Page:Honore Willsie--Judith of the godless valley.djvu/320

 lips tightening. "I'll see to that! Have you always been a Mormon, Mr. Nelson?"

"Brought up in it. And I've brought my children up in it. Judith told us about the rotten trick they did you over in Lost Chief. What are you going to do about it?"

"Get them!" replied Douglas. "That is, after I find Judith. I think I know the men who did it, and the sooner they get out of our valley, the more comfortable they'll be and so will I."

"But where is that poor old man?" cried Nelson. "Have you looked for him?"

"I was trying to get a line on him from Scott Parsons when her mother brought word Judith was gone." Douglas paused and gave Elijah a straight look. "I wouldn't stop to look for any one on earth, if Judith needed me."

"Judith can take care of herself better than that old man," insisted Elijah.

"Nothing to it!" grunted Douglas. "He's been in the cow country forty years. Not but what I know it was a frightful thing to leave him. But it can't be helped."

"What shall you do about a church now?" asked Mr. Nelson.

"Build it again for the hounds to burn again! If I believed in a God I'd say he was off his job as far as I'm concerned."

"Humph!" exclaimed Elijah. "If I don't miss my guess, the Almighty is directing your business these days as he never has before. You are just about doing what He says and flattering yourself it's your own plan. God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform."

"I wish I could believe it," muttered Douglas, starting for the door.

"Now, I shifted saddle and pack for you to two horses