Los Angeles herald., 1892-04-19

track nm to his w1gwam OF, nt dIi
events, to surprise him; his wood craft
was much too deep to admit of such
possibility. But strange, wild JOY
trembled through my being when
heard he came by night to the village.
A terrible scheme of vengeance swept
across my soul, and 1 felt, no matter
how fiendish the spirit, that the doom of
the half breed was fixed, and that was
to be his unrelenting executioner.
Night after night l lay concealed at
the bluff awaiting the murderer. l was
armed with pistols and wore skates.
Skating was an amusement which had
excelled i'll when schoolboy, and facll-
1ty In the art was of the least Importance
to my scheme of retribution. At length
he came. 1t was an exquisite night; the
white expanse around sparkled in the
sheen of a young Canadian moon which
sailed calmly through cloudless sky.
l could have shot the villain as he skated
by me within fifty yards, but would
not risk the chance, and, besides, my
vengeance cried for a sterner fate than
death by the pistol. oa s,aae
No sooner was he past my hiding place
than,. with shout of exultatlon, l
started on his track. Olier swerved
moment to see who his pursuer was,
then quick as lightning tried to double
up the river again. But I had antici-
pated this, and with cooked pistol in
each hand I barred his passage. With
a curse he turned and sped swiftly down
the ice.
And now the race for life began. Mile
after mile we swept along in silence
An awful, portentous silence it was,
through which nothing broke save the
hollow boom of the swift steel cutting
its way over the imprisoned river. The
moon Lit me nobly to my vengeance
He could not escape me, for found
with savage glee that I was match for
the swiftfooted Indian. Olier soon be-
came aware of this, too, for now and
again he would skate close to the woods,
looking in vain for an aperture. But no;
there was but one outlet from this
walled in river, and that was over the
falls!
Faster and faster yet we skated to-
ward the cataract. 1t could not be far
off. I pictured to myself what Oilers
thoughts might be. Did he know whittier
he was fastening, or had that awful
light yet to flash on his guilty mind?
The half breed made answer to my
thought. I saw him in the pale SHIN
mer start convulsively and throw his
arms in the air; but he dared not stop,
and on he darted again with yell Of
despair which echoed weirdlike up the
frozen channel. n..
Another sound came to my ear, and I
knew what had caused that cry of agony
to burst from Olier; it was the dull
thunder of the falls! We were nearing
them fast. Still the walls of snow shut
in my victim, and every moment less
ened his frail hopes of escape. One
chance was left him-to distance me
and hide somewhere in the snow from
my scrutiny. Vain hope; the wings Of
| the bird could scarce have saved himi
Hoarser and louder grew the noise of
the waters. If thanked the Almighty
in frantic prayer that the murderer was
delivered into my hand, humbly trust
that it is forgiven me now. From the
time had first started on Oilers track
we had maintained exactly the same
distance between us-perhaps about
hundred or hundred and fifty yards. I
still g1asped my loaded pistols, ready
for any stratagem on the part of the
murderer.
And now the crash of the falls came
loud and OminOus on the ear. Another
five minutes would decide the hunt.
Suddenly Olier turned and stood at bay.
He was not armed; I had felt certain of
that all along, for otherwise he would
have measured strength with me before.
Without batting my pace skated down
upon him, holding a leveled pistol in
each. Still my purpose was as mixed as
ever only to shoot the villain as last
resource. When l was within twenty
yards of him the coward faltered and
again turned swiftly down the river.
With yelling laugh l pursued him,
| pressing still more hotly on his track.
| Deafening was the roar of the cata-
ract; high into the pale sky ascended
the mist of its spray, through which the
splintered lines of the moonlight darted
in rainbow tinted beauty. l could see
directly in front the jagged line of the
ice where it was broken by the rapids
Immediately above the cataract, and be-
yond I could trace the dark volume of
the Scugog as it emerged from its prison
of snow and ice. For an instant the
half breed turned his face toward me as
I pressed with concentrated hate on his
footsteps. Never shall forget the hor-
rible despair that distorted the villains
features. 1t was mercy that the sui
len roar of the falls drowned his curses
4 knew he was shrieking curses on me
for they would have haunted me in
after years.
With the courage which is begotten of
the darkest despair, he dashed on to the
brink of the rapids, and the next mo-
ment was alone on the ice! 1 gazed
with stern joy on the dark flood which
had seized in its resistless hands the
shedder of blood and was hurrying him
! over the falls. For moment I thought
could perceive the murderer struggling
in the eddies, but the illusion, if it was
one, could live only for an instant. The
cataract was within pistol shot, and as
turned back over the dreary wilder
ness of ice and snow, knew that the
doom of the guilty skater had been full
flled.-True Flag.
| Signs of Spring.
| ~ 1r;x,; ro;,1