit of It and handed
tho draft to th- I I
was laid to the wlCt‘of a candle nu a
small stand in the corner under a mir-
ror' ’ The ’wick - cn tight smoldered
I flared to full 'strength The wonder
I 6f her - hair and -throat and arum
sprung out of the night She Inid the
hurnf match upon the candlestick and'1
t
“Forgive Me That I Come Before You
Like— This”
has eyes And
wood 8 tomorrow1
turned A gasp broke from her at the
sight of him — tattered hatless
bruised and bloody
“Forgive me that I come before you
like — this” he stammered
An Impulsive step brought her to
his side
"Forgive me I” she repeated her
voice still a-quiver her face pity-tendered
“You must let me dress your
hurts”
He shaded the candle with his body
while she raised the curtain over the
door and slipped out to the kitchen
She was back- before he could have
believed It carrying a basin of cold
water and some strips of muslin all
of which she had managed to get to-
gether In the deep dark
Drawing a chair near the candle
she made him sit down — a quite obvi-
ous necessity if she waa to reach his
head But Bhe didn’t stop with wash-
ing the clots out of his hair and bind-
ing up the scalp wound The cuts and
bruises on his face and chest came In
for their share When her ministra-
tions were over he was another man
All unsuspecting the girl did other
things for him that night besides
washing his wounds Nothing can so
refine a man as the ministry of a good
woman’s hands It never leaves him
quite as It found him He can never
again be quite the same His life out
he will be a grain the finer for it So
great is the grace of nature that no
man is denied that touch Once to
every man it comes — to recreate to
make-him new to call him up to his
higher seif It came that night to the
Pearlhunter
The girl seemed to lose ail fear of
Jitm to forget that he was In her bed-
room in the secret night She even
smiled a contented smile of satisfac-
tion as he rose and stretched himself
He fumbled In his tattered blouse and
drew forth the draft
“Have you a pen and ink?” he asked
The night his voice his manner again the voice
“It means u-i' havo flvo thousand
dollars In the hank" ho said “and any
body that takes this draft there with
my“— bo hesitated— “name across the
hack can get tbo money Tbo hanker
aid so"
Her face showed how little aho
guessed what hla words were leading
np to It waa some time before he went
on - Tro askin’ you to keep It" ho
aid - “And If anything should happen
to mo Im askin’ you to keep tho mon
ey too"
Tbo girl caught hla tattered sleeve
"No I No I” she said “Don’t say—
that!"
Ho looked down at tho haod on hi
aleev picked It np held It an In
st ant suffered her to take It away
“1 know who killed Louie Solomon"
ho said slowly “I know who has tho
Bin Moon— absolute knowledge but
ao proof Hell bo on my trail tomor-
row and hla eye am tho moot danger-
ous ayes In tho Flatwoods He’d ask
nothing better than a chance to kill
mo And 1 am any mb s game new"
It le marvelous how a woman's to-
taltion will drive at the very heart of
a matter that puszlea men She saw at
a flash what had escaped the wits of
rite whole Tillage
“You mean tho— the — timber buyer"
site’ sold--
' T mean'- the' timber buyer" he an-
swered with a quick look at her “Hla
eyes see everything You must destroy
these bloody rags and you roust rako
the yard In the morning Rake tho
east yard first and then the west Im
not aiming to leave any tracks but
It’s-so dark I can’t -make sure" He
wa talking rapidly “I’m not expectin’
to leave the Flatwoods and — you un-
less they crowd me hard not till I’ve
njn him down and found my proof
But the odds are against me If any-
thing should happen I want" you to
have this money And the mlniite you
hear they’ve got me yoq must' go ’
straight to the sheriff Dpn’t risk the
lvo-is another hour Put yohrself un
'ii' his protection nnd tell him why
Jt e tfie money transferred to ' you
at d — send for that surgeon"
Tlie tears heat their way up Into the
‘pTTs eyes In ' spite ' of her and ran
down her'cheeks' Her head bent low
It was the one thing he knew not how
to face' His hard life hadn’t taught
him that The tears hurt him What
had caused them? Maybe It was just
a woman’s way Maybe he had done
wrong to come to her- with hla-cuts-and
blood and danger ’
She raised hei- face after a time He
drew a long breath dropped his hand
to his side stared In astonishment
She was smiling — smiling through the
tears — and the dimples were bnck The
ways of woman — utterly beyond him
nnd past finding out! She smoothed
the draft out in her’ hands and was
looking at him over it N
“I wonder if I ought to take it” she
mused to herself ns much as to 1dm
ne took the paper out of her hands
folded it and with a masterful nir
thrust it under a fold of the loose gar-
ment across her bosom
“I haven’t a soul in the world to
leave it to hut — you”
His slow eyes left her face and
stared hard at the basin of red water
Stepping over to the stand he stooped
and snuffed the candle The huge
shadow of him filled the room Turn-
ing away after he had the candle
again at full flame ids eyes came back
to the thoughtful face of his compan-
ion “That revolver I saw yesterday on
the mantel — is it loaded?”
“I think so”
She looked up in curious half sur-
prise as if the question had brought
her thoughts back from afar
“May I see it?”
