Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1916-12-22

II y
Though He Saw No Smoke, He Did
Not Look in Vain.
/ Vaf.dervyn's pinto leaped out of
sig.... A shot grazed Ire mares with
ers. In fash he flung up his rifle
and fired at the down-peering devilish
| face. 1t vanished as he pressed the
/ trigger.
| Swift as a puma, he sprang around
| the mares head and dashed up the
slope, keeping large bowlder in line
between himself and his enemy. A bull
let came pinging down over the bowl
der and passed under his appraised
..uni- 4 lew seconds more is,sa
behind the huge stone, he slowly et
/ his hat above the top. The a1Acieit
1 r.lse drew shot. Instantly Tie serala-
bed obliquely upward towards anoth {,
! bowlder. 1t was a desperate move. 4.
bullet grazed his thigh as ne fur:
himself behind the bushes beside the
second bowlder. Hardy waited.
The twilight was fast fading. Still
Hardy waited, his gaze scanning tho
| cleft and the rocks on either side. 1t
was time for the police to come creep
| ing around on the flank of the assaS-
sin. A little more and the dusk would
render close shooting difficult. Yet
| the precious moments slipped by, and
no sign of the police.
Over on the far side of the cleft
| there was faint CLINT of metal ia the
/ deepening shadow. Without 2 mo-
nent's hesitation Hardy aimed and
fired. The mountainside rang with a
| shrill YELL The bullet had found its
mark. Hardy leaped to his feet and
| dashed up the mountain-Side, keeping
behind shelter where it was available,
| but in places boldly rushing UP over
| open spaces.
There, ON the spot where he had
| seen the CLINT, he found q trace Of
Flood. The wounded man had crept
away UP the cleft For several yards
Hardy followed the trail by the splash
es OF crimson On the leaves and rocks.
/ Then the traces ceased. But over in
/ one of the many clefts on the far side
/ OF the gap he thought he saw some
i thing move among the powders. He
/ sprinted down the slope and across the
gap, his face flushed with exertion,
but his eyes still cold and hard.
Among the heaps of broken rocks in
the bottom of the gap Hardy lost sight
| of the cleft for which he was heading.
When he started to return along what
| he supposed to be the passage by
| which he had entered, he soon found
| himself in q cul-de-sac. Dusk was
now deepening into night. He came.
out nd into j steep ascent between
overhanging Lodges. This certainly
was not the way by which he had en-
tered, but he kept to it, eager to es-
| cape out of the maze.
Night had fallen when at last he
reached the top of the cleft and Clam
bered up on ridge crest. But the sky
Was clear, and the starlight enabled
| him to see the outlines of the noun
/ tains that cut the skyline. A star lower
down than any of the others caught
! bis eye. He peered ct it fixedly. The
little twinkling point Of light was
not start was fire, two or three
miles away across the intervening val
| ley. Hardy took his bearings by the
stars and started down the mountain
side directly toward the fire.
Once clear of the rocks of the shat
/ tered mountain top, he found the going
unexpectedly easy. Almost from the
| first he had lost sight of the fire and
ut no time did he see any trace of the
trail to the mine. Off to the left he
| tain rill dashing down q ravine to join
the main stream in the valley.
At last he came up over the edge Of
the ridgetop, or terrace, on which the
rill headed. The moment his eyes
cleared the low underbrush below the
few scattered pines he perceived the
flicker of the fire for which he was
| looking. He could make out the ap-
pearance of the dark forms around the
i fire, but their number and the half
dozen white tepees grouped around the
/ FIRE told him that he had not found the
camp of his party.
He had no more than made this dis
eovery when a number of yefping,
Enarling mongrel dogs rushed out at
him like a pack of wolves. He met
their attack by swinging his rife bar
rel around In a circle. The cowardly
4 ours closed about him, but were afraid
1 to leap in within reach of the club. He
had not stopped his advance. Nor did
he pause or hesitate when over the
heads OF the leaping, yelling pack he
saw the Indian women and children
scurry to the tepees and the bucks
spring up with their bows and guns.