The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-01-04

again paused for food and rest ana
as Jacob sat deftly about preparing
the meal, Alan stumbled of to whip
the little trail-side stream for trout.
Perhaps hundred yards upstream,
the back-lash of careless cast by his
weary hand hooked the state Of Maine.
Too tired even to remember the ap-
propriate words, Alan scrambled
ashore, forced through the thick I'M
dergrowth that masked the trail.
found his fly, set the state Of Maine
free-and swinging on his heel
brought up. nose to sapling, trans
fixed by a rectangle of white paste
board fixed to its trunk. trey of
hearts, Of which each pip had been
neatly punctured by 22-caliber bull
let.
He carried it back to camp, mean
ing to consult the guide, but on Sec
ond thought, held his tongue 1t was
not likely that the Indian had over
looked an object so conspicuous on
the trail.
So Alan waited for him to speak
Gnu IucdHIlIlt ufltl Ullutu W NdltiI
Jacob more narrowly, though no other
suspicious circumstance had marked
the several days OF their association.
I The first half OF the night was, as
the day, devoted to relentless prog
ress southwark; thirty minutes Of
steady jogging. five minutes for rest
and repeat.
No more question as to the need for
such urgent haste; overhead the north
wind mutternd without cnasing. Thin
wells of smoke drifted through the for
est, hugging the ground, like some
weird acrid mist; and ever the cur
tanned heavens glared, livid with re-
fected fires.
Ry midnight Alan had come to the
bounds of endurance; flesh, bone and
sinew could no longer stand the strain
Though Jacob declared that Shirt
lake was now only six hours distant
as far as concerned Man he might
have said soc Ills blanket once I'M
rolled, Alan dsaoael upon it like one
drugged
The sun wa HIGH when he awak-
ered and sat up rubbing heavy ewes,
stretching aching limbs, wondering
i w1at had come over the Indian to let
him s,oep so late
or a sudden he was asSailed by sick
oning fears that needed only the brief.
est Investigation to confirm. Jacob
had absconded with every valuable
item of their equipment.
Nor was his motive far to seek.
Overnight tha fire had made tre-
mendous ga'"~ And ever and anon
the wind would bring down the roar
of the holocaust, dulled by distance
but not unlike the growing of wild
animals feeding on their kill.
Alan delayed long enough only to
swallow few mouthfuls of raw food
gulped water from a spring, and set
out at dog-trot or the trail to Shirt
Lake.
For hours he Numbered blindly on.
holding to the trail mainly by instinct
At length painting. gaspng, half
blinded. h, staggered into a little nat
ural clearing and plunged forward
headlong. so bewildered that he could
not have said whether he was tripped
or thrown; for even as he stumbled n
heavy body landed on his back and
crushed him savagely to earth.
In less than minute he was over.
come; his wrists hitched together. his
ankles bouEd with heavy cord.
let
Jacob within yard, regarding him
with a face as immobile as though II
had )een cast In the bronze it resem.
bled.
Beyond, to one size, a woman In
a mans hunting costume stood eve,
ing the captive as narrowly as the In
dian. but unlike him with couote.
nance that seemed aglow with a fierce /
eXultancy over his downfall
But for that look he could have be.
lieved hers the face that had brought
him overseas to this mortal pass. Feac
ture for feature. even to the hue of
her tumbled hair. she oounterfeitsd
the woman he loved: only those eyes.
afiame with their look Of inhuman
ruthiessness. denied that the two were
one
he sought vatnfy to speak. The
breath rustled In his parched throat
IKE wind whispering among dead
leaves.
Thrusting the Indian roughly aside.
the woman knelt in his place by
Alan's head.
NO she said, and smiling cruelty,
shook her head-"no, | am not yonr
Rose But am her sister, Judith. her
twin, born in the same hour, daughter
ot-can you guess whose daughter?
hut see this! She flashed a card
from within her hunting shirt and held
IL before his eyes. You know il. Ell?
me trey of hearts-the symbol of
lrine-Trtne. your fathers enemy.
and yours. and-Rose's father and
NINE! SO, now. perhaps you know"
A gust of wind like furnace blast
swept the glade. The woman spranc
up, glanced overshoulder into the for
est. and signed TO the Indian.
In ten minutes" she said. these
woods viii b. your funeral pyre."
Sha STEPPED back. Jacob advanced
pic.ed Alan ID, shouldered his BODY.
and strobe back into the forest. Ten
teet IN from the clearing he dropped
the helpless man supine upon a bed Of
dry logs and branches.
Then with a single movement. he