The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-01-20

the signal or Tudor. giving notice
that ne had reached the Berande.
turned about, and was coming back
Sheldon fired bis rife into the air In
answer, and In turn proceeded to adj
vance. He moved as In q dream. ab-
sent mindedly keeping to the open
beach. The thing was SO preposterous
that be had to struggle to realize it,
and he reviewed In his mind the con-
versaton with Tudor. trying to find
some clew to the common sense Of
what be was dong. He did not want
to XIII Tudor. Because that man had
biundered In his love making was no
reason that he. Sheldon. should take
his life. Then what was it all about!
True, the fellow had insulted Joan by
his subsequent remarks and been
knocked down for 1t, but because be
had knocked him down was no rea-
son that he should now try to kill him.
In this fashion he covered a quarter
of the distance between the two riv-
ers, when 1t dawned upon him that
Tudor was not on the beach at all. OF
course not. He was advancing, &C
cording to the terms Of the agreement,
In the shelter of the cocoanut trees.
Sheldon promptly swerved to the left
to seek similar shelter, when the faint
crack of a rife came to his ears, and
almost Immediately the bullet. strik-
ing the hard sand a hundred feet be-
ward in a second fight, convincing
him that preposterous and unreal as
1t was, it was, nevertheless, sober
fact 1t had been intended for him.
Yet even then 1t was hard to believe.
Keeping now to the shelter of the
trees, he went forward another quar-
ter of a mile. If Tudor had advanced
with equal speed they should have
come together at that point, and Shell
don concluded that the other was cir
cling. The difficulty was to locate
him. The rows Of trees. running at
right angles, enabled him to see along
only one narrow avenue at time. His
enemy might be coming along the next
avenue or the next to right or left He
might be hundred feet away or half
a mile. Sheldon plodded on and de-
cided that the old stereotyped duel was
far simpler and easier than this pro-
tracted hide and seek affair. He, too,
tried circIing. IN the hope of cutting the
others circle; but, without catching a
glimpse Of him, he finally emerged
upon fresh clearing where the young
trees, waist high. afforded little shell
ter and less hiding. Just as he emerged,
stepping out a pace. a rife cracked to
bis right, and, though he did not hear
the bullet In passing, the thud Of 1t
came to his ears when 1t struck q palm
trunk farther on.
He sprang back into the protection of
the larger trees. Twice he had ex-
posed himself and been fired at. while
he had failed to catch single glimpse
OF his antagonist A slow anger be-
gan to burn in him. 1t was deucedly
unpleasant, he decided. this being pep
pered at, and, nonsensical as it really
was, 1t was none the less deadly seri-
GUS. There was no avoiding the is
sue, no firing In the air and getting
over with it. as in the old fashioned
duel. This mutual man hunt must
keep up until one got the other. And
If one neglected a chance to get the
other that increased the others chance
to get him. There could be no false
sentiment about 1t. Tudor had been a
cunning devil when he proposed this
sort of duel. Sheldon concluded, as be
began to work along cautiously In the
direction Of the last shot
When he arrived at the spot Tudor
was gone, and only his footprints re-
NAMED. pointing out the course be had
taken into the depths of the panta
ton. Once, ten minutes later. be
caught a glimpse of Tudor. hundred
yards away. crossing the same avenue
as himself, but going In the opposite
direction. His rife half leaped to his
More In whim than In hope Of result.
grinning to himself as be did SO, Shell
don raised his automatic pistol and
In two seconds sent eight shots scat
tering through the trees In the direc
ton In which Tudor had disappeared
Wishing he had a shotgun. Sheldon
dropped to the ground behind a tree,
slipped a fresh clip up the hollow butt
of the pistol. threw cartridge into
the chamber. showed the safety catch
into place and reloaded the empty clip
1t was but a short time after that
that Tudor tried the same trick on
him, the bullets pattering about him
like spiteful rain. thudding into the
palm trunks or glancing Off In whining
ricochets. The last bullet Of sill, max
ing a double ricochet from two diff
ferent trees and losing most Of its mo-
mentum. struck Sheldon a sharp blow
on the forehead and dropped at his
feet. He was partly stunned for the
moment, but on investigation found no
greater harm than a nasty lump that
soon rose to the size Of pigeons egg
firing Of the endless ctrcling. Shell
don tried once more to advance direct
~ on his foe, but the latter was too
crafty. taking advantage Of his bold
ness to fire a couple Of shots at him
and slipping away on some changed
and continually changing course. For
an hour they lodged and turned and
twisted back and forth and around and
hunted each other among the orderly
palms. They caught feeting glimpses
Of each other and CHANGED flying shots
which were without result On a
grassy shelter behind a tree Sheldon
came upon where Tudor had rested
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