The Jasper news., 1917-05-10

IhV"h W thS ChAN Vi aLAAC. iNtAAl-tOI w ttNh v
De Spain helped her to the ground,
He directed her how to make sigzagi
advance toward the pine. and, above
all, to throw herself fiat and sidewise
after every shot--and not to Gre
often.
In this way they advanced slowly
but safely to the disputed point and
then understandable horses were.
gone. A fresh discharge OF shots came
from two dlrections-seemIngly from
the house and the stable. A moment
later they heard sharp firing FIR down
the gap--their sole avenue of escape.
They withdrew to the shelter of
large rock familiar to Nan even In the
dark. While De Spain was debating
In his mind how to meet the emer-
gency, she stood at his side, his equal
he knew. in courage, daring and re-
source, and answered his rapid ques-
tions us TO possible gateways of
escape. The ruin, which had been
nbating, now ceased, but from every
fissure In the mountains came the roar
of rushing water, and little openings
of rock and waterway that might have
offered q chance when dry were now
out of the question. In fact It was
Mans belief TINT before morning wa
ter would be running over the main
trail itself.
"Yet." said De Spain finally, "before
morning we must be long way from
this particular spot, Nan. Snssoon
has posted men at the neck of the
gap--that's the first thing he would do.
I'll tell you" he said suddenly, as
when after long uncertainty and anx-
ious doubt one chooses an alternative
and hnstens to follow 1t. "Retreat Is
the thing for us, Nan. Let's nuke for
Music mountain and crawl into our
cave till morning. Lefever will get
In here some time tomorrow. Then
we can connect with him."
When they got to the mountain trail
itself they found their way swept by a
mad rush of falling water.
"No use, Man," said De Spain.
"There isn't any other trail, is there2"
She told him there was no other.
"And this Will run all night. Henry"
she said,. turning to him and as If
thinking Of a question she wanted to
ask. show did you happen to come tQ
me tonight when l wanted you sol"
~ came because you sent for me. "
he answered, surprised.
"But l didn't send for you"
He stopped, dumfounded. "What
do you mean, Nan?" he demanded un-
easily. ~ got your message on the
telephone last night, in my office at
to give his name" -
II never sent any message to you,
she insisted, In growing wonderment
II have been locked In n room fol
three days, dearie. The Lord knows
l wanted to send you word. Who ever
5 telephoned u message like that? Was
1t a trap to get you In hereT
He told her the story-of the siren
uous efforts he had made to discover
the identity of the messenger-ant
, how he had been balked. "No mat
ter" said Nal at last. sit couldn'
have been a trap. 1t must have beer
/ n friend, surely, not an enemy.
: Henry" every time she repeated
3 his name De Spain cared less fol
= what should happen In the rest of thu
/ world, what are we going to do now
r We can't stay here all nlght-ant
Q take what they will greet us with II
the morning."
e He answered her question with an
:, other: "What about trying to get on
: by El Capitan?"
Y She started in spite of herself. II
g would be certain death, Henry"
+ az don't mean at the worst to tr.
y to cross 1t till we get glimpse o
;. daylight. But it's quite way owe
there. The question is,' Can we I'm
g a trail up to where we want to go?
r, II know two or three" she M
G swered, IF they are only not flooded.
e The storm seemed to have passed
n but the darkness was intense, IN
: from above the northern Superstition
n came low mutterings Of thunder. Con
l. PEELED to strike out over the rocks
d get up to any of the trails toward
8, Captain, Nan, helped by De Spai
& when he could help. led the ascer
toward the first ledge they could hop
u to follow on their dangerous cours,
The point at which the two climbe
r almost five hundred feet that nlgf
N up Music mountain is still pointe
:" out In the gap. No person, lookin
1t at that confused wall, willingly b,
lieves 1t could ever have been scale
n. In the dead of night. Torn, bruise