The San Francisco call., 1905-03-03
= CAPTURED q
BY FRANK H. SWEET
THROW up your hands.
quick"
Brad obeyed the command
. PROMPTLY. without looking 70

DD--E4 AA@
promptly. without looking TO
see whence il came. That
much he had learned from his life in
the West But as his eyes found the
beautiful face beyond the firmly held
rife barrel. MS hand dropped involun-
tarily TO his hat 10 remove il AS IL
did 50 there came a sharp report and
Z Etinging sensation in his arm
That wiz convince you I mean
what / say" came sternly from the
girl. Now up with your hands again.
quick, The next time I shall not aim
to FIRE between your arm and head.
but 70 hit"
Brad smiled grimIy. Evidently the
sudden motion Of his arm had caught
the bullet which was merely intended
10 Craze II: and from the excruciating
pain and his inability 10 raise the arm
from its limp position al his side he
realized that the bone was shattered.
Throw them up repeated the girl
in1patiently, or shall shoot"
No need for that" drawled Brad.
for / could have drawn and used my
revolver before this. just you tell me
what 70 do, and I'll do it No use
monkeying with the hands up busi-
ness any more"
He waited stolidIy, half expecting
another shot But II oId not come
The girl was looking at him unde-
cidedly
We'll" she conceded at length. II
don't know as it is really necessary
for your hands to remain up. l am
not afraid In spite OF what you say
] could xiii you half dozen times be-
fore you could draw and level a
weapon In all fairness. 1 advise you
not 10 make the attempt. Now re-
move your reyolyers carefully, with
the mUzzies toward the ground, and
drop them beside your rife. There,
that is right" as the wea pons were
slipped from the belt and dropped TO
the ground Now walk twenty PAGES
down the valley and remain standing
with your back toward me will
pick up your weapons and restore
them IN due time"
Too much for you TO carry all OF
them" demonstrated Brad. My rife
Is mighty heavy. Better fire It off
and hand II over 10 me-
viii attend 20 them" sharply.
You are talking too much. walk
forward now, twenty PAGES
AS he started 10 obey there came a
savage growl and he half turned In
stantly the rife muzzle was looking
MN IN the eyes None OF tnat. the
girl admonished; "and let me add that
] shall not give you much more ad-
vice"
But the bear
The bear is in a trap and perfectly
safe" curtly. AND
Then let me kill him for you and
take OF the pelt," urged Brad eagerly,
and ne turned half around.
! The girls eyes were as steelly as the
barrel Of her rife. Il shall not par
ley with you any more" she said.
If you do not turn instantly and obey
my orders ! shall fire. l understand
your wish TO take off the skin. You
had already planned that, but did not
expect 10 find me here 70 mar pre-
yious successes. Now turn"
Brad did so promptly.
A moment later he heard her gath
ering up the weapons, then: Now
walk straight toward that house you
3 can see among the trees"
Half way TO the house Brad called
over his shoulder:
Would you mind explaining that
remark about previous successes ?"
The girl was silent.
Struck me as sort of mysterious -
Brad went on refectively, seeing
we're strangers and I've never been in
the country before Though, OF
course''-after waiting a few mo-
ments-'you are not believing much
say Just now: But there's another
thing I'd like 70 ask"-after a long
pause-"did you ever hear Of a man
shooting through his pockets?' ?''
Receiving no answer TO this, he
continued coolly: You see, folks out
this way have to get into habits like
that. Why, know persons who could