Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-04-05
on Naa

I o. break to drag
/ .1 al. louss ~. and his malice
5o~ -! ed out Ct mind, but Nan
'emaiEyd. 4Ier f0-.y or,Aned in the
mists that rose fnc the hidden creek
seemed 10 hover 50 lewhere near I'M
II Scots hand lai on the dreamer's
llder drove it ddenly away. Day
at hand.
De Spain got and shook off the
:hilliness and sineSs of the night.
It had been az i that he, being less
Il0Wn in the than either of his
companions, c 4 best attempt the diff
tCult capture Bob Scott, who knew
the recess well, repeated his explicit
directions as to how De Spain was to
reach Sassoon's shack. He repeated
his description of it's interior, told him
here the bed stood, and even where
ssoon ordinarily kept his knife and
revolver.
Spain gave his horse his head
ras still too dark to distinguish the,
falkland advanced at a snai's pace
until he passed the base of Ell Captain,
when of a sudden, as he rode out from
along high projecting rocks full into
inc opening, faint rays Of hgAt f4ol4
the eastern dawn revealed the narrow,
strangely incIosed and perfectly hid
den valley before him.
De Spain caught his breath. No de-
scriptiOn he had ever heard Of the
nook that screened the Morgans from
4 1t,a
for what he saw. From side to side
between the frowning cliffs n rose,
at points, half a mile in y, 1t
was several miles, and waS
more than as much in de. ran
back to a mere wedge Il, UNI
named Superstition peak
Every moment that he lead
warned him that daylight Jme
suddenly and his time to be
short. The trail he follow ~ sad-
ened into a road, and a tur 'r"1ght
him up startled and alnlo. Ice to
face with a long, rambling ranch
house. The gable end of tho "o-story
portion Of the building was so close
to him that he instantly relEcd up to
seek hiding from it's upper i'd lower
windows.
From SCOTS accurate de iptiOn he
knew the place. This was IKE Nor
gan's rarch-house, set as q -, rtress al
most ct the mouth of the G p. To pass
1t uaobseryed was to comp e the most
ticklish part Of his missile, and 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 a kind Of awe of Nan, asleep, 30
close, under that roof-confident, too,
be had not been seen-though, in mat
ter Of fact he had been.
Other cabins back toward the north
wall could be seen dimIy 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, a small, Misunderstanding cabin
shack Dismounting before this, lie
threw his lines, shook himself q little,
and walked Up to the cabin loo, 1t
was open.
De Spain called gruffIy to the CT. in
innate. There was no answer. h
hitched lis trcuser band near to the
butt Ct 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 a 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, kis hand covering
the butt CT his gun. Hello, Shike!"
he called out in a slightly strained tone
Of c. - araderie, addressing SassOon by
a Common nickname. Then he lis
tens ]. trUmpeting snore answered.
No sound was ever sweeter to De
Spins ear. The rude noise cleared
the. ar and steadied the intruder as If
AI1.si mountain itself had been lifted
Of is nerves