The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-12-25

Gn0t was happening MS legs were
jerked from under him and he fell like
log. his head crashing against an
iron radiator and fracturIng his skull.
In the covered truck below Shallum
was waiting the coming Of J0ost-Singh
with ever increasing impatience. A
Hindu whom he had left on guard.
came running up to him.
"Officers are coming" was his report.
Shallum seized the wheel Of the ma
chine.
1--WE can wait no longer for Joost-
Singh. Siva will protect him." Start
ing the engine. they drove swiftly into
the night.
Rainface crawled out from beneath
his fallen foe ran swiftly from room to
room. All were vacant. His senses
half bewildered by the fumes Of the
balls, and lying as he had been beneath
the low couch. he had not seen what
had passed. and as all had been done
silently and without words the disap-
pearance of his companions was .
profound mystery to him. Now as his
head cleared in the fresh air Of the
open window he bent over the pfee-
trate form Of JOost-Singh and shSek
him. No signs Of life appearing. he
secured q glass Of cold water and
dashed 1t In the others face. Slowly
the eyes of the Hindu opened.
Drawing his knife the Indian put
its point against the throat Of the
fallen one.
"What have you done with theD3
Where are they7 Speak or you die"
he said nereely. Joost-Singh gasped.
''When the first sun rays minrie
with the fire In the woodland altar Of
Holy silva, the god will demand his
sacrifice. I die. Ny curse will lay
heavy upon you and them"
His eyes rolled wildly and low rat
tie came to his throat. He half raised
himself to a sitting posture and stared
horribly at the man who had given
him the fall which had fractured his
skull. then with gasping shudder fell
back to arise no more.
sorely puzzled and greatly alarmed
Mt the mysterious words Of the now
dead man. Rainface arose and began q.
close inspection Of the room. A mo-
ment later re found the rope dangling
the alley. Wondering whether he had
not best go to the ONCE and report the
mysterious affair to the hotel authori-
ties, he stood for a moment debating,
then his Indian instinct Of secrecy and
personal action prevailed. Having hrst
made hurried exploration Of the hall
md all the rooms to which he could
secure access and finding no one there.
he returned to the apartment, and once
more peered from the window. Below
him he saw two officers In uniform
passing. md waiting until they had
gone short distance past the rope
md their backs were turned to 1t, he
grusped 1t and slid swiftly to the
ground. A few steps brought him up
to the sauntering policemen.
"You see some white men and white
woman go out Of here pretty quick
agof' he demanded AZ the blue-conted
guardians scanned him mp and down
In curiosity. The pair laughed at the
queerly pronounced words Of the an
cient one.
"Hello, Injun! What are you doing
here3 Are you lostf' A heavy scow1
settled over the questioned ones face.
mo. me no lost Me here. White
folks lost. You see 'um, mebbySOf"
One Of the officers pointed mp the alley.
mo. Injun. we didn't see anybody.
but we did see q yellow covered auto
mobile truck go up the alley and drive
down the street. Some kind Of for
eign daso was at the wheel. They
turned to the right when they lit tho
street" With the dart Of wolf the
red man was upon the trail. leaving the
uniformed pnir staring after him in
wonderment.
Az he ran swiftly down the middle,
of the deserted street, in the dim light
of n curb lamp he saw an object lying
on the pavement and stopped to pick
1t up. 1t WAS a handkerchief which he
recognized MS having belonged to Davis.
md thristing 1t into his pocket he re-
duced his pace to a dog trot. carefully
scanning the road as he passed. Some
whnt further on he saw where ,BH-
chine hnd passed through n small bed
Of mud but few moments before. and
a quick inspection Of the wheel trucks
fixed their peculiarities In his mind.
For one who could track soft-foo.esl
beast through the forest mile after
mile. the following of the wet-tired
automobile from now on was as simple
as though 1t had run upon rails.
Far ahead Of the pursuing Indian
the van drew up before shack In a
wooded valley. Its walls were low and
large tree stood close beside it. one
strong bough overhanging the pyra-
midal roof. Before this rude woodland
temple of silva the Hindus .prostrnted
themselves then carried the uncon-
.scious quartet within the house. At