Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1915-01-08

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, delay
unless you are anxious for trouble. or
you go!"
The car began to move. She swept
the three men in the desert mccxinE
bow, jumped into the body of tho 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 well the futility Ut that,
she thought, as she settled back in \
seat, chucklng 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 lifted
together in a long, shrill howl that wax
quickly answered by fainter yclis FROM
4 distant quarter OF the desert. then
by pistols popping and flashing soma
two miles away. then by growing
rumble of galloping hoofs.
The night glasses in the car Afforded
her flashes of a body OF several horse
men-somc six or seven, she Judged
making at top speed toward the spot
waited beside beacon which they
had built and lighted.
Half a dozen sentences exchanges
with the chauffeur advised her that
these were horsemen from the towD
of Mesa who had charged themselves
with the duty of avenginE the death
of Hopi Jim Slade.
A sardonic chuckls from withiS
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 al
brandy too little diluted with wateE.
Alan sat up, grasped the conditions
in a flash, and gained further informar
ton as he devoured sandwiches and
emptied a canteen.
The mountain pass was now, no
Judged a mile distant. The light On
the hillside, according to the chanE-
feur, was that of prospector wh0
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 compani0n4
had instituted hot pursuit, and waro
now strung out in long. struggling
line, three horses carrying double the
MISUNDERSTANDING a mile and q
half away-one with single rider
the nearest, we'll within threequAR
ters of mile.
Nobly mounted, this last came On
like the wind, gaining on the motos
car with every stride: for his horss
was trained to such going, whereas
the car at best could only labor hea1.
lily in dust and sand.
!. None the less, it had won . poina
within 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 illchance rtppo1
: through rear tire of the car, thua
: placing upon it an additional hand
t cap, while his third sought the zenith
] as his hands flew up and he dropped
from the saddle, drilled through tia
, body by Alan's only shot.
A long-range pistol duel was IN
progress before the car had covered
] half the remaining distance to thu
! pass.
4 BY the time 1t entered this iast
which proved to be a narrow ravfna
with towering side Of crumbly earth
D and shale and broken rock, the PUP
suit was not hundred yards behinA
4 while the firing was well-nigh contiR
uous.
:. Two hundred feet above the trae
! two men were working with desperate
!. haste at some mysterious business
though none noticed them.
4 Only the chauffeur was aware Of Z
] woman running down the hillside al
an angle, to intercept the car several
hundred yards from the mouth OF IN
! pass.
AS it drew near the spot where sls
: paused, waving both hands franticaIy.
l the head Of the pursuing party swepl
into the mouth of the ravine.
:. At the same time the chauffeur -
, ticed that the two men on the hillsi1a
were following the woman peilnne1
). throwing themselves down the sloDs
: with gigantic leaps and bounds.
, And then a great explosion rent III
peaceful hush of night-that till theu