Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-11-15

5 Is her hay on him prity lSold wethe,
 1 river Solid It was partly through the generous , employment of his imagination that , the storekeeper was able to make ou 7 the scrawl, which, though not signed
 he knew to be the pilots. That same | imagination enabled him to bring uI numberless disturbing-almost terri , ble-pictures.
 , The astonished helper gazed after } him as he went tearing away in the
 direction of the horse herd By jim . go" he grumbled. Twenty miles,
 and he didn't even say treat"
 Soon Lounsbury's favorite saddler,
 urged on by a quirt, was kicking up a
 path across the crusted drifts that
 Shadrach had so recently surmounted.
 AS the storekeeper cantered swiftly
 forward new question presented
 itself to him. Was the preacher" in
 league with Matthews, and so was
 carrying the section boss out of the
 way? He decided negatively. He had
 given only glance to Lancaster's
 companion, but that, together with the
 passing glimpse from the store, had
 shown him a venerable man whose
 piercing eyes held pious light. He
 was no scoundrel confederate. He
 was plainly but brave, perhaps a fa-
 natic and foolhardy, apostle in the
 wilderness, and his calling had kept
 Matthews from confding in him.
 While Lounsbury thus alternately
 tortured and eased his mind he had
 passed the somber clump of cotton
 woods where the Indian dead were
 lashed and was fast covering the miles
 that lay between the burial boughs
 and Fort Brannon.
 
 When the ten minutes he had allot- ted were past Matthews made great show of putting away his watch and took a last pull at the whisky flask.
 The bottle disposed of, he walked down the drift to the warped door and rapped a staccato. No answer was re- turned. Again he rapped and more imperatively than before. Again no answer. He pushed back his hat and applied an ear to the hole through which had hung the lifting string of the latch Then he heard long, infre- quent sobs, like those of a child who, though almost asleep, is yet sorrow ing. Between the sobs, punctuating them fiercely, sounded the prolonged sucking in of breath.
 Might as well stop v bawlin' an squallin'," he called through the latch hole. Times up!"
 Getting no reply, as before. he alter ed his tactics. First, shading his face with his slim fingers, he looked in. He could not see the girls. Dallas was close to the door and beyond the limit of his vision. So was Marylyn, who, helpless with fright, half knelt, half lay, against her sister. What he could see was. from the south window, the gaudy Navajo blankets forming two partitions of Lancaster's bedroom and nearer two partly filled sacks, some harnesses and the seat of a wagon. The other window afforded a. better view. Looks mighty comfortable" he said as Ee contemplated 1t. There was a hearth with its dying fire. Ill front of 1t were circling benches and a thick buffalo skin rug Above was a mantel, piled with calico covered books. A freshly scrubbed table stood in the farther corner beneath a dish cupboard, which was made of q dry goods box. To the left of this, high up on the log wall, were a couple of pegs.
 It was these that finally riveted Matthews attention and brought him to q temporary halt. Got tn gun down. he exclaimed. On finding that l Lancaster was gone he had decided | not to produce a weapon. Now. how ! ever. he quickly felt for cue and drop | ped on all fours That biggest gal d l no more mind pumpin' lead into me than nOthin'." he declared, wagglng ! his head wisely. ''I could tell that by l the shine in her eyes" He crawled | around the corner.
 Behind the lean-to, he came to sev- i eraI conclusions. It would be useless to try to get in by either window. i Both were high and small. The best ! spot for an attack was the door. Uu- less he was hard pressed he must not ! shoot. Women were concerned, and l the fort or Clark's might be stirred to . retaliation in their name. l For example. there was that poor devil of a COW puncher at Dodge who had | been riddled simply for shaping his wife Obviously the shack must be . occupied without the shedding of blood. But what of his safety? 'I'll . jus have t chance it." he said. and hunted for something to use as a bat- tering ram.
 Not a pole, not even a piece of board. could be fEd- A scarcity of fuel be- fore Squaw Charley began furnishing 1t had led to the burning Of every odd bit Of timber Disgruntled. but not Matthews crsvled back to the front of the cabin and closely examined the door T thought sO-: he declared joyfuIIy when he was done Rain and snow had sveIIed the thick boards of which Ii was built l But tArgugh the nsTrow cracks be- tween tEess he saV that the transverse pieces on tho inside. IiEe the four with out were only slender batteas- If can git some of them eSezts or he said. T can bust in
 Win a EO-a handle knife be pred up tke ed os a batzea uutf he coGId gst Lis fingers bezezth it Then be p1Tsd- azd it cane auy- \ HEt