The Red Cloud chief., 1905-03-24

storm, had broken jail and were at
large. Their threats of the day before
were remembered now with convincing
vividncss. They had sworn repeatedly
to Bardlock and tn the sheriff and I'm the
hearing of others that they would do
for the man who had taken their mon.
ey from them and had them arrested.
The prosecuting attorney. quickly per-
ceiving the value of this complication
In holding back the mob that was al.
ready forming, called IIorner from the
crowd and made him get up on the
fence and confess that his prisoners
had escaped, at what time he did not
know, probably toward the beginning
OF the storm, when 1t was noisicst.
"lou sce,' cried the attorney. there
Is nothing rs yet Of which we can ne.
cusc the Crossroads. If our friend has
been hurt 1t is much more likely that
these crooks did II. They escaped I'm
time to do it, and we all know they
were laying for him. You want to be
mighty careful, fellow citizens. IIor.
ncr Is already in tclcgraphic communi-
cation with every town around here.
and he'll have those mcn before night.
All you've got TO do is to control your.
selves II little and 90 home quietly
lie could see that his words (cXceDt
those in reference to returning home
no one was going homc) made an i'm
preston. There was Il babblc of shout
Ing and argument and swearing that
grew louder and louder.
Mr.. Ephraim Watts, I'm spite of all
confusion, clad as carefully as upon
the preceding day, deliberately climbed
the fence and stood by the lawyer and
made n single steady gesture with his
hand. He was listened to ut once, as
his respect for the law was less noto-
rious than his irrevercnco for it, and
he had been known In Carlow as GUS
tomarily Il reckless man. They want.
cd illegal and desperate advice and
quoted down TO hear It.. lie spoke IN
his professionally calm voice.
Gentlemen, il seems to me that Mr..
Smith and Mr.. Ribshaw," nodding to
the man with the rawhide whip, "arc
both right. What good are we doing
here? What we want TO know Is what's
happened TO Mr.. Harkless. 1t looks
Just now like the shell men might have
done 1t. Let's find out what they done.
Scatter and hunt for him. Soon ms any
things known for certain Hibbard's
mill whistle will blow three times.
Keep on looking till 1t does; thcn,' he
finished, with a barely p%erceptible
scornful smile at the attorney-'then
we can decide on what had ought be
done"
Six Crossroads lay dark and steam.
Ing In the sun that morning. The forge
was silent, the saloon locked up, the
roadway deserted even by the pigs.
The broken old buggy stood rotting In
the mud without a single lean little old
man or w~oman-such were the chill
dren of h Crossroads-tO play about
1t. Once, when the deputy sheriff rode
through alone, Il tattered black hound,
more wolf than dog, half emerged,
growing, from beneath one of the
tumbledown barns and was jerked
back into the darkness by his tail, with
a snar fiercsr than his own, while a
gun barrel shone for a second as it
swung for Il stroke on the brute's head.
The hound did not yelp or whine when
the blow fell. He shut his eyes twice
und skunk sullenly back to his place.
The shantics might have received a
volley or two from some of the mount
ed bands, eXasperated 10y futile search
Ing. had not the escape Of Horner's
prisoners made the guilt of the Cross
roads appear doubtful in the minds of
many. AS the morning waned the adj
vocates Of the theory that the gam
blers had made away with Harkless
in number. There came a tele-
gram from the Rouen chief Of police
that he had a clew to their whereabouts.
He thought they had succeeded in
reaching Rouen, and It began to be
generally believed that they had es.
{ II WWMD