The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-02-20


part of the countrygn
oh, no; not particle. I've been
visiting my old school in the mount-
aims. and took the trail home down
Cayucos." This was plausible enough.
for there was blind trail that entered
the canyon Just east of the angle of
the house. Stoner felt little re-
lieved.
..Won't We put up aud stay with us
all nightpn
No. Mr.. Stoner; l must go down
to Kestral to see my friends there It's
only an hours ride
THAT settles it thought Stoner.
Plenty of stout fellows to use as
sheriifs deputies there. He has prob
ably stumbled on traces aud is going
for help" He sat and smoked. and
Slipped his hand back under his coat.
Easy to shoot the fellow he said to
himself.
well, good-by. Stoner.n y said War
ren, suddenly; II suppose the beach
road is as good as ever?n
Perfectly safe; only when YOU cross
Toro creek keep on the sand-bar. It's
as hard as iron. 1 crossed there to-
day
Thank you. Adiosn
Simple. smiling speech. those words
of Stoner's, and yet they were intended
to send Warren to his death more
surely aud safely than by bullet of pis-
tol or pellet of secret poison.
Stoner took an extra swig OF brandy
and went to his rest. Warren rode
down the rugged hill TO the bottom of
the ravine. then turned seaward, and
at last the wide guich opened broadly
81. L. - .
The cliffs were from fifty to 800 feet
high and full Of wave-worn caves.
Warren drew rein on the beach and
for fully ten minutes watched the
ocean sway and rise. His thoughts
throbbed with dreams of Tessa. He
would take her away from her narrow
and hurtful surroundings. He would
lift her into happier and better sur
roundings. He would force Stoner's
consent, marry her, and make her
happy.
He rode rapidly south, and in half
an hour the mouth of the Toro APP
peared in the mist of sand-dunes.
breakers rolling in and the steady
river rolling out. Here was the long
sand-bar. ten feet wide, and stretching
across hardly an inch higher than the
water surface.
Warren was beginning to have soma
suspicious of Stoner. but not such as
to lead him to doubt the simple diree-
tions he had received. The sand-bar
looked safe. but within few DAYS the
sea. as Stoner knew. had swept il
nightly. torn ont the long eompacted
bar, and placed instead quivering
mass of quieksand. so treacherous that
not even a light-footed rabbit could
dragged bodily down Warren rode
swiftly forward; he had crossed sand
bars hundreds of times. Some horses
would have been wiser, but the animal
he rode had been bred in the valley.
The approach TO the bar was hard
for few rods. and he galloped on.
Suddenly, in one heart-breaking.
breathless descent. noise.ess. but un-
utterably dreadful. Tom Warren's
horse went down, down. and the soft.
Shiny sand came up to his name. He
shrieked out that ghastly cry of appeal
and agony that desperate, dying
horse will sometimes utter.
Tom knew the peril. He had thrown
his feet from the stirrups and drawn
them up at the first downward throb,
but the sand began to grab him also.
He threw himself Hat on his breast and
tore himself loose from the poor ami
NAL, over whose back the mingled
sand and water was running. as it
rolled from side to side in Intellectual
struggles to escape.
Tom spread himself out over as
much surface as possible, but slowly,
resistlessly the mighty force drew him
downward. The hard beach was only
ten feet distant, but practically the
chasm was impossible. He felt his
horse sink out of sight; the sand grip
ped his own knees and arms, his thighs
and shoulders. Two inches more and
| the end by suffocation was inevitable.
| Up to this time he had not shouted;
only his horses wild death scream had
] told of the tragedy What was the
use? Who would be passing along
that lonely road? Then he thought OF
Tessa and of life. He raised his voice
| in clear. strong shout for help, again
and again repeated.
/ Far off along the deep ravine came a
| cry in response aud horses hurrying
\ feet, and hope awoke in his heart. The
margin of life was five minutes now
not longer. Faster, faster, o fearless
rideri
Tom. where are you?"
1 16SSds IOiAic tOO
But the mountain girl knew the
danger. Creeping downstairs for q
drink of water she had heard hel
fathers words to Warren, had thrown
a shawl about her shoulders and run tC
the pasture. Then she caught her pei
| horse, sprano upon his unsaddled back
seized RATA as she passed the stable
and galloped at the utmost speed dowT
the ravine, hoping against hope. fol
many minutes had necessarily elapsed
since Warren started.
She sprang to the ground and tossed
the rawhide rope to the one arm ht
held above the sand. She folded hel
shawl and put it over her horses
shoulders, and tied the RATA round
like a collar. Then she led him slow
ly away from the quicksands. anC
Warren thought his arm would break
but slowly. reluctantly, painfully, tht
sand gave up its prey.
~ our father told me to take thi
road. Tessa, y said the young sheriff.
Yes, / know that, and heard on,
of the men tell him to-day that the ba
was swept out"
There was long silence between
them.
..Tessa, go with me to San Luis,
said Warren, land let US get married.
And Tessa went.
Old Stoner heard the news a few
days later. Within an hour he ha,
retired from business" The cam
was broken up. the hunters disap
peared. mysterious lights flashed at in
tervals all night from the points of tn
cliff, and the next day old Stoner him
self disappeared. leaving his family
the ranch and the live stock. 1t wa
said that he made the best of his wa
to Mexico and finally to South Amer