Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-05-10

1t was while riding in this way that
his eyes, reading mechanically the
! wagon trail he was aimlessly follow
ing-for no reason other than that il
brought him, though forbidden, q
! little closer to her-arrested his at
! thing, the trail told him, had hap
| pened. Page had stopped his Forses
| Page had met two men on horseback
| coming from the gap. After a barley
for the horses had tramped Ground
| long enough for one-the wagon had
turned completely from the trail and
struck across the desert, north: the
two horsemen, or one with led
| horse, had started back for the gap.
| All of this De Spain gathered with
out moving his horse outside a circle
of thirty feet. What did 1t mean
Page might have fallen in with GRO
nies from the gap, abandoned his
job, and started for Sleepy Cat, but
this was unlikely. He might have en-
countered enemies, been pointedly
advised to keep away from the gap
md pretended to start for Sleepy Cat
to avoid trouble with them. Deeming
the second the more probable conclu-
sion. De Spain, absorbed in his spe-
culation, continued toward the gap
to see whether he could not pick up
Within a mile a further surprise
awaited him. The two horsemen, who
had headed for the gap after stop
ping Page, had left the trail, turned
to the south, down a small draw,
which would screen them from
from sight, and set out across the
desert.
No trail and no habitation lay in
the direction they had taken-and it
seemed clearer to De Spain that the
second horse was a led horse. There
was a story in the incident, but his
interest lay in following Pages move
ments, and he spurred swiftly for
ward to see whether his messenger
had resumed the gan trail and gone
on with his mission. lie followed this
quest almost to the mountains, with
out recovering any trace of Pages
rig. He halted. 1t was certain now
that Page had not gone into the gap.
PerpleXed and annoyed, De Spain,
from the high ground on which he
sat his horse, cast his eyes far over
the desert. The brilliant sunshine
flooded it as far as the eye could
-each. He scanned the vast space
without detecting a sign Of life any
where, though none be.tef than he
knew that any abundance of it might
be there. But his gaze caught some
thing of interest on the farthest
northern horizon, and on this his
scrutiny rested a long time. a soft
brown curtain rose just above the
earth line against the blue sky. To-
ward the west it was cut off by the
Superstition peaks.
De Spain without giving the wealth
er signs much thought, recognized
their import, but his mind was filled
with his own anXietieS and he rode
smartly back toward Calabasas, be-
cause he was not at ease over the
puzzles in the trail. When he reached
the depression where the horsemen
had, without any apparent reason,
turned south, he halted. Should he
follow them or turn north to follow
Pages wanderings? If Page had been
scared away from the gap, for a time
he probably had no information that
De Spain wanted, and De Spain
knew his cunning and persistence
we'll enough to be confident he would
be back on the gap road, and within
the cover of the mountains, before
storm should overtake him. On the
north the brown curtain had risen
fast and already enveloped the far
thest peaks of the range. Letting his
horse stretch it's neck, he hesitated a
moment longer trying to decide
whether to follow the men to the
south or the wagon to the north. A
woman might have done better. But
no good angel was there to guide his
decision, and in another moment he
was riding rapidly to the south with
the even, brown, misty cloud behind
him rolling higher into the northern
sky.
(To Be Continue.)