The Owosso times., 1910-10-28

IL tary arrest was far more Dor
tentous In sound that in effect
something In Kate's determined silencs
and Miriam's insistence added to the
effect Of these rumors.
Then another thing weighed heavily
upon the brave heart Of this loving
friend and mother. Never had she
known her child to be so silent 30
strange. as now. Ever since Friday
night she seemed to avoid all mention
Of the affair. to shrink from the sub.
Ject-she who had ever been frankness
itself. she who had never had a
thought the mother did not share. She
seemed oppressed with some secret.
But why should the situation so
strangely affect her daughter? Could
1t be that she, too. cared for Bob La
nier?
She was writing her reply to his
note when Maggie again appeared.
1.-TWO gentlemen to see the captain,
num- and Mrs. Sumter hurriedly
closed the note and went below stairs
to meet them. She knew we'll who
they were and why they had come.
A branch Office of the Rocky Mountain
Detective agency had been maintained
long months at the great and growing
railway station. They had been sum-
moned by her husband, and that was
enough.
They asked to be shown the room,
with the storm battered dormer, by
this time emptied Of its load of snow.
They asked to see Miriam's desk.
They smiled at the idea of the pay
master being held up and robbed in
broad daylight by any gang in their
neighborhood.
While they were yet at their work
there came sounds of stamping feet
at the front door, and in came Sumter,
stiff from cold, but brimful of energy.
Found Scott and his clerk, at least"
he cried. "Most dead and half frozen!
The drivers gone, l fear. He was
blown or pitched Off. The mules ran
away before the gale. Those inside
the ambulance were helpless. Two
dropped off behind and are lost The
thing finally capsized and went to
pieces. and they managed to reach a
little cattle shack two miles south Of
town. They've found Lanier's striker,
too-what's left Of him.
By this time Kate had come down.
stairs.
"Have they found Rawdon?" she
asked fearfully.
"No, not a sign of him anywherew
as that the young fellow that those
sergeants have been hunting for"
asked one Of the detectives. 1--WE
managed to find out about him. He
was in town as early as o'clock Fri
day. and he left on No. that night"
"Do you mean to tell me-" said Sum-
ter, gazing blankly at the speaker,
"that he wasn't out here when-this-
happened"
"Not unless he had wings! That
train leaves at 11:4O."
Another day went by. Major Scott
and his clerk, under Larrabee's skill
full touch. were gradually regaining
strength and beginning to answer
questions. The ambulance was cur
tanned in even at the rear. through
which the two scared troopers had
managed to slip to their doom. Not
until the SHOWS melted In the spring
and the contents Of the ravines should
be revealed was 1t likely they would
be heard Of again. The railway was
still blocked. The wires were still
down. Fort Gushing stood isolated from
the outer world, and no less than FIVE
Of its garrison were absent and unac-
counted for. The two men detailed to
drive in with the paymaster. two bac-
chanalians who, being in town when
the storm broke, had dared each other
to face the gale and tramp out, and
finally young trooper named Cary,
who had arrived with the same re-
cruit squad that brought them Rawdon
and had been on terms Of friendship. II
not, indeed, Of intimacy, with him.
Along toward dusk on Tuesday 9TH
ers of the searching squadron sent
afar down the valley had come back,
reporting that the ambulance mules
were found, huddled together, half
starved and still half harnessed, in a
log shack or shelter to which their
instinct had guided them after their
heels had made chopsticks Of the run
ming gear. The ambulance body was
showed under somewhere and no
where in sight. The driver, civilian
employed in the quartermaster's de-
partment, had totally disappeared.
Scott, the paymaster; Thomas. his
clerk. and Rafferty,, Lanier's soldier
servant. or striker as thcn called.
were still half dazed.
One more unfortunate, the driver Of
Fosters sleigh, was in trouble. Not
until two hours after the dance had he
turned up with the missing equipage.
cock and bull story, and case Of