The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1890-10-08

| Impossible as St0ner was, he fell
q little startled BY the sight.
"Where in the devil did you com,
from, sheriff. Anything up in thil
part OF the countryp"
| "0h, no; not particle. I've been
visiting my old school in the noun.
tains, and tosk the short trail home
down Cayucos."
| This was plausible enough, fol
there was a blind trail that entered
the canon just east Of the angle oi
the house. Stoner felt . little rs
lieved.
won't ye put up, and stay with
s all night?"
mo, Mr.. Stoner, I must 20 down
to Kestral to see friends there. it,
only an hours ride"
shat settles it," thought Stoner.
"Plenty of stout fellows 10 use as
sherlff's deputies there. He has
probably stumbled on traces, and
Is going for help" lie sat and
smoked, and slipped his hand back
under his coat. EASY TO shoot the
fellow" he said 10 himself.
swell, good-by, Stoner," said
Warren, suddenly; II suppose the
beach road is as good as everp"
'.Perfectly safe only when you
cross Toro Creek, keep On the sand
bar. It's as hard as iron. | crossed
there to-day"
"Thank you. Adios."
Simple, smiling speech, those
words Of Stoner's. and yet they were
intended to send Warren to his death
more surely and safely than BY bull.
let Of pistol or pellet Of secret poi-
son.
Stoner took an entra twig of
brandy and went to his rest. War
rem rode down the rugged hill to
the bottom Of the ravine, then turn
Cd seaward, and at last the wide
gulch opened broadly to the shore
Of the Pacific.
The cliffs were fifty 10 three hun
dred feet high, and full Of wsve.,
worn caves. Warren drew rein on
the beach, and for fully ten min
utes watched the ocean sway and
rise. His thoughts throbbed with
dreams Of Tessa. He would take
her away from her narrow aud hurt
full surroundings. He would lift
her INTO happier and better eircum-
stances. BE would force Stoner's
consent, marry her, and maks her
happy. :.
\ he rode rapidly south, and in half
an hour the mouth of the Toro ap-
peared, in the midst Of sand-dunes.
breakers rolling in, and the steady
river flowing out. Here was the
long sand-bar, ten feet wide, and
stretching across hardly an inch
higher than the watery surface. j
L Warren was beginning to have
some suspicious of Stoner, but mot
such as TO lead him 10 doubt the
simple directions he had received,
The sand-bar looked safe, but with.
in few days the sea, as Stoner
knew, had swept il nightly, torn
out the long-compscted bar, and
placed instead Q quivering mass Of
auicksand, so treacherous that not
even a light-footed rabbit. could
cross without being swallowed up
and dragged bodily down. War
rem rode swiftly forward; be had
crossed sand-bars hundrsisof times.
Some horses would have BEEN wiser,
but the animal he rode had been bred
in the valley. g.
The approach to the bar was hard
for q few rods as he galloped on.
Suddenly, in one heart-breaking,
breathless descent, noiseless but un-
utterably dreadful, Tom Warren's
horse went down, down; and the
soft, Shiny sand came up 10 his
name. He shrieked out that ghastly
CRY Of appeal and agony that . dss-
perate, dying horse will sometimes
utter.
Tom knew the peril. He had
thrown his feet from the stirrups
and drawn them up at the first down.
ward throb, but the sand began %
grasp him also. He threw himself
Rat ON his breast and tore himself
loose from the poor animal, over
whose back the mingled sand and
water were running, % il rolled
from side 10 side in Intellectual
struggle 10 escape.
Tom spread himself out over d
much surface ss possible, but slow.
", resistlessly, the mighty force
drew him downward. The hard
beach was only ten feet distant, but
practically The chasm was impas-
sable. III. felt his horse sink out Of
sight; the sand gripped his own
knees and arms, his thighs and
shoulders. Two inches more and
the end by suHocation was inevitable
Up TO this time he had mot shouted
only his hosesis wild desth-scream
had told Of the tragedy. What va
the use? Who would be passing
along that lonely road2 Then b,
thought Of Tsssa, and Of life. ,Hs
raised his voice Ia q clear, strong
shout for help. again and again rs'