The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-07-20

| THE HALF BREED CLOSED AND BoLTED
THE DOOR.
fumes of his pipe. impregnated the
! damp air of the room he experienced
a sensation of comfort which was in
strange contrast to the exciting hap
penings of the past few days.
He laughed aloud and began pacing
j back and forth across the rotted foor
of his prison And then flush burned
i in his face and his eyes glowed as
i he thought of Meleese. In spite Of
himself she had saved him from his
enemies. and he blessed Croisset for
having told him the meaning of this
i fight into the north. Once again she
had betrayed him. but this time it was
to save his life. and his heart leaped in
i joyous faith al this proof of her love
for him. He believed that he under
stood the whole scheme now. Even
his enemies would think him dead
They would leave the Wekusko and
after a time. when ii was safe for him
to return. he would be. given his free
dom
i With the passing Of the hours gloom,
i Ter thoughts Swallowed these anticipa
4 tons. Ia some mysterious way Me
leese was closely associated with those
who sought his life. and If they giisap-
! peared she would disappear with
them RE was convinced Of that.
i And then could be find her again?
!. Would she 20 into the south to eiYi-
lization-or deeper Into the untrayeied
wildernesses OF The north? IN answer
to his question there dashed through
/ his mind the words of Jean Croisset,
Il "Nl,senr, know Of a hundred men
between Athabusca and the bay who
would l;ilI you for what you have
said Yes, she would so into the
north Somewhere in that vast desc
latinn OF which Jean had spoken be
j would find her, even though he spent
halfiof his life in the search.
1t was. past midnight when he spread
ont the furs aud undressed for bed.
i With the breaking of day the hours
seemed Of interminable length For a
time be amused himself by searching
q every corner and crevice of his prison
room, but he found nothing of interest
beyond what he had already diseoV-
cred. He examined the door which
i Croisset had barred on him and gave
up all hope of escape in that direction.
q He could birely thrust his arm
through the aperture that opened out
on the plague stricken cabin.
In no situation had he displayed the
white feather: at no time had he felt
thrill of fear. His courage and reck-
lessness had terrified Meleese. had as.
tonished Croisset And vet what had
he done? From the beginning. from
the moment he first placed his foot in
the Chinese cafe. his enemies had held
the whiphand. He had been com
PEELED to play passive. part. Up to
the point of the ambush on the We
kusko trail he might have found some
vindication for himself. But this ex
perience with Jean Croisset-it was
enough to madden him. now that he
was alone. to think about it. Why
had he not taken advantage of jean
as Jackpine and the Frenchman hao
taken advantage of him?
He saw now what he might have
done Somewhere. not very far back. thu
sledge carrying Meleese and Jackpint
| had turned into the unknown They
two were alone. Why had he not made
| Croisset prisoner. instead of allowing
himself to be Gagged up like weak
ling? He swore aloud as there dawnec
on him more and more realization
of the opportunity he had lost At the
point of a gun he could have forced
Croisset to overtake the other sledge
He could have surprised Jackpine. as
they had surprised him on the trail
And then? He smiled. but there was
no humor In the smile. he at last
would have held the whip hand. And
what would Meleese have done?
Meleese loved him. He would have
staked his life on that his blood
Ieaped as he felt again the thrill OF bel
kisses when she had come TO him as
he lay bound and gagged beside the
traiL She had taken his head in bel
arms. and through the grief OF bel
face he had seen shining the light OF
a great love that had glori6ed it for al
time for him. She loved him! And he
had let her slip away from him. hat
weakly surrendered himself at a mo
ment when everything that he dream
ed OF might have been within az
s +.