Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-09-13

LES, In Oh, Salu JEFFERSON ROPE,
who had risen from his seat. His face
might have been chiseled out Of mar
lie, SO hard and set was its express
sion, while his eyes glowed with a
baleful light.
Where are you going?"
Never mind" he answered. and
Singing his weapon over his shoulder.
strobe off down the gorge, and so away
into the heart Of the mountains, to
the hauHts Of the wild beasts. Among
them all there was hone SO fierce or
so dangerous as himself.
The prediction of the Mormon was
only too well fulfilled. Whether 1t
was the terrible death of her father
or the effects of her hateful marriage,
into which she had been forced, poor
Lucy eve held up her head again,
but pinned away and died within a
month. Her scottish husband, who had
married principally for the sake Of
John Terriers property, did not affect
any great grief at her bereavement,
but his other wives mourned over her,
and sat up with her the night before
the burial, as is the Mormon custom.
They We're grouped around the bier
in the early hours Of the morning,
! when, TO their ineXpressible fear and
establishment, the door was flung
open, and az avage looking weather
beaten man in tattered garments
strobe into the room. Without q
a glance or n word to the covering
women, he walked up to the white ST.
lent figure which had once contained
the pure soul Of Lucy Ferrier. Stoop-
ing over her cold forehead he pressed
his lips re~verently to her cold fore
head, and then, snatching up her hand
he took the wedding ring from her
finger. "She shall not be buried in
that" he cried, with a fierce snarl.
and before an alarm could be raised
sprang down the stairs and was gone.
So strange and SO brief was the cpl
sode. that the watchers uight have
found 1t hard to believe ii themselves
or persuade other people Of II. had it
not been for the ~nndeHiaLle fact that
the circlet Of gold which marked her
as having been a bride had disap-
peared.
Fol- some months Jefferson Hope
fingered among the mountains, lead
ing a strange, wild i.' n nursing
in his heart the fierce desire for VEN
| geGnce which possessed him. Tales
were told In the city Of the wierd fig
ure which was seen prowling around
| the suburbs, and which haunted the
lonely mountain gorges. Once n bull
let whiZZed through StangerSon'S
window and f1attened itself upon the
wall within a foot of him. On an
other occasion as Drebber passed I'M
der a cliff, a great bowlder crashed
down on him. and he only escaped q
terrible death by throwing himself
upon his face. The two young Nor
mons were not long in discovering
the reason of these attempts upon
their lives, and lead repeated eXpedi-
lions into the mountains, in the hope
of capturing or killing their enemy,
but always without success. Then
they adopted the ~precaution Of never
going out alone or after nightfal,
and Of having their houses guarded.
After q time they were able to relax
these measures, for nothing was ell
Their heard or seen of their opponent,
and they hoped that time had cooled
his yindictiyeneSs.
Far from doing so, it had, If any
thing, augmented it. The hunters
mind was Of a hard, unyield-
ing nature and the predomi-
nant idea of revenge had
taken such complete possession Of
it that vas no room for any other
emotioa. He was, however, above all
things practical. He soon realized
that even his iron constitution could
not stand the incPssant strain which
he was putting upon it. Exposure and
want Of wholesome food were wear
ing him out. If ne died like n dog
among the mountains, what vas TO
become of his revenge then? And yet
such a death was sure to. overtake
him if he persisted. lie felt that that
was to play his enemies game, so he
reluctantly returned TO the old Nega-
da mines, there to recruit his health
and to amass money ,nough to allow
him to pursue his object without pri-
walton.
His intention had been to be absent
n year at the most, but a combination
of unforeseen circumstances prevented
his leaving the mines for nearly five.
At the end of that time, however, his
memory of his wrongs and his crav-
ing for revenge were quite as keen as
on that memorable night when he had
stood by John Terriers grave. Dis
guised and under q assumed name,
he returned to Salt Lake City, care
less what became of his w life, as
| long as he obtained what he knew to
be Justice. There he found evil It'd
ings awaiting him. There had been
a schism among the Chosen. People a
few months before, some of he young
er members of the church having re-
belled against the authority of the
Elders; and the result had been the
secession of a certain number Of the
malcontents. who had left Utah TO be-
come Gentiles. Among these had
been Drebber and S~tangerson, and
np one knew whittier they had gone.
Rumor reported that Drebber had
managed to convert a large part Of
his property into money, and that he
had departed a wealthy man. while
his COMPANION Stangerson. was COM
~paratively poor. There was no clew
at all. however, al to their where
abouts.
Many a man, however vindictiye,
would have abandoned all thought OF
revenge in the face Of such difficulty,
but Jefferson Hope never faltered for
a moment. With the small compe-