The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1913-10-16

0prinS backv vaF1 eAe v1ats naa WAS
essind he voaans' Dsay. sheltered
b. hsr ahapsIsss Asurs. s5ipeanx the
aninalis bit TAs ssoso1 Indian
dropped to his knsss a.A opsesd fire
With . sudden lsrch lssvarA the Ser
geant plunged hsaAionS IN the snov.
CHAPTER XXX.
vhs oiN sa1 sss alaa.
A As went down. unin1afsA. but
realizing now that this vas to be a
battle to the death Hamlin Sang open
his coat. and gripped his revolver
Lying there on his faes he Area twice
deliberately. choosing the exposed In
dian ~ target The latter. striving
to mount Ais frishtessA Doay. fsn for
ward. graspins ths nass dssperately.
4 stream Of blood Aysing his hlanket
- the animal AasAsA seroas the val
ley. Dupont had vhiried ths girls
hesss 70 ths lsft. and. With Asr body
al shield. was attempting to escape
ALREADY - was too far away to make
4 revolver shot safe. Hamlin arose to
bis knsss. and PICKED uD the dropped
rife. His lips were pressed tight; his
eyes full Of grin detesminaateo. Why
didn't Dupoat IRE? Could II b he was
unarmed! Or vas As hopiag By delay
to gain . closer shot? Ksen-eyed, res
ofute. the Sergeant determined to
take no chances. The rife came to a
level-a spurt Of aame, q sharp re-
port. and the pony staggered to its
knees. and sank. bearing its helpless
burden with It. Dupont let 70 his grip
on the rein. and stood upright, clearly
outlined against the white hillside.
staring back toward the kneelins Ser
seant. the faint smoke cloud whirling
between.
"All right-damn you-you've got
mol" he said sullenly.
Hamlin never moved. except to snap
out the emptied cartridge.
"Unbutton that coat" he command
ed tersely. Nov turn around. No
shooting iron. hey! That's rather
careless Of gun-man."
He dropped his rife, and strode for
ward revolver in hand. glancing curl.
ously at the dead Indian as he passed
A riata hung to the pommsl of q sad
die. and he paused to shake It loose,
uncoiling the thin rope. but with
watchful eyes constantly on his pris-
oner. He felt no fear Of Dupont, now
that he knew tho fellow to be un-
armed. and the wounded Indian hads
vanished over the ridge. Yet Dupont
was powerful man. and desperate
enough to accept any chance. Some.
thing in the sullen. glowing face con-
fronting him awoke the Sergeant to
caution. He seemed to sense the plan
of the other, and stopped suddenly.
slipping the rope through his fingers.
He swung the coil about his head.
measuring the distance, every faculty
on the toss. He had for
gotten Hughes lying in the snow be-
hind: he neither saw nor heard the
fellow scramble weakly to his knees,
revolver outsretched In a halffroxen
hand. And Hughes, his eyes already
glazing in death, saw only the two fig-
ures. In that moment hate triumphed
over cowardice; he could not distin-
guish which was Dupont, which Ham,
lin. In the madness of despair he
cared little-only he would kill some
one before he died. His weapon
wavered frantically az he sought to
aim. the man holding himself up by
one hand. Dupont, facing that way,
saw this apparition, and leaped aside,
stumbling over the dead pony. Hughes
weapon belched, and Hamlin, the las
so whirling above him in the air,
pitched forward, and came crashing
down into the snow.
1t was all the work of an instant. a
wild. confused bit, so rapidly enacted
as to seem unreal even to the partici.
pants. Hamlin lay motionless, bare
ly conscious of living, yet unable to
stir muscle. Hughes, screaming out
one OATH sank back into a heap, his
frozen fingers still gripping his smok-
ing weapon. Then Dupont rose eau
tiously to his knees, peering forth
across the dead body of the pony The
man was unnerved, unable at first to
comprehend what had occurred He
was saved as by miracle, and his
great form shook from head to foot.
Then, as his eyes rested on the out
stretched body of the Sergeant, hate
conquered every other feeling; he
staggered to his feet, picked up the
gun lying in the snow. walked ACROSS
and brutally kicked the PROSTATE
form. There was no response, no
movement
All l wish is that I'd been the one
to kill YER" he growled savagely, grin
ming down. Hell of a good shot,
though l reckon the blame fool
meant 1t for me-" He threw the rife
forward. In readiness, and moved eau.
tiously over toward Hughes.
"Deader than .door-nail," he NUT.
tered, pressing back the buffalo coat.
and staring contemptuously down into
the white. staring face. 81 wonder how
that coward ever happened to be here