Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-06-07
CHAPTER III (cont..ued).

tue lOiloWIH3 udy, TOWARD evening",
he happened upon IL road which he be-
lieved might lead to the village. There
were Il good many fresh horse tracks
IN the sand, ana these made HIM
thoughtful. Nevertheless, he followed
the road, proceeding cautiously. He had
not gone very far when the SOUND OF
rapid lloof beats caught his ears. They
came from his rear. In the darkening
twilight he could not see my great dis
tance back along the road. Voices,
however. warned him that these riders,
whoever they were, had approached
closer then he liked. To go farther
down the road was not to be thought
of. so he turned u little way in among
the mosquitoes and halted. hoping TO es-
ape being seen or heard. AS he was
now a fugitive, it seemed every man
was his enemy ana pursuer. The horse
men were fast approaching. Presently
they We're abreast OF Duane's position,
SO near that he cold hear the creak of
saddles, the clinll of spurs.
Shore. he crossed the river below"
said one man.
y reckon you're right, Bill. He's
Shipped US" replied another.
hangers or Il posse of ranchers in
pursuit OF d fugitive! The knowledge
gave Dua a strange thrill. Certain
ly they could not have been hunting
him.. But the feeling their proximity
gave him was identical to what it would
have been had he been this particular
hunted a He held his breath; he
clcanched his teeth, he pressed Il quiet
ing hand upon his horse. Suddenly he
became aware that these horsemen ia
halted. They were whispering. He
could just make out a dark group close
ly massed. What had made them halt
SO suspiciOusly?
You're wrong, Bill" said a man. in
n low but distinct voice. The idee Of
hearin' u boss heave! You're wuss'n
a range An your hell bent on KILN
that rustler. Now. l say. let's go nome
an eat"
Wa. III just take a look at the
sand" replied the man called Bill.
Duane heard the clink of spurs on
steel stirrup and the thud of boots on
the ground. There followed a shor
silence, which was broken by a sharply
breathed exclamation.
Duane waited for no more. They had
ound his trail. He spurred his horse
straight into the brush.
AT the second crashing bound there
came yells from the road, and then
shots. Duane heard the hiss of a bull
let close by his ear, and as it struck a
branch 1t made a peculiar singing
sound. These shots and the proximity
of that lead missile reused in Duane
a quick. hot resentment which mounted
into 4 passion almost ungovernable. He
must escape, yet it seemed that he did
not care whether he did or not. Some
thing grim kept urging him TO halt and
return the fire Of these men. After
running u couple of hundred yards he
raised himself from over the pommel,
where he had ZEN to avoid the Singing
branches. and tried to guide his horse.
In the dark shadows under mosquitoes
and cottonwoods he was hard put to it
to lind open passage; however, he sue
ceeded so we'll and made sue little
noise that gradually he drew away
from his lnrsuers. The sound of their
horses crashing through the thickets
dea away. Duane refined in and list
encd. He had distanced them. Probably
They would SO into camp till day
light. then follow his tracks. He
started on again. walking his horse, and
leered sharply at the ground, so that
lie might take advantage of the first
tfaI. he crossed. 1t seemed a long while
II siatlt a late hour, when, striking the
Wis.,, brakes again and hence the
nessAberhood of the river, he picketed
his ii9tse and lay down to rest. But he
Old not sleep. His mind bitterly re-
yolved the fate that had come upon him.
re maze efforts to think of other
Things, but in vain. Every m he
expected the chill, the sense Of loneli-
ness that yet was olninous of a strange
vlsltatlon, the peculiarly imagined
lights and shades of the night-these
lnlngs thai presaged the coming of Cal
Haln. Doggedly Duane fought against
tie lnsidious phantom. He kept telling
!sinself that it was just imagination.
sAt 1t would wear off in time. Still IN
his heart he did not believe what he
!.oped. But he would not give up: he
would not accept the ghost of his VIC
time as a reality.
Gray dawn found him in the saddle
again hQlHa6 fny. <tD ~f,.--
hour OF riding brought him to the dense
chaparral n willow thickets. These
he threaded to come at length to the
Ioru. II was a gravel bottom. and
therefore an easy crossing. Once upon
the opposite shore he reigned in his
ao , ana looked darkly back. This
ms situation: he had Voluntarily
sought the refuge of the outlaws. he
was beyond the pale. A bitter and
passionate curse passed his lips as he
6purred his horse into the brakes on
that alien shore.
he rode perhaps 20 miles. not SPAR
Ing his horse nor caring whether NJ.
NOT he left a plain train.
Let them hunt mel" he muttered.
When the heat of the day began to
pc oppressive. and hunger and thirst
MADE themselves manifest, Duane be-
sam 70 look about him for a place to
into a road which was hard packed and
smooth from the tracks Of cattle. He
doubted not that he had come across
one Of the roads used by border raiders.
He headed into It. and had scarceiv
travelled g. mile when. turning a curve,
6 came point.blank upon a single
riders wheeled their mounts hardy
and were ready to run and ehoot hacf.
Not moro than . hundred 6 senar-
Ated them. Thew stood then for 4 M.
zpant watching each other.
.AfaWnins. atran9otsy called tho man.