, 1912-08-01

above the tops of the brushwood we
silently drew nearer Presently the
IRE began to show In CLEANS through
the mass Of twigs INT foliage. and
quite suddenly we came In line with
an opening through which the whole
camp was visible as through q window
A birch log was burning brightly.
and over II bent a man busy wfth cook
ing a piece of meat held on the point
Of a stick The flames Ient a ruddier
tint to the dark countenance Of Indian
John
A couple Of yards back Of the Gre
and so seated hat bis face was fully
Illuminated sat Alfonso Payton. The
glare Of b fire In bis eyes would ha VI
prevented him from seeing us II he
had looked up. Get from our side we
could make out his every feature.
Never IN my life have | been so
struck by u human c%ouDtenance 1t
was a a In which beauty. manliness,
dignity. intellectually. impressiveness,
self mastery: courage. strength. SEEM
ed equally blended There was moth
ing repulsive OF wicked about II.
MY God what liars mems faces a
be- Thought
Ethan. who was less im~pressionable,
begged me IN a whisper to let him
blow him TO pieces with a shell.
NO" l RETURNED fo~rcefuily ~ for
bid II absoiut-iy"
In the energy Of my refusal nv
voice rose too high: and Payton heard
the sound Instantly he stood erect.
/ ami his QyeAz nnnrad Cfrofuhf % fha
Grow Ruf the fire blinded him, and
he did not see us
Crouch" ! whispered in Ethan's
eur and lie still"
Payton stepped quickly round on our
side of the fire The indian dropped
bis meat and also turned to look Then
both vanished
"~SkeedaddIed by 1ingor' exclaimed
| Ethan
Which way had they gone? Prop
ably directly ahead. because only In
thar direction would they hi We the con
tinued shelter of the brush. This. ex
tended away in a con pa ra lively mar
row belt as far as we could see. n 1t
was unusually thick and tall. 1 or.
dered the sIeersman to skim close
above II at d speed a little exceeding
that of a good runner But when we
had advanced nearly az far as / thought
that the fugItives could nave gone we
stopped n hov@ red. carefully watch
ing and listening. But there was no
movement and no sound.
The brush. intermingied with a few
stunted trees. extended. as | have said.
In a belt which was not more h
ten rods broad. but apparently inter
up my mind that 1t followed the course
| of a sluggish stream or a chain of
swamps. On either side of It lay q
stretch of bare country. and the moon.
now rising. began to illumne this
sufficiently to have enabled us to see
any object as large as a man moving
across 1t.
1 determined to beat" this belt thor.
oughly, keeping SO close to the top of
the bushes that the fugiuves would
| not dare tempt to dodge back be-
meath us.
II was slow, tedious, nerve racking
work as we swept from side to side.
but doggedly kept at it, confident
that the quarry would be driven on
! ahead.
|, | now longed for daylight. and at
last it came. In a short time the sky
became bright. and we could see the
ground through the brush. CHANGING
ahead. l was delighted to perceive that
| within a short distance the belt ran
out. ending in an open country.
| Suddenlv n shot rang from the bush
es a little in advance. and the rifieman
at my side fell dead without a groan.
Another shot followed. and l felt a
| sting In my right shoulder. A third
Hattened on the muzzle of Ethan's gun.
They were at bay and in ambush.
Fire, Ethan-nre!" 1 shouted.