The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-01-19

tween luIty anu Sixty miles nOrtneaSt
Of the rocks we began the search in
earnest. We had long been running
low. but now l dropped within twenty
yards Of the ground and began to de-
| scribe q series of endless interlocking
spirals about fifteen miles in length.
like so many fat. intertwined figure
Fights lying on their sides. one over
another
This enabled us to inspect the ground
| so minutely that a wOOdchuck could
hardly have escaped being seen. Even
where 1t was covered with brush we
could usually see fairly well. and
when we came upon thickets or ciumps
OF stunted trees | ordered Ethan to
drop shells into them. an employment
that afforded him great satisfaction.
This beats coon huntin' in Con-
necticut all holler." he said. when 1
was youngster we ulster shoot up
inter the trees whar the varmints was
hid. but II we c'u'd "a got at 'em this
way there wouldn't "a been a ringtail
left In the hull state"
But as the time wore on and we got
nearer where ] expected Payton to be
stopped the firing lest the explosion
OF the shells should give the alarm.
now determined TO resort to the device
which had twice already proved so ef
fective-that Of looking out for light
after night came on. The nights were
cold. and II Payton believed that we
had gone off southwark he would build
| fires, both for warmth and for cook
ing.
1t was after midnight before our
vigilance was rewarded. Ethan touch
ed me on the arm as we stood together
beside the gun in the bow and whis-
pered. "Thar's the glim. lootenant."
Sure enough. not POO rods away, a
faint CLEAN showed on the trunk of
an unusually tall pine. surrounded with
bushes. Instantly brought the Grow
to hover.
shall | send him q shelly" asked
Ethan eagerly. swinging the gun to an
aim.
"Not yet" whispered. We'll
creep q little nearer | want to be
sure. l shouldn't care to kill innocent
men, although ! suppose there is not
one chance in q thousand Of any trap
pers or hunters being hereabouts."
Moving with extreme caution just
above the tops of the brushwood. we
silently drew nearer. Presently the
fire began to show In CLEANS through
the mass of twigs and foliage. and
quite suddenly we came in line with
an opening through which the whole
camp was visible as through window
A birch log was burning brightly.
and over ii bent man busy with cook.
ing piece Of meat held on the point
of stick. The flames lent q ruddier
tint to the dark countenance of Indian
John.
A couple of y2rds back of the fire
and so seated that his face was fully
Illuminated sat Alfonso Payton. The
glare Of tina fire in his eyes would have
prevented him from seeing us if he
had looked up. but from our side we
could make out his every feature.
Never in my. life have | been so
struck by human countenance. II
was face in which beauty. manliness.
dignity. intellectually. impressiveness.
self mastery. courage. strength. seem.
ed equally blended. There was moth
ing repusive or wicked about It.
MY God. what liars mems faces can
be-" ! thought.
Ethan. who was less impressionable,
begged me in a whisper to let him
blow him to pieces with a shell.
Mo-. ] returned forcefully. II for
bid it absolutely
In the energy of my refusal nv
voice rose too high, and Payton heard
the sound. Instantly he stood erect.
and his eyes peered straight at the
Crow. But the fire blinded him, and
he did not sec us.
Crouch I whispered in Ethan's
ear, land lie still"
Payton stepped quickly round on our
side Of the fire. The Indian dropped
his meat and also turned to look. Then
both vanished
"Skeedaddled by jingop exclaimed
Ethan.
Which way had they gone? Prob.
ably directly ahead. because only in
that direction would they have the con.
tinued shelter OF the brush. This ex
tended away In comparatively mar
row belt as far as we could see. and 1t
was unusually thick and tall. or.
dered the steersman to skim close
above 1t at a speed little exceeding
that of good runner But when we
had advanced nearly as far as thought
that the fugitives could have gone we
stopped and hove red. carefully watch
ing and listening. But there was no
movement and no sound.
The brush. intermingled with few
stunted trees, extended. as have said.
in a belt which was not more than
ten rods broad, but apparently inter.
minable toward the southwest. made
up my mind that 1t followed the course
of n sluggish stream or chain of
swamps. On either side of 1t lay q
stretch of bare country. and the moon.
now rising, began to illumine this
sufficiently to have enabled us to see