The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-02-10

tickliSh part of his mission, aud with
out changing his slow pace he rode on.
No bullet challenged him and no sound
came from the silent house. He can
tered away from the peril, thinking
with kind of awe Of Nan, asleep, so
close, under that roof-confdent, too,
he had not been seen-though, in mat
ter of fact, he had been.
Other cabins back toward the north
wall could be seen dimly to his right,
but all were well removed from his
way. In due time, as Scott had ad-
vised, he saw confronting him, not far
ahead, small, misunderstanding cabin
shack. Dismounting before this, he
threw his lines, shook himself little,
and walked up to the cabin door. 1t
was open.
De Spain called gruf1y to the cabin
inmate. There was no answer. He
hitched his trouser band near to the
butt of his revolver with his right
hand, and laid his left on the jamb of
the door, his eyes meantime boring the
darkness to the left, where Sassoon's
bed should be. The utmost scrutiny
failed to disclose any sign Of it or any
sound of breathing from that corner.
He took few steps toward where the
man should be asleep, and perceived
beyond a doubt that there was no bed
in the corner at all. He turned toward
the other corner, his hand covering
the butt of his gun. "Hello, Shike !"
he called out in slightly strained tone
of camaraderie, addressing Sassoon by
a common nickname. Then he lis
tened. A trumpeting snore answered.
No sound was ever Sweeter to De
Spain's ear. The rude noise cleared
the air and steadied the intruder as if
Music mountain itself had been lifted
off his nerves.
He tried again: "Where are you,
Shike?" he growled. whats this stuff
on the floorW he continued, shutting
his way Ostentatiously to the other
side of the room. He felt his way to-
ward the inner door. This was where
he expected to find it, and it was
| closed. He laid hand gingerly on the
latch. where are you, Shike?" he
demanded again, this time with an i'm
patient expletive summoned for the
occasion. A second fearful snore an
swered him. De Spain, relieved, al
most laughed as he pushed the door
open, though not sure whether curse
or a shot would greet him. He got
neither. And a welcome surprise in
the dim light came through a stuffy
pane of glass at one end of the room.
1t revealed at the other end a man
stretched asleep on a wall bunk.-a
man that would, in all likelihood ht We
heard the stealthiest sound had any cf-
fort been made to conceal it, but to
whose ears the rough voices of q
mountain cabin are mere sleeping Do
tons.
The sleeper woke to feel hand laid
lightly on his shoulder. The instinct
Of self-preservatiOn acted like a flash.
His eyes opened and his hands struck
out like cats paws to the right and
left: no knife and no revolver met
them. Instead, in the semidarkncss a
strange face bent over him. His fists
shot out together, only to be caught
in wise that broke his arms in two at
the elbows, ard forced them back
against his throat. A knee, like an
anvil. pushed ineXora5ly into his st0rn-
ach and heart and lungs. Another lay
across his right arm, and his strug-
Cling left arm he could not, though his
eyes burst with the strain from their
sockets, release from where, eaglelike
claws gripped at his throat and shut
off his breath. He lay still.
"Are you awake, ShikeT Sassoon
heard from the gloom above him. But
he could not place the voice. "You
seem to move around a good deal in
your sleep. If you're awake, keep still.
I've come from Sleepy Cat to get you.
Don't mind looking for your gun and
knife Two men are with me. You
can have your choice. We've got a
horse for you. You can ride away from
us here inside the gap, and take what
hits you in the back, or you can go to
Sleepy Cat with us and stand your
trial. I'll read your warrant when the
sun gets little higher. Get up and
choose quick"
Sassoon could not see who had sub
dued him, nor did he take long to de-
eide what to do. With less trouble
than he expected, the captor got his
man sullenly on horseback, and gave
him severely plain directions as to
what to do. Sassoon. neither bound
nor gagged, was told TO ride his horse