Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1901-02-09
cooked It and waited, saying to himself

cooked It and waited, saying to himself
between his set teeth:
"fll pop him the first time he chirps."
But he waited and listened In vain for
the imp's "chirp." Danny, inspired by
new idea Of mischief had suddenly de-
camped. campering swiftly up the road.
he met his sister Hetty-a tall, graceful,
handsome girl--who. with an AK upon her
shoulder, was leisurcly approaching.
The lad was not at all bad.hearted. He
simply wanted fun. Unfortunately, that
which commends itself as fun to the mind
CT vigorous lively boy is generally char.
acterizcd as deviltry by older persons.
and Danny had a widespread reputation
RS an incorrigible imp. But he really
!zeant no harm. He had little spite
against John Cameron, who had had oc.
casion to switch him a few timcs-as al
most every man In the township had.
more or less--but his spite was not
enough to prompt desire to do any real
injury. 1t demanded nothing more than
the exquisite fun of soaring John and
getting him wild with rage. That enjoy
mcnt achieved. Danny would chccrfully
have gone a long way, If necessary. for
his mischief. he conceived the idea for
a sprightly variation upon IT.. nothing less
than putting his sister In his place, and
divcrting Johns wrathful objurgations to
her innocent head. to the mutual confu.
sion of the pair. So he ran to her, and
with good stimulation of excited horror,
cried:
"Oh, Hctty! John Cameron has fallen
over the edge of the cliff!'
"John Cameron exclaimed the girl,
hoarsely. turning very pale and catching
the boys shoulder to support herself.
"Arc you surcT'
Eyes; IL you crawl to the edge and look
over you may see him Oh rock a good
ways down."
uctty with difficulty represscd a femi.
nine desire to shrek. She was trembling,
and her teeth chartered rs IL with cold
"Where is he? Show mel" she gasped.
"Just beyond that little red oak. Watch
where 1 pitch this stone. There!'
She watched the fight OF the little
ston. marking where 1t dropped just be.
yond the edge of the hill, and did not
notice how Danny, behind her, Rugged
himself and grinncd In enjoyment Of the
reflection that, small as the missile was,
1t would be certain to keep John lively.
"You can find him, easy. I'm going
for help" and the lad was off like a
shot.
Hctty stood hesitating, wishing to 20
| forward. yet so filed with dread and hor.
ror that her limbs seemed to weaken and
become powerlcss to obey her will. OF
oil the men In the world, must It be John
Cameron to whom this dreadful thing
should happen! John Cameron, so strong
| and handsome! John Cameron, who
would never know now how she would
grieve for him! How willingly she would
have offered herself to fate In his stead
Her great brown eyes, wide staring In
| anticipation Of the horror they were tC
see, had no tears In them, for her tears
were In her heart, swelling 1t to burst
ing. but low moan that ended In a sol
wcllcd from her lips. Near the brink OF
the abyss, she dropped upon her hand.
and knees. and crawlcd forward to lool
over the edge.
John Cameron's keen hearing caugh,
the rustling Of her movements among the
leaves, and naturally supposing the SOUND
made By his tormcntor. preliminary e
another bombardment. hastily aimed al
the stone In the tree and fired, cxclaim
ing as he did so:
'There! Col dern your
a woman's shrek answered the report
Of his rifle. Then succeeded silcncc--onl,
silence.
He stood as IL petrifcd by astonish
ment. holding his breath to listen. while
gradually a white horror ovcrsprcad hi,
face. The voice was surely u woman's
He huskily shoued:
"Hello, up there! Are you hurt!"
| There was no answer. not sound OF
any kind but the violent beating Of hi.
own heart. The suspense quickly be
came unbearable. At one end Of the ledge
upon which he was perchcd grew larg,
tree. rooted among the rocks, but so In
securely, as 1t appeared, that its owl
weight threatened to tear 1t loose ant
precipitate it into the valley. it, uppcl
branches were on level with the hill
top, but several yards away from thu
cliff owing TO the angle ut which th,
trunk projected. Under ordinary cir
cunistanccs, John would rs soon hav,
thought Of jumping down to the creek a
of climbing that tree, for the enormous
leverage of his weight, among those up
per branches might very well prove to-
much for its scant hold upon the cartl
to bear. But In his present state Of anS
ious excitement, approaching desperation
he did not even think twice Of the danger
He recognized it, but that was all. VI
the trunk he went, almost rs nimbly II
squirrel could, feeling It culver an,
crack. but caring nothing for those dan
ger signals, so long as he might reach
point high enough to sec what his bulle
had done. His climbing was nccessaril
done with his back toward the elf
When he felt that he had attained a SUN
cicnt altitude, he stopped; but then n sud
den dread Of what he was about to Sc
suddenly OverpOwercd him that for
minute he could not nerve himself to tur
his head mad look. At length he did Sc
and almost fell from his perch. His wors
fears were realized. Face downwar
among the leaves, lay the body of n won
an motionless--scant doubt, dcad-killc
by his bullet. Who she was he could nc
tell; but that did not matter. His dee
was a murder, anyway; and he felt tha
the best thing he could do would be
let go all holds and drop. Better do tina
than be hanged.
Ito be continued.)