Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1915-03-17

together IN a long. shTi1 howl that was
quickly answered by fainter yells from
a distant quarter Of the desert, taen
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.
making at top speed toward the spot
where Marrophat, 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 sardonie chuckle from within
Trine's gag goaded the girl into a 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
aud drink as the car carried, this was
quickly enough accomplished.
Strangling with an overdose of
brandy too little diluted with water,
Alan sat 10, grasped the conditions
in a fash. ard gained further informa-
ton rs he devoured sandwiches and
empt. ed a canteen.
The noun ain pass was now. he
judged. 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 werH
now strung out in a long, struggling
line, three horses carrying double the
MISUNDERSTANDING a mile and a
half away-one with single rider
the nearest. we'll within three-Quar-
tiers of a 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 heav-
lily in dust and sand.
None the less. II had won o point
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 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 flew up and he dropped
from the saddle, drilled through the
body by Alan's only shot.
A longrange pistol duel was in
progress before the car had covered
half the remaining distance to the
pass.
BY the time It entered this last,
which proved to be a narrow ravine
with towering side of crumbly earth
and shale and broken rock, the pur-
suit was not a hundred yards behind,
while the firing was well-nigh contin-
uous.
Two hundred feet above the trail
two men we're working with desperate
haste at some mysterious business
though none noticed them.
Only the chauffeus was aware OF a
woman running down the hillside at
an angle, to intercept the car several
hundred yards from the mouth Of the
pass.
AS It drew near the spot where she
paused, waving both hands frantically,
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
we're following the woman pellmell,
throwing themselves down the slope
with gigantic leaps and bounds.
And then great explosion rent the
peaceful hush of night-that till then
had been profaned by the pattering
| cracks OF the revolver fusillade.
AS the roar Of dynamite subsidized
the entire side OF the hill shifted and
slid ponderously down, choking the
ravine with debris TO the depth OF
some thirty or forty feet, burying the
leaders Of the pursuit beyond hope OF
rescue.
Only instant later the motor car
jolted to a halt and Alan pulled him
self together to find that Rose and
Barcus were standing beside the door
and jabbering joyful greetings, mixed
with more or less ineoherent explana-
lions OF the manner in which they had
come to seek shelter for the night in
the prospector's shack and, reused
by the noise of firing and recognizing
Alan In the car by the aid of spy.
glasses, had with the prospector's aid
hit upon this scheme of shooting a
landslide In between the pursuit and
its devoted quarry,
GRO BE CONTINUED.)