The Raymer enterprise., 1917-04-19
"Save yourself" she murmured faint.

~AS AuSSASN ohu Sub thS luuuk1 tuht
bound her ankles and then those of her
wrists. As she tried to stand, she
swayed weakly and tainted. There
was no time to lose: he lifted her limp
form upon his shoulders and ran stag.
geringly In the direction of the troops
He could never overtake them-the
marching column and the slow-moving
wagons must be mile away by now
He stumbled on with desperate exer.
ton. He reached the winding creek
again. laid down his unconscious bur.
den and dashed the Icy water In Tol-
nette's face. Her great blue eyes,
shadowed by dark circles of exhaus-
ton, opened slowly, looked at him
blankly. "Father, help me !" she cried.
He shook her by the shoulders.
Stand up! Try!" The light Of con-
sclousness came back into her eyes
she rose trembllngly and tried to walk.
They found place where the water
gurgled over a stony bar, ankle-deep
crossed 1t and struggled up the bank
on the farther side. As they reached
the top there came to their ears the
dreadful exultant yells of the Indians,
three hundred yards behind. David put
his arms around the girls shoulders
and they run on with palsied limbs.
They seemed to be struggling on In
that nightmare where the feet are
leaden and the pursuers feet. Nearer
and nearer came the fierce yelping.
At last David and ToInette stood
still and looked at each other. David
drew his knife. She nodded, silently
praying him to deliver her with that
swift death from the tortures of the
sayages. "oh, God. not yet |" he cried
and drew her on In blind haste. Twice
he shouted, with all the strength Of
his gasping lungs. Was 1t an echo,
or an answering shout that came
back7 And then there came q burst
OF the sweetest music In the world
the cheers of a score of Harrison's
men. crashing through the woods a
hundred yards away.
The chase was suddenly reversed, Al
the first shout Of the backwoodsmen
the bafiied Indians turned and fed
The rescnlng party pursued them but
little way. firing vainly at the fleeing
forms dodging among the tree trunks.
Young George Croghan, Harrison's
aid, was In command of the little
squad. They had heard GIrty's shot,
fired at David, and a little later, Da.
vid's shot; and had come back from
the troops with all speed. Toinette
had sunk to the ground. laughing and
sobblng; they gathered around her
with wild hurrahs. a torrent of eager
questions.
They bore her on their shoulder
back to the marching men. How the
cheering ran along the line as the men
caught sight Of her General Harrison
and his staff galloped up ore by one
and shouted like boys. Old wash
Johnston leaned over and kissed her
face, stained with happy tears. I'm
old enough, my dear" he said.
And the men cheered again.
A dozen times she was obliged 10
tell the story of her captivity; a dozen
times the men lifted David on their
shoulders and cheered him to the echo.
But through all the rejoicing and the
Thanksgiving. Davld's heart remained
heavy; for the breach still seemed i'm
possible to bridge. She, too, suffer,
tormented by debt of gratitude due
one whose treason to his country must
forever bar him from her love.
Treason? Why was 1t, then, that Da-
yld seemed such n hero to all his COM
rades among the mlltlamen! Why
had all OF them received him into their
hearts like brotherl Tolnette strug-
gled all through the day with the
secret which she thought so horrible.
Little by little, she came to the con-
clusion that David had managed In
some way to win pardon from Gov
ernor Harrison, before the trip to the
PROPHETS camp had been begun.
She wsnt back over the clreum-
stances Of that tragic meeting in Cory
don, when she and Ike had confronted
David aud found the proofs of treaeh.
cry upon him. What had happened
after she had LETT that scene? Per-
haps Ike had prevailed on David to re-
uounce his allegiance to England. Per-
haps. then, he had interceded with
Governor Harrison In his friends be-
half. She pictured the Stern young
governor as saying that Dayid's life
must depend on his faithful service to
the territory In the future. Ike had
never spoken one word to her about
David from that day on. Little by lit
tie, as she went over each point in her
heart, a sense that she had been
tricked ont OF ber love grew on her, a
sense that somehow she had cheated
herself. In the sleepless hours of the
night that followed, she felt her eyes
slhart'ng with tears. What could she
DO! What could she do? The whole
world seemed against her!
She could not bring herself to voice
her inward trouble to anyone, least of
all TO David. She watched him stridlng