Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-03-13
I CHAPTER xxxiv. -- (co ntinued.)

i
,;ss Eight bosses in thar he an
nounced soberly: then turned TO
Keith. RI Say. Jack, what do you figure
4 this she bang to be. anyhow? You
don't reckon It's old Sanchez's outfit,
! do 5yer?" MI .I,s III
Likely as not. Joe. though ! never
Z saw him around here. " s5 HI 5SI ",
Joe filed his cheek with tobacco.
staring about through the darkness
$?$ ell i II that oil \ cuss Is. yere now
\ We'uns is sure in fer q fight !" he com
mented positively. q
They rounded the corral fence on
hands and knees, scraWled Into . bunch
of bushes somewhat to the rear OF the
\ silent. desolate-appearing cabin and
lay down fiat behind "a pile Of saddles,
from which position they could plain
ly discern the rear door. e ~
!. Had their camp over there In the
corner Of the corral when l was here
Il before, he said in a whisper. Where
do. you suppose they can be now!
The wary scout lifted his head.
4 smiling into the darkness like 9 point.
or dog.
West O. Their cabin thar. out o Their
wind. most likely. smell tobacco"
Even as the words left his lips q
man came sauntering slowly around
the eastern corner, his outlines barely
visible. but the red glow Of pipe
bowl showing plainly. He stopped. d..
$rectly facing them. yawning sleepiy.
and then turned the other corner.
Another moment and /, they distinctly
heard a voice: e H
Hustle up thar now. Manuel, an
turn out: It's your watch: wake up.
dam yer maybe that'll bring yet ter,
life 81 IS II M "
The remedy applied to the sleeper
slant later, another figure slouched
into view. the new arrival rubbing
4 his eyeso with one hand the other
clutching a short-barrelled gun. From
the high peak OF his hat 1t was evi.
dent this new guard was a Mexican
He walked to the corner. glanced
along the east side wall toward the
from, of the cabin. and then. apparent
\ ~ satisfied the coast was clear. start
ed toward the stream. shutting along
within a foot Of where Keith lay fiat
on the ground. A moment later the men
heard him splashing softly in the wa
ter and Keith rolled over, his lips
ut Bristoe's ear. r.
.".Slip down there. Ben be whls.
pered, land quiet that fellow III find
out how many are on the west side.
Do the job without any noise"
He waited until the scout had dis
appeared like a snake, not even a
rustling leaf telling of his passage,
and then silently crept forward him.
self, yet with less caution. until he
was able. to peer about the corner. OF
the ca bin and dimly distinguish the
Eblanketed forms of several men lying
close in against the side wall They
rested SO nearly together it was diff.
cult to separate them in that dark
ness. stars giving the only light but
he finally determined their number at
five. Five; the Mexican would make
six, and there would surely be another
guard posted out in the front-seven.
But there were eight horses down
there in the corral. Then the eighth
man-Hawley. without doubt-must
+ be in the cabin. At the thought
Keith's teeth clinched, and he had to
struggle to control his passion, But
no; that would never do: he must dis
cover first exactly where the girl was
located; after that they would attend
to the ours. Before creeping back to
the others. he made quick examina.
ton along the rear of the cabin but
could find no visible point of weak
ness. He tried to recall from memory
the nature of the lock on that back
door. but could remember nothing ex.
cept an ordinary wooden latch. II
he could insert knife into the crock