Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1916-01-20
CHAPTER XIX.
Mine Enemy!

oleak ana leallesS against the sky. Two
days ago, snow had fallen-but the
birds did not remember it. Seven
hours brought him to q lonely wagon
trail called Ozark lodge, because after
winding among hills several miles il
at last reached the clubhouse of that
name overlooking the lake. He left
the train in the dusk of evening, and
walked briskly away, the only moving
figure in the Wilderness.
His pace did not slackcn till a CLEAN
as OF fallen sky cupped in night fringe
warned him that the clubhouse must
be near. A turn of Il hill brought it
into view, the windows not yet aglow.
Nearer at hand was the %boathouse,
seemingly deserted. But as Wilcox.
now grown wary, crept forward among
the post oaks and blackjacks, we'll
screened from observation by chinka-
pin masses of gray interlocked net
work, he discovered two figures near
the platform edging the lake. Neither
was the n he sought, but from their
being there-they were Edgerton Comp
ton and Annabel-he knew Gledware
could not be far away.
"No," Annabel was saying decisively,
and yet with an accent Of regret. mo,
Edgerton, | can't"
But our last boat ride" he urged.
Don't refuse me the last ride-a ride
to think about all my life. I'm going
away tomorrow at noon, as l promised.
But early in the morning.
ct bo>,n DTo,oico6 hin, ,, cbo c, "a 1,;+J,
lingering sadness in her voice. $50 l
must go with him. He has already en-
gagged the boatman. He'll be here at T
waiting for me. SO you see
"Annabcl, l shall be here at I also"
he exclaimed i~mpetuously.
But why? l must so With him, Ed.
ycrton. You see that"
'"Then l shall row alone"
why would YOU add to my unhappi.
ness:" she pleaded.
Il shall be here at C." he returned
grimly. While you and he take our
morning boat ride l shall row alone"
She turned from him with IL sigh,
and he followed her dejectedly up the
path toward the clubhouse.
ASllt lltu lOSL Solllc VI llC IltSh bCiNif
which she had brought to the cove, and
her step was no longer elastic; but this
Wilcox did not notice. He gave little
heed to their tones, their gestures, their
looks in which love sought 4 thin dis
guise wherein it might show itself I'M
named. He had seized on the vital fact
that in the morning .Anlabel and Gled-
ware would push off from the boat
house steps. presumably alone, and it
would be early morning. Perhaps Glcd
ware would come first to the boat
house, there to wait for Annabel. In
that case he would not ride With An
mabel. The lake vas decp-deep as
.WillOck'S hate.
Wilcox passed the night i'll the
woods, sometimes walking against
time among the hills. sometimes seated
'on the ground %broodiu@. The night was
without breath. without GOODNESS. DC
,~casionally he climbed Il rounded eleya-
ton from which the clubhouse was dis
ccrniblc. No lights tWinklcd among
the barren trees. All in that wilder
ness seemed asleep save himself. The
myriad insects that sing through the
spring and summer months had not yet
found their voices; there was no tri|l
of frogs, not ever the hootin@ of an
,oWl-no sound but his own breathing.
At break of dawn he crcpt into the
boathouSe like 4 shadow, barefooted,
barefeaded-tIle clubhouse was not vet
awake. He looked about the barnlike
room for a hiding place. Walls, floor,
ceilings We're bare. Near the door open
ing on the lake was Il rustic bench, i'm
possible as Il refuge. Only in II cor
tner, where empty boxes and 4 diSuScd
Skiff formed L barricade, could he hope
for concealment. He glided thither,
and on the floor between the dusty wall
Of broad boards and the jumbled parti,
ton, he found a man stretched on his
back.
At first he thought he had surprised
a sleeper, but as the figure did not
move he decided it must be Il corpse.
He would have fled but for his need
of this corner. He bent down. The
man was bound hand and foot In
the mouth a gag was fastened. Neck
and ankles were tied to spikes in the
wall.
Wilcox swiftly surveyed the lake
and the sloping hill leading down from
the clubhouse. Nobody was near. AS
he stared at the landscape the front
door Of the clubhouse opened. lie
darted back to the corner. "Pardner,'
he said, Il got to ask your hospitality
for a spell, and if you move so as tc
attract attention, | got to fix you bet
ter. | didn't do this here, pardner
but you shore look like some of my
handiwork in days past and gone. III
share this corner with you for awhile
md il you don't give me away to then
that's coming, | promise to set you
free. That's fair, | guess. "A mar
amt all bad says Brick, as unties the