The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1915-03-04

IF you do" her father foamsd. -,u
have your life"
A flourish Of her weapons Ra,n.a
instant obedience.
She stepped up on the running boa,a
and shot q quick. searching slano.
at the face OF the chau ffeur.
Straight ahead. my mani" abe .s,a
Make for the noarest pass throuyA
those hills yonder. and don't delsv
unless you are anxious for trouble. on
you soi"
The a began 10 move. She sve,,
the three men In the desert q mockin,
bow. jumped into the body Of the car
and slammed the door.
They made no effort to plead their
cause and secure passage even an far
as the edge OF tho desert: doubtless
they knew too we'll the futiiity OF that.
she thought, q % she settled back ln a
seat, chuckling with the memory OF
those three masks OF dismay unmiti.
gated.
II was not antii i've minutes later.
when sho Strengthened up from making
Alan comfortable that she realized
what had made them 80 content To
Soide by her will.
Then she heard their voices lifted
together in a long. shrill howl that was
quickly answered by fainter yells from
q distant quarter OF the desert, then
by pistols popping and flashing some
two miles away. then by q growing
rumble OF galloping hoofs.
The night glasses In the car afforded
her flashes OF q body OF several horse
men-some six or seven. she Judged
making ut top speed toward the spot
where M%arrophat. Hicks and Jimmy
waited beside a beacon which they
had built and lighted.
Half a dozen sentences exchanged
with the chauffeur advised her that
these were horsemen from the town
Of Mesa who had charged themselves
with the duty of %avenging the death
Of Hopi Jim Slade.
A sardonic chuckie from within
Trine's gag goaded the girl into q sui.
len fury.
Exacting his utmost speed from the
chauffeur, under penalty of her dis
pleasure, she set herself 10 revive
Alan.
With the aid OF such stores OF food
and drink as the car carried. this was
quickly enough accomplished.
S~trangling with an overdose OF
brandy too little diluted with water.
Alan sat up. grasped tho conditions
In e fash. and gained further informa,
ton as he devoured sandwiches and
emptied n canteen.
The mountain pass was now, he
judged. a mile distant. The light on
the hillside, according 10 the chauf.
feur, was that OF a prospects, who
had camped there temporarily. There
was nothing. then. to be feared from
that quarter. but solely from the rear
where the horsemen. having picked
up Marrophat and his companions,
had instituted hot pursuit, and were
now strung out In a long. struggling
line. three horses carrying double the.
MISUNDERSTANDING . mile and o
half away-one with q single rider
the nearest. well within three-quar-
tiers OF q mile.
Nobly mounted. this last came on
like the wind. gaining on the motor
car with every stride; for his horse
was trained to such going. whereas
the car at best could only labor hear
lily In dust and sand.
None the less, Il had won q a point
within q quarter OF a mile from the
pass before the horseman got within
what he esteemed the proper range.
AM opened fire.
lie fred thrice. His FIRST shot winged
wide, his second by ill-chance ripped
through a rear tire OF the car. thus
placing upon II an additional handi.
cap. while his third sought the zenith
as his hands few up and he dropped
from the saddle. drilled through the
body by Alan's only shot.
A long-range pistol dual was IN
progress before the car had coveree
half the remaining distance to the
pa"s.
By the time II entered this last,
which proved 70 be a narrow ravins
with towering side of crumbly earth
and shale and broken rock, the pur@
suit val not a hundred yards behind.
while the firing was well-nigh continr
uous.
Two hundred feet above the trail
two men were working with desperats
haste at some mysterious business
though none noticed them.
Only the chauffeur was aware OF q
woman running down the hillside at
an angle. to intercept the car several
hundred yards from the mouth OF the
pass.
AS II drew neal the spot where she
paused, waving both hands franiically.
the head Of the pursuing party swept
into the mouth OF the ravine.
At the same time the chauffeur no
ticed that the two men on the hillside
were following the woman pellmell'
throwing themselves down the slope
with gigantic leaps and bounds.
And then a great explosion rent the
peaceful hush OF niRht-that TIL then