Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1920-10-09

| His eyes wandered TO the CLEAN of
daylight
There viii be one or two In the
bunk-house likely; the others are with
the cattle up the valley"
But none in your cabin?"
He shook his head.
And you say Lacy cannot get here
before dark? How iate?"
Well, senorita, 1 may as well tell
you. / suppose. If is the rule not to
enter this valley after dark. expect
the Americanos to arrive about ten
O'clock"
The Americanos?"
"Si. there will be three in the party,
one of them a man from New York,
who has business with me-"
Her clear, thoughtful eyes turned
inquiringly toward Cayendish. but the
survey brought with it no encourage
ment. The man meant well, no doubt,
and would fight valiantly on occasion;
he was no coward, no weaklifg-equaI-
ly clear his was not the stuff from
which leaders are made. There was
uncertainty in his eyes. a lack of force
in his face which told the story. What,
ever was decided upon. or accom-
plished. must be by her volition; She
could trust him to obey, but that was
all.
Then we viii make no attempt to
leave the valley until after dark" she
said slowly. Even ii we got away
now. we would be pursued and over
taken, for the desert offers few
chances for concea'ment. If we can
reach that smaller cabin unseen we
ought 10 be safe enough there for
hours. Cateras will not bother, and
with Mendez captive his men will not
learn what has occurred Is not this
our best plan. Mr. Cayendish?"
And at night?'
I'VE must work some scheme TO get
horses and depart before those others
reach here. If we leave this man Sc
curely bound. his plight will not even
be discovered until Lacy arrives BY
that time with any good fortune. we
will be beyond pursuit. lost in the des-
ert Do you think of anything bet-
ter?"
That he did not was evidenced by
the vacant look in his eyes, and she
waited for no answer
Here" SHE said, thruSting the re-
yolver into his hand take this and
guard Mendez until / return. 1t will
only be "a moment. Don't take your
eyes off him; there must be no alarm
She moved forward through the
gloomy shadows toward the light
show ~ at the mouth of the cave and
was able "a gain Il comprehensive view
OF the entire scene beyond. Within
the cave itself there was no move
ment. no evidence of life Quite clear
ly no guard had been posted here, and
no precautions taken. although doubt
less the only entrance to the deep val
ley was carefully watched.
The two cabins were directly before
the entrance. the smaller closely in
against the cliff. the larger slightly adj
vanced. Neither exhibited any sign
of life. Her study of the situation
concentrated on the small cabin imfne-
diately in freut 1t was built of logs,
we'll mortised together and plastered
between with clay. There We're no
windows on the end toward the cliff.
or along the one side which she could
see from where she lay. The single
door must open from the front. and
apparently the house had been erected
with the thought that it might some
time be used for purposes of defense,
as it had almost the appearance of a
fort. Confident there could be no bet
ter time Tor the venture, Stella sig
nailed WITH her hand for the others 10
join her
THE way Is clear" she said and,
listen to my warning. senior. We are
going straight along the north side of
your cabin there. until we reach the
door. For about twenty feet we shall
be exposed to view from that other
cabin. if any Of your men are there. If
you dare utter sound, Or make a mo-
ton, this man will shoot you dead in
your traeks-do you understands
His look was ugly enough. although
he compelled the thin lips 10 smile.
quite clearly-yes but pardon me
if doubt You might kill me; think
that. yet how would it serve you? One
shot fired would bring here dozen
men-then whaJ?'
Il thank you, senior; there VIII be no
shot fired. Give me. the revolver, Mr..
Cavendish now take this knife. AS
We advance walk one step behind Men
deg. You will know what to do Now,
senior if you wish to trys an expert
incentive 90 now"
There was. not sound not a word.
Not unlike three shadows they crossed
che open space, and found shelter be-
hind the walls of the hut. The girl
never removed her eyes from the other
cabin, and CavendiSh. q step behind
his prisoner, poised for a quick blow.
the steel blade glittering in uplsied
hand. saw nothing but the back az tie
man before him. The ,alter shrugged