The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1909-07-22

ment, then the girl said:
II think ye're wrong. Ben"
Maybe so, Polly, maybe so. Well
soon find out. Goodbye"
Ben strode away and left the girl
to return slowly toward the house
wondering what manner OF trap the
boys had set. though stoutly resist
ing the fear it might capture Cor
don.
The evening waned, Gordons
stories grew uninteresting. Blake
nodded by the hearth corner and
Polly waited for the opportunity to
give the prospector one more warn
ing. So when Gordon arose to 60 to
his room. a low shed room az one end
Of the yeranda. Polly stole to the
doorway and slipped into the dark
ness outside.
Il wante TO tell ye agin to be keer-
full" she whispered. as Gordon
paused near her. we've raised sus-
picions, an'-but l can't tell ye any
more Only be powerful keerful."
Gordon laughed softly. "Oh. I'll
be careful, little Polly" he said;
never fear about that"
He attempted to take her hand.
but the girl lodged back into the
main room and was gone.
The next morning Gordon failed
10 respond when called TO an early
breakfast
Pears to me the prospector's
sleepin' mighty sound this mornin',"
said Blake. as he returned to the
waiting family in the main room.
Polly's heart took fright at once.
A hundred things might have hap
pened to Gordon during the night
the methods of the moonshiners
were inscrutable.
Pap, reckon ye'd better go in
an wake him." she suggested. for
the meat on the tables a gettin
cold"
With candle in hand Blake went
back TO Gordon's door. opened 1t and
peered inside.
why, by the livin'.' he exclaim-
ed. this bed amt been teched."
At this moment. Polly's knees
quaked, and her fingers clinched to-
gether impulsively And at this
moment, too, she hated all her race.
all her kind among the mountains,
her brothers and their co-partners,
Ben Martin and all the rest. She
turned her eyes toward the rafters
and allowed thought OF revenge to
take shape in her brain.
Well, he's not here" said Blake,
returning; so thar's no use to wait
for him Let's eat"
Polly minced her breakfast hur-
riedly MIXED the one-horned COW.
cleaned the kitchen things. then stole
out over the mountain toward the
Horseshoe Cove on Soco. She knew
we'll the spot where the still stood
and she knew the narrow defile
through which alone the cove was
accessible. The trail wound like
snake round over the mountain,
down into the valley, then along up
the creek between the cliffs. Where
the trail ascended, Polly climbed
feverishly; where II descended, she
ran. In this manner the three miles
to the neck of the cove were
covered and she was speeding along
the path to where It crossed the
row fissure whose mouth was not
over six feet wide, and whose great
est length was not over twenty feet.
yet 1t opened away into the earth to
a depth of forty feet. A narrow
bridge, just the width OF the trail
had spanned the opening and when
Polly reached the spot this morning
she saw that the bridge was no long
er there. She ran to the edge of the
hole and dropped to her knees. II
required some moments for her
gaze to pierce the gloom down there,
but presently she saw the prospector,
with disheveled hair and torn cloth
ing, seated at the bottom OF the fis-
sure.
Silence reigned throughout the
wood and the low sound Of Polly's
voice when she spoke seemed to echo
a mile away. But Gordon had caught
tho call and he looked up.
"Ah. is it you. Polly?" he ex-
claimed.
Yes; an ye didn't listen when
warned ye last night, though l didn't
think about this place when l told
ye."
II am a conceited sort of fellow,
Polly, and thought | could take care
of myself. But I've learned lesson
tf,,,a cura
do ye know what was meant for
ye when ye fell into this hole?"
Why it was meant for ye to per-
ish TO death down there. for nobody
ever comes this trail but them that
laid the trap for ye."
But you have come TO help me
out, sweetheart"
Polly's heart thrilled at this title
OF endearment and once more an
impulse of hatred for her race welled
up in her bosom.
There's a grape vine back here
l think long enough"
She sprang away from the hole
and soon returned, bringing with her