The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1917-02-24

nook that screened the Morgans from
the outside world had prepared him
for what he saw. From side to side
between the frowning cliffs which rose,
at points, half mile into the sky, it
was several miles, and the gap was
more than as much in depth, as it ran
back to a mere wedge between I'M
named Superstition peaks.
Every moment that he pushed ahead
warned him that daylight would come
suddenly and his time to act would be
short. The trail he followed broad
ened into road, and a turn brought
him up startled and almost face to
face with long, rambling ranch
house. The gable end Of the two-story
portion of the building was so close
to him that he instantly refined up to
seek hiding from it's upper and lower
windows.
From Scott's accurate description he
knew the place. This was Duke Nor
CAMS ranch-house, set as fortress al
most at the mouth Of the gap. To pass
1t unobserved was to compass the most
hcklish part of his mission, and with
out changing his slow pace he rode on.
No bullet challenged him and no sound
came from the silent house. He cam
tered away from the peril, thinking
with kind of awe Of Nan, asleep, so
close, under that roof-confident, 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 adj
vised, he saw confronting him, not far
ahead, a small, misunderstanding cabin
shack. Dismounting before this, he
threw his lines, shook himself little,
and walked up to the cabin door. It
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 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 a 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. "What's this stuff
on the foor?" 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 a curse
or shot would greet him. He got
neither. And a welcome surprise In
the dim light came through stuffy
pane of glass at one end Of the room.
1t revealed ut the other end a man
stretched asleep on a wall bunk-a
man that would, in all likelihood, have
heard the stealthiest sound had any ef-
fort been made to conceal it, but to
whose ears the rough voices Of q
mountain cabin are mere sleeping POI
tons.
The sleeper woke to feel hand laid
lightly on his shoulder. The instinct
of self-preservation acted like flash.
His eyes opened and his hands struck
out like cats paws to the right and
left: no knife land no revolver met
them. Instead, in the semidarkness q
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, and forced them back
against his throat. A knee, like an
anvil. pushed inexorably into his stom-
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, Shike?" Sassoou
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
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
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