The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-20
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 57 InInI narnEKrAInInnr rIIEn
]DHN BRECKENRIDGE ELLIS
copyriart, 1918, by the Bobbs Merrill
 

l gers. He stared as If lost In profounu meditation. That pin resembled one
 his mother used to wear, and some
 how the soothing touch of the wind | reminded him of her hand on his fore l head He might have gone back home l if she had not died long ago. = ~ i He searched the wagon for spade. 1 It was found in the box fastened to
 the end of the wagon, and with the l spade in the gathering darkness he l dug a grave near the mountain side. 1 When the sand was smoothed over the
 place he carried thither quantities of l heavy stones and broken blocks of 1 granite to preserve the body from wild 1 baasts.A
 It was dark when the heap of stones had been arranged in the form of low pyramid; but, though he had not tasted food for twenty-four hours, he l fingered beside the grave, his head bent as if still struggling with those. un-
 wonted memories of the long ago. At last, ras if forced by g mysterious pow l Ier against which he could no longer 1 resist, he sank upon his knees. 70 God he prayed aloud, take care
 of the little girlY'
 He waited, but no more words would come.
 1 It came over him with disconcerting suddenness that he had lost a great
 deal of time and that every moment l spent in the covered wagon was
 fraught with imminent danger It was not. in his mind that the band of high
 waemen might discover his hiding
 place. Knowing them as he did, he
 was sure they would not come so far 1 from their haunts or from the Santa Fe trail in pursuit of him. But the
 Indians roamed the Panhandle, as
 much at home there as in their reser-
 vations, and here they were much
 more dangerous. Had no savage eye
 liant August day2
 l X It was al disquieting fancy. WflIock
 told himself that had such been the
 case his scalp lock would not still
 adorn his own person. For all that,
 he was eager to be gone. Instead of
 eating in the wagon he wrapped up
 some food in a bread cloth, placed this with few other articles in a tafpau- lin, among them powder and shot, ands having lifted the keg of water to one shoulder and the rope bound tarpaulin to the other. he left the wagon with a l loaded gun in his hand.
 Twilight. had faded to starlight, and l the mountain range stood b1ackIy de- fined against the glittering stars. It
 was easy to find his way, for on the
 level sands there were no impediments, and when the mountain was reached
 low divide offered him easy passage
 up the ascent. For the most part the 1 slopes were gradual, and in sleeper places 1edges of granite, somew hat like
 giant stairs, assisted him to the high
 est ridge. From this vantage point he | ff7n al IoiV 411sS away on the farther side
 A second ridge was not so high as
 the outer wall, and he paused here, feeling more secure.
 The fugitive was not interested in ] the dfmIy defined shapes about him. l His attention had been attracted by creyice in the smooth rock ledge at I his feet. This ledge, barren of vegeta- I tion Aands as level as slab of rough marble, showed long black line like 1 a crack in stone pavement. At the mans feet the creyice was perhaps l two feet wide.
 l Presently he set the keg and the l tarpaulin ball on the ground, not to rest his shoulders, but in order to sink on his knees beside the crevice. He I put his face down over it, listening, peering, but making no discovery. l Then he unWound the lariat from about | his waist, tied it to the rope that had been a halter aNd, having fastened q stone to one end, lowered it into the
 black space. The length of the 1ariat 1 slipped through his fingers and the rope was following when suddenly the l rock found Judgment at the bottom. l On making this discovery he drew up l the lariat,s opened the cloth containing 1 the food and began to eat rapidly and 1 with evident excitement
 When the first cravings of appetite 1 were partly satisfied he left his bakers
 bread and bacon on a stone, tied up the rest of the food in it's cloth, rolled this I in the tarpauIin and lowered it by
 means of the lariat into the crevice.
 Then, having tied the end of the rope
 to the gun barrel he placed the gun 1 across the crevice and swung himself down into the gloom.
 The walls of the crevice were so close 1 together that he was able to steady his k knees against them, but as he neared tIle
 bottom they wfdened perceptibIy. HIS I first act on setting foot to the stone l flooring was to open the tarpaulin, ] draw forth a candle and a box of l matches and strike light. The cham Der of granite in which he stood was
 indeed narrow, but full of interest and
 romance. The floor was about the
 same width in all it's length, wide
 enough for Willock, tall as he was, to l stretch across the passage. It extend-
 ed perhaps hundred feet into the
 heart of the rock, showing the same I smooth walls on either side. The cell 1 ing, however, was varied, as the out
 ward examination had promised Over
 head the stars were seen at ease 1 through the two feet of lspace at the
 top, but as he carried his candle for
 ward this opening decreased. to be sue
 ceeded presently by q roof, at first of
 jumbIed stones crushed together by
 outward weight, then of smooth red
 surface extending to the end. 1 rTsans dnnr. ruaz Inc ga mo aun1.xr1z hc,1.c,