Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-02-14
g NAN Of 9
MUSIC MOUNTAIN
Chap. XXII-A mysterious messaI
BY rank II. oDedrndN
Author Of Whispering Smith

SHdp AAll--A my oVOIlOuo iucoSd6c
comes from Nan take her away.
Chapter XXIII.--De Spain, Lefever
and Scott invade the Morgan strong
mold. De Spain alone walks into
Dukes house and, preventing forced
marriage, takes Nan away.
Chapter XXIV-They escape over
FL Captain. De Spain kills Sassoon
Chapter XXV--Lefever rides in and
out of the gap.
well, I'm sorry. PardalOe,' con-
tinued De Spain after moment. NO
body could call it my fault. 1t was
either he or I-Or the life Of a woman
who never harmed a hair of his head.
and woman I'm bound to protect. He
was running when he was hit If he
had got to cover again there was moth
ing to stop him from picking both of
us Off"
''He was hit in the head"
De Spain was silent.
ut was soft-nose bullet" contin-
ued Pardaloc.
Again there was pause. "lll tell
you about that, too, pardal0e," De
Spain went on collectedly. Il lost my
rifle before that man opened fire on
us. Nan happened to have her rifle
with .her--if she hadn't he'd We
dropped one or both Of us off I'll Capt.
tan. We were pinned against the wall
like n couple of targets. If there were
soft.nose bullets In her rifle It's be-
cause she uses them on game-bobcats
and mountain lions. | never thought
of 1t till this minute. That Is it,
what | came up to tell you has to
do with Dave SassOon.s, From what
happened today in the gap thought
you ought to know it now. Gale and
Duke quarreled yesterday over the way
things turned out; they We're pretty
bitter. This afternoon Gale took it up
again with his uncle, and 1t ended in
Dukes driving him clean out of the
gap"
where has he gomez
Nobody knows yet. Ed Wickwire
told me once that your father was shot
from ambush Il good many years ago.
1t was north of Medicine Bend. on Il
ranch near the Peace river; that You
never found out who killed him. and
that one reason why you came up into
this country was to keep IN eye out for
clue"
"What about it," asked De Spain,
his tone hardening.
Il was riding home one night about
Il month ago from Calabasas with Sas-
soon. He'd been drinking. | let him
do the talking. He began cussing you
out, and talked pretty hard about what
you'd done, and what he'd done, and
what he was going TO do" Nothing,
it seemed. would hurry tho story.
"Finally, Sassoon says: That hound
don't know yet who got his dad. 1t
was Duke Morgan that's who got him.
] was with Duke when he turned the
trick. We rode down to De Spnin's
ranch one night to look up ruster.
That" concluded Pardaloe, twas all
Sassoon would say
lie stopped He seemed to wait.
There was no word of answer, none of
comment from the man sitting near
him. But, for one, at least, who heard
| a. al. al Of
Il murder of the long ago, there fol-
lowed silence as relentless as fate,
a silence shrouded in the mystery Of
the darkness and striking despair into
two hearts---a silence more fearful
than any word.
| Pnrtaloe shunled his feet, He
coughed but he evoked no response. II
thought you was entitled to know
he said finally. Nov that Sassoon will
never talk any more"
DE Spain moistened his lips. When
he spoke his voice was cracked and
harsh, as II with what he had heard he
had suddenly grown old.
you are right, pnrduloe. ! thank
4 YOU. I--when lin the morning. Par.
daloe, for the present, go back to the
gap. Will talk with Wickwire-to-
morrow"
Good night, Mr.. de Spain"
Good night, Pnrlnloe.
Bending forward, limp, In his chair
supporting his head vacuntly on his
hands. trying to tknk and fearing to
think. De Spain heard Partlaloe's meas.
urcd trend on the descending steps
and listened mechanically to the re-
treating echoes of his footsteps down
The shaded street. Minute after min
ute passed. he Spain made no move
4 step 80 light that 1t could only have