Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1895-01-10
~ CONAN DOYLE

his lips reverently 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 q 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 u.ight have
found it hard to believe it themselves
or persuade other people Of il. had it
not been for the undertake fact that
the circlet Of gold which marked her
as having been a bride had disap-
peared.
For some months Jefferson Hope
fingered among the mountains, lead
ing q strange, wild IA. and nursing
in his heart the fierce desire for ven
geance 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 gorge;. Once a bull
let whizzed through Stangerson's
window and flatteped itself upon the
wall within foot of him. On an
other occasion as DrNbber passed TN
| 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-
tons 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 nightfall,
and of having their houses guarded.
After time they were able to relax
these measures, for nothing was Ell
Their heard OF seen of their opponent,
and they hoped that time had cooled
his vindictveness.
Far from doing so, it had, if any
thing, augmented it, The hunters
mind was Of hard, unyield-
ing nature and the predomi-
nant idea of revenge had
taken such complete possession Of
| it that was no i'com for any other
emotion. He was, however, above all
| things practical. He soon realized
that even his iron constitution could
| not stand the incessant strain which
he was putting upon it. Exposure and
| want of wholesome food were wear
ing him out. If nc died like dog
among the mountains, what vas to
become of his revenge then? And yet
! such death was sure to overtake
him If he persisted. He felt that that
was to play his enemies game, so he
reluctantly returned to the old Neva-
da mines, there to recruit his health
and to amass money enough to allow
him to pursue his object without pri-
walton.
His intention had been to be absent
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
| ing for revenge We're quite as keen as
on that memorable night when he had
stood by John Terriers grave. Dis
! guised and under an assumed name,
he returned to Salt Lake City, care
, less what became of his own 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 amorg the Chosen People a
! few months before, some of the 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 Stangerson, and
NIB 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, as to their where
abouts.
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-
tence he possessed, eked nut by such
employment as ne could pick up, he
Travelled from town to town through
the United States in quest of his enc
mics. Year after year passed, his
black nair turned grizzled; but still
he wandered on, human bloodhound,
with his mind wholly set upon the one
object to which he had devoted his
life. At last his perseverance was re-
warded. 1t was but glance at a
face in the window, but that one
glance told him that Cleveland, in
Ohio, possessed the men whom he
was in pursuit Of He returned to his
miserable lodgings with his plan Of
vengeance all arranged. It CHANGED
however, that Drebber, looking from
his window, had recognized the vag-
rant in the street, and had read MUIR
der in his eyes. He hurried before a
justice Of the peace, accompanied by
Stangerson, who had become his pri-
vate secretary, and represented to
him that they were in danger of their
lives from the jealousy and hatred Of
an old rival. That evening Jefferson
Hope was taken into custody and,
not being able to find surcties, was
detained for some weeks. When at
last he was liberated, it was only to
find that Drebber's house was desert
ed, and that he and his secretary had
departed for Europe.
| Again the avenger had been foiled,
and again his concentrated hatred
| urged him to continue the pursuit