“Why— yes— ”
He shaded the candle again while
she lifted the curtain over the door
paused a moment to listen to the
heavy breathing of the sleeper In the
west room crossed to the mantel over
the fireplace and brought him the re-
volver - Several minutes the man spared to
Its Inspection: testing the action of
the hammer cylinder revolution and
trigger pull replacing the somewhat
corroded caps on the tubes with nee
ones even packing fresh grains of
powder into the tubes where b
thought necessary
’ “Do you know how It use it?” he
asked looking up from his inspection
“I’ve shot lots of squirrels with It
sometimes clear in the treetops” she
answered “And once I killed a hawk
that pestered the chickens”
' A grin puckered his eyes for a mo-
ment then his brows lowered An-
other question a hard one had to be
asked that set him raking over his
slim stock of words for ways to ask it
“Do girls — I mean — have you got any
com to go and they both know IL
For a while they stood silent One
bin hand reached toward her bat ho
drew It hack
“WU1 yon bo ready to raise tho
blind when I blow out tho condlof bo
Mid at last
8h went to the window and tbo
next moment tbo room was In dark-
ness Two fluttering spots of white In the
gloom rolled op the blind found the
strings that held It and whipped theta
Into a knot Then the girl stepped
back The man crawled through the
window— with extreme care not to
cor tho ground outside
It Is past all knowing how her heads
happened to get Into hla- He bent his
head and laid hla face upon them
suffered them to slip oat of hla flagon
ot last and turned away
Ho was goat on the Intent gone
a a shadow goes— never knowing
that for long and long the doll window
framed a white feco listening for
tom sound of him to como bdt out
of tho night
(To bo continued)
' Tho republican slate committee
reaoluted in favor of the national
administration but no member from
theoil belt insisted cpi putting in
an oil ciaus
K3W TO GET KID OF THIU
AMD STAY RIO CFTKXB-
N einrs kbits se srrewhinff
around la bad all atsM
Buga to worry sod Mm
A raw dlaOTwy whhh will
bl oarlas to bamaa rr-ryah-m la wow
off rrwl to render of ibia paper by Tho
Bugo Products Co 420 Mortal li
Hi Lou la Mo Manufacturer of lb
hmmia Nora Buffo bbaaca tha Bod Boa
rid Mdl of tbo ever
Dr D T McGregor
Osteopathic Physician and
1 Surgeon-
Office Phone 422 Res' Phone 435
O’NEIL BUILDING
DUNCAN OKLAHOMA
Buffo Bbot
parky bod buff
Buffo Sheets do Sway
dreaded drudgery of toorlo
doping boda with doaaravua sod vtao
molll off imoUm here re ns Dub la pos-
dora preparations etc which every
bourawlfa bnowo usually paly rid tbo
bust temporarily
Duffd Sheet keep tho Bed Buys sway
Buio Sbeeta ora tbo modem method
of keeping: beds from becoming Intro fa
with Bed Bugs tbua Insuring aluep bod
comfort thereby siding health
Buffo Sheets hr clean and sanitary
Bufo Sheet bra mfa and sura
Btiffo Sheet ara ebay to uae simply lay
b Bugo Sheet on your bed aprtnffa uodar
mnttreaa bad your Bod Buff worries bra
coded for months
Buro Sheets bra mod of ebemirolly
tree tod felt paper bnd bra reinforced
with bn extra covering of popor T ho
odor from tho treated sheet which
Bed Bugs eonnot stand penetrate bll
crevicea bad parts of tho bed therefore
driving the base bwey yet It beta b b
mfeguerd to the ueer The odor over
which one Bleep when ooe'r bed is equipp-
ed with b Bugo Sheet -being bear Bra I
to tho human system
Buga Sheet ara mad In three risen
sod bra priced as follows pares! postpaid
Bloaio Bed Bias $1M
Three-qnartor Bed Stas lM
Double Bed 81a 17S '
Hotels sad Rooming Houses bra
avttod to write for quantity prices
Kindly mention this paper
rd erlng
DR EB ALEXANDER
Optometriat
' t '
Eye Examined— i—Clawer Fined
Barren Builds DUNCAN OKLA
V
Dr Andrew Gillespie
Graduate Veterinarian '
“Office 0 K Wagon Yard
Phone 685- Duncan Okla - it
1 '
Duncan Abstract Co
E O SLOAN Owner
’ i t
Phone 49 i -
maps FDR SALE
'DUNCAN OKLAHOMA
‘ Dr WARNER D 0
THE EYESIGHT SPECIALIST
Visits' Comanche Regularly
Office with Weakley Drug store
Next visit Monday Oct 3
GLASSES THAT FIT THE EYE
:s
R W ASBURY
i ARBER
Hi t iin-J Cold Baths
G A Kincaid
Oil Leases and Farms
COMANCHE OKLA
Dr J H LINZ Y
PHYSICIAN and SURGEON
e
Special Attention Given to
Cancers Venereal Diseases
and Granulated Eye Lids
Office at IDEAL DRUG STORE
COMANCHE OKLAHOMA
sjc sf:
UNIQUE CLEANERS AND
DYERS
!-
!
Suits Called for and Delivered
We Specialize in Altering
Located at Lemon Barber Shop
PHONE 172
I
I
I
!
i
!
REBECICA LODGE
Will meet 1st and 3rd Friday
Nights in Each Month
All Visiting Members are Cor-
dially Invited to -Attend
jmuiramirt8r
THE DALLAS NEWS
JAMES HESS Circulator Comanche Okla
THE NEWSIEST THE BEST THE MOST RELIABLE— That’s AIL
COMANCHE BATTERY CO
Willarad Sales and Service
Your Patronage Solicited
Located in Felix Gibson Building
Telephone 45
they’ll comb these j and manner of the alert keen woodsman
G W ABSHER
Any Kind of Concrete Work
All Werk Guaranteed
Estimates Furnished Free
SEE ME FOR SAND
By Yard or Car
Comanche
Okla
YOU’LL BE CONGRATULATED
If you buy your Groceries from us
We have a full stock wedded to qual-
ity and at prices that will make you
brace up and place your order now
LEON GARDNER The Grocer
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The Comanche Reflex (Comanche, Okla.), Vol. 21, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, September 30, 1921, newspaper, September 30, 1921; Comanche, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1729657/m1/7/?q=music: accessed July 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.