The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1894-06-16

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wsat slowly forward, bit With great -
luctance, ard when they reached N opea
spot whore tho light was sud5cisat +
show objects for some distancs be agail
stopped. trembling, and Raymond for
moment could not persuade him to start
At last the horse started forward With |
bound, All = he did 70 Raymond sav
Maggie RUd1ep on the trail, her hal
hanging around her pale face, her h6nd'
stretched pieadingly toward him aad u
expression 1smute agony upon Der Whit
face.
Refining up Is quickly a passiblS Hay
mond turned to speak to hsr, but she had
vanished. H. rode back nd called he
name, but there WAS no ans7ksr. He dis
mounted Apa looked for tracks at tn,
spot whore she must have left tho trail
But found none. n
Puzzled md annoyed hssnpunted and
ssds = rapidly as possible VI the Rodder
cakn. g
Hurriedly dismoasting Raymond callet
Rodden out and asked if be ksew that hi
wife was wandering alone through th'
snow away up the mountain trail. Rod
den VAS too much usnervedfor mpmen
to reply. Tsen he managed to say tha
the express. rider msst have dreamed h
sAw her, a. slss hadgone home, gone bscl
East more sttan month sbsfore. aly
nond stucfto hii pspry, bat' at 1T b.
VA obliged to cduesade tbst his ID gi
aadoa had playe< him Arick. he
coulds't hep wonsefing, though, what
Nd frightened he~.horss. There wa
nothing to thedods Or SAID, for iteArs
MADDEN hal gone home a 'myath be1src
eertalaly she could not have hsen roaming
around in the. snow. md adhere ~ nc
other wonSsa within miles of the camp
be must hate been mistaken. Roddbn,
though not est all bospitable In manner
eet sspper and allowel the express.stael
tossep for the nights a,~
Aftr supper H.ym6nd opened his ssd
dle.baRs, saying: IS
"Wsll, q Maggie isnot here to take
her package, and as it was intended for
you, anyway, ] suppose I'd better IN it
to you, and you can write Der that Der
Christmas present got here 8 httleAA ead
Of time"
He tossed the package across to the
man. who stared at it as if petrided. He
stretched ont his hand slowly and opened
it with shaking fingers. The package
contained q pair of thick, warm gloves,
nothing more.
"When did Maggie send for theser he
asked. &c
1.-THE laststine I was here. You came
near not getting them at all, for she had
no chance to tell me to buy them while I
was here and had to run after me to give
me the order"
"Was that all she ran after you fort"
"That was ALL"
Rodden settled back into his chair with
groan and hid his face in his hands.
Raymond sat silent for while, then,
finding that the man did not intend to
speak he concluded that the best thing he
could do was togo to bed. He was soon
sleeping snd kasw nothing more until
the morning light shining through the
uncurtained window awoke him.
He dressed hurriedly and went out into
the room where he had left his host. 1t
was silent and deserted. A glance into
the side room showed that the bed was
unoccupisd. and EHaymold went out to
look after his horse, as we'll as to see if
he could find any signs of his host. The
horse horse had been stabbed in desert
ed cabin, and Raymond pushed open the
door and then sprang back iato the open
air. Swinging by halter from the raf-
tiers was Roddsn'a dead hody.El
Haymondicut the body down and laid
it carefully in the empty bunk. He could
do nothing. more for it, ~ the snow GOV.
cred the frozen earth 70 that one man
could not hope to dig q grave. Hastily
saddling his horse he rode away, after
searching the cabin in thss faint hope
that be might find some note of explana-
ton, but in vain. Not e.lins Of writing,
new or old, was 10 be found. 49, e
Raymond stopped at the first settle
ment and gave notice Of the suicide at
the deserted camp, but the snow was
again falling and no psrty could reach
tho place for weeks, # before spring.
When he srtsched the city hs wrote 1
letter to his parents asking them to break
the sad news to the widowed Mrs. Rod
den. Weeks passed before he received
any answer. and then be was astounded
to learn that Maggie had never returned
home lin fact had never even written
since she left for California.
By this tue spring had come and he
was about to make his first trip to the
mountain. He reached the town where
he had given nntica of the auicide in