Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-03-13

that might very easily be dislodged
He drew his hunting knife for the at
tempt. and, first glancing about. per
ceived man creeping toward him. II
/ proved to be Bristoe.
Fixed the greaser all right. cap
Land L reckon he'll be quiet for an hour
or two. Look whar he slashed me;
struck pack o playin' keerds. er I'D
q got, my, ticket The front of his
blouse was cut wide open. and Keith
1 thought he perceived stain Of blood.
"Pricked you as 1t was, didn't he?
5"Opened the skin. Thought the cuss
had given up. an got careless. What's
round to the west 2"
Keith's lips closed. his hand shut
ting hard on the knife,
| Five, and another out In front:
that leaves the eighth man inside.
Bring our fellows up closer. and post
them where they can cover those fell
lows asleep. while make an effort at
breaking In here. II 4. ID
Bristoe crawled back like snail.
and confident the others would do their
part. Keith thrust his knife blade deep
into the narrow crack and began prob
ing after the latch. In spite Of all eau
ton this effort caused slight noise.
and suddenly he started back at the
sound of a woman's voice: &5ss,s
What do you want? am armed.
and will fire through the door II you
do not 60, away" e
His heart leaping with exultation,
Keith put his lips close to the crack.
Hope. he exclaimed as loudly as
he dared. This is Keith: open the
door.
He could hear little smothered cry
break from her lips, and then the
sound of a bar being hastily removed.
An instant. and the door opened ST.
lently, just wide enough to permit her
slender figure to slip through. She
grasped him with her hands, turning
his face to the light of the stars. and
he could feel her form tremble.
''Oh. knew you would come!
knew you would come!" she sobbed.
the words barely audible.
The mans lips set firmly, yet he
held her close to him. begging her
not to break down now.
Its all right, little GIRL" he said
.pleadingly. we've got you safe. but
there is a fight to be attended to-
Come with me; must ask you ques-
ton or two"
He drew her back into the fringe OF
bushes. placing her safely behind the
stack of saddles. She was not crying
any more. just clingtng to him. as
though she could never again bear to
let him 60.
Z l"Oh. Jack. 1t is SO good just to feel
you near again" Il
Yes, dear" soothingly. land it is
good to hear you say Jack, but tell
nae one thing-is any one else in the
cabin? Is Hawley here?''
mo. no! He left us early the first
morning. haven't either seen or
heard of him since. The men have
left me alone since we got here; have
had the cabin all to myself until to-
night. l have not suffered. only
mentally-from dread OF what they
Intended doing with me-until to-
night. Three men rode in here Just
before sundown-two Mexicans and an
Indian. One Of them was an awful
looking old man. with a scar on his
cheek, and face that made me shud.
der. He didn't see me, but saw him ,
through the window, and he had such
strange eyes. All the men acted as
though they were afraid Of him. and
heard him say he didn't care what
Hawley's orders were, he was going to
sleep inside; If the girl didn't like 1t
she could take the other room.
didn't know what to do-oh. | was SO
afraid of him; but what he said gave
me an idea, and went into the back