Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1911-07-07


minds. apparently. whether to be
hunted or to do the hunting himself.
Then. as Cayiey advanced upon him
rather slowly. he decided. Kissed at
him venomously and reared up.
lie was already badly enough
wounded to have taken all the fight
out OF any other sort of animal, but
nan alive as he was. he cost Cayley
Tour cartridges. Three of those shots
Cayiey was reasonably sure must have
entered vital spot The first one
TOOK the bear between the ewes as he
| was rising. The second was fred into
his open mouth. The third was prob.
ably detected by the massive fore
paw which he was holding across his
body. in the attitude OF boxer. The
fourth shot, however. penetrated his
throat and probably smashed one of
the two first vertebrae, for it seemed
to bring the monster down all in n
heap, where he finally lay still. Cav.
| ley could have reached him with his
| foot
Good shooting" said the girl quiet
ly from the little vestibule.
He reloaded the revolver. letting
the empty shells drop unheeeed on
the ice at his feet. He gave the weap
on back to the girl. and bent over the
| bear.
I'm less interested in what | did
| to him" he said, than in what he got
! from the enemy who first attacked
him"
The light was almost gone, so that
all he could see were two or three
irregular dark stains upon the white
fur. wound in the flank, which
none of Cayley's shots could have ac-
counted for, he explored with prae-
tised hand
Watching him as he did so. the
girl could see that he had found some
thing unexpected, something which
surprised him greatly And there
was more than surprise. There was
alarmed urgency In his voice when he
spoke to her. He offered no explana-
ton. Merely told her to go into the
hut and make fast the solid wooden
shutters over the windows He would
come in and would tell her what it
was all about in moment
The girl had hardly finished the
task he had given her, when he came
in In his blood stained hand he was
holding out something for her inspec-
ton
Conquering feeling of repugnance,
she bent over the hand, cast one
glance at the thing 1t contained and
then started up and gazed, wide-eyed.
into his face.
"A bullet" she said. "But-but we
thought that Roscoe wasn't armed
not with fire arms, mean"
Cayley nodded. But this seems to
be pretty good evidence that he Is.
That's why / sent you into the hut
1t occurred to me that he might be
following the bear, and that the light
ed windows might give him chance
for shot at one of US. No matter
what superstitious fears he has. he
could hardly be too much afraid to fire
| at us from safe distance, If we hap
pened to offer a fair mark"
/ But we must have offered him that
hundred times in the last weeks,
that is. if his rife had anything like
a modern range"
THAT bullet is certainly a modern
piece of ordnance" said Cayley Its
soft-nosed and steeljacketed"
He laid it down on a shelf and went
Into the storeroom to wash the stains
of the encounter from his hands.
After ALL" he said, It's only one
more mystery, and / don't know that
one more can make any great differ
ence. Not in our way of life, GER
tainly.'
Both tried to stick to that view OF
| it and, for the present, to dismiss
conjecture upon the new topic from
| their minds, but they did not succeed
very well The idea that forced itself
| upon them, In spite OF their attempt to
| discredit it, was that Roscoes acqui-
| sition of modern, long-range weapon
| with ammunition to match did not
date back TO the murder of Captain
| Fielding, nor to the disappearance OF
| the Aurora. but that he had found the
weapon, by some strange chance, only
very recently, perhaps within day
or two, II was a disquieting thought,
| at best
1t was time for Cayley to turn in
| and for Jeanne to begin her evening
watch alone. but before that happened
| they paid an extra amount OF atten-
| ton to the security of their doors and
| windows.
| 1t was little before II o'clock
| when Cayley came out of a deep sleep
| to find her bending over him, shaking
| him by the shoulder and crying out
| his name.
Get up quicklyi' she said when she
| saw that he was awake. Philip, the
| hut's on fire."
! CHAPTER XIX.
Roscoe.
| Roscoe had never been able to clear