Evening journal., 1914-10-26

that man! Judith I command you"
BE SILENT" the girl cut in sharply 'I com.
mand here.if it's necessary to tell you"
There was pause OF astonishment Then the
old man broke out in evaporation that threatened
to wax into fury; Judith What do you mean
by this? Has 1t indeed come to this that my own
daughter dehes me to my face?
Apparently" she shot back with a short laugh
Judge for YOURSELF"
Have you forgotten your vow to meg"
No But take It back and cancel IL; that ia
my privilege. believe. Silencel" she stormed
as he strove to gansay her. "Silence-do you
hear!-or it will be the for youl"
As well command the to still it's voice: her
father ragged like the madman that he was for the
time being divested Of HIS habitual mask Of frigid
heartessness
And seeing that there was no other way Of quiet
Ing him, the girl turned to the third man.
NOW Jimmy she said crisply Into that
and be quick about it-and gag hint"
III you do" her father foamed '1ll have youl
life"
flourish OF her weapons gained instant obedi
ence
She stepped up on the running board and shoi
quick, searching glance at the face OF the chauf
feur.
Straight ahead my mani" she said Make foi
the nearest pass through those hills yonder ans
don't delay unless you're anxious for trouble. or
you go"
Tho car began to move. She swept the thre,
men in the desert mocking bow, Jumped into the
body of the car and slammed the door.
They made effort to plead their cause and Sc
cure passage even as far the edge OF the desert
doubtless they knew too well the futility Of that
she thought as she settled back in a seat chuck
ling with the memory OF those three masks OF dis
may unmitigated.
II was not until FIVE minutes later. when shs
Strengthened up from making Alan comfortable tha.
she realized what had made them so content tc
abide by her will.
Then she heard their voices lifted together In
long. shrn howl that quickly answered bs
fainter yes from distant quarter of the desert
then by pistols popping and flashing some two
miles away, then by growing rumor OF gallopine
hoofs.
The night glasses in the car afforded her flashes
OF a body Of several horsemen-some six or seven
she understanding at top speed toward the spot
where Marrophat. Hicks and Jimmy waited beside
a beacon which they had built and lighted.
Half dozen sentences exchanged with the chauf
feur advised her that these we're horsemen from
the town Of Mesa who had charged themselves with
the duty Of avenging the death OF Hopi Jim Slade
sardonic chuolSle from within Trine's gag goad
ed the girl into a sullen fury
Exacting his utmost speed from the chauffeur
under penalty Of her displeasure she set herself
to revive Alan.
With the aid Of such stores Of food and drink
as the car carried. this quickly enough &C
complished
strangling with an overdose Of brandy too little
diluted with water, Alan sat up, grasped the con
ditions in fash, and gained further information
as he devoured sandwiches and emptied canteen.
The mountain pass was now. he judged. a mile
distant The light on the hillside, according TO the
chauffeur, was that Of prospector who had camped
there temporarily There nothing, then to be
feared from that quarter but solely from the rear
where the horsemen. having picked up Mario
phat and his companions, had instituted hot pur-
suit and we're strung out in a long. struggling
line, three horses carrying double the farthermost
perhaps a mile and half away-one with sin
gle rider the nearest well within threequarters OF
a mile
Nobly mounted this last came on like the wind.
gaining on the motor with every stride; for his
horse trained TO such going, whereas the car
at best could only labor heavily in dust and sand.
None the less 1t had won to a point within a
quarter Of a mile from the pass before the horse.
man got within what he esteemed the proper range.
and opened fire.
He fired thrice His first shot winged wide his
second by illchance ripped through tire OF
the car, thus placing upon 1t additional handi.
cap, while this third sought the zenith his hands
flew up and he dropped from the saddle drilled
through the body by Alans only shot.
A longrange pistol duel was in progress before
the had covered half the remaining distance to
the pass.
BY the time it entered this last which proved
to be a ravine with towering sides OF
crumbly earth and shale and broken rock the pur
suit was not a hundred yards behind while the
firing was wellnigh continuous
Two hundred feet above the trail two
working with desperate haste at some mysterious
business-though noticed them.
Only the chauffeur of a
ming down the hillside at angle, TO intercept the
several hundred yards from the mouth Of the
pass.
AS il drew the spot where she paused Vav
ing both frantically the head OF the pureuins
party swept into the mouth Of the ravine.
At the same time the chauffeur noticed that the
two men on the hillside we're following the woman
pellmel, throwing themselves down the slope with
gigantic leaps and bounds.
And then a great explosion rent the peaceful
hush of night-that till then had been profanet
by the pattering cracks of the revolver fusillade
As the roar Of dynamite subsded the entire sid,
OF the hill shifted and slid ponderousy down, chok
ing the ravine with debris to the depth of SOM
thirty or forty feet, burying the leaders Of tn
pursuit beyond hope Of rescue
Only an instant later the motor car jolted to
halt and Alan pulled himself together to find tha
Rose and Barcus standing beside the doc
and jabbering joyful greetings mixed with more o.
less incoherent explanations of the il
which they had come 10 seek shelter for the nigh
in the prospectoT's shack and, reused by the nois
of firing and recognizing Alan in the car By thu
aid Of night glasses had with the prospectors aic
hit upon this scheme OF shooting landslide IA
between the pursuit and its devoted quarry.
nfwna naA