Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1899-12-14
PROLOGUE Continued.

PROLOGUE Continued.
Half an hour passed, but still the
watcher smoked and thought, and still
his comrade lay as senseless as a log in
the hut.
Hell do. safe enough" muttered
Nat, at length, IF he gets the chance.
And that, TO me, meanS the utter ruin
of all my plans; and, quite possibly,
his marriage with Ruby! The fool, the
babbling, laundering fool! To boast of
his hopes and prospects to me, upon
the very eve Of my intended departure!
1t would seem, almost, as though Fate
had marked him down for destruction,
for, by thunder! the world is too small
for us ~both-nowr"
He went TO his PROSTATE mate and
shook him roughly; more as a test Of
his real condition than with any ex-
p~ectation Of arousing him. Neither
move nor sound in response. He next
unbuttoned his shirt, and, from an in
ner pocket, sewn IN to the flannel, ex-
tracted a small bundle of letters wrap,
ped in oiled silk. As he did so, he no
ticed some tattooing upon his victims
breast.
That's odd!' he muttered. "Long as
we've been together / never noticed it
before, though I've seen the l.. A. on
his arm dozens of times. Looks like
Il. y. upon a log Of wood. I'll just
make a copy Of it,"
This he did skilfully enough in pen
ell upon an envelope. He then searched
him carefully for any further proof Of
his identity, but in vain.
He pulled aside the canvas screen
that did duty for a door, and stepped
out into the open air. 1t was a chilly
night, but fine and bright with moon
light.
IAN the better!' he growled TO him
self. It'll make the job easier, ana
I'll strike Cooktown by daybTeak."
He fe-entered the hut, and. after some
hesitation swallowed yet another dram
Of brandy. MY nerves are not what
l thought they were" he muttered, ''or
1 wouldn't need printing with that
cursed stuff to do the trick. Now for
ltr'
He was n strongly-built man. but the
task he had set himself taxed his pow
ers to the utmost. SeiZing Arnott by
the wrists, he balanced him upon his
bent back, in much the same way as a
Jumper carries n sack of coal; and,
thus burtEened, he made his way, for
about q furlong, down q very rough,
uneven, ill-defined sort Of pathway. \
small mound OF mullock, surmounted
by q rudely-constructed windlass, indi-
Gated the position of the shaft, and,
with a final effort, Nat RainsfUrth sue
ceeded in depositing his unconscious
load upon the very edge of the yawn-
ing cavity.
"a nan might easily slip just here"
he mIttered, steadying himself by the
windlass; land If he had no mate
handy to lower the rope and bucket, he
would stand a poor show of eve get
ting out again, even if the shaft were
dry and he broke no bones in the fall.
As it is, well, they say drowning Ia a
painless way of passing In ones
checks, ard he's too dead drunk to feel
much, anyhow"
Still he hesitated to finish the CHASTITY
work. The moon shone full upon the
unconscious mans upturned face, and
RainSworth. callouS though he was,
shuGdered at the thought Of that face
lying livid and swollen in the food-w wa
ter that had inundated the shaft. As
he ley, upon the slope Of the mullock.
ground, n good push was all that
was needed to send him to destruction.
Twice Rainsforth's sinewy hands
grasped his shoulders, but each time
he recoiled from the n brief effort
Of strength that would stain his soul
with q foul murder. Indeed, for a
time, 1t seemed that whatever there
was OF good in the mans nature
would triumph over the diaholical i'm
pulses that had hitherto swayed him.
But, as usually happens, the prompt
ings Of evil prevailed in the end, and
with a savage imprecation on his own
weakness of purpose, he once more
gripped his victim and jerked him vio-
lently forward. A hollow. family
borne splashing sound, as the falling
body struck the water at the bottom
Of the shaft; and Nat Rainsforth knew
that no interference with his schemes
would ever again come from Luke
Arnewood, alias Loo Arnott.