The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1919-05-15
the able, on which y stretched the
figure of the wounded man wera mn

N A4A0 AVA6S ARVss
boned face. "And you, Bacon-you and
Dillingford hustle upstairs and get a
mattress off'n one of the beds. Stand
at the door there, Pike, and don't let
any woman.in here. Go away. Miss
Thackeray!. This is no place for you.".
Miss Thackeray pushed her way
past the man who tried to stop her
and Joined Barnes.
ut is the place for me-" she said
sharply. Haven't you men got sense
enough to put something under his
head? Where is he hurt? Get that
cushion, you. Stick. it under here when
I lift his head. Oh, you poor thing!
Well be as quick as possible. There!"
The mans eyes were closed, but at
the sound of, a woman's voice he
opened them. The hand with which he
clutched at his breast Slid off and
seemed to be cropping for hers. His
breathing was terrible. There was
blood ut the orner of his mouth, and
more oozed forth when his lips parted
in an effort to speak.
With a courage that surprised even
herself, the girl took his hand in hers.
1t was wet and warm. She did not
dare look at it.
"Merci, madame" struggled from the
mans lips, and he smiled.
Barnes leaned yer and spoke to him
in French. The dark, pain-stricken
eyes closed, and an almost imper.
ceptible shake of the head signifed
that he did not understand. Evidently
he had acquired only a few Of the
simple French expressions. Barnes
had a slight knowledge Of Spanish
and Italian, and tried again with no
better results. German was his last
resort, and he knew he would fail once
more, .or the man obviously was not
! Teutonic.
The bloody lips parted, however, and
the eyes opened with a piteous, appeal
ing expression in their depths. 1t was
apparent that there was something he
wanted to say, something he had to
say before he died. He gasped a dozen
words OF more in o tongue utterly I'M
known to Barnes, who bent closer to
catch the feeble effort. 1t was he who
now shook his head; with a groan the
sufferer closed his eyes in despair. He
choked and coughed violently an in
| slant later. a.,
"Get some water and a towel" cried
Miss Thackeray, tremulodsly. She
was very white, but still chung to the
mans hand. BE quick! Behind the
bar"
Barnes unbuttoned the coat and re-
vealed the ~blood.soaked white shirt.
Better leave this to me-" he said in
her ear. 'There's nothing you can do.
He's done for. Please go away"
"Oh, I sha'n't faint-at least, not
yet. Poor fellow! I've seen him up-
stairs and wondered who he was. is
he really going to die?"-
"Looks bad" said Barnes, gently
opening the shirt front. Several Of
the craning N turned away sud-
denly. "
"Who is he, Mr.. Jones?"
"He is registered as Andrew Paul,
from New York. That's all I know.
The other man put his name down as
Albert Room. He seemed to be the
boss and this man a sort Of servant,
far as I could make out. They never
talked much and seldom cane down.
stairs. They had their meals in their
ROOM"
"'There is nothing we can do" said
Barnes, "except try to stanch the M,w
of blood. He is bleeding %inwardly, I'm
afraid. It's a clean wound, Mr.. Jones.
Like a rifle shot, I should say
THAT'S just what it is" said one Of
the Lien, a tall woodsman. ''1he Teller
who did it was a dead shot, you en-
bet on that. He got t other man
square through the heart"
"Lordy, but this will raise a rum
pus," groaned the landlord "Weu
have detectives an"
II guess they got what was comm
to 'em," said another Of the men.
whats that? Why, they was ridin'
peaceful as could be to Spanish Falls.
VIVA, do you mean by soyin' that, Jim
Conley? But wait a inmate! How
does it happen that they were up near
your dads house? That certainly
amt OF the road to Span"
"Spanish Falls nothin ! They wasn't
goin' to Spanish Falls any more'n I am
at this minute. They tied their horses
up the road just above our house,"
said young Conley, lowering his voice
out Of consideration for the feelings
Of the helpless man. 1T was about
'leven o clock, I reckon. I was comm
home from singin' school up at Number
Ten, an I passed the bosses hitched to
the fence. Naturally I stopped, curl
GUS like. There wasn't no one around.
fer as I could see. SO I thought I'd
take a look to see whose bosses they
we're. ] thought 1t was derned funny.
them bosses bein' there at that time o.
night an no one around. Looked
mighty queer to me. Course, thinks
I, they might belong to somebody