The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1910-07-02

| The guide paused to examine. and
! the faint glow far down the vale
seemed to perplex him He SPOKE TO
one or two other natives and they
! viewed the light ruminatively, as is
! their way.
/ Tibet must be on Ardmore's land"
| said the leader finally. 1T shoots out
all sorts o ways round hyeh, and l
reckon thet's wheh Raccoon creek
cuts through
That's very likely" said Haher-
| sham, I've seen the plat of what
Ardmore owns on this side the border
at the courthouse. and I remember
that there's long strip in Mingo
[ county that is Ardsley land. Ardmore
has houses of one kind and another
scattered all over the estate and those
/ lights may be from one of them You
know the place. don't you?"
Yes: I've visited there" admitted
Griswold. But we'd better give II a
wide berth. The whole estate is sim
ply infested with scarlet fever.
They're quarantined."
Il guess that's a joke said Haber-
sham. There's big party on there
| now, and ! have seen some OF the
| guests in Turner's within a day or
| two"
Within how many days?" demand
! ed Griswold. his heart sinking at the
| thought that Ardmore had lied to him
| to keep him away from Ardsley-
| from Ardmore's house, The thought
! of it really hurt him now.
| Come on" called Habersham
Half the company rode ahead to
! gain the farther side OF the church;
1 the remainder, including Griswold and
I Habersham. soon dismounted and tied
/ their horses out of sight of the coun-
! try road which they had latterly been
| following
We are in plenty of time" said
Habersham, looking at his watch.
| The rest of the boys are closing in
| from the other side and they will be
ready for Appleweight when he fin
/ ishes his devotions. We've been study
| Ing the old mans habits and he has a
{ particular place where he ties his
| horse back of the church. It's q lit
I tie apart from the fence where most
| of the congregation hitch. and he
! chose it, no doubt. because in case
! of a surprise he would have plenty
! of room for maneuvering. Two men
! are going to lay for him, seize and
| gag him and carry him into the wood
| back of the church: and then we're
/ off across the state line to lock him
| up in jail at Kildare and give Gov.
/ Dangerfield the shock of his life"
! won't be long before Appleweight's
| friends miss him. You must remem-
| Der that they are shrewd lot"
We've got to take our chances.
| Let's hope we are as shrewd as they
/ are" replied Habersham.
They moved softly through the
| wood and presently the faint sound Of
singing reached them.
/ "Old Rabdick has finished his ser
mon and we'll know the worst In a
| few minutes"
One OF the party had already de-
tached himself and crept forward to-
| ward the chuch, to meet his appointed
comrade in the enterprise. who was to
I come in from the other side
The clapboard church presented in
| the moonlight the austerest outlines,
and as the men waited. a rude though
| unseen hand was slammine the wood
en- shutters that protected the win
dows from impious violence
We could do with less moon." NUT
tered Habersham, as he and Griswold
peered through the trees into the
churchyard.
There goes Bill Appleweight now"
whispered one of the natives at his
| elbow, and Griswold felt his heart
beats quicken as he watched a tall
figure silhouetted against the church
and moving swiftly toward the rear
OF the building At the front of the
church voices sounded. as the de-
parting worshipers rode or drove slow
ly away.
Habersham laid his hand suddenly
on Griswold's arm.
They've got him, They'y-a nailed
him. See. There. They're vanking
him back into the timber They've
taken him and his horse"
Griswold saw nothing but a nomen.
tary confusion of shadows, then per-
feet silence hung over the woods be-
hind the little church. The congre-
CATION was slowly dispensing riding
away in little groups. Suddenly a
voice called out in the road 100 yards
beyond the church:
Hey. there, Where's Bill?"
oh. he's gone long ago. yelled
another.
In a moment more the church door
| slammed and last figure rode rapif
, ly away.
| tTo BE CONTINUEDD