Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-02-06

In this fashion he covered a quarter
Of the distance between the two riv-
ers. when It dawned upon him that
Tudor was not on the beach at all. VI
course not. He was advancing. &C.
roruing to the terms Of the agreement.
IN the shelter Of the cocoanut trees.
Sheldon promptly swerved to the left
To seek similar shelter. when the faint
era. L of rifle came to his ears. and
almost Immediately the bullet. strik-
Ing The hard sand hundred feet be-
VOID him. ric6chetted and whined on
ward III u second flight, convincing
hiu, that prepOsterous and unreal as
1t w:,s 1t was. nevertheless. a sober
fact. 1t had been intended for him.
Yet rren then 1t was hard to believe.
Kec;,ing now to the shelter Of the
trees. he went forward another quar-
ter OF n mile II Tudor had advanced
with equal speed they should have
come together Mt that point. and Shell
Lon concluded that the other was cir
cling. The difficulty was to lOcate
him. The rows Of trees. running at
right angles. enabled him to see along
only one narrow avenue mt time. His
enemy might be coming along the next
avenue or the next to right or left. He
might he Il hundred feet away or half
Il mile. Sheldon plodded Oh and de
rdcd that the old stereOtyped duel was
FAR simpler and easier than this pro-
tfacted hide and seek affair. He. too.
tried circling. in the hope Of cutting the
others circle: but. without catching u
glimpse Of him. he finally emerged
upon fresh clearing where the young
trees. waist high. afforded little shell
ter and less hiding. Just Us he emerged.
stepping out pace. rife cracked to
his right, and, though he did not hear
the bullet In passing. the thud OF 1t
,ame to his ears when 1t struck palm
trunk farther on.
He sprang back into the protection Of
the larger trees. Twice he had ex-
posed himself and been fired at. while
he had failed to catch single glimpse
Of his antagonist. A slow anger be-
gan 10 burn in him. 1t was deucedly
unpleasant. he decided. this being pep
perpd mt. and. nOnsensical as II really
was. 1t was none the less deadly seri-
ouS. There was no avoiding the ls-
sue. no firing In the air and getting
over with II. as In the old fashioned
duel. This mutual man hunt must
keep up until one got the other. And
il one neglected chance to get the
other that increased the others chance
to get him. There could be no false
sentiment about 1t. Tudor had been a
cunning devil when he proposed this
sort of duel. Sheldon concluded. as he
began to work along cautiously in the
direction of the last shot.
When he arrived at the spot Tudor
was gone. and only his footprints re-
mained. pointing out the course he had
taken into the depths Of the planta-
tion. Once. ten minutes later. be
caught a glimpse Of Tudor. hundred
yards away. crossing the same avenue
as himself. but going in the opposite
direction. His rife half leaped to his
shoulder. but the other was gone.
More in whim than In hope Of result.
grinping to himself as he did so. Shell
don raised his automatic pistol and
In two seconds sent eight shots scat
tering through the trees In the dtrec.
tion In which Tudor had disappeared.
Wishing he had shotgun. Sheldon
dropped to the ground behlnt tree.
slipped fresh clip up the hollow butt
Of the pistol. threw q cartridge into
the chamber. showed the safety catch
into place and reloaded the empty clip
II was but q short time after that
that Tudor tried the same trick OH
him, the bullets pattering about him
like spiteful rain. thudding into the
palm trunks or glancing on in whining
ricochets. Tne last bullet of all. max
Ing double ricochet from two diff
ferent trees and losing most Of its mo-
mentum. struck Sheldon sharp hlOw
on the forehead and dropped ut his
feet. He wns partly stunned for thf
moment, but on investigation found NJ
greater harm than nasty lump that
soon rose to the size Of pigeons egg
Tiring Of the endless circling. Shel
| don tried once more to advance direct
" ON his foe. but the latter was toe
crafty. taking advantage OF his bold
ness to ire a couple Of shots at blu