The evening world., 1915-02-20

tance, II reckon III let one o. Thorn
-sojsrxaSo ahead. Yer must want tibet
Rebs powerful bad. Leftenant2"
yio," grimly. dead or alive"
Three other figures Joined them I;
they were on foot, but could see the
guns. In their hands. and the CLEAN
Of buttons In the moonlight. Ray
mond spoke swiftly. pointing with
ono hand. but his voice was lowered
SO the words did not reach me. No
doubt he was briefly explaining the
plan, ana giving orders. Kelly added
q gruff sentence. and then the whole
five tramped past me. the lieuten-
ant leading the horse, and Kelly
coming no close TO where ! lay
could have touched him with an ex-
tended hand. I waited motionless FOR
what I believed TO be tan minutes.
anxious that the fellows get far
enough down to be safely beyond
earshot.
Then l turned toward Raymond,
who waited alone. on guard.
Trusting that the ilcutehant's
whole attention would be devoted to
the trail. ana that ne would ahtici-
pate no approach from behind. /.
walked straight forward.
He turned to find me facing him.
my TeNoiSor ioScieu.
We meet again." 1 said colby, land
II seems to DO my luck to hold the
cards"
"You! 1 thoughr- .....
II know what you thought, for I
was within ten feet Of you when you
talked with Kelly. Put up your
hands. Raymond! Yes. of course, but
don't attempt any play--I only need,
an excuse to hurt you"
He glared At me savagely, yet his
hands went up, although I could see
him glance backward over one Shout
der into the darkness OF the ravins.
You might make the jump" said.
drawing a revolver from his belt,
but to my best Judgment there In =
hundred foot sheer drop right here.
and II would damage you some TO
take II. See." and tossed the weapon
over the edge. and we heard tho
sound a. II struck on the rocks be-
low. II guess y0ull not try that
trick. And so you want me no badly
you offer a reward, dead or alive?
Isn't It rather my wife you want7"
u don't believe she u your WIFE"
mot after she gave you her word +!
That 10 hardly complimentary TO the
lady. Lieutenant. However. I haven't
any reason to DO jealous of you
time; you proved yourself q treacher-
Gus cur In LswisburS. Now turn
around!"
There was no other weapon In hia
belt. and II never occurred to me that
he might possess another secreted In
his Jacket; nor did I reAlize the des-
perate hatred of me which gave him
reckless courage. What to do with
the fellow obsessed my mind; I pos
sessed nothing to securely bind him
with; ! could not leave him free, nor
had ] any desire to take him along
with me.
He settled the problem himself.
suddenly, his arms above his head.
his eyes on mine. he kicked viciously.
the heavy shoe striking my wrist.
into the grass a dozen feet away
With almost the same movement he
was tugsing at his Jacket pocket. ]
saw the CLEAN OF steel. and gripped
his fingers just In time; my other
hand, numbed by the blow dealt me
was. for the instant. useless. yet
struck him with my elbow full In the
face.
had no grip that would hold. 70,
II tangled tho revolver In the folds OF
cloth 70 he could not draw, and with
. snAri OF bafflsd rage he tore his
fingers loose and clutched at my
throat with both hands. Back and
forth VIC swayed on the very edge OF
into the black depths by the inter
venlng fringe Of trees. savagely con-
4, tending for the mastery. That he
7 was . trained athlete, acquainted with
every wrestler'5 trick. ] know In q
moment. YET tha gave me little fear
tos this va e y : aShs. no vrest,