Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1914-12-30

They travelled far and fast by dim
forest trails before sundown. then
again paused for food and rest. And
as Jacob sat deity about preparing
the meal. Alan stumbled OF TO whip
the little trail-side stream for trout
Perhaps a hundred yards upstream,
the back-lash OF 8 careless cast by his
weary hand hooked the state Of Maine.
Too tired even to remember the ap-
propriate words, Alan scrambled
ashore, forced through the thick I'M
dergrowth that masked the trail.
found his fly. set the state OF Maine
free-and swinging on his heel
brought up, nose * a sapling. trans
fixed by a rectangle OF white paste
board fixed to its trunk. a trey Of
hearts, OF which each pip had been
neatly punctured by a 22-cahber bull
let.
He carried II back to camp. mean
ing to consult the guide, but on sec
ond thought. held his tongue. It was
not likely that the Indian had over
looked an object so conspicuous on
the trail.
So Alan waited for him to speak
and meantime determined to watch
Jacob more narrowly, though no other
suspicious circumstance had marked
the several days of their association.
The first half Of the night was, as
the day, devoted to relentless prog
ress southwark; thirty minutes OF
steady jogging, five minutes for rest
and repeat
No more question as TO the need for
such urgent haste; overhead the north
wind muttered without ceasing. Thin
wells Of smoke drifted through the for
est hugging the ground, like some
weird acrid mist; and ever the cur
tanned heavens glared, livid with re-
flected fires.
By midnight Alan had come to the
bounds OF endurance; flesh. bone and
sinew could no longer stand the strain.
Though Jacob declared that Spirit
lake was now only six hours distant,
as far as concerned Alan he might
have said 600. His blanket once I'M
rolled, Alan dropped upon it like one
drugged.
The sun was high when he awak-
ened and sat UP, rubbing heavy eyes.
stretching aching limbs, wondering
what had come over the Indian to let
him sleep so late.
or a sudden he was assailed by sick
ening fears that needed only the brief
est investigation to confirm. Jacob
had absconded with every valuable
item Of their equipment.
Nor was his motive far to seek
Overnight the fire had made ire
mendous gains. And ever and anon
the wind would bring down the roar
Of the holocaust. dulled by distance
but not unlike the growing OF wild
animals feeding on their kill
Alan delayed long enough only to
swallow a few mouthfuls of raw food,
gulped water from a spring, and set
out at a dog-trot or the trail to Spirit
Lake.
For hours he blundered blindly on,
holding to the trail mainly by instinct.
At length, painting, gasping. half
blinded, hi staggered into little nat
ural clearing and plunged forward
headlong, so bewildered that he could
not have said whether he was TIPPED
or thrown; for even as he stumbled a
heavy body landed on his back and
crushed him savagely to earth.
In less than a minute he was over
come; his wrists hitched together, his
ankles bound with heavy cord.
When his vision cleared he found
Jacob within a yard, regarding him
with a face as immobiie as though 1t
had been cast In the bronze 1t resem-
bled.
Beyond, to one side, a woman in
a mans hunting costume stood eye
ing the captive as narrowly as the In
dian, but unlike him with a counte-
nance that seemed aglow with fierce
exultancy over his downfall
But for that look. he could have be-
lieved hers the face that had brought
him overseas to'this mortal pass. Fea-
ture for feature. even to the hue Of
her tumbled hair. she counterfelted
the woman he loved; only those eyes.
aflame with their look of inhuman
ruthlessness. denied that the two we're
one.
He sought vainly to speak. The
breath rustled in his parched throat
like wind whispering among dead
leaves.
Thrusting the Indian roughly aside.
the woman knelt In his place by
Alan's head.
NO." she said. and smiling cruelty,
shook her head-"no, am not your
Rose. But am her sister, Judith, her
twin, born in the same hour, daughter
of-can you guess whose daughter
But see thisl" She flashed a card
from within her hunting shirt and held
It before his eyes. You know It, eh?
The trey OF hearts-the symbol OF
Trine-Trine, your fathers enemy,
and yours. and-Rose's father and
mtnei So. now, perhaps you knowI"
A gust of wind like furnace blast
swept the glade. The woman sprang
up, glanced over-shoulder into the for.
est, and signed TO the Indian.
I'm ten minutes" she said, these
woods win be your funeral pyre"
She stepped back. Jacob advanced,
picked Alan up. shouldered his body.
and strobe back into the forest. Ten
feet fn from the clearing he dropped
the helpless man supine upon a bed OF
dry Inzo md hrn nnhna