Evening star., 1920-11-21

fronted by alternatives. He might fol-
low the wagon. retrieve it. save what
remained of the victuals that had been
in his charge Or he might follow the
men, with some risk to himself. with
some faint chance of recovering their
stolen goods When a man faces .
choice, and chooses, he shapes himself
ter is the product of such choosings.
whether for better or worse. Andy
had been a coward those who knew
him would have wagered, now. that he
would take the safer way. But-there
was something new in the boy Some
vail Of his fear through the dark panic
Of the night Something new.
He did not even hesitate. He scram-
bled up the bowlder and took the path
marked for him by that ridicuously
providential trail Of spilled white -four.
You might have seen certain
There was no path where Wermuth
and Frellick had struck into the swamp.
It was hard going; and they had gone
blindly. intent only on putting distance
between them and the road. Andy.
heading toward the same goal BY day.
he would not risk losing trace OF the
occasional dots Of white which led him
on. There were dense cedar clumps
through which he forced path. head
down, when he might have gone around ;
there were mire pits through which he
plunged when he might have circicd
them.
1t was not yet sunrise, and in the
depths of the swamp the growing light
had an uncertain quality about 1t. 1t
cast strange shadows where shadows
should not be and where shadows
should havc lain there were none at all.
Once he pushed through a fringe of
some extent Their trunks rose straight
and tall !: their needles carpeted the
ground, overlayfng the rocks beneath.
Andy could see for some distance
through these trees and as he hurried
on It seemed to him the more dist" IT
trees moved and kept pace with ;, M
They were like skulking watchers; they
made him nervous. He was glad when
he left them behind.
~
A PARTRIDGE drummed up ahead
"A of him with a laundering OF
wings: q rabbit bolted out of clump
Of ferns under his feet. Each time his
heart leaped and pounded. A gray
squirrel, skittering in the dead leaves
Of last years trees upon q hardwood
knoll. startled him with its small
A jay screamed down at
him from the branches over his head.
He came half mile from the road.
10 a elump Of close-growing cedars on
/ rocky island in the midst OF the
IwAmp, and when hespushed into their
midst he was near stepping into
Two rocks. He looked to right and lett.
and saw strips OF bacon rind and bits
II paper and half-cooked beans. and
against a tree lay the flour sack. half
empty. burst wide open by a Kick
from wermuth's heavy foot. Andy
could read the signficance Of that
|ire here, had discovered the hole In
the bag and knew they had left n
trail: they had vented their wrath on
The bag Of flour.
But Andy knew they would 60 moro
swiftly now and that they would be
ne guessed the fire had been burntn9
no more than an hour before. The men
must have sQuatted here through the
night, cooking and eating, filling their
lean stomachs; at dawn they would
have hurried on. They had. he WAS
sure, no more than an hours start Oh
him.
He left the fire with no further
rlance. found where their heavy boots
had struck down from the knoll. and
hurried on His eye was reasonably
auick; the earth in the swamp was
Everywhere soft The men had left
tracks that could not pc missed. ne
was able to make speed.
A quarter Of mile from the EN-
bers Of the fire he came to an ancient
wood road, grown UP and dtsused. It's
,orduroy underpinning rotting away.
And he saw by the tracks that the
.wo mon had paused here. taking
together. resting, debating wnicn way-
.hrourh the swamp toward the pond:
4 must have offered them easy travel
ng. 30 that they had decided to risk
eavins q trail For they had turned
,t last along the road. and their
racks :ss w.s sh0w6d in every SOFT spot W
70 call this ancient hiEhwsy
nr. II was not that. The unskilled
.ye could never have followed it.
rhere were places where 1t lay plain
Ind clear through the pines on hiener
and; there were other reaches where
( had sunk beneath the green sponge
II turf that covered the swamp, ana
Andy's boots breaking through. dis
derneath. Tall grass and low bushes
rad filled 1t here and there: the quick
yrowing alders had blotted 1t out alto
yether at times. Yet by the fact that
40 trees grew in the way. one might
With diligence and care discover all
Is windings..
roing. After q while he crossed the
,otting ruins Of . rough bridge. ana
y ent on over stony ground and dipped
nto the swamp again. He must have
gone quarter mile be"ond the bridge