Gunnison news-champion., 1912-05-24

Il w 4 -" ~
soe~s,ss ossA . g.. os..s AssA-
en- ks~ esa-
shreatssins him. But wssts eviasatly
knew the man under aaother name
bis given name -ssd the gambler hss
sent him oG On talse trstl. The lost
papers apparently contstaed the sois-
tion to ell this mystery Waite he
Iteved Hawley po~sesssd them. out
Gid not suspect thai Bartlett and hiss
hey we're the same person. v nsi
would he most naturally do nosy
Seed Hasiey In Topeka probably;
seize the hrst opportunity OF gettinG
there Keith turned impstieetly 70
the clerk.
ANY train rannin0 east7"
We'll they generally start one out
every day" with q glance toward the
eiock. long bout this time. Maybe
It's gone. and maybe IL hasn't"
n MAS already nearly darh outside
- the tive men hastened toward The
depot They arrived there barely n
time 10 see the RED lights on the last
cor aisappesr. Ne Inquiries naao -
those ioungine about brought resalts
they had been Interested IN . ~ q
drunken graders loaded on the Nat
cars by force. and sent out undei
guard and not one could tell whether
any man answering Waite's descrip
tion was In the single passenger
coach. Convinced. however. that the
cutting his search, Keith believed him
already ON bis way east, snd sfter de
missing Neb. with Instructions to
watch out closely fer Hawley. he
made HE own way back 10 the hotel.
II seemed strange enough how com
pletely - Was blocked each time. just
W. - thought The whole banning mys-
terry was about 70 - made clear Haw-
bsy was playtaG h rare luck. ell ~
cards ruRRinG easily to hts head. thus,
at least gaining time. anA strengthea-
ing his position. There could no lOAG
er be any doubt that the gambler pos
sessed some knowledge which made
him . formidable adversary. From
Waite's statement II was the loss Of
the papers which left him helpless TO
openly resist the claim being made
upoa him on behalf of the mysterious
Phyllis. HIS only hope. therefore. lay
IN recovering these; but. with time
limited. he had been sent back on .
wild goose chase. while Keith alone
knew. with any degree of positiveness
where thoee documents really were.
Hawley certainly had them In his pr
session the day before, for he had
taken them to Miss Maclaire TO thus
convince her as to the truth Of his
statements And Hawley was still
in Sheridan. However, 1t was not
likely the man would risk carrying
documents of such value, and docu-
ments connecting him so closely with
that murder on the Santa Fe Trail,
about upon his person. At best. life
was cheap in that community, and
Black Bart must possess enemies in
plenty. Yet If not on his person
where? Scott was only a tool, mere
ignorant desperate. not to be trusted
to such a degree-yet apparently he
was the only one working with the
gambler In this deal. the only one
cognizant as to his plans. Christie
Keith came to q stop in the street at
the recurrence of the woman's name
Why not7 N she had been convinced.
# she really believed that these pa
pers proved her right to both property
and parentage, then she would guard
them as q tigress does her young And
Hawley would know that. and must
realize they would be far safer in her
hands than In his pocket. She could
not use them without his aid and
guidance. and yet. whatever happened
TO him they would still be safely be-
yond reach. True, this might not have
been done the gambler might not yet
have felt that he had sum cient hold
upon the woman to trust her thus far.
but II was. at least. a possibility to be
considered. and acted upon
Still wrestling with the intricate
problem. Keith entered the dining
room. and weaved his way. as usual.
through the miscellaneous crowd. to-
ward the more exclusive tables at the
rear woman sat alone AZ one OF
these. her back toward the 6oor. His
first thought was that y must be
Hope. and he advanced toward her.
his heart throhhins She elan~ad up.
a slight frown rrinklirg her toreh~al
and he bowed. recognizing Christie
Naclaire