The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-10-30
CHAPTER xlx-(continueo.)

dTAylOu JOOK OH MS nat and began
to run. II he lelt Nevins go out of his
sight he might never discover him
again. The ground was soft and
spongy, SO that his footballs made no
,Dound; while Nevins appeared to be
% confident no n was following him
that he did not take the trouble to
look round.
1t appeared to be an aimless kind of
game on the part of both men.
Neither OF them knew exactly what he
meant to do. AS far as Nevins was
concerned, the appearance Of the Gu
rate on the seem had upset all his
plans. Instead of getting away as he
expected to do. without difficulty and
without suspicion. he would have to
maneuver himself and his treasure in
to a place Of safety.
As he hurried across the wide
moor, with the night closing thickly
around him and the damp sea fog
throwing everything out of perspect-
I've and proportion, he tried to formu-
late ome safe and definite plan of ac-
tion. 1t vas frightfully annoying to
have everything upset by a stupid
curate. For the life Of him he could
not understand why Grayton wanted
to interfere. It was no oncer OF
bis. Marions West wa no relative Of
his, and had given him no authority
to act for her.
Those meddling fools ought to be
shot," he said to himself, angrily.
Hell 60 and tell Blight, no doubt,
and that sagacious arm Of the law
will make no end of a mouth of the
business. il I'm caught / shall have
to prove my authority for what I've
done. and that will blow up the whole
show"
He fell into a slower pace at length,
for the way got more and more diff
cult, and the darkness deepened at al
most every step. Moreover. the prob
lem that faced him remained as per.
picking as yer.
I Should he hide the box and the bits
Of jewelry he had pocketed, and re-
turn for them at a later date, or
should he try to make good his escape
with the booty in his possession? The
latter was no doubt the more heroic
course, but it would involve a good
many risks. To walk across Penny
Downs to the nearest railway station
would take Elm several hours, and by
the time he got there Blight might
have a warrant ready. for his arrest.
Clearly, the way of the w%rongdoer was
beset with difficulty. The telegraph,
which he had SO often found convent
ent, might rrove a snare. While he
was tramping YEARLY across that
trackless moor messages might be
humming along the wires to every po-
lice station in the district.
He cursed the curate again with all
his heart and soul. II he could have
put q shot through his head while he
leaned over the cliff 1t would have
solved the ~dificulty. Unfortunately
he had no pistol in his possession,
otherwise he would have been strong
y tempted to break the sixth COM
mandment. The only Weapon OF Of
Tense or defense in his possession was
= l~olg-bladed pocket knife.
The longer he reflected, the more
probable Il seemed to him that he
would get caught. That being SO, the
Wise thing would be TO hide the valu-
ables. Nothing could be proved
against him. Nobody saw him break
open the door. Nearly all the boxes
that had been washed ashore q
BEEN badly damaged by the waves.
H could swear that he had never
touched : single thing. They could