The Irish standard., 1896-03-07


n,orrer night, Buddy, ia figured hit jest
tllis-a-way .Jnl0 she u high ont in the
nlornin' for Mon airtille on the mar,
an well fetch the rent q the hossss up
I on the mounting BY the Dunbar road
endurin' the day. Then. long late in
the. .eyenin' when ever bod VS. gone TO
bald, we-all III Jest ride over to- the
seolonels. leave the HOSES with Jed il
that thar little patch o. trees front O.
the house, an then you'n. NELL 60 smoke
'em out. When. they shows up, you take
the young un an leave the colonel q,
me. L reckon I'll show him that I dent
miss the same man twicet.." -s'5
How bout the gal %
Needn't to mind bout her; she'll
look. out for herself" and then the same
voice added: II reckon Jed'd be glad
enough to take keer. O her, ifshc'd low
hit sa:s ( s1.sSs <:ss.s'
Even after the convincing object-les-
son Of the attempt upon his own life,
Ringbrand could scarcely believe the.
evidence Of his senses. Could it be
possible that these two men were calm
~ discussing plot which pointed to
double murder as it's object? They
We're speaking again, and he strained
his ears'to catch every word. 49, T. ).
Il ssThey's only one thing about hit
that looks sort o shaky. Jeft; that's
the part about the gal. Course
knows we-all ain't fghtin' weemin
but hit II be takin' right smart mo-
chances if she gets a sight o we-all."
''she hain't gwine to. When the fires
done started, you'n me can hide in the
ivyfbushes.''; ,,'>.s %r@
THAT III fix hits afterwards ye;
low to ride for Men airville :''@'S'.'
"Uh-huh; we can Jest bout make hit
in time for the cyars,~ Il, we put out
sort O lively. s.s..',fc...".r 49,, ~
Glow about the HOSES? Y'7;all sold
'em with the place, didn't We % .
II did so. an the felier can take 'em
wharsomever he's lucky enough. TO I'm
'em, cayn't he?" = $50 -
They were silent again. and Ring
brand smelled tobacco smoke. He stood
motionless in the darkness trying to
think of some way in which the cold
blooded plot could be, frustrated; there
seemed to be but one, way. and his de-
sire for vengeance cooled a little as he
thought Of it, but he erept into posi-
%:r 4 "a IA NV ~ n, M n oSt
range of space in the other chamber.
and watched for the men to cross the
narrow field of vision on their way hack
to the mine. 1t seemed hours before
they spoke again, and then the gruffer
voice said: II don't believe that thar
lamps gwine out, Buddy
II reckon hit air, for Shore" was the
reply; but hit don't make no diff r
ence; we-all can fin the way without
hit"
A little later the light faded and flick
cred and then went out, leaving behind
it darkness that was almost tangible,
and Ringbrana's heart sank as he real
lied that one chance of saving Hester's
father and brother was gone. 1t was
only chance, he knew, for the noun
taineers were two to one, and he was
not enough of a marksman to be sure OF
disabling even one of them; neverthe-
less, he had made up his mind to fire
upon them, when they came again in
view, trusting to the shortness of the
range to offset his lack of skill with the
weapon.
q.
He thought he heard ri1en when they
left the chamber, and again, after, What
seemed an intermin|ap1ayii IS terHAl There
was a faint rustling such as might have
been made by the two, men climbing
ont of the cave. The correctness of this
last supposition was confirmed short
ly afterward by the dull rumble of 3
distant explosion, and the listener knew
that another of the mysterious attacks,
had been successfully made on the
working in the McNabb mine. t.
With the certainty that the men had
left the cavern, and that with their dis
appearance his only chance of prevent.
ing the terrible conclusion of their plot
had taken fight, Ringbrand sat up and
etrove fiercely to concentrate his mind
upon some expedient that would free
him in time to enable him to warn the
J,atimers. For awhile the awful re-
sponsibility resting upon him pushed
him SO near to the edge of distraction
that connected thought was an impos-.
bibility. and he got up and tramped up
and down the familiar limits of his cell
in feveriah agony of helplessness.
Then his brain cleared again, and one
plan after another was considered and
rejected. The sandstone was compara-
lively soft-could he not dig through
to the other chamber ??z--yes., possibly.
but it would. take too much titae. i The
other end of the cavern was fllea with
broken rock and earth which had'fal]en
into the crevice from fabove--could he
not dig enough Of this down to make it
possible to climb ont ON the heap ofde-
bris undoubtedly. il time, but, the
finding in the mass of q single .bpoWitler:
too large to be loosened might cost the:
lives of two men No. there must be no
more experiments. .@ se,t,,s -
At last, when the travail of ssfgges-;
ton had become well-nigh UNDESIRABLE
in it's hopeless insistence. he stumbled
over the log; at the same Instant as
If the shock had opened the: door ofhis
understanding, q possible solution OF.
the problem, clear and distinct in every
detail. flashed upon him like an inspira-
ton. and he threw himself down upon
the sand to watch for the coming :of the