The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-09-01
The Blue
Moon
A Tale of the FIatwo1dS
BY
DAVID ANDERSON
Copyright, 1919.
The Bobbs-M Merrill Company
Publication rights, 1890, Mcclure
Syndicate and Pensacola
Journal.
CHAPTER XVI.
The SherifFs Nudge.

! So intent was he upon his task, so
eager to hurry it over and get back to
the house to supper, that he failed to
notice dark form stealing down off
the bluff, through the bushes, along
: barn wall. Even had he. been less oc-
! cupied, it is doubtful If he would have
seen the figure, for it moved with
great quickness, and the silence of a
shadow.
The task finished, the sheriff closed
the barn door and turned toward the
house.
"Sh-h!"
He whirled, and found himself gaz-
ing down the wrong end of a steady
siX-gun in the hand of the very man
he had been hunting all day The
sheriff was a brave man, but he knew
where bravery ends and foolhardiness
begins His hands went up as quickly
as he could get them UP. The man
with the six-gun carried his arm in a
sling 1t must have cost him torture
to take it out. but he did it; reached
over and plucked the sheriffs revolver
out of its holster. thrust it inc his
blouse and put his arm back into the
sling.
'J4isten!" There was no misunder-
standing that whisper. I'll not hurt
you if you do as I say Creep up the
hill to the top Of the bluff. Keep out
of sight as much as possible I'll be
right behind you"
The sheriff was not a brilliant man,
but he did have a saving grain of
horse sense. He crept: along the barn
wall, up the hill through the bushes
and into the thick woods at the top Of
CHI hnI =
was noiseless, but he knew that it was
there. He ventured a glance over his
shoulder The revolver was within a
yard of his back.
ITO Fallen Rock" came a low, in
cisive command You know the way"
He knew the way. He took it
Though the voice had not said they
were still to keep out of sight, the
sheriff, with his wits at the tension
they were then, had no trouble to draw
an inference, and that was the infer
ence he drew He never liked to re-
member that journey. 1t brought the
sweat out on his head to recall it. Not
even a sheriff-a Flatwoods sheriff, to
boOt-has a stomach for a tramp
through the dark at the point Of six
gun in the hands of such a man.
AT the spring around back of the
west end of the old cabin, he hesitated
undecided whether that was the final
destination, and yet dreading to make
the mistake, if it wasn't. The gun
muzzle prOded him on to the brink of
the pool under the falls. Barely out
of reach of the spray, the shadow
came around and faced him.
You think I'm the Red Mask, The
whole town thinks 1 am. Like a pack
of hounds you've hunted me today, but
you hunted the wrong man. The real
Red Mask was one of the pack. That
timber buyer is your man."
The sheriff started The cold voice
went on.
Did you ever know him to buy
timber option? Did you ever hear of
any timber he bought?"
No
The sheriff was surprised to find his
mouth dry, his tongue stiff.
And you never will. He deliber-
ately planned to lay the murder on me.
He's the real murderer, and has the
Blue Moon at this minute. I knew it
all along, but I had no proof. Tonight
expect to get my proof and brought
you along to help me get it"
Like one coming into a story at the
those that had gone before, the sheriff
looked his bewilderment. The Pearl
hunter briefly explained what he had
CHANGED to learn the evening before
after escaping from the jail
Had you never noticed that he
comes down this way every night?" he
concluded.
Eyes, but I understood it was to see
a girl"
The Pearlhunter WINGED. His jaw
frightened. He was thinking of the talk
that had probably been banded back
and forth over the bar of the Mud
Hen.
He came to feed his horse There's
no girl down here his mouths fit to
mention He'll come to-night-any
minute now. Quick! Out on that flat
rock"
Without word, the sheriff bounded
over the two intervening stones to the
flat rock. The Pearlhunter waited just
long enough to sound the woods. The |
noise of the falls made it impossible. |
With a searching look back up the |
bluff as far as his eyes would carry |
in the gloom, he joined the the sheriff. !
Jump. I told you how"
a prod of the six-shooter empha- |
sized the command. The sheriff jump /
ed. There YVES nothing else TO do. He |
was still laundering about on the in
ner margin of the pool behind the falls |
when the Pearlhunter landed lightly |
beside him, almost upon him. The !
passage was dark,-dark as the inside /
of a pistol barrel II was a very re-
assuring fact. 1t meant that there was !
no candle burning farther ahead in the |
cave. He was in time. Making sure !
Of that very important fact, he thrust !
his revolver into the holster at his hip, |
grasped the sheriff by the collar and |
hurried up the passage.
BY the same subtle instinct that had /
served him the night before, he knew I
when he reached the point at which |
the passage widened into the cave.
There he loosed the sheriff's collar and /
struck a match. The sheriff caught |
his breath and stared. The horse, the
candle in the Granny, the saddle and |
spurs, the feed-alI just as il had been
described to him.
Il never knowed there was anything