The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1915-02-11
.5ecoG2 10 stop
-piain, ignoring

gEe = & ,.rpsicEs.
Mis- 5.ose is right-eh, Miss Ju-
GszA Barcus interpolated.
Judith nodded darkly.
$50 I'm going to see if can't buy
burros from the prospector back there
Rose says he has some-doesn't know
how many"
"Three will be enough" Judith inter-
posed. "I mean, don't get one for me.
I'm stopping here
"But-" Alan started to protest.
She gave him pause with a weary
gesture.
please. It's no good arguing, MT
Law: I've made up my mind; can be
most helpful here, by my fathers
side" she asserted, and nodded at
Tsine with significant smile that
maddened him. "He needs me-and
no harm can come to me; I'm pretty
| well able to take care Of myself"
At this the innocent .bystander
breathed an unheard but fervent little
prayer of thanksgiving, whose spirit
he doubted not was shared by Alan.
For it stuck in the memory Of Bar
Gus that their friend, the prospector
(whose shack had sheltered Rose and
Barcus after their transit Of the desert
and prior to the man-made avalanche,
which had afforded this temporary i'm
munity from pursuit) had mentioned
in the hearing Of Rose the fact that
his string Of burros was limited to
three.
This, then. must have been the nub
of the lovers quarrel: Roses insist
ance that Judith be left behind, Alan's
reluctance to consent to this lest he.
convict himself Of the charge Of rank
ingratitude, remembering the great
service his erstwhile antagonist had
! done him.
| II only Judith might not find cause
to change her mind!
He set himself sedulously to divert
Judith with the magic Of his converse
tional powers-an offering Indifferent
~ received. He was still blithely
gossiping when Judith flung away to
her sisters side.
| The ensuing quarrel seemed but the
more portentous in view Of the re-
straint imposed upon themselves By
| both parties thereto.
He believed, however, that crisis
impended when the tinkle OF mule
bells sounded down the canyon road;
and at this he threw discretion to the
| winds and ran toward the two with
hands upheld in mock horror and
manner Of humorous protest.
Ladies, ladies!" he pleaded. I
beg of you both, let dogs delight to
bark and bite"
He got no farther: Judith's ears
were as quick as his own; she, too,
had caught the sound Of bells behind
the base Of the hill. And of sudden,
without another word, she turned and
flung away into the heavy thickets OF
undergrowth that masked all the cam
yon, to either side Of the wagon-trail.
In a twinkling she had lost herself to
view in their labyrinthine shadows.
The remainder Of that business was
transacted rapidly enough. There
were no preparations to be made;
once Alan had ridden up with his
three burros, nothing remained but to
mount and make of without delay.
Before morning they were all rid.
ing like so many hypnotized subjects,
fatigue bearing so heavily on all their
senses that none spoke or cared to
speak.
Broad daylight surprised them in
this state, still stubbornly travelling;
and shortly afterward showed then
one place so perilous that It shocked
them temporarily awake.
This was simply spot where the
trail came abruptly to an end on one
side of a cleft in the hills quite thirty
feet wide and several hundred II
depth, and was continued on the far
: ther side, the chasm being spanned by
6 bridge Of the simplest character
!, 80 more than q footway Of boards
| bound together with ropes none TOO