The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1914-10-15

20, see. Well, I'll drop In this
afternoon and see your master. They
say that riding is good for torpid
liver. Have cigar?"
Thanks"
! The groom proceeded into the sta,
bles and the affable stranger took
himself of.
A free rein; they couio work it to
suit themselves There wasn't the
least obstacle in the way. On the
face of it, it appeared to be the sim
plest job they had yet undertaken.
To get rid of the riding master in
some natural way after he and the.
girl had started. It was like falling
off aSiog.
Susan" said Florence as she came
into breakfast after her exhilarating
ride, did you hear pistol shots last
night?"
Il heard some noise, but l was so
sleepy l didn't try to figure out what
it was.'
did you, Jones?"
YES, Miss Florence. The shots
came from the street A policeman
came running up later and said he
saw two automobiles on the run. But
evidently there wasn't anybody hurt
! One has to be careful at night now
adays. There are pretty bad men
abroad. Did you enjoy the ride?"
| Very much. But there were spots
of blood on the walk near the corner"
! "Blood?" Jones caught the back Of
chair to steady himself.
! Eyes. SO some one was hurt. Oh,
let's leave this place!" impulsively
Let us go back to Miss Farlow's.
: You could find place In the village,
Jones. But IL l stay here much longer
in this state of unrest l shall lose
faith in everything and everybody.
Whoever my fathers enemies are,
they do not lack persistence. They
have made two attempts against my
liberty, and sooner or later they will
succeed. l keep looking over my
shoulder all the time. If I hear a
noise jump"
Miss Florence, IL thought it wise,
you should be packed off to Miss Far
lows this minute. But not an hour of
the day or night passes without this
house being watched. l seldom see
anybody about. l can only sense the
presence of a watcher. At Miss Far
lows you would be far more like
prisoner than here. / could not ac-
company you. I am forbidden to de-
sert this house"
my fathers orders?"
Jones signified neither one way nor
the other. He merely gazed stolidly
at the rug.
THAT blood!" She sprang from her
chair, Mortified. "It was his! He was
here last night, and they shot
him! o."
There, there, Miss Florence! The
man was only slightly wounded. He's
where they never will look for him."
Then Jones continued, as with an ef-
fort: Trust me, Miss Florence. 1t
would not pay to run away. The
whole affair would be repeated else
where We might go to the other end
of the world, but it would not serve us
in the least. 1t is not question of
escape, but of who shall vanquish the
other. There is nothing to do but re-
main here and fight, fight, fight. We
have put four of them in the Tombs,
to say nothing of the gunmen. That
is what we must do-put them In
safe place, one by one, till we reach
the master. Then only may we
breathe in safety. But if they watch,
so do we. There is never a moment
when help is not within reach no mat
ter where you go. So long as you do
not deceive me. no real harm shall be-
fall you. Don't cry. Be your fathers
daughter, as am his servant"
''I am very unhappy" And Flor
ence threw her arms around Susan
and laid her head upon her friends
shoulder.
Poor child" Susan, however, rec
ognized the wisdom of Jones state
ments. They were safest here.
The morning rides continued. To
the girl, who loved the open, 1t was
glorious fun. Those mad gallops
along the roads, the smell of earth and
sea, the tingle in the blood, were the
second best moments of her day. The
first? She invariably blushed when
she considered what these first best
moments were. He was brave young