Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-08-02
CHAPTER XII (cootinued).


soon close IN Un him, an,t Ac would kIl'
them or drive them away 1t was beyond
the bounds Of possibility mat amy men
could have followed running hounds
through tina brake in the night. The
thing that worried Duane WAS the fact
of the bonfires. Tie had gathered from
the words of One of his pursueie that
the brake was Il Kind OF Trap, ANA ilc
began to believe there was only one way
out of it. and toat was along the
bank where he had entered. and whore
obviously ali night long his pul's,ierS
had kept fires burning. Farther con-
%Jccture on this point, however. was in
%torrupted by a crashing in the willows
and the rapid patter OF feet.
Underneath Duane lay "a gray. foggy
obacIrity. He could not see the ground,
moo any object but the black trunk of
DIE ilee. Sight would not be needed to
tell him when the pack arrived. With
"A pattering rush through the willows
the hounds reached the tree: and then
i.igil above crash of brush and thud of
heavy paws rose u hideouS clamor.
Duame's pursuers far off to the south
would hear that and know what it
meant. And at daybreak. perhaps be-
The brake. guided by the baying of
ho,id5 that had freed their quarry.
III wanted only Il few moments, how
over. tlll Duane could distinguish the
VaSlic forms of the hounds IN the gray
siia,ow below. Still he waited. He had
no shots to spare. And he knew how to
tIuat ~bioodhounds. Gradually the OBJ
security i%ightened, and at length Duan
rad good enough sight of the hounds for
his purpose His first shot killed he
huge brute leader of the pack. Then.
with unerring shots, he crippled several
others That stopped the baying. Pierc-
ing howls arose. The pack took fright
and tln1 ifS nnlIIS an Gin. .1n1E06 Inv tho
hGwis OF the crippled members. Duane
reloaded his gun. and. making certain
all the hounds had gone, he descended
to- The ground and set off at a rapid
pace to the northward.
The mist. had dissolved under a ris-
ing sun when Duane made his first
halt some miles north of the scene
where he had waited for the hounds
A barrier to further progress, in shape
of "A p~recipitouS rocky bluff, rose sheer
from the willow brake. He skirted the
base Of the cliff, where walking was
comparatively easy, around in the di-
rectlon of the river. Re reached the
end finally to see there was absolutely
no chance TO escape from the brake at
that. corner. 1t took extreme labor, at
tended by some haZard and considera-
bic pain to his arm, to get down where
he could fill his SombrerO with water.
After quenching his thirst he had Il
Ooh at Ills WOuIlQ. ~ WAS CtlkeQ over
with blood and dirt. When washed Off
thea arm was seen to be infiamed and
swollen around the bullet hole. He
bithed IL, experiencing Il soothing re-
!lut in the cool water. Then he BAN
Gagged it as best he could and range
a SIP around his neck. 1hiS miti-
galed the pain of the injured member
ana held it III Il quiet and reStfll DO
s,,ton. where it had Il cn.nce to begin
nlenGlng.
AL Duane turned ava from the
river he ieit refreshed. His great
strength ana endurance had always
MAue illlaue something almost TN
known TO him. However, uraniping vi,
foot Gay lnd night was as unusual to
hinl as to any other riders of the
southwest, IL it had begun 10 ten,
GA aim. hetraeln2. his steps. ne reached
lac point where he had abruptly come
u, n the buff. n here he determined
u ...low along It's base in the Other
dn ! tion until he found a way out or
discovered the futility of such effort.
Duane covered ground rapidly. From
time to inn he paused to listen. But
he was always listening, and his eyes
were ever rowing This alertneSs had
become second nature with him, so
that except in extreme cases OF eau
ton he performed it while he pondered
his gloomy and Hateful situation. Such
habit of alertness and thought made
time fly swiftly.
by noon he had rounded the wide
curve of the brake and was facing
south The bluff had petered out from
d nigh. mountainous wall to a low
abutment OF rock. but it still held to
lts steep. rough nature and afforded no
crack or slope where quick ascent
Gould have been possible. He pushed
III. growing Warier as he approached
tho. danger zone, finding that as he
neared he river on this side it was
imperative to go deeper into the will
lows. In the afternoon he reached "a,
point where he could see men pacing
to and fro on the bluff. This assured
MIN that whatever place was guarded
was n by which he might escape.
He headed toward these men and ap-
pruaohed to within 100 PAGES Of the
buff where they were. There were
several men and several boys, all
armed. and. after the manner Of Tex.
ans. taking their task ~leisurely. Far
tiier down Duane made out black dots
Oh the horizon OF the bluff line, and
these he concluded, were guards sta
\ toned at another outlet. Probably all
h available men in the district were
on duty. Texans took a grim pleasure
IN such work. Duane remembered
that NpOn several occasions he had
served such duty himself.
duane peeSed through the branches
and studied n lay Of the land. For
several hundred yards the bluff could.
be climbed. He look stock Of those
caictesss guards. They had rifles. and
them In daylight. He believed an at.
tempt by night might be successful:
aud he was swiftly coming to a de.
termination to hide there till dark and
theu ty Il. when, the sudden yelninr
- = dog betrayed him to the guards