The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-02-28

all too plainly that he was at the end
OF his tether. rs there no other way7'
he begged. Can nothing be done?r
Nothing. Today decides all. II is
far more vital than YOU realize. 1t is
that-against your money and SheiIa.
I-mean that word and will keep it.
Does she know? Would she ever
know Tiff paid yo-r vile price,
Il cannot say. She loves you; that in
the woman is everything
Aye! Heaven help me; l valued her
respect. too. No matter. If I'm TO PLAY
the villain. let me know at once What
is il that I am TO do?''
Sh. A tap at the door; a telegram
for the mine manager. He tore it open
feverishly. His face was a study as he,
held ont the form. Your answer-the
solution. Look From the agent at
the docks; I wired him at once as
final resource. Lambert L. and valet
landed late last night. Took express
this morning TO reach Balcarras juno
ton p. m. today and has wired there
for horse to ride straight to your office:
thence 10 mine. for inspection early in
morning. Means business, but good
sort. Cost of this information heavy
It's clear-clear as daylight breathed
Foskett. In an agony Of suspense. You
need not go far; he must take the five
mile ride through the dusk. His horse
may shy; any Slight mishap might hap
pen 10 a man riding here, even if he
knows the country. a drug would work:
he would wake next morning to find
himself many miles away. and nothing
could ever transpire. Nothing too des-
perate," he added. with shudder q
have It. The creek path there. where
l. -
certain TO slacken up. and then. a chic
There was no answer Still and strange
David Heron stood while sixty might
have been counted; then. with that me,
chanicaI word. THE creek PATH he
CROPPED toward the door and was gone.
II might have been one minute, or five,
before the mine manager came to him
self with a start That private door-it
seemed as If a faint little moan had
sounded on the other side OF II. He
stumbled forward and slid back the
catch. And there. like a statue with
wide, horror-filled eyes. stood Sheila.
Her lips were struggling to speak
Dave! CAN him back, My Dave.'
You darer- The desperate man
gripped her wrist. "Sheila. think! He's
gone to save US all. His failure NAV
mean our ruin ana your good-by to him
forever
The dusk had fallen swiftly Just
light enough now to frame the white.
granite-like face of the man WHO stood
there by the lonely creek path. mis- SOM
Der eyes staring away toward Balcarras
Junction-that faint glow Of light in the
valley down there. So he had stood for
an hour; so he would stand for hours
more. his fingers ciutchIng the length of
lariat thong, his mind a chaotic blank /
The express might be late; the informa- !
ton might be wrong. and the solitary
rider never appear that way; but he |
must wait and realize afterward what !
that hour OF madness had meant.
What was that? His dulled brain I
seemed 10 grasp two sounds at once /
faint hoof thuds far to the right and /
A pattering of feet on the near left He /
5hrank instinctNely, as flying, breath |
less figure resolved itself in the dusk: |
and then-but the rest seemed part of /
the widest dream. He only knew that /
two arms had circled his neck suffocat- |
ngly; that sob after sob Mas breaking /