The Press., 1895-03-28


 to add to it. We must push for Carson City through the mountains. You had best wake Lucy. It is as well that the servants do not sleep ill the house. :"
 While Terrier was absent preparing his daughter for the approaching jour- ney Jefferson Hope packed all the eata- bles that he could find into small par eel and filled a stoneware jar with wa. ter, for he knew by experience that the mountain wells were few and far be- tween. He had h"r,7lr completed his arrangements bCft T., he farmer return ed, with his darg' ;er Ill dressed and ready for start. Tke greeting between the lovers was war1l, but brief, for min utes were precious and there was much to be done.
 "We must mako our start at once, /" said Jeff erson Hope, speaking in a low but resolute voice, like one who realizes the greatness of the peril, but has steel ed his heart to meet it. ''The front and back entrances are watched, but with caution We may get away through the side window and across the fields. Once on the road we are only two miles from the ravine where the horses are waiting By daybreak we should be half way through the mountains. "
 "What if we are stopped?" asked Terrier.
 Hope slapped the revolver butt which protruded from the front of his tunic. If they are too many for us, we shall take two or three of them with us,' he said, with sinister smile
 The lights inside the house had all been extinguished, and from the dark ened window Terrier peered over the fields which had been his own. and which he was now about to abandon forever He had long nerved himself to the sacrifice, however, and the thought of the honor and happiness of his daugh- ter outweighcd any regret at his ruined fortunes. All looked so peaceful and happy-the rustling trees and the broad, silent stretch of grain land-that it was difficult to realize that the spirit of murder lurl1ed through it all Yet the white face and set expression of the young hunter showed that in his ap- proach to tho house he had seen enough to satisfy him upon that head.
 Terrier carried the bag of gold and notes Jefferson Hope had the scanty provisions and water, while Lucy had small bundle containing few of her more valued possessions. Opening the window very slowly and carefully, they waited until dark cloud had some- what obscured the night, and then one by one passed through into the little garden. With bated breath and crouch ing figures they stumbled across it and gained the shelter of the hedge, which they skirted until they came to the gap which opened into the cornfeld. They had just reached this point when they young man seized his two companions and dragged them down into the shad- ow, where they lay silent and trem- bling.
 It was as we'll that his prairie train ing had given Jefferson Hope the ears of a lynx. He and his friends had hardly crouched down before the melancholy hooting of mountain owl was heard within few yards of them, which was immediately answered by another hoot at a small distance. At the same mo- ment vague shadowy figure emerged from the gap for which they had been l cry again, on which second man ap- peared out of the obscurity.
 Tomorrow at midnight, said the first, who appeared to be ill authority, "when tho whippoorwill calls three times.
 ''It is well,' returned tho other Shall tell Brother Drebber?'' i
 ''Pass it on to him and from him to the others Nine to seven. "
 Seven to i've" repeated the other, and the two figures fitted away iii diff ferent directions. Their concluding words had evidently been some form of sign and countersign. The instant that their footsteps had died away ill the distance Jefferson Hope sprang to his feet, and helping his companions through the gap led the way across the fields at full speed, supporting and half carrying the girl when her strength ap- peared to fail her.
 "Hurry on, hurry on, he gasped from time to time. ''We are through the line of sentinels. Everything de- pends Gil speed. Hurry OH. ''
 Once on tho high road, they made rapid progress. Only once did they meet any one, and th-n they managed to slip into field and so avoid recognition. Before rua hing the town the hunter branched away into rugged and mar row footpath which led into the noun tains, Two dark, jagged peaks loomed above them through tue darkness and the defile which led between them was the Eagle canyon, in which the horses were awaiting them. With unerring instinct Jefferson Hope picked his way among the great powders and along the bed of a dried mp water course until he came to the retired corner, screened with rocks where the faithful animals had been picketed The girl was placed upon the mule, and old Terrier upon one of the horses, with his money bag, while Jefferson Hope led the other along the precipitous and dangerous paths
 It was a bewildering route for any one who was not accustomed to face nature i'll her widest moods. On the one side a great crag. lowered up 1,O0C feet or more, black, stern and menac- ing, with long basaltic columns upon his rugged surface like the ribs of some petrified monster. On the other hand a wild chaos of powders and debris made all advance impossible. - Between the two and the irregular track, so mar row in places that they had to travel in Indian file and so rough that only practiced riders could have traversed il at all Yet in sDite of all dangers anC