The Washington herald., 1914-03-21

brace for rev moments ana raistu
her face for a kiss Then the children
| tottered into the store. and clifford. who
was their hero, was obliged to play with
them and tell them stories before they
perrnitted him to go. As he walked
away toward his cabin the dusk Of night
was creeping up over the hills He
thought he saw figure disentangle IT
self from the shadows about the cabin
! and hasten away. He thought Of the
haIf.br The fellows sneaky ways
infuriated him, and he would have start
ed in pursuit IL the other had not al
ready vanished In the darkness.
His foot touched something soft and
Welding as he stepped into the cabin. He
struck a match. and the object that met
his gaze caused him TO draw back with
n start Crumpled in a heap on the
floor. with blood still dripping from
| wound, lay the body OF the chiefs
daughter.
"Murdered"' mumbled Clifford. II was
nlain the girl had been shot down as she
entered his cabin to leave the basket
But by whom? He thought OF the half-
Iibreed, but the half-breed would scarcely
dare Kill the daughter Of the all-powerful
chief; and, besides, he could have mad
no motive. Clifford lifted the body to
the he'd and wiped away the blood. Then
an idea seized him. and again ne cursed
the half-breed.
| ssThe curp' he groaned. "ie killed her
in my cabin so he could tell the chief
was the murderer and start an uprising
The dirty rat!''
He was pacing the door when some one
burst into the room. CLIFFORD recognized
a trapper who was his neighbor. Point
ing to the dead girl, he told brieny what
had happened.
$50 that's II. is it," exclaimed the
| had hannennd
Those devils are. drinking booze and
dancing like fiends. Theren be some
thing doing about midnight. Thought l
would Up you of. We don't want to die
| like rats in a trap.
| He had been walking the floor excit-
edly. Suddenly he stopped, measured the
distance between the walls with shrewd
| eyes. then stopped and picked piece OF
/ string from the floor. The two men ex-
amined IL, but Clifford failed TO perceive
the reason for the others interest
Don't you understand now?'' exclaim-
ed the neighbor. That story about the
half-breed killing the chiefs daughter to
get even with you didn't sound just
| right to me. He wouldn't have dared"
Il don't quite see it, protested Cliff
ford.
why, man. It was you and not the
girl he meant TO kill. lie had fixed up
I a neat little death trap for you. This
| string is part of IL. One end was last
ened here" pointing TO the door ana
1 the other to the trigger OF a gun AS
i soon as the door was opened the gun
would be discharged. He never counted
on the chiefs daughter getting here
ahead Of you. 1t served his purpose Just
as we'll though The chief will believe
YOU killed her, and he will have a lot OF
drunken red fiends swinging fire brands
| among US pretty soon.
| clifford understood The theory was
| romantic, but altogether plausible The
half-bred of course. had returned after
| the murder to clear away most OF the
| evidence, and Clifford remembered the
| figure he had seen sinking away from
the cabin as he left the store.
! The dog" he cried. But even as he
smoke suIlen. blood-chilling shouts rose
/ over the wilds. The two men locked sig
! nificantly at each other.
\ They're coming, and they're drunk
enough for anything" observed clifford
l friend grimly.
\ lights twinkled between the trees. The
men examined their weapons.
I'm ready" declared Clifford, but we
mustn't fight them here. We've got tC
get to Walcamp's quick. The kids will
be in danger" As he spoke his thoughts
were with Marie. Bullets pierced tht
windows and stung the walls of th'
cabin. The men returned the fire. anC
the shrieks that followed each shot told
them the enemies were numerous enough
so that each bullet fired at random hit
a mark. Clifford knew he must haster
to the Walcamp homo, but TO reach Il
he must cross a clearing and dare tht
full force of the enemy's fire.
They're burning the cabin cried hi:
friend. and at the same moment Clifford
shifted smoke. The Indians had invaded
the cabin. There was nothing to do nov
but run. The sputter OF rifles told then
their dash across the clearing had beer
observed, but somehow they reached th'
Walcamp house. The frightened children
were hiding under a table, and Clifford
picked them up in his arms and con
cealed them in a deserted building in Tho
rear. Whixzing bullets and flying splin
ters of glass met him as he ran back tc
the house and stationed himself at 1
window.
Where was Marie? Clifford had looked
for her everywhere. No one seemed t
know, except that she had disappeared
shortly after the village was attacked
Clifford knew her too well to suspect fol
a moment that she had deserted th'
children and fed Could that fiend of &
half bred? His blood ran cold at th'
thought.
I'm going to take \ chance" he
shouted to his companion. You hold out
as long as you can against this yelling
fury. I'm going 10 try to reach the post
and bring help"
You're crazy-it's sure DEATH the
other cried back. but Clifford had already
dashed from the cabin. He became a
zigzagging streak that cut and stabbed
and lodged and forced a swath through
the thick ranks OF the assailants- Al
length he had left the demoniacal shrieks
behind him. Thoughts of Marie haG
helped him through 1t ali, but where was
Marie?
No one had seen the storekeeper's
daughter as she saddled her pony and
gaIloped from the house in pursuit Of
a band Of pioneers who had passed
through the village just before the at
tack She meant to overtake them and
beg them to return and defend the village
Nor had any one seen the treacherous
half-breed as he separated himself from
the bowling mob and started in pursuit o
her. Suddenly her horse stumbled anC
fell. and as she struggled to her feet sh'
saw the man running toward her. For q
moment utter despair seized her, anC
then, with a piercing shrek, the half
breed halted, swung his arms in tn.
air and with a yell of pain fell to tn,
ground.
The pony had broken a leg in the fall
and Marie saw the futility of trying tC
overtake the pioneers on foot. With ar
aching heart she hastened back TO tn,
village. The children might need her
though she knew Clifford would protec