Lewiston evening teller., 1908-01-07

As@A4NNA-4Nse
s-affhews shrugged his shoulders
pityingly. But he had nothing to say.
The three gone, Oliver had turned to
those with him. "A comrlete alibt"
he said.
II knew IT," said Fraser. "But
wanted you to get It first hand"
"You knewT'
Eyes, sir. And I hope you'll be easy
ON Kippia. He and Blakely have been
helping me keep tab on Matthews TO
prevent the very thing that's hap
pened"
An hour later second group Of men
gathered In the captains front room. 4
These were the troopers for whom the
commanding ofacer had asked. With
them came squaw Charley, quaking In
his feathers, finching at every look.
| As Oliver appeared the wretched In
dian was half dragged, half pushed
before him.
The examination was short. The SEN
tries who had tramped the high board
walk vouched for Chariey's constant
presence in the stockade throughout
| the whole Of the required time. The
guards at the sliding panel lent cor
roboration- From sunup TIL taps Of
the previous day Charley had fleshed
at the hide Of an elk, the SCARED fury.
Afraid-of-a-Fawn. hanging over him
the while. Both nights from taps on
be had watched outside the lodge occu-
pied by the hag and an Indian girl.
Captain Oliver crossed to the bend
to tell Dallas his results Matthews
has witnesses who know where he was
i every minute Of the time" he said.
i Undoubtedly he had no active part In
| this affairs"
| sHe knows about II, though" she
answered.
'eThat would be hard to prove"
Before he went the captain proposed
certain defensive improvements for the
shack. She accepted them gratefully.
Later a carpenter nailed thick cleats
across the warped door, and the post
blacksmith put heavy lashes Of iron
over the eyes OF the shack.
/ At nightfall detachment landed on
the east bank, divided and went on
scout In opposite directions. It was
only part of divers plan OF guarding.
for he did one thing more-spoke plain
ly to Matthews In regard to the bend.
II advise you to relinquish all claim
TO the Lancaster place" he said. II
shall allow no warning on girls"
i Matthews gave his promise.
| During the first few days that fol-
lowed Marylyn's heart beat pendulum
like between grief and dread. It was
grief when In a moment Of forgetful-
ness she found that she had set the ta-
BILE for three or when. missing her IA
ther sorely-for In the past year he
had been much with her-she spoke Of
him to Dallas. At such time. with
sweet impartiality. she mourned him
as sincerely as she had mourned her
mother. But at night, when the de-
tachment came back from its scouting,
she felt a terrible dread-dread lest
the hunt had been successful and the
troopers should ride across the prairie
4 to the shack door bearing something
solemnly home.
i Those first days past. however. the
sharp edge of her sorrow. together
i with her fears, wore gradually away.
She had the elastic spirit Of eighteen,
and she was impatient Of this new
heartache. which possessed pone Of the
romantic qualities Of the old. A doubt
| Of her fathers death, fostered bg Dal-
las, grew until It becamea coLyiction.
1 He had been taken away or he had
fed; he would return. Meanwhile,
though nothing could have induced her
to leave the shack after dark. 1t fret
ted her sorely that in tie daytime she
was not permitted to go as far as the
grove.
4 That restriction was the only lard
ship that the elder girl allowed tes
younger 10 bear. Dalias believed that
their father had come to mortal harm.
but she never shared that belief with
MAfylyn. u. ....ss...s....
I'VE got to keep a stiff upper lip,
baby sister," she would say, with an
encouraging pat And her smile was
always hopeful and cheering.
Mrs Oliver came daily and spent heI
time with Marylyn She did not feel
that Dallas needed buoying- Dallas
quiet. self poised and stanch. Yet all
the while the elder girl was growing
wan under the strain, for having given
generously of her strength there was
no one from whom in turn she might
, take. Aud so her thoughts came Otter
, to be OF the one who had faithfully
, watched over them, how faithfully
. shown by the fact that catastrophe
had followed swift upon his leaving
And in her heart she cried out fo'
him.
The tragedy on the bend furnished
q nine days wonder for Brannon, bu
the garrison felt little grief over il
q Lancaster had earned their dislike b
insults open and yelled and by his dc
termination to cut his family off fror
every friendly influence. The enliste