Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1916-11-18

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the same instinct that had taken him
to the platform now caused him to wait
for the passengers.
Sebastian and Leontine, descending
from their carriage, were amazed to
see Ravengar waiting for tnem, Leon
tine looked on him with fear; Sebas-
tian with frantic terror.
"Welcome TO Whites Village" said
Rarengar raising his hat
"What are you doing here?" demand
ed Sebastian uneasily.
Seeking my fortune-the same as
yourself my dear Navarro" Rayengar
answered.
Before Sebastian could think of a
reply his eyes lit on Louis Lamb, who,
standing behind post, watched the
! party with Il dour grimace. He stag
gered an instant; then, associating the
| presence of the two men with some
conspiracy, he blazed into anger. He
STROBE toward Louie.
"How do you dot" he said curtly,
Offering him his hand.
Louie's eyes blazed. II don't know
you, tell you" he shouted II never
saw you in my life before-none of
you"
AS Sebastian stood staring at him
helplessly, One Lamp Louie slouched
off in the direction of his shack and,
realizing that he had left it for nearly
an hour he broke into a terrified amble.
Sebastian, looking back, saw Raven
gar helping Leontine into the carriage.
Once within his shack, Louie rushed
to the place where he hid his gold and
pulled up the board. He breathed a
sigh of relief. 1t was untouched.
But the memory of the two strangers
who had greeted him terrified him.
He stared out of his little window
The sweat dripped from his face. In
his arms he Rugged the loaded shot
gun and he fancied that he saw an
enemy beneath each bush, and in every
quiyering shadow.
As he crossed the floor his sharp
ears seemed to tell him that somebody
was near. He almost thought he
heard sound within the shack. He
clutched his shotgun tighter and peered
about him. But nobody was there.
Then suddenly, out of the shadows
of the far corner of the room, two lu-
minous eyes and two dead-white hands
seemed to materialize themselves.
Louies eyes widened. He stared at the
fiery eyes which fixed themselves on
his.
The eyes burned themselves into his
brain. Louie began to stiffen like a
cataleptic.
And in his half-dead brain the fol
lowing words were registered:
write out the statement you have
to make concerning your forgery, on
behalf of Sebastian Navarro, which /.
sent Jerry Carson to the penitentiary
for a murder which he never commit F.
ted"
LOuie's hand went out automatically
toward a pencil and a pad of paper
upon the pine table in the shack Louie
had not placed them there They were
there now, and it did not surprise him.
because he was living upon u plane
where nothing is surprising.
81 wish to confess my part in the
forgery which ruined Jerry Carson"
wrote Louie's hand, in obedience to his
doCle, subCOnsCiOus mind. Louis him
self sat rigidly at the table, mOtionIoss
and stiff, except for the plant right
forearm and fingers. Or perhaps it
was the real Louie who wrote, and only
the shell, with it's history of crime and
weakness that sat stiff in the chair.
The door of the shack opened. Sc
baStian appeared. But Louie sat stiff
and motionless, and his fingers slowly
formed the words with the pencil
Sebastian, driven to desperation by
Ravengar's appearance and Louie's
strange behavior, had resolved to have
t out with his partner that night
Peering over LOuies shoulder, to his
horror Sebastian saw the complete con-
'eSsion of the crime.
$50 that's your game, Is it?" he de-
handed through his teeth. 81 guessed
something was wrong. You pitiful fool,
Why didn't you come to me? Who's
packing you? Don't you know that if