The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-03-17
The Trey o. Hearts

BY Louis Joseph Vance

distance to the ground. a scant ten
feet, landing without injury.
A thought later Alan dropped lightly
to her side. staggered . tribe, recov-
cred and dragged her out of the way.
Barcus fell with q heavy thump and
went upon his back, but demonstrated
his lack of injury by Immediately pick
ing himself up and joining the others
in a mad scramble for safety.
Overhead the special engine, hur-
Ting onward like some titanic bolt,
struck the caboose with a crash like
the explosion Of q cannon. It collapsed
upon itself like thing Of pasteboard.
That 1t had been constructed Of
more solid stuff was abundantly
proved by the shower of timbers. splin-
ters and broken iron that rained about
the heads of the fugitives.
For all that, the gods smiled upon
them for their courage: they escaped
without a scratch.
CHAPTER Xxxv1.
Detail.
Across the plain purple shadows
were sweeping, close-ranked. like some
vast dark army invading the land.
pouring on over the rampant Of noun
tains in the east.
Within the rim Of hills that ringed
the plain like the Clipped and broken
flange Of q titanic saucer. silence
brooded and solitude held sway
dwarfng the town Of Detail that oc'
cupied the approximate middle Of the
sagebrush waste, to proportions even
less significant than might be inferred
from the candor Of its christening.
A platform, q siding, a water tank. q
Wells-Fargo office and telegraph and
ticket office. backed by three rough
frame buildings; that is Detail item.
lied completely.
Shortly after nightfall the steel rib
bons of the Santa Fe began to hum. A
headlight peered suspiciously round q
shoulder of the eastern range, tool
heart Of courage to find the plain still
wrapped in peace. and trudged stolid
ly toward Detail, the engine whose
eye 1t was pulling after it string o.
freight cars, both fiat and box.
At Detail the train paused. Iti
crew alighted and engaged in ami
mated argument. Detail gathered tina
the excitement was due to the unac
countable disappearance Of the ca
boose; none seemed to have any no
ton as to how it could have broker
loose; yet missing 1t conspicuouel!
was.
In the pause that followed, while
report was telegraphed to headQuar
tiers and instructions returned to pre-
coed without delay, one Of the train
men spied a boyish figure lurking II
the open door Of an empty box cal
Cunningly boarding this car from tn
opposite side. the trainman caugh
the skulker unawares and booted hir
vaingloriously into the night.
As the figure alighted and took t
its heels, losing itself in the darkness
It uttered a cry of panied surprise an
protest which drew a wrinkle Of al
constituent between the brows of tn
trainman.
Sounded like a woman's voice." b
unused; then dismissed the suggestio
as obviously absurd.
1t was not. ..
Shortly after the freight train ha
gone on its way-before, indeed, til
glimmer of its rear lights had bee
lost among the western hills--a Sc
ond headlight appeared in the cas-
swept swiftly across the plain and
turn stopped at Detail.
The second bird-of-passage prove
to be locomotive drawing a sing
cara Pullman.
Hardly had it run past the switc
!. however, when the brakeman droppt
down, ran quickly back to the swits
r and threw 1t open.
Promptly the train backed on to Il
n siding.
, As the Pullman jolted across Il
frogs the brakeman, ihterposing hill
self between It and the tender, 7
q leased the coupling.
4 BY the time that the Pullman h,
come to a full stop on the siding. Il
locomotive was swinging westwal
. like a scared jackrabbit-though !
such milk-and-watery characteristic
Of the traitor passed the lips of al
q. one OF the three men who present
. appeared on the Pullman's platfor
and shook impotent fists In the dire
4. ton taken by the fugitive engine.
n When the last of these had run tel
porarily out of breath and blasphem
. brief silence fell. punctuated
v groans from each, and concluded
- the sound of a voice calling from t
a interior of the cara voice as strane
4 ly sonorous of tone as it was curious
n querulous of accent.
The three men Immediately ran ba
"a into the car and presented themselv
IN with countenances variously apo
getic, to one who occupied corner
10 the drawing room: a man wrapped
a steamer rug and cloud Of fury.
ir Now when he had drained
@ muddy froth of profanity from his tie
"a per 1t left a clear and effervesce
N we'll of virulent humor: the wrath
Z the valetudinarian began to vent its
N upon the hapless heads Of the trio W
Ia stood before him.
n While this was in process.
a. person of boyish appearance. who b
|. been keeping religiouely aloof and