The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1917-01-19

| standing by the stove. She looked $,
small and so timid that he regaInet
| courage. He roared at Gloria ant
moved toward Nell. Gloria cried
stand back!''
IrasK was so astonlsned by ner I'm
pudence that he laughed.
'Why, you little fluffy pullet, I'll til
you up and drop you in the river!"
"Oh, you will?" said Gloria.
She snatched the poker from the
fire. Trask laughed at it. She hit the
rubbed it ON the wooden top of the
table and smoke arose. There was
kissing sound. Trask shuddered
Gloria jabbed at him with her red-hot
sword. He could feel the soaring pain
of it before it reached him. When it
there. Gloria was q tritie conceited
over her success.
And now, what next? She saw the
rope in his hand. He had brought it
to tie her with. The next idea came.
She gloated a trifle.
''You thought you would tie me up,
did you? Well, you can just tie your
self up!''
Trask could hardly believe that any
one would be cruel enough TO infict
such an insulting injury. But Gloria's
arguments were pokes with the poker.
If Trask had been more Intelligent
and less confused, and had known how
he might have tied himself up as the
cabinet tricksters do-so that he could
slip out easily. But this was beyond
him at the time, and Gloria was Wig
liant.
She made him fasten the rope
around Il stanchion, then knot it about
one wrist, then pass 1T around him till
he looked like a package of Gloria's
own tying. The last knots she attend
ed to herself She set the poker on
plate within easy reach, and knotted,
and knotted, and knotted. Trask
CRASHED his teeth with rage, but he
could not bulge. He yelled just once,
then she seized a dish towel, whirled it
into roll and gagged him so that he
could not even gnash his teeth.
Gloria heard footsteps along. the
deck overhead. Probably Jed was
coming down. The poker was cold.
There was no time for relocating it.
must be done at once. She
put out the lamp that Nell had light
ed, she set at the foot of the stairs
a wicker rocker, she laid it on its side,
and fell back to await developments.
Jed came down the stairs in the
dark. AS he left the last step he put
his foot in the wicker rocker as in
trap. Jed went ON over with crash
that shook the barge. He was yell
ing that he was being bitten to death
oy wildcat, when Gloria sided past
him, ran up the stairs and out on deck.
She closed the hatch, fastened it and
7oted herself three cheers.
She looked about her now and saw
hat she was in the middle of the Hud-
son river and a great distance from
either shore. The view was magni
icent in the cleaning, but she had had |
enough of it and the hateful tug was |
the water and dragging the
large farther and farther north.
She saw the tiller of the barge |
looping idly, and it occurred to her
hat if she could get free from the tug
he could steer the barge to shore her
elf. Somewhere below was her IA
hers home. Stas and his father and
Mother would be waiting for her. Per
APPS her own father was alarmed. 1t
vas time for her to go home. She
fould take her prisoners back to her
ather and deliver them to whatever
seemed right.
She had never ssteered canal barge,
ut she imagined that it would be
bout the same as a motor boat in
eneral principles. Fortunately, she
ad been carried so far north that the
urrent would act as engine power.
She was delighted With the scheme.