Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1919-06-05

1t had not beer Il pleasant task.
Scathlin was a foul mouthed, foul
to. and his personal habits were any
thing but attractive. Time and again
Holt had almost turned from his task
with disgust, resolved to let his rights
and all go rather than be tied to the
creature another hour. Yet he had
stuck to him and now. after these
many days of cunning and craftiness,
of trickeries too numerous to mention.
of attempted escape on Scathlin's
part; after taking side trips to funer-
ais of Scathlin's relatives who never
had existed, except in imagination:
visits to business men who were sup
posed to be bounding Scathlin to his
death ana yet who Wefei never found
after all this they we're on their way
back TO- Hawk valiey!cV Scathlin had
come to the end ofihis money and his
wits. andyhaadf been compelled to accept
tho escort and financial aid OF Holt
back to the place from which he had
started. because he did mot dare to- do
anything else. This he did both on his
own account and for che sake Of his
employers, who would not hesitate to
leave him in the lurch to save them
selves, and who had warned him above
all things not to let Holt suspect his
mission with those papers o.the east.
ern syndicate. Besides. there was al:
ways the hope that he might yet es-
cape and make his way back In time
to present those papers to the man
whom Harrington had said would pay
him q big reward for bringing them.
Harrington and his men could not
have done 1t without suspicion, but the
plan was that Scathlin' should profess
to have found something valuable to
tho syndicate and be willing to sell it
ct q good price.
1t was no wonder that Scathlin's
eyes had a hunted look, and hts bad
old face under it's stubbly growth was
almost pitifully desperate as he
looked at the fresh face OF the sweet
young girl. and for the moment for
got his misery, gloating over her
beauty, while Holt seei-4ed to be en-
gagged with the sunset view. But Holt
caught the CLEAN In his victims eye
aAd his heart burned holly within him.
He could have crushed the creature
then and there for the insolence of his
9Ia1e. Hc could have crushed him like
yermin and felt. no sin. All the ma in
him reused to resent the evil look.
"Scathlin!" His tone was cutting
With command and the old man turned
bringing and met the stecly glance Of
his captor, then impatient and trem-
bling with anger began to look again
out Of the window; again the crimson
wrath surged up his leathery neck and
Sutrused his coarse features.
The girl. half aware Of what had
been going on, turned and took it all
In. u frightened color pickering up
into her cheeks. Her eyes. growing
large with vague horror, met Hollis
etteely gaze. saw 1t change and soften
sreassuringly. az II he were holding at
bay q loatsome bloodhound and wished
her to understand she need not fear,
The girl, with one ficeting look of graf
'ttudo toward the young man, turned
back again TO her window as II moth
ing had happened. In fact no onlooker
would have suspected that anything at
MI had happened. and yet really a
:.little drama had been enacted and all
the actors understood u as thorough.
ly as X It. had been spoken. BAt one
,.n.A n~l~, kaA hnnw ovdthlo oMI thn