The Irish standard., 1908-08-01

I
while had been pacing up and down
uneasily, and little later he sudden
ly put his hand to his head and ex.
claimed with deep emotion: my God,
can see Dick sitting down some
where, looking at mel"
l got up without word and fol-
lowed Hillard as he led the way, rife
in hand, over the path that our COM
panion had lately taken. In about Is
minutes we reached the west side Of
the ravine. Here we paused and care
fully scanned the basin, but saw moth
ing of our friend. Then Hillard called
my attention to something upon the
cast side of the canyon and about on
level with our eyes. From the dis
lance 1t looked like the figure of a
man.
1t took us some 20 minutes to reach
that east side of the canyon, and come
up to the object which lately had
caught our eyes. 1t was Dick, sitting
on rock, smiling.
"Well, Dick" asked, "what luck"
There was no reply, and, as l took
step nearer to Montrose, shock
of horror struck me like the discharge
from a powerful electric battery. For
the smile upon those lips was ghast-
ly illusion. Dick Montrose was dead!
We took the body back to camp
Hillard and land there gave it hui
name burial. Hillard, poor fellow, be.
Ing of nervous, intuitive tempera-
ment, was profoundly affected by our
friends murder, and l watched him
closely, realizing that he was in dan
. ger of losing control Of his reason.
Late that night fell off into an I'M
easy sleep, to awaken in less than an
hour from wretched dreams
Reaching over my hand, l felt for
Hillard, who always slept next to me-
He was gone! Immediately 1 arose
and looked about the camp for him,
but he was nowhere to be found.
aroused my two companions, but the
night was so dark we had to await the
coming of day before beginning
search.
! At about five o'clock we found Hill
lard's footprints leading over small
alkali.fat to the north. The foot
prints led directly on for about 200
yards. where, suddenly, in the center
of the open fiat, they turned about and
pointed toward US. Hillard, from that
point, had walked on backward!
Yes, the poor fellow must have lost
his reason entirely thenceforth to
to have gone backward In walking, and
there was something uncanny in fol-
lowing these strange footprints,
heightened by the uncertainty of what
we should find at their end.
Vainly endeavoring to silence our
fears, we FASTENED on, and for an
other 200 yards followed the scarce.
ly perceptible footprints, to come flush
at last with the opening of a small
cave.
AS no footprints led from this cham.
Der, we judged that poor Hillard was
still within its shelter, and we were
about to- enter and make search for
him, when we were arrested by a
sound, and driven to conceal ourselves
behind large boulder, from one side
of which we could command view
of the cave, yet remain hidden.
Some one within the cleft was
; laughing. It was the laughter either
of mailman or f1end, and we wait
ed and watched with chilled blood. In
another moment a face appeared at
the opening of the cave and looked
about. It was CHASTITY white-such a
face as might belong to a being whom
the SUMS rays had never touched; col.
orless as the white growth Of plant
that one finds hidden beneath board
in a damp place out of the suns reach.
The eyes were like those of a new.
born animal, without lashes, pale,
weak and Intellectual.
"Look!" I whispered to my compan.
ions. TITS the renegade leader of the
Apaches!'
Stealthily the man came from the
cave and made directly toward us, his
feet twisted about until his toes
pointed sideways from his body. AS he
came around the boulder which con.
cealed us from view, we leaped for.
ward and grappled him fast. Hobart
had brought along his lariat, and this
he wound about our prisoners body,
pinioning his arms to his side, while
I restrained the man from crying out
by firmly grasping his throat. He
made no struggle-only looked 1T US
with his horrible eyes.
"Are you that DEVIL" Hobart ques-
toned, who killed two of our campo"
AS the creature nodded and laughed,
l believe l should have shot him on
the spot had l not suddenly noticed
that he was dressed in poor Hillard's
clothes. called the attention of my
companions to this fact, and we in
stantly came to the conclusion that
IIillard, too, had been made away with.
Leaving Hobart on guard, Rabe and
I cautiously entered the cave. There
we found Hillard's silver watch lying
in the dirt!
Returning, we asked our prisoner
whether he was the white man who