Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1911-03-17

On her part. she seemed to recog-
nize him instantaneously. On his. :.
f. 1t may as well be admitted that
Maitlands wits were gone wool-gath-
ering, temporarily at least; state of
taken into consideration that he was
called upon to grapple with and stimuli
taneously to assimilate three momen-
tous facts. For the first time in his life
he found himself nose to nose with a
revolver, and that one of able-bodied
and respect-compelling proportions.
For the first time in his life, again, he
was under necessity of dealing with a
housebreaker. But most stupefying
OF all he found the fact that this house.
breaker this armed midnight maraud-
er. was woman! And so it was not
altogether fearlessness that made him
to all intents and purposes ignore the
weapon; 1t is nothing to his credit for
courage If his eyes struck past the
black and deadly mouth of the revolver
and looked only into the blank and ex.
| pressionless eyes of the wind mask; 1t
was not lack of respect for his skins
integrity. but the sheer. tremendous
wonder of it all. that rendered him
oblivious to the eternity that lay the
other side of a slender, trembling fin
ger tip.
And so he stared. agape. until pres
| t1u hn
lowered and the woman's voice,
touched with irony. brought him to his
senses.
oh" she remarked. coolly, "it's
only you"
Thunderstruck he was able no more
than to parrot the pronoun: you
you!"
Were you expecting to meet any
one else, here. tonight2" she inquired
in suavest mockery.
He lefted his shoulders helplessly,
and tried to school his tongue to CO.
herence. Il confess. Well,
certainly didn't count on finding you
here, Miss Wentworth. And the black
cloak, you know"
Reversible, of course; gray inside.
as you see-Handsome DAM" The
girl laughed quietly, drawing aside an
edge of the garment to reveal its in
ner face of silken gray and the fiuted
ruffles of the gray skirt underneath.
He nodded appreciation of the de.
vice, his mind now busy with specula-
tions as to what he should do with the
girl, now that he had caught her. AT
the same time he was vaguely vexed
by her persistent repetition of the OBJ
solescent nickname.
Handsome Dan," he iterated all but
mechanically. why do you call me
that, please? Have we met before? !
could swear, never before this night"
But you are altogether too modest,
she laughed. mot that it's bad trait
in the character of professional
But really! it seems bit in
credible that any one so widely ad
vertised as Handsome Dan Anisty
should feel surprise at being recog
nized Why, your portrait and biog
raphy have commanded space in every
yellow journal in America recently"
And, dropping the revolver into q
pocket in her cloak, 81 was afraid you
might be a servant--or even Matt.
land" she diverted the subject. with
nod.
'But-but If you recognized me as
: Anisty, back there by the ford, didn't
: you suspect Id drop in on you"
why, of course! Didn't you all but
tell me that you were coming here?"
But"
81 thought perhaps I might get
through before you came, Mr.. Anisty;
but | knew all the time that, even II
you did manage to surprise me-er-
on the job, you wouldn't call the po-
lice" She laughed confidently, and
oddly enough-at the same time
nervously. You are certainly very
bold man, and as surely very care
less one, to run around the way you
do without so much as troubling to
grow beard or a mustache, after
your picture has been published broad
cast"
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
----------