Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-09-11

glanced hurriedly around the room for
him. He was gone. Perhaps he had
already joined the file he had just seen.
His only hope was to follow them. But
how? And how TO do it quietly? The
afternoon was waning. 1t would I've
three or four hours before the down
coach would arrive, from which the
driver expected assistance. Now, if
n"er, was his opportunity.
He made his way through the back
door and found himself among the
straw and chips of the stable yard and
wood shed. Still uncertain what to Ito.
lie mechanically passed before the long
shed which served us temporary stalls
for the steaming wagon horses. At
the farther end. to his surprise. was Il
tethered mustang, ready saddled and
bridled. the opportune horse left for
the fugitive, according to the loungers
story. Masterton cast Il quick glance
around the stable. 1t was deserted by
all save the feeding animals.
He was new to adventures OF this
kind or he would probably have
weighed the possibilities and consc-
quences. He was ordinarily a thought
full. reflective man, but like most men
of intellect he was also Imaginative
and supcrstitious. and this browning
accident of the providential situation
which he found himself was superior
to his logic. There would also he a
grim irony in his taking this horse for
such purpose He again locked and
listened. There was no one in sight or
hearing. He united the rope from tie
bit ring. leaped into the saddle and
emerged cautiously from the shed. The
wet snow mutiled the sound of the
horses hoofs. Moving around to the
rear of the stables so as to bring it be-
tween himself and the station, he clap
ped his heels into the mustangs tanks
and dashed into the open.
At first he was confused and bewil-
dered by the half hidden powders and
snow shrouded bushes that beset the
broken ground and daZZled by the still
driving storm. But he knew that they
would also divert attention from his
fight. and beyond he could now see
white slope slowly rising before him,
near whose crest few dark spots We're
crawling i'll file, like Alpine climbers.
They were the Cinnamon he was seek.
ing. He had reasoned that when they
discovered they were followed they
would, in the absence of any chance of
signaling through the storm. detlch
one of their number to give the alarm.
Him he would follow. He felt his re-
volver safe on his hip. He would only
use it if necessary to intimidate til.
spies.
For some moments his ascent through
the wet snow was slow and difficult,
but as he advanced he felt change of
temperature corresponding to that he
had experienced that afternoon on the
wagon coming down. The air grew
leener, the SNOW drier and finer. He
kept a sharp lookout for the moving
figures and scanned the horizon for
some indication of the prospector's de-
serted hut. Suddenly the line of
figures lie was watching seemed to be
broken and then gathered together as
II group. Had they detected him? Evil
IDENTIFY they had. for, as he expected,
one of them had been detached and
was now moving at right angles from
the party toward the right. With a
! thrill of excitement he urged his horse
forward. The group was far to the
left, and he was nearing the solitary
| figure. But to his astonishment. as lie
n oh tl,n fc ,,ft
: observed another figure as far to the
right of the group as he WAS to the left,
and that figure he could see, even at
that distance, was not Chnaman.
+, He halted for n better observation
| For an instant he thought it might be
| the fugitive himself, but as quickly he
! recognized it was another mantle
deputy. 1t was he whom the China
| men had discovered; it was he who had
caused the diversion and the dispatch
of the vedette to warn the fugitive. His
own figure had evidently not yet been
detected. His heart beat high with
hope. He again dashed forward after
the flying messenger, who was I'M
! doubtedly seeking the ruined pros
pectOrS nut and-IriXlt.
| But it was 10 easy matter At this
elevation the snow had formed crust,
over which the single Chinaman = a
1.-THE, young figure-skimmed like a
skater, while MYSTERIOUS horse crash
ed through it into unexpected depths.
Again, the runner could deviate by a
shorter cut, while the horseman was
| condemned to the one half obliterated
| trail. The only thing in Masterton's
| favor, however, was that lie was stead
| lily increasing his distance from the
group and the deputy sheriff and so
cutting off their connection with the
messenger. But the trail grew more
and more indiStinct as it neared the
summit until at last it utterly vanished.
Still he kept up his speed toward the
active little figure-which now seemed
to be that of a mere boy-skimming
BILE and founder Of the mustang
through broken crust ought to have
warned him of his recElessncss, but
| now n distant glimpse of low black
cned shanty-the ruined prospector's
hut-toward which the messenger was
making, made him forget all else. The
distance was lessening between them.
lie could see the long pigtail of the fl-
gitivc standing out from his bent head.
when suddenly his horse plunged for
ward and downward. In an awful in
slant of suspense and twilight, such as
he might have seen in dream, lie felt
himself pitched headiong into suffocat-
ing depths, f3llowed by Il shock, the
crushing weight and stcaming flank of
his horse across his shoulder, utter
darkness and merciful unconscious
ness.
How long he lay there thus he never
knew. With his returning conscious
ness came this strange twilight again
the twilight of a dream. He was sit
ting in the new church at Canada City
as he had sat the first Sunday of his ar
rival there, gazing at the pretty face of
Cissy TriXit in the pew opposite him