The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-07-07

laced through the runner-slits and ovei
the box, the restless movement Of
dogs, a gaping whine, the angry snal
of pair of jaws. Then, slowly, the
sledge began to move. A whip cracked
loudly above him. voice rose in loud
shout, and the dogs were urged to :
trot. Again there came to Philips ears
the wheeling notes of the accordion By
slight effort he found that he coulc
turn his head sufficiently to look
through hole on level with his eye:
in the side of the box. The sledgs
had turned from the dark trail into the
lighted street. and stopped at last be.
fore a brilliantly lighted front from
which there issued the sound of coarse
voices, of laughter, and half-drunker
song.
One of his captors went into the bar
while the other seated himself on the
box, with one leg shutting out Philips
vision by dangling it over the hole
through which he was looking.
What's up, Fingy" inquired a
voice.
"Wekusko,' replied the man on the
box. in the husky, flesh-smothered tones
of the person who had entered last into
the cabin.
Another dead one up there, eh:'
persisted the SAME voice
NO Maps n things fr Hodges, up
at the camp. Devil of hurry. amt
he. to order US up at night? Tell -
to hustle out with the bottle, will you?'
Tho speaker sent the lash Of his whip
swapping through the air in place of
supplying a name.
MAPS and things-of Hodges-We-
kusko" gasped Philip inwardly
He listened for further information.
None came. and soon the man called
Fingy jumped from the box, cracked
his whip with a wheeling command to
the dogs, and the sledge moved on.
And so his capors were taking him to
Wekusko land more than that, to
Hodges, chief of construction. whose
life had been attempted by the prisoner
whom Inspector MacGregor had order
ed him to bring down! Had Fingy
spoken the truth? And. if so. was this
another part of the mysterious plot
foreseen by the Inspector?
During the next half hour, in which
the sledge travelled steadily over the
smooth, hard trail into the north, Philip
IllIuoSlI IuCsC anu d SNOlC vi ctll-
er questions equally perpiexing. He
woman whom he had followed had pur-
posely lured him into the ambush He
considered himself her prisoner. Then
why should he be consigned, like a
parcel of freight. to Hodges, her hus-
bands accuser, and the man who de-
manded the full penalty of the law for
his asSailant?
The more he added to the questions
that leaped into his mind the more mys-
tilted he became The conflicting or
ders, the strange demanor of his chief,
the pathetic appeal that he had seen in
the young woman's eyes, the ambush,
and now this unaccountable ride to We
kusko. strapped in a coffin box, all
combined TO plunge him into a chaos of
wonder from which it was impossible
for him to struggle forth. However.
he assured himself of two things; he
was comparatively comfortable, and
within two hours at the most they
would reach Hodges headquarters. If
the Wekusko camp were really TO be
their destination. Something must de-
velop then.
II had ceasedt ocur to him that
there was peril in his strange position.
II that were so, would his captors have
left him in possession of his weapons.
even imprisoned as he was' II they
had intended him harm, would they
have cushioned his box and placed
pillow under his head so that the cloth
about his mouth would not cause him
discomfort? 1t struck him as pecul-
iarly significant. now that he had suf-
fered no injury in the short struggle
on the trail, that no threats or intimi-
dation had been offered after his cap
ture. This was a part Of the game
which he was to play! He became more
and more certain OF it as the minutes