The Snowflake herald., 1917-09-14
CHAPTER XIII.
RanUerS,


and then at the frightened woman SIS
that the truth?" he demanded harshly.
''Yes," Austin answered. "They are
bringing the body to this side. You
know what that means"
did you know this?" The general
turned upon Alaire. OF the four he
was the least excited.
From the background Paloma qua
vered: "YOu told us Ricardo was not
dead, so-it is all right. There is no.
harm DONE"
A brief silence ensued, then Longo-
rio shrugged. "Who knows? Let us
hope that he suffered no harm on Mex
lean soil That would be serious, in
deed; yes, very serious, for ] have
given my word to your government.
This-David Law'-he pronounced the
name carefully, but with strange for
eign accent-"he is a reckless person
to defy the border regulations. 1t is
a grave matter to invade foreign ter
rjtOry on such a mission" LongOrio
again bent his brilliant eyes upon
Alaire. 81 see that you are concerned
for his safety. You would not dosire
him to come to trouble, eh? He has
done you favors he is your friend,
as l am. Well'-a mirthless smile ex-
posed his splendid white teeth-''we
must think of that. Now will bid
you good night"
"Where are you going" demanded
Miss Jones,
"TO the river, and then to Romero.
l may be needed, for those men of
mine are stupid fellows, and there is
danger of a misunderstanding In the
dark anything may happen. 1 should
like to meet this David Law he is
a man of my own kind" Turning to
''Young Ed" he said: "There is rea-
son for haste, and a horse moves slow
ly. Would you do me the favor, if you
have an automobile
"No! 1 won't!" Ed declared. ''I
don't want to see the Rio Grande TO-
night. 1 won't be involved"
''But you are already involved.
Come! There is no time to waste, and
l have something to say to you. You
will drive me to the river, and my
horse will remain here until I return
for him."
There was no mistaking the COM
mand in Longorio's tone; the master
of Las Palmas rose as if under com
pulsiOn. He took his hat, and the two
men left the room.
"Oh, Mrs. Austin !" Paloma gasped.
"They'll be in time, and so will the
Lewis gang"
"Quickl Ed will take his runabout-
we'll follow in my car" Alaire fled
to make herself ready. A few moments
later she looked out from her window
and saw the headlights of Eds run
about flash down the driveway to the
raid; then she and Paloma rushed to
the garage where the touring car stood
''The moon is rising" Paloma half
sobbed. "Theyll be sure to see us.
Do you think we're ahead of Tad
Lewis?"
"Oh, yes. He hasn't had time to get
here yet, but-he'1l come fast when he
starts. This is the only plan I can
think Of"
Alaire drove as swiftly as she dared,
following the blurred streak of gray
that was the road, and taking the
bumps with utter recklessness. Ahead
loOmed the dark ridge of the river
thickets, a dense rampant of mesquite.
But even before they were sheltered
from the moonlight Paloma saw the
lights of another automobile approach
ing along the main-traveled highway
behind them-the lights, evidently, cf
Tad Lewis machine. A moment later
Alaire's car drove into the black shad-
ows. 1t had been a short, swift excit-
ing ride. "Young Eds" runabout could
not be many minutes ahead of them.
The women got out, then breasted
the high grass and brambles between
their hiding place and the pumphouse
road. A hundred yards away they
could now see the ghostly Rio Grande,
it's saffron surface family silvered by
the low moon; lights cleaned from the
windows of Morales house. In the
ulSIduce the vague OuJllneS OF the Mex
lean shore were resolving themselves,
and far beyond twinkled the evidence
that some belated citizens Of Romero
were still awake.
Paloma had brought with her the
long-barreled rifle, and this she
clutched nervously as she and Alaire
stood whispering. Conditions were fa-
vorable for an approach to the pump
house itself. They had nearly reached
their goal when out into the clearing
behind them, with metallic rattle and
clang, burst another automobile, and
PalOma whispered excitedly.
There's the Lewis outfit at last"
In the Lewis car were several men.
They descended hurriedly, and when
one of them ran around the front of
the car to turn off it's lights, both wom-
en- saw that. he carried a rifle. Evi-