The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-03-25

AS the two officers rode away weth.
erford leaned hetrily on his pommel
and stared at the ranger with wide
eyes. His face was drawn and his
lips dry. "They'l get mel They'll get
mer' he said
"Oh. no. they won't" rejoined Cava.
nagb. You're all right Get They
suspect nothing. How rould they.
with you In uniform and In my COM
pany?"
"All the same. I'm scared. That
man Haines had his eyea on me every
minute, He saw right through me.
They'll get me. and they'll charge me
up with that killing"
mo. they won't, tel. you" insisted
the ranger. "Hains suspected nothing.
|. bad his eve. He mes or saw you be
fore and has nothing but o descrip-
tion to go by, so chesr up. Your uni
form and your position with me will
make you safe-perfsctly safe. They'll
And the Basque's camp burned and
the sheep in charge of the dog. and
they'll fancy that sou have skipped
HtEObb lnt fbnkts buI ott htitt Otu
man." and he turned on him sharply
you didn't tell Ie the whole truth
You said you were out on parole
IL couldn't tell sou the whole truth"
replied the fugitive. But I will now.
was In for \ life sentence. was
desperate for the open air and home
sick for the mountains. and | struck
down one of the guards. was will
ing to do anything to get out.
thought II ! could get back to this
country and my wife and child I'd he
safe. ] said I'd be willing to go back
to the pen II necessary. but I'm not.
! can't do Il, I'D die there, You must
save me for my. girls sske."' =
His voice and eyes were wild with .
kind Of desperate fury Of fear, and
Cavansgb moved to pity, assured him
| OF. his aid ,l'Noy. listen." he, said.
.a'm going ID shield you sou Account
of your work for thar poor shepherd
antllfor your dsbghters sake. NIts my
duty to apprehend you. of course, but
I'm going to protect you, The safest
thing for you TO do Is TO go back TO
my cabin. Ride slow so as not TO get
there till theylre gone. They'll ride
over to the sawmill without doubt II
they come back this way remember
that the deputy saw you only as a
Dragged old man with long beard and
that Haines has nothing but printed
description to go by, There's nosuse
trying TO fee. You are marked
man In that. uniform, and YOU are
safer right here with me than any
! where else this side OF Chicago.
Haines is likely to cross the divide In
the belief that you have gone that
way. aud IL he does you have no one
but the deputy to deal with"
| He succeeded at last in completely
rousing the older mans courage.
| wetherford rose to meet his opportu-
nifty. "I1l do it, he said firmly.
| That's the talk" exclaimed Cav
anagh TO encourage him "You can
throw them of the track this time. and
when I come back tomorrow I'll bring
some other clothing for you. and then
wen plan some kind of scheme that
Will get you out of the country. III
not let them make scapegoat of you.
| The ranger Watched the fugitive as
he started back over the trail in this
desperate defiance of his pursuers with
far less confidence In the outcome than
he had put into words.
"All depends on Wetherford himself
II his nerve does not fail him, If they
take the uniform for granted and dc
not carry the matter to the supervisor,
we VIII pull the plan through" And
10 this hope he rode away down the
trail with bent head for all this bore
heavily upon his relationship to the
girl waiting for him in the valley, He
had thought Lie a burden, a social
disability, but convict father now
made the mothers faults of small ac-
count.
The nearer he drew TO the meeting
with Lee Virginia the more important
that meeting became, Cavanagh had
seen Virginia hardly more than n score
of times. and yet she filed his thought,
confused his plans making of his brain
a place of doubt and hesitation For
her sake he had entered upon a plan
to shield q criminal, to hsrbor an es'
capped convict. II was Of no avail to
argue that he was moved 10 shield
wetherford because OF his heroic &C
tion on the peak He knew perfectly
well that It was because he could not
see that fair. brave girl further dis.
graced by the discovery OF her fathers
identity, for In the searching inquiry
which would surely follow his secret
would develop.
To marry her, knowing the character
of her father and her mother, was
madness, and the voice within hin
warned him OF his folly. Pure wa
ter cannot be drawn from corrupt
sources" It Is said. Nevertheless th'
thought OF having the girl with hin
in the wilderness filled him with di
vine recklessness. While still he de
bated. alte, nately flushed with resolve
to be happy and chilled by som'
strange detection, he met Swenson, thu
young guard who guarded the fores
on the South Fork. - =
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