Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-09-17

Then he paused and stammered In
strangely altered and unnatural voice:
"Yass'm. I'm the Waterman"
She noted two other darkies at work
below and was vaguely surprised. not
SO much at their presence, as ut the
manner III which they moved. for they
seemed under stress of some great
haste, running hither and yon. She
saw horses standing in the trail and
sensed something indefinably odd and
alarming In the air. Turning to the
man she opened her mouth to speak,
when from the rank grass under her
feet came noise which set her a.
Jingle and at which her suspicious
leaped full to the solution. 1t was the
groan Of m.n. Again he gave voice
to his pain. and she knew that she
stood face to face with something sin
lister. Tales of sluice robbers had come
| to her and rumors Of the daring raids
| into which men were lured by the vel
low sheen, and yet this was incredible.
A hundred men lay within sound of her
voice. She could hear their laughter.
One was whistlng popular refrain.
A quarter mile away on every hand
We're other camps. A scream from her
would bring them all. Nonsense, this
was no sluice robbery, and then the
] man in the bushes below moaned for
the third time.
"What is that?'' she said.
Without reply the negro lowered the
muzzle of his rifle till it covered her
breast, and at the same time she heard
the double click of the hammer.
Keep still and don't move" he
warned We're desperate, and we
can't take any chances, miss"
"Oh, you are stealing the gold
She was wildly frightened, yet stood
! still while the lookout anxiously d.
the tents above until his companions
signaled him that they were through
/ and the horses were loaded. Then he
spoke:
81 don't know what to do with you,
but | guess I'll tie you up
"What?' she said.
I'm going to tie and gag you SO you
can't holler."
"Oh, don't you dare! she cried fierce
ly. "I'll stand right here till you've
gone, and won't scream. promise"
She looked w at him appealingly, at
which he dipped his head, so that she
caught only glimpse of his face, and
then backed away.
Cali right! Don't try it because I'll
be hidden in those bushes yonder at
the bend. and I'll keep you covered till
the others are gone" He leaped down
the bank, ran to the cavalcade, mount
ed quickly, and the three dashed their
horses into run, disappearing up the
trail around the sharp curve. She
heard the blows of their quirts as they
whipped the pack horses.
They were long out Of sight before
the girl moved or made sound, al
though she knew that none of the three
had paused at the bend. She only
stood and gazed. for as they galloped
off she had heard the scrap of broken
sentence. 1t was but one excited
word sounding through the rattle Of
hoofs-her own name-"Helen" and
yet because of it she did not voice the
alarm, but rather began to piece to-
gether bit by bit the strange points Of
this adventure. She recalled the out
lines Of her captor with wrinkle Of
perplexity. Her fright disappeared en-
tirely, giving place to intense excite
ment mo, no; it can't be! And yet I
wonder If 1t 1sT she cried. ooh, I
wonder If it could bel"
/ She opened her lips to cry aloud, then
hesitated. She started toward the
tents, then paused, and for many mo-
ments after the hoof beats had died
out she stayed undecided. Surely she
wished to give the signal, to force the
fierce pursuit. What meant this rob-
berry, this defiance Of the law, of her
uncle's edicts and of Mcnamara? They
were common thieves, criminals, out
laws, these men, deserving punish
ment, and yet she recalled darker
night, when she herself had sobbed
and Cuivered with the terrorS Of DUR