Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-10-03

~ " ~ iAuV oAL lioi ~ Via" u
pistol on me If 1 come to talk with
your"
Il WILL" said /, and he dropped the
long carbine he was carrying into the
hollow of his arm at once. / flung on
O again and drew the left-hand
rein.
Where are you going?"
Back to Nant-y-Bryn." said I.
"Why?' asked Ieuan, land why are
you going away?'
/ left both questions unanswered. The
first question was already one to which
l was seeking an answer in my own
mind, n / could not give It.. To what
n should l return? Would Sir Ar
thur yield up the letter or confess to
any knowledge of it? knew it was
foolishness to expect any such thing,
and 1 halted again in perplexity.
You have quarreled with him." said
Ieuan, sharply; you are leaving him
in anger. You are finding that he is q
bad man."
1 nodded. but said nothing.
What has he taken from your" next
demanded Ieuan. 1t was clear that he
had been watching me since l halted.
and his keen wits were threading my
actions on the right string.
"A letter" said l, "a letter which I
would have given all the world that
no one should have seem"
And can he make a mischief with
that letter in Nant-y-Bryn?"
No" l replied, but he can put It In
the right hands, I fear"
And where are they?"
In Worcestershire"
Then he can do nothing" Ieuan
slapped the stock of his piece triumph
antly, and l started once more, as If
from a dream, and began to rub the
mist from my wits. His questions had
been so jumping with my thoughts that
mad answered them half-unconscious-
~, and now | began to bethink myself
where | stood. Here was the fellow
whose throat l had done my best to
cut last night, putting query after
query to me like n father-Confessor.
and L was giving docile I ran
mind swiftly over What had been
said and found nothing further to re-
proach myself with, then looked for
the first time with clear-seeing ewes
at leuan Gwyllt. He stood with one
hand leaning on the mares shoulder.
his keen, fierce eyes riveted on NV
face, and reading my thoughts-so
keenly intuitive is this race-as a man
reads an open page.
You gave me a chance" said he.
that woman jumped on my
shoulders. / gave you a chance last
night, and we were level. But YOU
stood by old Megan this morning, and
l am thinking of that now. 1t has held
my finger from the trigger. But never
mind; let us consider this letter. Can
ne use 1t to make a profit to himself?"
'Ay, that he can" said !, as my mind
began to sum up things clearly for the
first time. l had beer so full Of
thoughts Of Enid Vaughan, so occupied
with the hustle of things of late, that 1
had never fairly set myself to working
out the meaning of my uncle's conduct.
l now saw with what hopes he had
launched hat bullet at me. Had IT
been an inch or so lower in its flight.
surely an ounce of lead had never been
put to greater interest, for It would
lave meant his accession to the fair
estate he coveted so eagerly; 1t would
AVE meant safety, wealth, q great
position, and all secured so easily by
the death Of n already prescribed
already fugitive. Who was there to
inquire or to care where or how 1 had
come to my end? And then his peace
to be made with the authorities by de-
IiVering up my hapless friends. With
what patient care must he have search
ed my clothes while l slept, for l had
no other coat, and wore it constantly
by day.
And the letter is of no use to him in
Nant-y-Bryn?" went on Ieuan.
None" said l.
He must send 1t or carry it to some
one else ?"
He must"
And will 1t be best for him to do that
soon?"
l perceived Ieuan's drift, and thought
for a moment. Had he already made
use of the information? / felt sure he
q not. / had gained enough knowl-
edge Of the household to be pretty GER
tain that no one had been despatched
since my arrival, and Their his fear Of
reducing the garrison had made in my
favor so far. Now his fears would be
greatly relieved, and the news was not
Of q nature to keep. My friends might
shift their quarters.
1T WILL" said J..
What will the letter do for him ?"
persisted Ieuan.
1T will furnish him very likely with
means TO remove from this country"
said /, and place him in safety, far
from the Red Men of the Dusk"
Ieuan ground his teeth w~ickedly, and
tugged at his great red beard.
He cannot send it by a bird in the
sky" said Ieuan, "and l will make that
the only safe way to him."
Here was an unexpected ally. and
one Of whose power l had no doubt.
Jeuan stared thoughtfully along the
thread Of road running white in the
moonlight across the swart moor, for
the lane IN either side was wet peat
bog, where the snow did not lie.
"The moon will not be much higher
before we have that PAPER" he said at
last.
~"Supposing he comes this way?"
returned, following his unsuoken argu-
ment.
II have been thinking of that" said
Ieuan: land he Will not come this way.
We shall be doing well If we go to place
ourselves on the way that he must
come"
I was willing enough, and Whitesock
wheeled round and trotted directly
back, Ieuan Looping at my side, and talk
ing easily as he ran.
WIN it be Owain who goes?" he
asked.
Never" said 1; never in the
world"
II am glad of that said Ieuan; "but
whoever will go will start on a tall
horse for so long a journey as that,
and not an a mountain pony. Now
for such a horse there is but n road
from Nant-y-Bryn."
lleH we HnuSL De OH II, Sdlu l..
1--WE are too far on It, replied Ieuan;
that is why we are going back. Two
miles from the house another little way
turns off, and he could go up that"
I remembered 1t as he spoke. 1t was
the way along which 1 myself had
marched when / first approached Nant-
y-Bryn, and the track we were now fol-
lowing was the one by which Owain
had ridden to meet me.
We were soon near the point at which
the side road branched away, and
Ieuan lifted his finger for me to draw
rein.
The marks of her feet going away
will draw him on" said he, but not
the marks of her feet coming back"
And that is truth" returned 1 dis
and leading Whitesock on
to the grass beside the road. Here
is the place."
Just at the point where the roads
forked together was q thicket Of min
pled hazel and holly with tracks heat