The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-05-15

ter. II know those vigilantes. Il viii
set them crazy. and yet not cra~-
enough 70 attack the Midas. They viii
strike for me. and when they hit nv
poor unguarded Ofhee they'll think hell
has moved north"
"AIr. Marshal" said he TO his tool
Il want yOu 70 gather forty men quiet
" and 10 arm them with Winchesters
They must be fellows who won't faint
at blood. You know the kind. Assem-
BILE them at my ONCE after dark. one
at time, by the back way. 1t must
be done with absolute secrecy. Now.
see IL you can do this one thing az
not get balled up. II you fail IN
make you answer TO me-"
why don't you get the troopsT'
ventured Voorhees,.
'Tf there's one thing l want % avoid.
it's soldiers, either here or at the
mines. When they step in, we ste1
out. and I'm not ready for that just
yet" The receiver smiled sinisterly.
Helen meanwhile had fed TO her
room and there received Glenister's
note through Cherry Malotte's mes
senger. 1t rekindled her worst fears
and bore out McNamara's prophecy.
! The more she read of II the more
certain she grew that the crisis wac
only a question of hours and that with
darkness tragedy would walk the
streets of Nome. The thought of thc
wrong already done was lost In the
lonely girls terror of the crime about
| to happen, for 1t seemed to her she had
been the instrument to set these forces
In motion, that she had loosed this
swift speeding avalanche of greed.
| hatred and brutality. And when the
crash should come-the girl shuddered.
1t must not be. She would shrek
warning from the housetops even at
cost of her uncle, of Mcnamara and of
herself And yet she had no proof tina
a crime existed. Although 1t all lay
clear in her own mind, the certainty
Of 1t arose only from her intuition.
If only she were able to take a hand
If only she were not woman. Then
Cherry Malottes words anent Strive
required to her "a bottle of wine and
a woman's face" They brought back
the lawyers assurance that those doc
uments she had safeguarded all
through the long springtime journey
really contained the proof If theT
DID. then they held the power to check |
this impending conflict. Her uncle |
and the boss would not dare continue
If threatened with exposure and prose
cution The more she thought of it /
the more urgent seemed the necessity |
to prevent the battle of tonight. There |
was a chance here at least, and the
only one.
Adding to her mental torment was
the constant vision of that face in the
curtains at the Northern. 1t was her
brother, yet what mystery shrouded
this affair also? What kept him from
her? What caused him to stink away
like thief discovered? She grew
dizzy and hysterical.
Strive turned in his chair as the
door to his private Office opened, then
leaped to his feet at sight of the gray
eyed girl standing there.
IT came for the papers," she said.
II knew you would" The blood went
VI Ills CucchEy tASil sui SCu DhCh UP
to his eyes. "If's bargain them?
She nodded. "Give them to me first"
He laughed unpleasantly. What d
you take me for? I'll keep my part o.
the bargain if you'll keep yours. BIT
this is no place. nor time There
riot in the air, and I'm busy preparing
for tonight Come back tomorrow
when it's all over"
But It was the terror Of tonight's do
ings that led her into his power
"I'll never come back" she said. u
is my within to know today-yes Il:
once"
He meditated for a time. Then to
day it shall be. I'll shirk the fght,
I'll sacrifice what shreds of duty have ,
chung to me, because the fever for
you is in my bones, and it seems to me ,
I'll do murder for it. That's the kinl !
Of man / am, and L have no pride il
myself because of it, But I've always ,
been that way Well ride to the Sign :
Of the Sled. It's a romantic little road !
louse ten miles from here. percbed
sigh above the Snake river trail. W.
take dinner there together" 4
But the papers" f
"I'll have them with me. Well S., d
In an hour c
I'm an hour" she echoed lifeless-. {
and left him. 9
He chuckled grimly and seized III V
telephone Central = call the Sic
roadhouse-seve rings on the Snake a
river branch Hello! That yo,
Shortz? This is Strive. Anybody at g
the house? Good Turn them ava! @
f they come and say that you're i,
closed None of your business. III fl
be out about dark, so have dinner for
two. Spread yourself and keep tn" G
place clear. Goodby." "
Strengthened by Glenister's note, /
Helen went straight to the other wo- d
nan and this time was not kept wait v