The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1913-08-28

~ csaoasl aa1 tAs Rose AASueaat
vers In the little oAee. busy ever Q
Dns q papers. Both oAeass sianesA
~. resenting the intsFsspttoa. q Kaas
entered. Hamlin following. TAe sse-
mer explained the situatioa hrieay.
while the comDandant leaned hack in
his chair. his keen eyes stnAyiAg the
younger man.
Very we'll. Captain KaAa," he asid
shortly. a. the smeers story ended.
We shall have 70 examine iato this,
Of course. but viii probably discover
the whole affair . false alarm. There
IL. at present. No necessity iee alarm
ing any others. Sergeant, kindly ex-
plain to me why Miss NeDonalI shssld
have come to you in her distssssr"
Hamlin stepped forward. and tsld
the story again In dstail. ansvseing
the Colonies questions frankly.
This. then. vss-tAs oaly tas ysu
have met since your asrivalf-
"Yes, SIR"
And this Mrs. Dspont3 You have
had . previous acquaintance With
herr
''Some years ago"
You consider her Q dangerous
vomanf"
Il know her 70 b utterly uaserupu.
lous. cir. aA prepared to state that
she y here under false Destsasss.
claiming to bs nisos Of Major Nc
Donald's. do not knew her real pur-
pose. but an convinced It 10 an evil
one"
Tho Colonel shook his head doubt.
fully. glancing At the silent adjutant
That remains to be proven. Ser
geant have. Of course. met the lady,
and found her pleasant and agreeable
- . companion. Deuced pretty, too;
hey. Bensoni Why do you say she
masquerades a. McDonald's nisosf"
because her maiden name was Car
SON and the Majors sister married
man named Counts"
There might have been another
marriage. Surely Mcdonald must
know"
Miss Molly says not. Colonel. He
nas known nothing of his sister for
over twenty years. and accepted this
woman on her word"
We'll. we'll! Interesting situation;
hey. Benson? Lake to get to the bot
tom myself. Damme II 1t don't sound
like . novel. However. the thing be.
fore us right now IL to discover what
has become Of Miss Mcdonald" He
Strengthened up in his chair. then
leaned across the table. Captain
Kane. make . thorough examination of
McDonalds quarters first. II the girl
10 not found there, detail two men to
accompany Sergeant Hamlin ON a
search of the town."
Very we'll. sir; come ON, Sergeant"
Just . moment-if we find the trail
leads beyond the town are We author.
lied to continued"
Certainly. yes. Adjutant. write out
the order. Anything moref"
II should prefer two men of my own
troop. sir. mounted"
Very we'll; see to it. Captain"
The two men walked down past the
dark row Of officers houses, the Ser
geant a step to the rear on the mar.
row cinder path. McDonalds quarters
were as black as the others, and there
was no response from within when
Kane raped at the door. They tried
the rear entrance with the same re-
sult-the place was plainly unoccu-
pied.
"Pick out your men. Hamlin," the
Captain said sternly. "and I'll call the
stable guard"
Ten minutes later, fully equipped
for field service. the three troopers cir
cled the guard-house and rode rapidly
down the dark road toward the yellow
lights of the town. The Sergeant ex-
planned briefly the cause of the expedi-
ton, and the two troopers, experienced
soldiers, asked no unnecessary ques-
tions. Side by side the three men rode
silently into the town. and Hamlin
swung down from his saddle at the
door of the dance hall. With a word
to the guard he crossed the floor to in
tercept Mrs. Dupont. The latter re-
garded his approach with astonish-
ment, her hand on Captain Barrett's
blue sleeve.
Certainly not" she replied rather
sharply to his first question Il am not
in charge of Miss Mcdonald She is
no doubt amusing herself somewhere;
possibly lying down over at the hotel;
she complained Of a headache earlier
in the evening. Why do you come to
me?"
YES" broke in the Captain, that
is what l wish to know, Hamlin. BY
what authority are you here?"
THE orders of the Colonel command
ing, SIR" respectfully. yet not permit
ting his glance to leave the woman's
face. You insist then, madam, that
you know nothing of the girls disap-
pearance?"
mol" defiantly. her cheeks red.
Nor of what has become OF Con
nors, or your ranch manager"
She shrugged her shoulders, endeav-
oring to smile.