The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1915-02-25

Marrophat at Her
Into that car-and be quick about 1t
and gag him!"
IF you do" her father foamed,, "1'll
have your life"
A flourish of her weapons gained
instant obedience.
She stepped up on the running board
and shot quick, searching glance
at the face of the chauffeur
straight ahead, my mani" she said.
MAKE for the nearest pass through
those hills yonder, and don't delay
unless you are anxious for trouble Oh
you go!" ->-'..
The car began to move. She swept
the three men in the desert, a hooking
bow, jumped into the body of the car
and slammed the door.
They made no effort to plead their
cause and secure passage even as far
as the edge of the desert; doubtless
they knew too we'll the futility of that,
she thought, as she settled back in a
seat, chuckling with the memory of
those three masks Of dismay unmiti.
gated.
1t was not until five minutes later.
when she Strengthened up from making
Alan comfortable that she realized
what had made them so content to
abide by her will.
Then she heard their voices lifteo
together in long, shrill howl that was
quickly answered by fainter yells from
/ distant quarter of the desert, then
by pistols popping and flashing some
two miles away, then by a growing
rumble of galloping hoofs.
The night glasses in the car afforded
her flashes Of body of several horse.
men-some six or seven, she Judged.
making 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 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 chuckle from within
Trine's gag goaded the girl into sui
len fury.
Exacting his utmost speed from the
chauffeur, under penalty Of her dis
pleasure, she set herself to revive
Alan.
With the aid of such stores of food
and drink as the car carried, this was
quickly enough accomplished.
Strangling with an overdose Of
brandy too little diluted with water,
Alan sat up, grasped the conditions
in fash, and gained further informa'
ton as he devoured sandwiches and
emptied a canteen. .-u.t h..
The mountain pass was now, he
judged, a mile distant. The light on
the hillside, according to the chauf-
feur, was that Of prospector 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 long, struggling
i line, three horses carrying double the
farthermost-perh mile and q
half away-0ne with a single rider
the nearest, well within three-quar'
tiers of 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 hest could only labor heav
lily in dust and sand.
None the less, it had won to a point
within a quarter Of mile from the
pass before the horseman got within
what he esteemed the proper range
AMI opened fire.
He fired thrice. His first shot winged
wide, his second by ill-chance ripped
| through rear tire of the car, thus
| placing upon it an additional handi
cap, while his third sought the zenith
as his hands flew up and he dropped
from the saddle, drilled through thu
body by Alan's only shot.
| A long-range pistol duel was II
! progress before the car had covered
half the remaining distance to thu
pass.
BY the time It entered this last
which proved to be narrow ravin'
with towering side Of crumbly eartl
and shale and broken rock, the pur
suit was not hundred yards behind
while the firing was well-nigh contin
uous.
Two hundred feet above the tni