The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1913-12-12
coeyRscem t9,e bY A.c.rrclvRo & Co

~W - -
on the bench into his pocket, walked
over, n picked up the gun.
Now. Hughes" he said quietly,
I'll talk, and you listen. In my judy
ment you are a miserable sneaking
cur, and / am going to trust you just
so far as a watch you. I suppose
] ought to shoot you where you are,
and have done with 1t. You killed one
OF the best men who aver lived, .
friend Of mine, Sam Wasson-"
"Who?"
Sam WATSON. a government scout"
Hughes dropped his face into his
hands.
Good Lord! / knew him!"
The Sergeant drew q deep breath,
and into his face there came a look
almost Of sympathy.
Then you begin to realize the sort
Of fool you are" he went on soberly.
They don't make better men out here;
his little finger was worth more than
your whole body. But killing o
won't bring Sam back, and besides l
reckon you've told me the straight
story, an his shooting was an acct
dent In a way. Then you're more USE
full to me just o alive than you
would be dead. My name is Hamlin.
sergeant Seventh Cavalry, and am
here after that man LIE Fevre. We
trailed his outfit from Dodge until the
storm struck US, and then came
straight through travelling by com.
pass. l did not know the mans name
was LIE Fevre until you told me; up
In Kansas he is known as Dupont"
That's it; that's the name he took
when he sold the cattle"
THE officer robbed and killed was
Major Mcdonald, and 1t is his daugh-
ter they hold. The fellow Dupont
Quarreled with and shot was a desert
er named Connors. We found the
body. Now where do you suppose LIE
Fevre is?"
Hughes stared into the fire, nervous
~ pulling his beard.
Wall. I'd say In west yere some
whar along the Cimarron. 'Tain't like
~ he had a compass, an the wind
wus from the nor'east. Best they
could do. the ponies would drift. The
Injuns would keep the gineral direc-
ton. o course, storm 'er no storm, an
Gene is some plainsman himself, hut
thet blizzard would sheer EN- off all
the same. l reckon they're under the
banks ten mile. er more, up thar. An
soon az there's a change in weather,
they'll ride fer Black Kettles camp.
Thet's my guess. mister"
Hamlin turned the situation yer
deliberately in his mind, satisfied that
Hughes had reviewed the possibilities
correctly. II lie Fevre's party had got
through at all. then chat was the most
likely spot for them to be hiding in.
They would have drifted beyond
doubt, farther than Hughes supposed,
probably. as he had been sheltered
from the real violence Of the wind as
It ragged on the open plain. They
might be fifteen, even, twenty miles
away. and 80 completely drifted In a
to be undiscoverable except through
accident. What course then was best
to pursue? The storm was likely to
continue violent for a day. perhaps
two days longer. His horses were ex-
hausted, and Carroll helpless. 1t
might not eve be safe to leave the
latter alone. Yet ii tho frozen man
could be left In the hut to take care
Of himself and the ponies, would there
be any hope OF success In an effort to
proceed up the river OH foot? He
could make Hughes go--that wasn't
the diniculty-but probably they
couldn't cover Ave miles : day through
the s~nowdrifts. And, even II they
did succeed In getting through in time
to intercept the fugitives, the others
would possess every advantage-both
position for defense, and horses on
which to escape. Hughes, lighting his
pipe, confident now in his own mind
that he was personally safe. seemed
to sense the problem troubling the
Sergeant.
Il reckon l know this kentry well
'nough." he said lazily. ter give yer q
pointer er two. I've rounded up long
horns west O. yere. Them fellers
amt goin' to strike ont fer the Cana
dian till after the storm quits. BY
tibet time yer ponies IL rested no In
better shape than theirs will be, and
We kin strike cross to the SOU west.
We're bound either to hit EN-, or ride
| cross thar trail.'
but the woman!" protested Ham
lin. striding across the floor. what
may happen to her in the meanwhile?
She = an Eastern girl uRaccus-
toned to this life-a-a lady"
Yer don't need worry none bout
thet. N she's the right kind she'll
STAN more'n ! man when she has TO.
! reckon It won't BE- none too pleasant