Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-08-09

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| lie SAW THE OLD MAN AND THE YOUNG
GIRL CRoUCHING OVER THE BLAZING
FIRE.
ceived him. Lying on his back, he
| rested his rife upon a rock, and took a
| long and steady aim before drawing
the trigger. The animal sprang into
the air, tottered for a moment upon
the edge of the precipice, and then
came crashing down into the valley
beneath.
The creature was too unwieldv to
| lift. SO the hunter contected himself
! with cutting away one haUnch and a
part of the flank. With this trophy
| over his shoulder, he fastened to re-
trace his steps, for the evening was al
ready drawing in. He had hardly
started however. before he realized
the difficulty which faced him. In his
eagerness he had wandered far past
the ravines which were known to him,
and it was no easy matter to pick ont
the path which he had taken. The val
ley in which he found himself divided
and subdivided into many gorges.
which were SO like each other that it
was impossible to distinguish one from
the other. He followed one for a mile
or more until ne came to mountain
torrent which he was sure that he had
never seen before. Convinced that he
had taken the wrong turn, he tried
another, but with the same result.
Night was coming on rapidly, and it
was almost dark before he again found
himself in 4 defile which was familiar
to him. Even then it was no easy mat
ter to keep on the right track, for the
moon had not yet risen, and the high
cliffs on either side made the obscurity
more profound. Weighed down with
his burden and weary from his exer-
tions, he stumbled along, keeping up
his heart by the reflection that every
step brought him nearer to Lucy, and
that he carried with him enough to in
sure them food for the remainder of
their journey.
He had now come to the mouth of
the very defile in which he had left
them. Even in the darkness he could
recognize the outlines of the cliffs
which bounded it. They must, he re-
fected, be awaiting him anxiously, for
he had been absent nearly five hours.
In the gladnesS of his heart he put his
hands to his mouth and made the glen
reecho to a loud halo as a signal that
he was coming. He paused and listened
for an answer. None came save his
own cry, which clattered up the dreary,
silent ravines, and was borne back to
his ears in countless repetitions. Again
he shouted. even louder than before,
and again no whisper came back from
the friends whom he had left such
short time ago. A vague, name1ess
dread came over him. and he hurried
onward frantically, dropping the pre-
cious food in his agita ton.
When he turned the corner, he came
full in sight of the spot where the fire
had been lit. There was still a glow
ing pile of wood-ashes there, but it had
evidently not been tended since his de-
parture. The same. dead silence still
reigned all round. With his fears
changed to convictions. he hurried on.
There was no living creature near the
of the fire; animals, man.
maiden, all were gone. 1t was only
too clear that some sudden and terrible
disaster had occurred during his alb
disaster which had embraced
them all and yet had left no traces be-
hind it.
Bew:ldered and stu.ned by this
blow, jefferson Hope felt his head spin
round, and had to lean upon his rifle to
save himself from falling. He was es-
man of action, however, and |
speedily recovered from his temporary
impotence. Selling a half-consumed
piece of wood from the smouldering
fire. he blew it into flame. and pro-
ceeded with its help to examine the |
little camp. The ground was all |
down by the feet of horses |
showing that large party Of mounted |
men had overtaken the fugitives, and |
the direction of their tracks proved |
that they had afterward turned back |
to Salt Lake City. Had they carried |
back both of his companions with |
them? jefferson Hope had almost per-
suaded himself that they must have |
done SO, when his eye fell upon an OBJ
ject which made every nerve of his
body tihgle within him. A little way
On one side of the camp was low
ying head of reddish SOIL which had
not been there before. There
was no installing it for anything but
1ewly-dug grave. AS the young hunter
approached it. he perceived that stick
had been planted on it. with a sheet of !
paper stuck in the cleft fork of it. The |
inscription upon the paper was brief,
put to the point: