The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1913-05-23

=, the next move. They plan to attempt
Scape in the darkness: by . OF .
suliy. Molly 10
CHAPTER vIIi.-continued.
He could feel her breathing. and
,ealized the danger Of her return to
consciousness II she should be fright
eped and cry out, their fate would be
sealed. Yet he must accept the chance.
now that he knew the way to be clear.
He held her tightly in both arms. his
revolver thrust back into its holster.
BENDING as low as Ne could with his
burden, feeling carefully through the
darkness before advancing q foot, he
moved steadily forward. Where the
gully deepened their heads were at
the edge of the bank. but much OF the
way was exposed. except for the dark
shadows Of the slope. Fortunately
shere were clouds to the west. already
obscuring that half Of the sky, but to
the east nothing was visible against
the faint luminousness Of the skyline.
Once, far over there to the left. a gun
was fred, the fame splitting the night
ssunder, and against the distant re-
Election a black figure rose up be-
tween, only to be instantly snufed out
again, Hamlin put down his uplifted
foot, and waited. in tense. motfonless
silence. but nothing happened. except
NE echo Of a far-away voice.
A dozen feet farther. some four
footed animal suddenly leaped. to the
edge of the bank, smiled. and disap-
peared n~oiselessly. So taut were his
nerves strung that the Sergeant sank
upon his knees. releasing one hand to
grip his revolver. before he realized
The cause Of alarm-some prowling
prairie wolf. Then. with teeth grim
" locked, bending lower and lower,
he crept across the rutted trail. and
past the dead body Of the Indian. Not
until then did he dare to breathe nat
rrally or to stand upright; but now,
the gully, bending to the right, led
away from danger, every step gained
adding to their safety. He was conf
dent now. full Of his old audacity, yet
awake to every trick Of plainscratt.
The girls head rested against his
shoulder, and he bent his cheek to
hers, feeling its warmth. The touch
Of his unshaven beard pricked her In.
to semtconsciousness. and she spoke
20 loud that It gave him a thrill Of ap-
prehension. He dared not run in the
darkness for tear Of stumbling, YET
moved with greater swiftness, until
the depression ended At the river
Here, under the protection Of the
bank, Hamlin put down his burden
and stood erect. stretching his
strained muscles and staring back In
to the dark.
What nowf Which way should they
trrn7 He had accomplished all he hat
planned for himself back there in thu
coach, but now he became aware o,
other problems awaiting solution. II
less than an hour 1t would be day
light; he almost imagined It was light
er already over yonder In the east
With the nrst dawn those watchfu
Indians. creeping cautiously closer
would discover the stage deserted ant
would be on their trail. And they hal
left u trail easily followed. Perhap,
the hard. dry ground might confus'
those savage crackers, but they woul,
scour the open country between bluf
and river. and md the dead warrior II
the gully. That would tell the story
10 g west, along the edge Of tn,
river. wading in the water, would b
useless precaution: such . trick woul
be suspected at once. and there wa
no possibility Of rescue from that d.
rection. They might a. we'll wal
open-eyed into . trap. There was bu
one hope. n opportunity-to eros
the stream before dawn came an
hide among those shifting sand-dune
OF the opposite shore. Hamlin tho
oughly understood the risk involved
tho t~reacherous nature Of the Arkar
Gas. the possibility that both might b
sucked down by engulnns Quicksant
yet even such q lonely death was pr,
Ierasle to Indian torture.
The girl at his fest stirred IN
moaned. In another moment he ha