The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-08-22
Light


| flight! Desperate and dangerous
the first spark, and the cave might
| spring to life. Still, 1t was better
than to stumble over a sleeping man;
| or walk into a knife. He took two
matches from his pocket and held them
in his hand, one between forefinger
and thumb, the other tucked ready in
his palm; drew his revolver and softly
! cooked it. With the weapon balanced,
his face to the open cave, he reached
his left hand along the wall to the
| farthest stretch of his arm bringing
| his body as far as possible from the
| the light, and with his fingers FUN
bled out a spot suitably smooth and
| dry-for there must be no failure. The
match scraped. A tiny flame leaped
away from the rock. 1t lighted up the
place surprisingly.
The cave was not large-hardly
| twice the size of an ordinary room.
| The first swift glance showed him
that-except for the horse-it was
| empty.
| The match burned out. He lit the
| other. The stub of a candle caught his
| eye, stuck by its own tallow to an out
standing stool of shale just beyond the
| mouth of the passage. Had he turned
| to the left instead of to the right upon
entering, he would have found it even
before making a light. He crossed the
passage and held the match to the
wick. In the better light he studied
the place more closely.
The horse looked around once or
twice at the light and went on very
contentedly with his hay. The Red
Mask paid nothing for his feed-for
his horse, either, for that matter
When he wanted one, he simply took
it. From certain markings, the Pearl
hunter knew the animal before him to
be Rocket, the famous racer that had
been stolen two years before from the
training stables at Vincennes. The
theft of the great thoroughbred had
caused no end of stir at the time, and
the thief was hunted hard but nothing
came of II.
The cave could not have been far be-
low the ground, for an oak root had
found its way through the wall. It
was to this that the horse was tied.
A saddle and other furnishings hung
from wooden pegs driven between the
layers of shale. Before the mouth of
pocket almost directly oppos tie the
entrance there was a considerable pile
of hay, pile that must have cost
the man a prodigious amount of labor
to carry in. A sackful of ear-corn and
another better than half full lay near
the hay. A roll of blankets that might
have very well served for a bed Law
in an opposite corner Another step
or two before striking his match
would have brought the PearIhunter's
feet upon them.
A white bundle near the blankets at
tracted his eye. He picked it 10 and
unrolled it-a garment or two Of the
white musl.n-a woman's garmentsl
The eyes of the ,Pearlhunter glittered:
his fingers gripped the flimsy vest
ments. They were stained and smear
ed with blood. Truly the Red Mask
did not confine his deviitr.es to gems
and gold What tale that cave could
have told-and the foaming whirlpool
where the waters from the branch
pitched into the riveri
His game!
For moment he was strongly
tempted to stay where he was till the
monster returned the following n .s,bt
and then rid the Flatwoods of him. and
trust what evidence he already had to
prove his case.
But a better plan had been form
ing ever since he came into the cave
ana there was much yet to be done.
thought the cave would have made a
good hiding-place during the day-al
ways provided the bandit did NOT
cnance to return before his time.
Ihat coming day! How to get
through it till another night! Once
the, thought crossed him to go back to
the JAIL crawl through the window
ana let himself be found there in the
morning. But love of liberty was
strong, and besides, the temper of the
town was uncertain. No, il wouIdn,.
do-nelther the cave nor the fail. He
oeclded &c take his chances in the
open woods, and let the man hunt rim
its course.
After a somewhat critical search ne
the pocket back of the hay. using the
utmost ware to concealsevery trace os
ms visit, he fastened to blow out the
CANOE before tell-tala length OF !,
hao burned away, and carfuIly groned
MS way down the passage.
The moment he came IN s;ob+ 20 ~
waterfall he know the moon was ~
Its beams fell through the sIancirs,
water and bather the mouth of the
passage In ghostIy gray twilight. THE
quiVering simmer OF it baffled. dis
tressed the eyes. Looking up he coDId
see the thin, broad blade Of water sim
ping over the shelving edge of the
rock. Fed by springs back in the hius
Its now was constant from year TO
year. II tel so evenly as TO hide
completely fha r,o,,ft - az
A curtain couldn't have co,ces,a.s :.
more effectively.
But the Pearlhunter wasted little ne
the precious remainder of his nigb+
nj profitless reflection. Selecting
spot that he judged to be about right
Tor the take-off. he leaped at the fans
ana half to his surprise, landed on tba
hat rock outside. It was like break
ing through the crust OF creation into
new world Marveling at the small
or