Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-05-17
TheProblem
BY Ella Charlotte Hammond
lcopyright. 1917. western Newspaper Union,

berry surrounding q pretty bungalow,
moving from spot to spot cautiously,
furtively. He was bent On a special
mission, whose issues were vital and he
dared not take any risk as to being dis
covered and defeated in his design.
1.-THE sister was right" he solilo-
quized, feeling hat he was handling a
hard problem. 81 haven't caught ever
q fleeing glimpse of the girl. She must
be in the house, though, and, just as
she wrote her sister, the place is
guarded
This latter fact was evident. Seated
knitting in a rocking chair In the gar
den so as to command q perfect view
of all the entrances and exits of the
house, was a portly, keen-eyed woman
who swept the prospect with q probing
glance every other minute. On the
other side of the house, reclining on
the grass, a gun by his side, was a mar
past middle age, apparently the hus-
band of the other watcher.
HE doesn't look as smart and Wig.
liant as the woman" decided Warde.
s'Twice he has nodded. All he is gone
now. Dare / venture a rush for the
house?"
Warde could distinctly catch the
sound of mufied snoring. The man lay
perfectly still, his face buried in his
arm. Across a 40-foot space Warde
glided. He darted through a doorway
to find himself in a narrow hall. Then
beyond its other end he made out a
graceful feminine figure.
miss Alice Boyden?" he spoke IN a
low tone, and as he extended an en-
velope toward the amazed girl he add
ed quickly: "From your sister at Mel
VILE"
The hands of Alice Boyden trembled
as she opened the letter and hurriedly
perused its Enclosure. She was at once
aroused to manifest animation and ex-
citement. The young man pressed close
to her side.
Beyond the grove yonder,n he said,
81 have a horse and buggy. Don't de
lay. The man outside is asleep, the
woman is on the other side of the
house and cannot observe your escape.
Gomez
His frank, open f;lce pleased her. Be
sides, did he not coIne from her sister,
Lucia, and under the directions of
Lucia's husband, who was a lawyer?
And was she not practically a prisoner,
surrounded she knew not by what sor-
did plots and plotters?
Her father had died leaving a fairly
large estate. His half-brother, Hugo
Blair, dominated the town. Through
one of his creatures, a judge, Blair had
been appointed guardian of Alice and
had been given arbitrary charge of the
estate. He did not intend that the rich
pickings should escape his clutches.
In a vast furry Alice followed the
directions of her helper and guide. A
great sigh of relief escaped her lips
as they passed the sleeping sentinel in
safety. They reached the grove. The
color came back to that fair face, her
shining eyes expressed her deep graft
tude as the horse started up.
Warde took a lonely road, but they
were seen by quite a number of per-
sons, and he urged the melted steed to
his best pace, fearing pursuit. 1t was
just at dusk when they reached the
end of the one ~traversed road in that
wild district. Beyond it spread a 20
mile stretch of prairie, smooth as a
floor. Twenty different trails had been
broken through the high pampas grass.
The horse was tired and Warde al
lowed him to rest. Then they resumed
their journey.
"Lookl" exclaimed Alice, an hour
later.
Perhaps two miles distant, and SEEM
ingly directly on their trail, was an au-
tomobile. It's rapid putting echoed
family, but its lights fared like evil
eyes probing to locate the refugees.
SIT is Mr.. Blair's machine !" fiuttered
Alice in terror. "He will oyertake us.
oh, do not delayl Let us hurry for
ward"
Warde had halted the horse. Now
he ran back about a hundred yards.
He f1ared a dozen matches. He set the
grass blazing in a dozen places. Then
he leaped into the buggy and urged
up the horse. He knew that the auto
mobile would not dare dash into the
advancing mass Of flame. nor traverse
the burned-over route where a spark
might precipitate an explosion.
Warde was right. They reached Mel
vile in safety. At ono Alice was hur-
ried to another town and placed in
charge of a lady friend. and the law,
yer prepared to legally dispute the jur-
isdiction of the %schening h~alf-uncle.
He called upon Alice a few days later.
81 don't know what the result may
be In the COURTS he told Alice grave
ly. "It is a pity there is not some ia
vored young mar who could give you
his name and his love. That would
completely battle Hugo Blair"
Alice blushed, and perhaps with rea-
con Che bod md oaacal 10 fhinIx of