The Snowflake herald., 1917-10-05

! again IN IoW moments. Ills 1acG was
! grave.
"Jose did not go to the east pas
ture," he said.
"Where is he now"
"No one seems to know"
Law walked to his horse, mounted,
and galloped away Benito, who
watched him, saw that he turned to-
ward the river road which led to the
| Las Palmas pumping plant.
The more Dave thought about Ed
Austin's death, the more certain he be-
came that it was in some way con
nected with Alaire's disappearance:
and the loose end by which the tangle
! might be unraveled, it seemed to him,
! lay in the hands of Rosa Morales,
! Jose's sweetheart. That Sanchez was
! the murderer Dave now had little
! doubt; but since the chance of appre-
hending him was small, he turned his
! attention to the girl He would make
| Rosa speak, he told himself, if he had
to use fOrce-thiS was no time for gen
| tie methods If she knew aught of
! Alaires whereabouts or the mystery of
| her departure from Las Palmas, he
would find a way to wiring the truth
from her. Dawes face, q trifle too SOM
Der at all times, took on a grimmer
aspect now; he felt a slow fury kind
ling in his breast.
! Years of experience had taught MIN
! to be always alert, even during his mo-
ments of deepest preoccupation, end
so, from force of habit, when he came
| to the pumphOuse road he carefully
scanned it. In the dust were fresh
footprints leading toward the river.
Now he knew this road to De seldom
used and therefore he wondered who
could be riding it at a gallop in this
blistering midday heat. A few rods
farther on and his quick eye detected
something else-some tiny object that
brought him from his saddle Out of
the rut he picked, cigarette butt, the
fire of which was cold but the paper of
which was still wet from the smokers
lips He examined it carefully; then
he remOunted and rode on, pondering
it's significance.
Dave lOped out of the thicket and
straight across the clearing to the
Morales house. Leaving MontrOsa's
reins hanging, he opened the door and
entered without knocking. Rosa APP
peared in the opening to another room
her eyes wide with fright at this ap-
partition, and Dave saw that she was
dressed in her finest, as if for a holiday
or for a journey.
where's your father?" he demanded.
"He's gone to Sangre de Cristo.
What do you want?"
"When did he gO?"
'This morning, early. He"
"WhO's been here since he left?"
Rosa was recovering from her first
surprise, and now her black brows
drew together in anger. "No one has
come. You are the first. And have
you no manners to stride into a re-
spectacle house,"
Dave broke in harshly: "RoSa, you're
lying. Jose Sanchez has been here
within an hour. Where is hep" When
the girl only grew whittier and raised a
hand to her breast, he stepped toward
her, crying. Answer mel"
Rosa recOiled, and the breath caught
in her throat like sob. "Tll tell you
nothing" she said in a thin voice Then
she began to tremble. "Why do you
want JOSEF"
"You know why. He killed Don
Eduardo, and then he rode here. Come
l know everything"
"Lies! Lies !" Rosa's voice grew
shrill. "Out of this house! 1 know
you. 1t was you who betrayed Panfilo,
and his blood is on your hands, as
sassin !" With the last word she made
as if to retreat but Dave was too
quick; he seized her, and for an in
slant they struggled breathlessly.
Dave had reasoned beforehand that
his only chance of discovering any
thing from this girl lay in utterly ter
roriNng her and in profting by her
first panic; therefore he pressed his
advantage. He succeeded better than
he had dared to hope.
''You know who killed Senor Ed" he
cried, fiercely. "The fortune-teller read
your plans, and there is no use to deny
it."
Rosa screamed again; she writhed;
she tried to sink her teeth into her cap
tors flesh. In her body was the
strength of full-grown man, and Dave |
could hardly hold her. But suddenly,
as the two scuffled. from the back room