The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1908-10-25
CHAPTER XIII.
A Race With Death.


On the dav following the expulsion OF
Prendergast Harry woke restless ana
uurcfreshcd. FlcetinG sensations lnn'hIu
him-a disturbing convection that Lho
struggling memory in some measure sue
ceeded in reasserting itself I'm the shau
owv kingdom of sleep, Waking, the aP'
partitions were fed again into their OBJ
scurjtv leaving the wraiths of rccollcc-
tion TO startlc aud dlsqm't
4 girl'y face lowered always before
him-ruling his consciousness rs 1T had
ruled his sleeping thought. - Is 1t only
fnncy?'' he asked himself. cor is IT
more9 II was there-my memory-ln
shrcas and patches, on my sleep; now
when ! wake. It is only the trav1ng
mist Of dreams, Dreams.
He drew deep breath. ''Iet the over
mastering sense Of reality remains Last
night | walked in intimate, forgotten
ways-and she was IN thcm--she. lie
flushed. an odd. sensitive flush.
"Dreams'' he said. "All dreams and
fancies!
AZ length he took down from It's shelf
the bottle he had rescued from Prender-
CASTS intention and cmptied it Of its
riisteniug grains-cnough TO rcplenlsh
his depleted stock of provisions. He
paused moment as he put on his hat,
smiling whimSically, a little sadly, he
dreaded entering the town, But there
could be no remedy in concealmcnt. II
he was to hive and work there. appear
he must on the streets sooner or later.
Smoky Mountain must continue to think
of him as il might: what he was from
that time on, was all that could count
to him.
If he had known it, there was good
reason for hesitation today. Early that
morning an angry rumor had disturbed
the town: the sluice of the hydraulic
company had been robbed again; Some
two months previously there had oc-
CURED a series of depredatlons by winch
the company had suffered. The boxes
were not swept of their golden harvest
each day, and in spite OF all prccau-
rions. coarse gold had disappeared mys-
teriously from the rffles-this, al.
though armed men had watched all
night. There had been much guesswork.
The cabin on the hillside was the near
eat habitation-the company's tlume dis
gorged its food in the gulch beneath
it-and suspicion had eventually point
ed it's way. The sudden ceasing of the
robberies with the disappearance OF
Hugh Stires had given focus 10
this suspicion. Now, almost coin
cidept with his return, the thievery
had recommended. It had been red
letter day for. Devlin and his TX, who
cavilled at the more charitable. or
all this, however, the object Of their
'fI told-you-so' was serenely lgnor-
ant.
As Harry walked briskly down the
mountain q feeling OF unTeality stole
upon him. The bell was ringing in the
steeple of the little Catholic church be-
low, and the high metallic sound came
20 him with a mysterious and potential
familiarity. With the first note, his
hand in his pocket closed upon an object
he always carried-the little gold cross
ne had found there when he awakened
in the freight car. the only token he
possessed Of his vanished past. More
than once it had been laid for mascot
on the faro table or the roulette board
with his last coin, Always IT had
brought the stake back, till he had
gained a whimsical belief in its luck.
He drew It out now and looked at IT.
fStrange that the sound OF bell al
WAYS reminds me Of that, he muttered.
" Association of ideas, ! fancy, since
there IS cross on the church stceple.
And what is there in that bell! IL IS
q faint sound even from here, vet night
after night, up there in the cabin, that
far-off peal has walked me suddenly from
sleep Why is it, ] wonder2'
Entering the town, there were few
stirring on the sunny streets, but he
could not but be aware that those he
met stopped TO gaze after him. Some,
indeed. followed. His first objective
point was jewelers., where he could
turn his gold dust into reader coin for
needful purchases. He saw the sign
next 10 the Mountain Valley house and
entered
The ieweler weighed the dust with a
distrustful frown, but Harrv's head was
turned away. He was reading a fresh
Imprinted placard tackled on the wall
an offer OF reward for the detection OF
fbe SluicS fhiCf He read IL through
mechanically, for as he read there came
from the street outside sound that
touched n mufAed chord in his brain. II
was the exhaust of motor car.
He thrust the money the goldsmith
prudgingly handed him into his pocket
and turned to the door. a .long red