The Winslow mail., 1920-12-31

oOOO AO1u1 OAu UrEdLuSUs
you make such sudden motions 40 that
I'll have heart failure. Where are
you going nowT'
Back to my watch" she answered.
her tone wholly lacking the personal
note which men have learned to ex-
pect in the voices of women. And an
instant later the three of them saw
her retreating shadow as she vanished
among the pines.
Dan had to be helped to bed. The
long ride had been too hard on his
shattered lungs; and nerves and body
collapsed an instant after the door
was closed behind the departing girl.
He laughed weakly and begged their
pardon; and the two men were really
very gentle. They told him it was
their own fault for permitting him to
overdO. LennoX himself blew out the
candle in the big, cold bedroom.
Dan saw the door close behind him,
and he had an instant's glimpse of the
long sweep of moOnlit ridge that
stretched beneath the window. Then,
ing, it simply blinked out. Not until
the next morning did he really know
why. Insomnia was an old acquaint-
ance of Dams, and he had expected to
have some trouble in getting to sleep.
His only real trouble was waking up
again when Lennox called him to
breakfast. He couldn't believe that
the light at his window shade was
really that of morning.
Good Heavens!" his host exploded.
you sleep the sleep Of the just"
Dan was about to tell him that on
the contrary he was a very nervous
sleeper, but he thought better of it.
Something had surely happened to his
insomnia. The next instant he even
forgot to wonder about it in the reali-
zation that his tired body had been
wonderfully refreshed. He had no
dread now of the long tramp up the
ridge that his host had planned.
But first came target practice. In
Dams baggage he had certain very
plain but serviceable sporting rifle of
about thirty-forty caliber-a gun that
the information department of the
large sporting-g goods store in Gitche-
apolis had recommended for his pur-
pose. Except for the few moments in
the store, Dan had never held a rifle
in his hands. The first shot he hit the
trunk of five-foot pine at thirty
PAGES.
"But couldn't very well have
missed It'll" he replied to Lennox's
cheer. "You see, l aimed at the mid
debut I just grazed the edge"
The second shot was not so good,
missing the tree altogether. And it
was singular thing that he aimed
longer and tried harder on this shot
than on the first. The third time he
tried still harder, and made by far
the worst shot of all.
whats the matter" he demanded.
"I'm getting worse all the time"
Lennox didn't know for sure. But
he made long guess. "It might be
beginners luck" he said, 'but I'm in
clined to think you're trying too hard.
Take it easier-depend more on your
Instincts"
Dams reply was to lift the rifle
lightly to his shoulder, glance quickly
along the trigger and fire. The bullet
struck within one inch Of the center
of the pine.
For long second Lennox gaZed at
him In Open-mouthed astonishment.
my stars, boy!" he cried at last.
"Was I mistaken in thinking you were
a born tenderfoot-after all? Can it
be that a little Of your old grandpa
theirs skill has been passed down to
you? But you can't do it again"
But Dan did do it again. If any
thing, the bullet was a little nearer
the center. And then he aimed at
more distant tree.
But the hammer snapped down in
effectively on the breech. He turned
with a look of question.
"Your gun only holds five shots"
Lennox explained. Reloading, Dan
tried a more difficult target-a trunk
almost one hundred yards distant. Of
course it would have been only child's
play to an experienced hunter; but
| to a tenderfoot it was a difficult
mark indeed. Twice out of four shots
Dan hit the tree trunk, and one of his
two hits was practically bulPs-eye.
His two misses were the result of the
same mistake he had made before
attempting to hold his aim too long