Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1917-03-01


out changing his slow pace he rode on.
No bullet challenged him and no sound
came from che silent house. He cam
tered away from the peril, thinking
with a kind of awe of Nan, asleep, so
close, under that roof-confident, too,
he had not been seen-though, in mat
ter of fact, he had been.
Other cabins back toward the north
wall could be seen dimly to his right,
but all were well removed from his
way. In due time, as Scott had adj
vised, he saw confronting him, not far
ahead, a small, demonstrating cabin
shack. Dlsmounting before this, he
threw his lines, shook himself little,
and walked up to the cabin door. 1t
was open.
De Spain called gruffly to the cabin
inmate. There was no answer. He
hitched his trOuser band near to the
butt of 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 few steps toward where the
man should be asleep, and perceived
beyond doubt that there was no bed
in the corner at all. He turned toward
the other corner, his hand covering
the butt of his gun. "Hello, Shike !"
he called out in a slightly strained tone
of camaraderie, addressing Sassoon by
common nickname. Then he lis
tened. A trumpeting snore answered.
No sound was ever sweeter to De
SPANS ear. The rude noise cleared
the air and steadied the intruder as if
Music mountain itself had been lifted
off his nerves.
He tried again: "Where are you,
Shike" he grOwled. "What's this stuff
on the hOor?" he continued, shutting
his way ostentatlously to the other
side of the room. He felt his way to-
ward the inner door. This was where
he expected to find it, and it was
closed. He laid hand gingerly on the
latch. "Where are you, Shike" he
demanded again, this time with an i'm
patient expletive summoned for the
occasion. A second fearful snore an
swered him. De Spain, relieved, al
most laughed as he pushed the door
open, though not sure whether q curse
or a shot would greet him. He got
neither. And welcome surprise in
OIL ctr ffxr
pane of glass at one end of the room.
1t revealed at the other end q man
stretched asleep on a wall bunk-a
man that would, in all likelihood, have
heard the stealthiest sound had any eff
fort been made to conceal it, but to
whose ears the rough voices of a
mountain cabin are mere sleeping po-
tiOns.
The sleeper woke to feel n hand laid
| lightly on his shoulder. The instinct
of self-preservation acted like q flash.
His eyes opened and his hands struck
out like cats paws to the right and
left: no knife and no revolver met
them. Instead, in the semidarkness q
strange face bent over him. His fists
shot out together, only to be caught
in wise that broke his arms in two al
the elbows, and forced them back
against his throat. A knee, like an
anvil, pushed inexorably into his stom.
ach and heart and lungs. Another lay
across his right arm, and his strug,
Cling left arm he could not, though his
eyes burst with the strain from theiI
sockets, release from where, eaglelike
claws gripped at his throat and shut
off his breath. He lay still.
"Are you awake, Shike?" Sassoor
heard from the gloom above him. Blu
he could not place the voice. "Yor
seem to move around good deal II
your sleep. IL you're awake, keep still
I've come from Sleepy Cat to get you
Don't mind looking for your gun anC
knife. Two men are with me. Yol
can have your choice. We've got
horse for you. You can ride away iron
us here inside the gap, and take wha
hits you In the back, or you can go t
Sleepy Cat with us and stand you
trial. I'll read your warrant when tn
: sun gets little higher. Get up an,
, choose quick"
Sassoon could not see who had sub
dued him, nor did he take long to dc
eide what to do. With less troubl
: than he expected, the captor got hi
; man sullenly on horseback, and CAV
: him severely plain directions as I
; what to do. Sassoon, neither boun
t nor gagged, was told to ride his hors