Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-03-19


Wiliston's shot had come. Mary
could not keep back little womanish
gasp of nervous dread.
Grip your nerve, Mary" said her
father. That's nothing-shooting
from down there. Just lie low and
they can do nothing. Only watch,
child, watch. They must not creep
up on us. Oh. for a moon"
She did grip her nerve, and her
hand ceased its trembling. In the
darkness her eyes were big and
solemn. Sometime, tomorrow, the re-
action would come, but tonight
Yes, father, keep up your own
nerve she said in brave little voice
that made the man catch his breath.
Again the heavy minutes dragged
away. At each of the two windows
crouchcd a tense figure, brain alert,
eyes in iron control. 1t was a fright.
full strain, this waiting game. Could
one be sure nothing had escaped ones
vigilance? Starlight was deceptive,
and ones eyes must needs shift to
keep the mastery over their little
horizon, II might we'll be that some
one Of those ehostly and hidden sen.
tinels patroling the lonely homestead
had wormed himself past staring eye
balls, crawling, crawling, crawling; it
might well be that at any moment a
sudden light faring up from some
! corner would tell tho tale Of the end.
Now and then could be heard the
soft thud Of hoof as some one rode
to execute an order. Occasionally,
something moved out by the sheds.
Such movement, If discernihle from
the house, was sure to be followed on
the instant by quick. sharp remon-
STRANGE from Willston's rife. How
long could It last? Would his nerve
wear away with the night? Could he
keep his will dominant If so, he
must drag his mind resolutely away
from that >'rve-raclIing still, and I'M
| seen creeping, creeping. creeping.
/ nearer and nearer. How the stiffness
/ weighed upon him, and still his mind
| dwelt upon that sinuous. nat-belled
/ creeping, crawling. worming, God, it
was awful, He fought it desperately.
/ He knew he was lost if he could not
stop thinking about it. The sweat
came out in big beads on his forehead,
on his body; he pricklcd with the heat
of the effort. Then it left him-the
awful horror-left him curiously cold,
/ but steady tf nerve and with will Of
/ iron and eyes, cats eyes, for their
seeing III the dark. Now that lie was
calm once more, he let himself weigh
the chances Of succor. They were
pitifullv remote. The Lazy s was
situated in a lonely stretch of prairie
land far from any direct trail. True.
it lay between kemah. the county
seat. and the Three Bars ranch, but
it was a good half mile from the
straight routs. Even so, it was a late
hour for any one to be passing by. 1t
was not a Travelled trail except for the
boys OF the Three Bars and they
were known to be great home-stayers
and little given to spreeing. AS for
the rustlers. IL rustlers they were,
they had no fear of interruption by
the officers Of the law, who held their
places by virtue of the insolent and
arbitrary will of Jesse Black and his
brotherhood, and we're now carousing
in Kemah by virtue of the hush-money
put up by this same secret tribunal.
Watch, child watch" he said
again, without in the least shifting his
tense position.
Surely" responded Mary, quite
steadily.
Now was her time come. Dark,
sinister figures fitted from tree u
tree At first she could not be sure, It
was so heartlessy dark but there was
movement-it was different from that
terrible blank quiet which she had
hitherto been gazing upon till her eyes
burned and pricked as with needle
points, and visionary things swan be.
fore them. She winked ranidly to
dispel the unreal and floating things.
opened wide her long-ashed lids. fixed
them, and-fred. Then Williston
knew that his little girl" his one eve
lamb, all that was left TO him of full
and gracious past, must go through
what he had gone through, all that
nameless horror and expectant dread
and his heart cried out at the unhCly
injustice of it all. He dared not go &c
her, dared not desert his post for ar
instant. If one got within the shadow
of the walls all was lost.
Mary's challenge was met with g
rather hot return fire. 1t was probably
given to inspire the besieged with {
due respect for the attackers mum
hers. Bullets battered around the out
side walls like haistones, one ever
whizzed through the window porilous
ly near the girls intent young face.
Silence came back TO the night
There was no more movement. Iet
down there at the spring something
maybe one OF those dark, gaunt cot
tonwoods, held death--death for hel
and death for her father. A stream Of
icy GOODNESS struck across her heart
She found herself calculating in DELHI
GRAFTON which tree it was that hello
this thing--death. The biggest one
shadowing the spring. helping to keeI
the pool sweet and cool where Pau
Langford had galloped his horse thai
day when--ah if Paul LangfolJ
would only come now
A wild, girlish hope flashed up II
her heart. Langford would come
had he not sworn it to her father
Had he not given his hand as q