Arizona republican., 1898-10-03
CHAPTER KIT.

CHATTER Al-
 l. vGs late when Col. Meredith rcache'l Windy Gulch that night, hut he foun1 Dorothy waiting for him in his room, her face marveiously like his own in its expression of cold, set severity. She gave him no smile, no conventional " ords of greeting as he entered. Did you win the case?" she abruptly de- handed.
 Well, rather" he drylv returned. smiling good humoredly at her tense cagerncss, as he supposed on his ac- count. Ut was q foregone conclusion They had not a shred of evidence to offer''
 Owing to the fact that Mir. Neil and his pr;ncipal'witncss were kept away?"
 The colonel stared slightly. struck by q certain cddty in the toEe. That cut TO figure at all,'' he shortly declared. "They had TO case. It was bunco game from first to last, as 1 have told you be- fore. But TOW that your curiosity is satisfied, perhaps youwill spare TIC fur tller discussion of the matter tonight, Dorothy. You ought to have been i'll bed an hour ago; and for longer than that I have been wishing that l were,' emphasizing the statement by weary yawn. Good night
 "Just one minute" she stoniiy stip- ulated, locking her hands more tightly together as she stood before him. T don't want those men to be unjustly blamed; I want to tell you that I did it."
 Did what, in heayen's name?" ejacu lated her father impatientlv, looking at her as though half susPecting that she had taken leave Of her senses.
 'I went up to the nine this afternoon and told the men that you had sent word that Mr. Neil was to be released
 You did?' On the instant the sleepi- ness had vanished from the co!onel's face, and the interjection was sharp as the crack of a. whip; but his tone was iciIy calm as after moments pause, ne ceremcniousiy added: St down, please; and perhaps you will be good enough to explain yourself
 ''I did not know about it until I was coming up from dinner she said, in q dull, narrative tone; T had been writ ing letters in my room all the morning. and of course I heard nothing; but the minute they told me, recalled the con- versation in this room yesterday and 1 understood. But I should not have meddied; l should have lived through the disgraccful knowledge that you were accessory to such crime-I could have borne it somehow if I had not hap pened to remember what you told me about the pumps that first day I was up at the mine, when you were show ing me about and I was asking so many questions. You said if the pumps stopped, the mine would fill with water in 24 hours. l could not sit here-how could I?-thinking that through the lnachinations of that wicked McCready, you might even at that moment be in directly conniving at a murder, - al most went mad with the thought of it! until I could stand it no longer; ant then l ordered my horse and rode III there"
 And made a precious fool of your self" ejaculated the colonel, savagely There was not the slightest danger Of the fellows drowning, and if youl head were not so fuli of dime-nove ] sensationalism, you would have knowr better than to suppose that l would take chances of anything like that. i thoughtlessly exaggerated when l sait i that 24 hours would fill the mine; thu i lower levels did fill, for a fact; but h, would have been safe in the 1G0-foo i level for at least SC hours longer. lit had blankets and plenty to eat. l may be that he found the situatio: not altogether to his mind, but, if so it only served him right. He cam' 1 sneaking around, trying to bribe m. men to go back on me, hoping to ge Ire in some sort of a hole, and instead 1 slipped into one himself-a case of bite { bit. As for your posing as his deliv erer-" he stopped short, as thougi fairly clolled with anger at the thought
 Nobody could regret the pose nor than 1; but it seemed to be forced upoI me- returned the girl, quietly, as sh' 1 rose. ''Now that l have explained th' matter, however, 1 need not keep yol out of led any longer
 "Wait," exclaimed her father, sharp ly, as she started toward the door. '' should like to know how your preciou protcge took his deliverance. Did h appreciate the situation? and did h thank you prettiiy??" the last word rcplete with biting sarcasm.
 For the first time Dorothy's cain seemed shaken. She glanced to,vart the door as though half disposed t go away without answering; and whel she spoke it was with obvious effort II was not there when he came ou of the shaft; at first it seemed q thougl, I could not face him. as thougl 1 must sink to the earth in shame F but felt his eyes upon. me: but after ward l waited for him outsidc-I fel
 I had to-and told him that it was al q mistakc-that you had nothing u do with it" her voice. which had becl faltcring, ceased entirely until he father gave vent to an impatient ex ..1a -l-- -1