Charlevoix county herald., 1920-06-25


making you prisoner. We are des-
perate; II is either your life. or ours,
senior. You are an outlaw, with a
price on your head, and you. realize
what chances one will take to escape.
Now. there is just one opportunity
given you to live"
"What, senoritaf"
'That you accompany us down this
passage into the valley as hostage.
You Will compel your men, II we en-
counter any, to furnish us horses"
"But the men may not obey. cam
not promise; Senior Cateras-"
"Senor Cateras will not be there"
she interrupted sharply. "We have
already seen to Senior Cateras. The
others will obey your
"They may; I cannot promise"
"Then 1t will be your own loss; for
II there be shot fred, you will get
either a bullet or knife thrust.
would try no sharp tricks, Senior
Mendez. Now we 60 on"
Mendez smiled grimly In the dark,
his mind busy. II am to go first?"
and his voice assumed polite defer
ence.
Beside Mr.. Cavendish," she replied,
sand l will be behind"
"This gentleman, you meanT
"Yes; and there Is no need for any
more acting. This is the revolver
pressing against your back, senior. l
could scarcely miss you at that dis
tance."
They advanced In silence, through
the faint CLEAN of light which IL
lumined the passage through the stone
Sits over the cell doors.
The darkness swallowed them
again, but the way was clear, and,
once around the sharp turn, a glim-
mer of distant daylight made advance
easier. There was no sign of any
guard visible. nor any movement per-
ceptible in the open Vista beyond the
save entrance. The girl touched
Mendez' arm.
You expect Lager"
II have sent for him; 1t was yester-
day."
"And he could be here now7"
Not before night; 1t is a hard ride |;
why ask all this?"
Il have reasons. Now another
thing; where are your men?
Ills eyes wandered to the CLEAN of
daylight.
There will 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 later"
well, senorita, l may as well tell
you, / suppose. 1t is the rule not to
enter this valley after dark. l expect
the Americanos to arrive about ten
O'clock"
THE Americanos"
Isl, there will be three in the party,
one OF them man from New York,
who has business with me-"
Her clear, thoughtful eyes turned
inquiringly toward Cavendish, 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 weakling-equal-
iy clear his was not the stuff from
which leaders are made There was
uncertainty In his eyes, 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 will. make no attempt to
leave the valley until after dark" she
said slowly, "Even If we got away
now, We would be pursued and over
taken. for the desert offers few
chances for concealment. If we can
reach that smaller cabin unseen we
ought to 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.. Cavendish?"
"And at nightr
"We 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
terT
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-
volver 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
showing at the mouth of the cave and
L. To-,