Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1917-02-22

Caught H,
BILE mistake. In his momentary excite
ment he had thought to exterminat'
Hernandez. But the cutthroats VIII
bounded into view even saw Hell
uandez. Hernandez was there. agile
alert, ready to defend himself. But the.
didn't know 1t.
The only thing they saw was An
nette Ilington. clutched in the might!
grasp of their chief. Like a mob o
ravenous wolves they pounced upol
her. The chief beat them OF.
There are two" he exclaimed
two. The other runs free upon tn
beach. This n Is mine. The othe
on the beach. Scatter and find her."
Some half dozen Of the crew. accus
toned to obedience, scampered of
| But not so the rest. Shoulder to shout
der, thigh to thigh, they struggled OF
after their chief holding out theil
hands toward the trembling girl upor
his shoulder. Step by step he fought
his way. clutching her firmly to him
until he reached the entrance to
cave-his cave. He stopped to enter
Then broke the storm.
Down on shore Neal and 1lington
alarmed at the prolonged absence Of
Annette. had scattered-Neal secured
I the beach in one direction-Ilington ir
another.
At last Neal found her-Inez, crouch
ing behind q rock. Inez, painting with
fear, leaped into his arms. He cast
her on-for he did not understand.
Annette" she cried, they've got
her-there-that way-that way"
Annette, numb with fear, lay quiz
ering just within the mouth of the
cave. Behind her was the dark-the
unknown. She was too terror.strick
en- to move. But she was quick-wit
ted and she saw-and understood
that this terrific fight was helping her
She collected herself-she began to
plan.- Inch by inch she crept farther
into the darkness.
When the fight was at its hottest the
chief lunged far out in the midst of II
and left the caves mouth temporarily
uncovered. Like a fash Annette wrig-
gled out Of the ave and skunk swiftly
toward the underground. She reached
1t, when a figure blocked her path.
It was Neal. With a wild cry she
flung herself into his arms. But Neal
repulsed her for the instant, and with
forethought. Almost brutally he
flung her behind him, and unshipped
his navy gun. For action was at hand.
One man and only one had seen An
nette crawl from the caves mouth and
that man was the pirate chief. As
soon as he could ~disentangle himself,
he was away and after her. And here
he came, tearing through the under
growth with savage bounds.
Neal fired thrice-hit once-missed
twice-and then the cutthroat was up.
on him.
Ilington from the shore, heard the
shots. He looked upward and saw.
peering down at him from at eminence,
the face Of his arch enemy, Her.
nandez.
He shook a massive fist at the face,
and the face disappeared.
Ilington hastened back to the TEN.
porary camp and found that the lieu
tenant and his men making ready
for a run.
Come on. loot" cried Ilington, leap
ing into the underground, I'm ready
for a fight. I saw a head Just now,
and I'm going to hit 1t hard"
Neal fought with fury, but his fight
was futile. So. be 1t said, was the
fight of the pirate chief. For Meals
shots had brought the other beasts
swarming like human hornets about
their heads. Annette's temporary es'
cape had been discovered-they had
been cheated-vengeance was their
due. They pounced upon Neal and
their chief like harpies-once more
pandemonium' reigned. Annette
crouched unseen-horror-stricken.
Suddenly she shrieked aloud-for
Neal had disappeared beneath q mass
Of mem.
She shrieked and al like wild for
the shore-for succor. There was no
eight in her-she was beaten by fear.
That shrek was fortunate for Neal.
His assailants left him and darted #.
ter her-scurrying like wild dogs
through the brush.
And NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
The bark of q dozen navy rides. A
dozen men plunged headlong.
1t was a bad flght-a desperate fight.
Neai's men were eutnumbered.
Meantime q solitary figure skunk
through the brush and crept past all
the fighters. This was Hernandez.
Ilington, during a lull, saw him pass
but knew not where he went. Her
handez knew. He was still hoping