BAD END VALLEY

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 13244, 21 January 1941, Page 3

BAD END VALLEY

( lI.U’TRI! VII barker WAITS V.X, clay near snndown. when *. ‘ nIP out of the shack, she alRllth iuto Cal Barker. He startmCS! '1 as if in astonishment, although.'' had Ruth but known it, thc ir meeting was no accident As nntt p r of fact. Barker had been Waiting outside for the best part ot I* hour in the hope of her coming out. “Hello!” be said, smiling into her ovf-s. “What’s your name?’ ' S he looked at him and noted the undeniable handsomeness of his clear-cut features. . Tm Ruth Nelson. You re the stranger who came here a couple days ago?” “I'm the stranger—and the name s Cal Barker.” He gave a little laugh, consciously charming. “Well, I’ll say I never expected to see anything like you in this God forsaken place! How long have you lived here?” “All my life.” “Well, that’s not so long—but too long for a girl like you to be wasted here. Why. with your looks you oughta he where folks can have a look at yuh—lots of folks. Yuh oughta lie in a big city among the lights and the life. You oughta be i„°St. Louis—no, St. Louis ain’t good enough for yuh. . . . New Orleans—• that’s where youh should be!. Ever been there?” “I've never been further than Apache Creek, in my life —an’ I was only there once.’;’ i “Apache Creek? Where’s that!” “Oh, it’s a town about fifty miles to the north-east. Guess you wouldn’t call it a town even—jest a sort of village. But it seemed pretty big an’ busy to me. They got three stores there—an’ one's a big chain-store . He shook his head consolingly. “So you’ve never been past Apache Creek, huh? Well, you poor little girl! Never mind, some clay you’ll see New Orleans. It’s the swellest city in the world, an’ the women there are the classiest in the world —but you'd make ’em look like ten cents.” Some thing in the way he looked at her as he delivered the compliment made her blush and look away. She found something a little frightening about him. and yet he was attractive. What is more, he was open in his admiration; and Ruth, being a woman, had no objections to being admired, :: ■ > ■ ,; “I gotta go in -now,” she said haltingly. ‘‘But you’ve just come out!” “I know—but He waved aside her confused protests. ; i “Say, you can’t run away an’ leave 1110 like that! Lgt me tell yuh, this >er valley ain’t so entertainin’ that I "ant to pass up the chance of talkin’ to a girl as pretty as you——” . She was blushing furiously, and incensed at herself for doing so. Oood-bye!” she stammered, and, tinning quickly, ran indoors. Barker watched her go through cyes that smiled consideringly. Bad Bud \ alley, lost between the mountains and the desert though it was, "as not totally lacking in means of recreation. . Baiker had plenty of time on his lauds, and it was clear to him that could be spent most pleasantly in if company of Ruth Nelson. He ''U a connoisseur of women, and he J 3 k 5, tllat Ruth was unusually de„jla „ e ' bad met “mountain f, S f° re , but never one with c}n. nebß beauty and unspoiled th„ lln He sought her with 1 stali-- Ut * 6SS bislstence of a snake ti m a ra bbit, and they met many. w me t m ““ ;<*<>>■»• He had as « e n° a decislon - He wanted Ruth he haa 35 Setl:i Seaton ’s money, and he ipfi U P bis mind that, when he y with the one, wen. Ake the other with bim as a UttL i°* hei part ’ was more than Barker by hss attentions, men to ' 6<l 311 bis experience of woBarker her interest ~and women &0t ° f exp erience with beared as qhess, fcuih ’’ tc v/as 111 tJ 'e wilderTie gambled wa 1 - 01 hard t 0 impress ‘ Ho *as good , f mau-of-the-world tract any w ' °° klng enough to at-. had a and his manners Were in mai and c °nfidence that the wild vaiw contrast t 0 those of alle3 - She bed never

BY W. B. B^NNERMAN

met anybody like him before, and In brought with him the glamour o

cities —of places of fashion and luxury that were so remote from the life she knew that she barely dared to dream about them.

She was immensely flattered that a man, who—as she thought—moved easily among the mighty one of the outer world, should pay such attention to her. She knew that Danny, in his inarticulate way, and King, with undisguised brutality, admired her, but this was different. It seemed to her, that Barker, by the mere fact of seeking her society put her on a level of equality with these great ladies of fashion whom, she believed, he was used to mixing with.

Since her first meeting with the stranger, she had seen less and less of Danny. She felt a little remorseful about that, but Danny seemed very insignificant beside the fascinating Barker. Moreover, she could not help seeing that the gambler, for all his soft speech, was not a man to be trifled with. She knew him instinctively to he a fighter—one who would battle to the last gasp with the courage of a cornered wolf should the emergency arise. And Danny hardly measured up to that. Luckily for Barker, Garrick was very busy these days—too busy to pay many visits to Sam Nelson’s shack and hold his customary 1 “parties.” . The result was that, as yet, King did not know he had a rival in the field. Otherwise, Barker’s suit might not have progressed so smoothly. He wore the girl down with the gentle persistence of an expert angler playing a fish. He knew too much to frighten her by attempting to rush her off her feet. He worked cleverly on her sympathy to pave the way for love-making that was to come later. Watching her re-acting, just as he had hoped she would, Barker smiled his icy smile and congratulated himself. H§ was quite sure he would take with him both the things he desired when -the time came to leave.

(To be continued)