Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-04-14

been surrounded: he would nave peer
free to grope around among them. nc
doubt, without being discovered while
darkness lasted. But with the coming
of daylight? Chance had, perhaps
served him better than he would have
served himself; the comparatively oper
stretches of the country around were
surely preferable to the park, a maze
to enmesh him Besides, the China
man had taken refuge there; he, too
would have been discovered, had Bruce
fed thither. Now the fellow would be
safe: the young man had no desire to
involve the Celeste N the complicacy
of the events Of the night.
| Fleet footed Bruce continued to run
on; the shadows danced by him. Save
for the pain he suffered from the burns,
the bandages of which had been a good
deal disarranged in the recent struggle,
he was not in bad form" He had be-
fore him, he knew, no mere hundred
yard dash, but his endurance was that
of a ricksha lad. He speeded with
|
ing gait that tells in the end.
But fast as he went, the pursuers
kept him him in sight; where the road,
shorn of shade now, turned sharply,
horse shoe like, they from above could
look down and see him. A few Of those
following, knowing certain Short
cuts" had taken them. At such times
he could hear the crashing Of branch
es, the breaking of dry limbs; then,
would catch sight Of the men coming
after. Nearer; dishearteningly so!
The stake was great. A necklace OF
pearls, representing fortune! A large
reward would await him able to re-
turn it to the owner; and he who had
1t was, apparently, so close. They
would not allow him to get away;
among them were a number OF husky
farmer lads, assistant gardeners at the
Goldberg place. we'll prepared for test
of physical capability. Every man
strove to be first; strained to that end.
One or two that had weapons used
them, and, although the leaden mis-
siyes went wide, a new source Of haZ-
ard ensued for Bruce.
In the valley, where had been but
spectral shadows of houses, pin points
of light now sprang into the darkness.
Some of those who dwelt in the village
and outside, were aroused and looking
out of their windows, OWNED some-
thing unusual happening: saw on the
top of the hill the Goldberg house
which had. become dark at the conclu-
sion of festivities, once more brightly,
illumined. Why?
Bruce knew but too we'll the average
yillager to be of an inquiring turn OF
mind, curious about all that goes on In
his little world. And here was enough,
not only to awake, but to cause him
to dress hurriedly and send him forth
| to the public highways. To learn what
it meant; the reason people should DE
| thus. vociferously and indecorouslV.
hurrying downward, in the small hours,
from the great house on the hill!
Enough, also, to disturb the slumbers
of even the sluggish proprietor or the
town tavern, and his few transient
guests, among whom might be MI
Roleer, The prospect ahead would
soon be, perhaps was now, little pref
erable for Bruce to that in an opposite
direction. Already he fancied he saw,
far away, little moving specks of shad-
| ~ 10, ali icrh front
the hostelry, vague spots that Woulo
presently resolve themselves into indu-
bitable human figures, advancing up
wary to intercept him.
| Unless he could find, somewhere as
he went on, a fit turning place! Now
he looked for it, but in vain; to MS
right, stretched gently upward an open
field. The faint breeze laugh ana
wantoned with young tassels of grain;
they seemed to sway and toss mock
ingly. From them his eye, passing
swiftly to the left. met an outlook
equally unsuited for his purpose; a
sleeper descent, without tree or bush.
| The young man kept on his way
| Some distance ahead an old road, de-
scending, ran into the one he was on;
the former had been abandoned as
highway, being too steep and rough
for practical purposes; the township
had outgrown it. Through Bruces
brain now flashed how, earlier that
day, he had idly noted the ancient,
weed -overgrown thoroughfare, swing
| ing around in rather eccentric fashion,
below the Goldberg place. He deter
mined to dash into II and trust to its
hazards rather than those he might
encounter farther down in the valley
The thought stimulated him to increase
the distance between himself and his
pursuers.
But, as he neared the fork, a figure
approaching fast on the old road, to-
ward the new, became discernible afar
Some one bent on heading him off, OF
course, Bruce decided quickly. With
muscles set, he prepared for an en-
counter he feared would be brief; he
was not very sanguinc of favorable re-
1 ~--~
more modern highway hundred yards
or so before Bruce came up to the FORK
There the latter expected to see him
turn, halt and prepare to put Il stop
to further flight on his, Bruce's part
TO his intense wonder, this person did
nothing Of the kind; he ran on aheao
of Bruce, and at Il surprising rate oil
speed.
| Moreover, his rapidly moving figure
continued to keep well to the front
The seemingly inevitable contest the
other had been far from counting, he
could not now have brought about. had
he so desired. Fear seemed to lend
the stranger wings: he, apparently, mad
not the remotest desire to meet aho
try conclusions with Bruce or the